bcckphillips
Upstate NY
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Joined: 07/08/2008
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I have a 2002 Keystone sprinter 275 5th wheel.
It has a 6 gal. gas/elec. hot water heater. When taking a shower or using the sink I only get 2 minutes worth of hot water.
I checked the bypass valve, switched from elec. back to gas, and I do have a camper syle shower head.
My friends have the same size and style heater and he gets about 10 to 15 minutes worth of hot water. Please help wife not happy. Thanks
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outdoorsman2007
In the Woods - Somewhere!
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Joined: 04/12/2007
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There is a pressure valve on the hot water tank outside. Let the pressure in the tank out. Please be careful if the tank is on. Very hot water will come out. You don't need to hold it open for long, just until water comes out.
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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6 gallons of hot water in the tank and if you are using a 50/50 mix of hot and cold (most use more like 75" hot and 25% cold) but with 50/50 that's 12 gallons of water total. 15 minutes of water use means a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute. I would never be happy with a flow rate anywhere NEAR that small so I'd a lot rather have YOUR situation with better water pressure than the little dribble your friend would have to be having.
You probably just need to learn to take a military type shower where you spend about 15 seconds wetting everything down, turn off the water while you soap up then spend about a minute washing off the soap. It'll get you clean but recreational showers just aren't an option in an RV. Good luck / Skip
2004 F-150 HD 3,050 lb. payload
Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
We have enough YOUTH...how about a fountain of SMART
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jason_rving
North Georgia
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Joined: 04/18/2003
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When possible run BOTH the electric and gas. The electric on these is not really designed to fully recover the tanks hot water in a timely manner. Suburban engineers told me this first hand when I called in a few years ago. The electric is best when you use it to boost the recovery time. If you have both on, recovery time is quicker, since hot water rises you actually get more than your six gallons of hot water before it can't keep up with incoming cold water.
Jason and family
2004 Cedar Creek 31LBHBS
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MrD
Washington
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I normally only have the electric on for normal hot water use, but I turn on the gas with the elctric just before and while I am taking a shower, it seems to give me a little longer supply of hot water.
Mike
Mike and Char
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outdoorsman2007
In the Woods - Somewhere!
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Joined: 04/12/2007
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A 6 gal gas/elec has a quick recovery rate when both sources are on. Regardless of what others think, you should have more than 2 minutes of hot water. I've had 6 gal gas/elec hot water tanks in previous RVs and have had plenty of hot water. Your instinct is correct, something is wrong.
Is the switch on the outside of the hot water tank on?
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Polishnurse
Schodack, NY
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Joined: 03/13/2007
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I don't know how the other rigs work, but say in my rig, I can't run the electric side and the gas side of the hot water heater together, it shuts off and get a red flashing light at the switches. So I go with either electric or gas. But I get a lot more the two minuets in the shower. I have yet to run out of hot water and only have a six gallon tank. I do take short showers and my wife will be taking before or after and neither has ever had a problem.
As mentioned above check the air space in the tank, don't think that will help much because you draw from near the top of the tank anyway.
You might want to check and make sure you drawing for the outlet side of the tan and the inlet is the inlet. If there reversed you will be drawing water from near the bottom of the tank which would the coldest spot and the water wouldn't have had time to heat up.
JMHO Bill
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doughere
Mooresville NC
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Joined: 10/27/2005
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You have a 2002 model; has this always been a problem? Is this trailer new to you. I would suspect Polishnurse may have the answer. Turn on the hot water at a sink, let flow for a little while, feel the pipes at the tank; if the lower is hot, the lines are backwards. Another possibility is there is an outside shower, with the head off, but the valves open allowing bypass.
Doug
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ryoung
Indiana
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Joined: 11/11/2002
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What is the temperature of the hot water? Do you have to mix cold with it for a shower? If you have an adjustable thermostat on your water heater, turn it up so you will have to mix plenty of cold with it and it should last longer. This may not be the cause of your problem but it will be a work around until you find the problem.
Two minutes would mean 3 GPM flow and I don't think you can get this amount of flow out of an RV water system.
ryoung
2004 Dodge 3500 Dually HO 6 sp 4.10, Jordan Controller
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2004 Lance Lite 915
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Country Traveler
All over the Country
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Joined: 07/18/2007
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If the trailer is new to you, it is possible, the previous owner removed the water saver from the shower head or drilled the hole bigger.
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