No Hot Water from Faucets After "De-wintering" - I AM BAFFLED

[rpasquarello]

OK guys, it seems like I missed something or need troubleshooting tips.

I just did the Spring prep and flushed the pink out of my systems. I connected to shore (and tank) water and power and turned the HW heater on and turned on the taps. Cold comes out fine but not a drip from hot.

I checked the positions of the bypass valves and they are in the right (non-bypass) position. The power to the unit seems fine (no breakers pop and the meter in the cabin drops when I flip it on) but when I open the bottom drain on the HW heater, the water is not warm. It is a small Attwood unit (less than 5 gallons) and runs off AC and the water also gets heated by the engine.

This drove me nuts yesterday but the mosquitos came out and the motor was too hot to work around, so I plan to look at this again on Saturday.

I can sure use some troubleshooting tips/steps on this one as it has me baffled. Maybe a clog? FYI, there is no water going in the bilge so I don't see a leak. The unit is less than 5 years old.

Thanks,

Rocco

:huh:

 

[Henry Boyd]

Can we clarify?

Does:
A) Water come out of the Hot faucet when it is open, but just not hot?
Or,
B) No water comes out of the Hot faucet at all?

If A,

You said the engine was hot, did you try running the hot water after the engine warmed up?

Some possibilities if you get hot water from the engine and not AC.

The heater electrical element is gone,
The ac wiring connections have corroded,
The AC thermostat plate has died (this shuts off the AC once the water reaches temp)

If you get no hot water on either engine, or AC its a plumbing issue.

Henry

 

[rpasquarello]

Henry,

Not a drop of water out of water out of either faucet when I push the lever to the hot side. This happens when I am on shore power or try it after/with the engine running.

I am thinking plumbing as well at this point. I think I just need some guidance as far as how to start back-tracking and how to look (in an order that makes sense). For example, do I disconnect the hot side of the water heater at the top and/or the bypass valves and check for clogs? Do I disconnect the cold inlet, etc?

-Rocco-

 

[JimG]

Your probably still in by-pass mode. Don't turn the AC on to the water heater on until you get water in the tank as it will burn up the element (if you haven't already).

 

[rpasquarello]

Your probably still in by-pass mode. Don't turn the AC on to the water heater on until you get water in the tank as it will burn up the element (if you haven't already).

Thanks, Jim.

I think I need to check the cold-side intake bypass valve to see if it went bad. Maybe it's really not bypassing back when if flipped it back horizonal ?

I have the small 6 gallon model.

Rocco

 

[Lazy Daze]

Did you add a bypass valve? There would be no bypass valve installed from original.

Did you fill your fresh water holding tank and let the hot water heater fill up? Meaning, you're not trying to get hot water from shore water only, are you? Shore water does not fill up the hot water heater.

 

[rondds]

I've heard that the bypass kit valve can fail. I installed the Camco kit and in user reviews several people have complained about this.

 

[sdarc]

What Dennis said above. Fill your tank with a hose. The way I read it you're trying to fill from the water inlet. Once the tank is filled start the motor and let it heat the water. Then you can try AC power.

 

[JimFromMD]

Shore water does not fill up the hot water heater.

Not to hijack this discussion, but I've heard this before and tried testing this last weekend out of curiosity. I filled the HW tank via onboard water and heated it... turned the pump off. Connected to shore water, ran the hot water until the water coming out of the HW side of the faucet was running cold. Then turned the HW heater on. More hot water came out about 15 minutes later. So if the hot water heater isn't filled by the shore water, where did it come from? I have the default factory setup. Am I missing something or did I fail in my test approach?

Further, the concept doesn't make sense to me. Why would I not want the water heater to fill from shore water? Not saying it's not true, I'm just trying to understand.

 

[rpasquarello]

Jim and Dennis,

Yes, I did add an aftermarket bypass kit a few years ago.

I think I tried using shore water first (before I filled up the holding tank) when I got to my dock after moving the boat from winter storage.

I know the cold worked via the tank, but I honestly don't remember trying the hot water via the tank water.

So, Dennis, do I simply turn on the switch to run off the tank water and flip the faucets over to the hot side and wait a few minutes to see if I get something to happen?

-Rocco-

 

[Lazy Daze]

Further, the concept doesn't make sense to me. Why would I not want the water heater to fill from shore water? Not saying it's not true, I'm just trying to understand.

