New to water heater

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Flyfisher

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
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124
Location
California
I'm trying to understand how the system works and the literature that I got with the used FWC isn't much help. If I drain the water tank from the valve at the back of the camper, does that also drain the water heater? When I fill up the water tank, does that also fill the water heater? If not, how do I fill the water heater? I don't want to flip the water heater switch on and burn out the water heater.
Thanks,
Gregg
 
The small water heater tank has its own drain valve, easy to spot. You should drain it between infrequent trips. To fill it, once your main tank is full just turn on your hot water tap until water comes out of it. (You'll then be down by that amount in the main tank.)
 
ok so I have a question!!! if may water tank is empty an I'm hooked up to a outside water source will that outside water source fill my hot water heater so I can use it or does it only draw water from the 20 gallon water tank???
 
dennis 221 said:
ok so I have a question!!! if may water tank is empty an I'm hooked up to a outside water source will that outside water source fill my hot water heater so I can use it or does it only draw water from the 20 gallon water tank???
Click to expand...
If the hot water heater is empty, and you do not open any hot water valves, the hot water tank will usually not fill. It will stay empty.
 
If you are hooked up to city water source, and you open either your hot water on the outside shower or your hot water faucet on the sink, the hot water heater will fill up with water.
 
so a follow up??? when filling camper with water would it be advantageous to fill water with with hose an fill heater an water pump charging the system / shower lines first then changing over to fill water tank?? thinking that way you would not need running water pump to fill those???
 
IMHO, yes. Both methods work to fill hot water heater. It is much faster to fill heater with city water pressure than with camper water pump.
Filling the water lines with water pump takes seconds. Filling the heater takes minutes with pump. It’s just your time & pump wear & tear. Your choice.

If you do not drain the hot water tank after each trip, you won’t have to refill it. However, there may be months between trips at times. With city water, there will be some residual chlorine in the water to control pathogens from the last filling. With well water or campground water, there may not. Again, your choice.

I have no choice. My Mom was a public health nurse. I am fully indoctrinated.

Paul
 
I just got back from my 5 shakedown run with my 2021 Hawk and I am running out of water a lot faster than I should. I filled and flushed it 2x and filled it up turned on the sink and shower to get the air out and topped it off. After 2 days of dishes only with 2 of us we were out of water. topped it off and still got only 2 days, no showers, dishes only.

Someone said I have air trapped in it so when I got home and filled it up and drained it 3x and each time I was 18 gal. with the water tank drained. I was under the assumption there should be 26 gal total. Any ideas?
 
Check your weatherization valve for the hot water tank. It may be switched to drain the hot water back to the main tank. You should have about 20 gallons in the main and 6 gallons in the water heater for 26 gallons total. It is likely that 2 gallons or so stay in the main tank even after draining it for winter.

Also, if on filling the water, you didn’t turn on the pump with the hot water faucet open, the heater may be full of air. You can hook up to shore water and more quickly fill the heater tank by having the faucet open and shore water turned on until water runs steady into the sink. The hot water faucet needs to be open to either fill or drain the heater.

If the heater drain valve is open, and you turn on the water pump, water will be pumped from the main tank to the heater and promptly drain back to the main tank. Please don’t ask how I learned this. :)

Paul
 
I notice my hot water tank will not drain back into the main tank. When I drained the system, turned the hot water tank valve to drain and it did not seem to drain so I opened the outside cap to the water tank and it all came pouring out. there must be a check valve in the drain valve I think. I have a call into FWC waiting on a reply.
 
I drained the main tank and got about 18 gal out of it before I flipped the HW tank drain, I would assume it would drain into the main tank but it did not.
 
And you had a hot tap open to allow air into the tank as you tried to drain it I assume?

Your symptoms sound like the main tank vent may be blocked somehow. The vent opening on my 2021 Grandby is inside the water service door below the tank fill port. It’s a plastic screened opening about 1/2” diameter. Is there something over the opening? Did the hose in your cabinetry get kinked or crushed? You said it’s a new camper. I wonder if it never was hooked up and is capped at the tank.

When you fill the main tank there should be air coming out the 1/2” opening and when the tank is full water should shoot out until you shut off the fill hose.

A quicker test would be to open the system drain on the back wall leaving the tank fill cap closed and everything else shut off. Does water drain continuously? Can you hear air being sucked into the vent? If you can’t hear it cover the vent with tape. Does the flow out of the drain slow or stop?
 
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