Ummm... That's because I misspoke. Silly me, of course the hot water heater fills from shore water. Sorry about that. It's the fresh water holding tank that does not. :smt101

 

[Lazy Daze]

Rocco - either from the holding tank or the shore water...

It might be airlocked and not filling properly. Open the expansion/overflow valve and turn on the water. When water flows out of the overboard discharge, close it. Now the hot water tank is full (if there is no issue with the bypass valve, of course).

 

[Mike Blake]

Ummm... That's because I misspoke. Silly me, of course the hot water heater fills from shore water. Sorry about that. It's the fresh water holding tank that does not. :smt101

Why not Dennis? My HW tank fills with either dock water or the tank W/ the pump on. Just saying from experience.

 

[CliffA]

Why not Dennis? My HW tank fills with either dock water or the tank W/ the pump on. Just saying from experience.

i'm not Dennis (but i do want to grow up and be like him :grin: ) but there is no direct connection from the shore water inlet to the fresh water tank....there is only an outlet connected to the fresh water tank that feeds the entire fresh water system...the only way to fill the fresh water tank is use the fitting on the boat hull...

cliff

 

[JimFromMD]

i'm not Dennis (but i do want to grow up and be like him :grin: )

+1. Dennis is one of many invaluable resources on here.

 

[Ray Ray]

Not to hijack this discussion, but I've heard this before and tried testing this last weekend out of curiosity. I filled the HW tank via onboard water and heated it... turned the pump off. Connected to shore water, ran the hot water until the water coming out of the HW side of the faucet was running cold. Then turned the HW heater on. More hot water came out about 15 minutes later. So if the hot water heater isn't filled by the shore water, where did it come from? I have the default factory setup. Am I missing something or did I fail in my test approach?

Further, the concept doesn't make sense to me. Why would I not want the water heater to fill from shore water? Not saying it's not true, I'm just trying to understand.

+1 and questioning this concept as well. I surely get HW while connected to shore water only, with no water in or pumped from my water holding tank. Is it possible the OP did not open the source water line in to the HWH from the cold water manifold? Seems like that would result in his reported symptoms.

If I remember correctly, I filled and flushed my HWH while connected to shore water before even filling and flushing my water holding tank, but i could be wrong. So I'm not entirely sure about the claim about no HW without it being sourced from the tank.

Standing by for more.....

 

[Ray Ray]

+1 and questioning this concept as well. I surely get HW while connected to shore water only, with no water in or pumped from my water holding tank. Is it possible the OP did not open the source water line in to the HWH from the cold water manifold? Seems like that would result in his reported symptoms.

If I remember correctly, I filled and flushed my HWH while connected to shore water before even filling and flushing my water holding tank, but i could be wrong. So I'm not entirely sure about the claim about no HW without it being sourced from the tank.

Standing by for more.....

Nevermind...finished reading the whole thread and got further clarification.....Thanks.

 

[Mike Blake]

i'm not Dennis (but i do want to grow up and be like him :grin: ) but there is no direct connection from the shore water inlet to the fresh water tank....there is only an outlet connected to the fresh water tank that feeds the entire fresh water system...the only way to fill the fresh water tank is use the fitting on the boat hull...

cliff

Ok I get it now. He has no Dock water connection, just the tank.

 

[rpasquarello]

I have both shore and tank water. The issue at hand is that I am not getting any hot water working from from either source. Cold is fine.

So, after all the replies to the thread, it seems like it can be one of the following:

1. A blockage in a line supplying the faucets somewhere after the hot water heater but before them.
2. No water getting into the hot water heater due to a blockage in the cold water line that goes into the hot water heater.
3. A bad bypass valve in the cold water line that goes into the hot water heater.
4. The hot water heater being air-locked and not filling properly.

I now have troubleshooting steps for this weekend !!

Thanks all,

-Rocco-

 

[CliffA]

not sure if this has been mentioned before, but there is a one-way valve on the cold water inlet to the HWH.....if this valve would get clogged no water could flow into the HWH....may not be a bad idea to pull the cold water fitting off of the HWH and check the operation of the valve....the hot water out fitting on the HWH does not have an internal valve....i leaned all this the hard way when i mistakenly switched the HWH fittings when i installed a new HWH a few months ago....like you i had '0' water coming out of the HWH because the fitting with the one way internal valve was installed on the hot water side instead of the cold water side of the HWH...the fittings appear to be identical from the outside....

cliff