Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Jayco RV Owners Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 05-28-2013, 09:48 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 11
17Z hot water observation

So, out of curiosity I need to know if anyone else has experienced this? I just returned from my first camping trip this year and well it was just downright cold! So, that meant this was also the first time I've had to run the furnace. I noticed something odd though. My hot water just wasn't as hot as it was last year with the furnace being on. At first, I thought perhaps the pilot went out, so I checked it and it was still on. So I decided to turn the dial up to hot and see how that went. While I did manage to have hot water it still just wasn't piping hot. When taking a shower in the morning, I only turned on the hot water handle and managed to get through a medium hot/warm shower. There wasn't a faucet in the camper where if I only turned on the hot water, that I needed to use cold so as to not scald myself. Using only hot produced water that was a little warmer than luke warm at best.

Has anyone ever come across this before? From time to time I could hear the hot water heater engage even when I wasn't even running any water at all. Now, like I mentioned before it was mighty cold down to around 35 at night and I have never camped in cold temps before, so I don't know if this is perfectly normal or not? Or if running both the furnace and hot water heater some how compete for propane? lol

One thing is for certain however, that I will be changing out my thermostat for a digital one before the next trip. Constant toggling of the lever to be comfortable got annoying real quick and leaving the heat on full blast at night got old as well.
__________________
2012 Jayco X17Z
2009 Chevrolet Traverse 2WD
rbendy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2013, 11:11 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
mcfarmall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Kalamazoo, West Michigan
Posts: 1,817
Are you certain that you closed the bypass valve at the water heater?
__________________
2006 23B Hybrid with 10k round bar WDH
2011 F150 4x4 SCREW Ecoboost, Max Tow, Integrated TBC, 3.73 LS axle, Firestone Ride Rite airbags.
mcfarmall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2013, 11:16 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Jagiven's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 9,737
We changed out our thermostat, to a cheap digital one. It is nice to set it and forget it.

As for the hot water issue, not sure if I can be much help. Most people complain that the H2O heater is too HOT, not hot enough. But being your first trip out for the season, are you sure you closed the bypass valve when you dewinterized??? If not, you will be pushing water both through the tank and through the bypass valve, tempering the H2O.
__________________

2012 Jayco X23B
2020 Ram Laramie 3500 SRW Air ride 50Gal fuel tank.
2007 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab (sold)
Equal-I-zer 4-Point Sway Control
Jagiven is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2013, 03:38 PM   #4
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 11
Ohh shoot....not too sure on closing the bypass valve...which one is that again? The tube that is perpendicular to the 2 horizontal tubes going into the hot water heater? I think that may be my issue, if I remember correctly I think all valves were open, I'll have to go out there and check it. There is so much to remember with these things!!

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm almost positive that is probably what my issue is.
__________________
2012 Jayco X17Z
2009 Chevrolet Traverse 2WD
rbendy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2013, 03:45 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
LongIslandCamper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 847
Have you considered a space heater instead of running your furnace? We use this heater in our trailers and it does an awesome job. It is SO much quieter then the furnace. Not only that,but then you are also using the parks electric to heat your camper instead of YOUR gas.

This is taking into account that you have an electric site and DON'T have a meter on it. lol
__________________
2013 Jayco Jay Flight 26RLS - 2013 1500 Ram Big Horn
2013 Jayco White Hawk 28DSBH - 2010 V8 Tundra

2012 Jayco X17Z SOLD!:Beerchug:
LongIslandCamper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2013, 04:22 PM   #6
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by cm11599ps View Post
Have you considered a space heater instead of running your furnace? We use this heater in our trailers and it does an awesome job. It is SO much quieter then the furnace. Not only that,but then you are also using the parks electric to heat your camper instead of YOUR gas.

This is taking into account that you have an electric site and DON'T have a meter on it. lol
Again, didn't think of that!!! And that's a shame because I actually have the same heater you posted here. I could have taken that with me this past weekend. Would have been especially nice since I ended up running out of propane sometime Sunday night which made for a nippy Monday morning for me. So much to learn I guess!
__________________
2012 Jayco X17Z
2009 Chevrolet Traverse 2WD
rbendy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2013, 04:29 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
LongIslandCamper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 847
Quote:
Originally Posted by rbendy View Post
Again, didn't think of that!!! And that's a shame because I actually have the same heater you posted here. I could have taken that with me this past weekend. Would have been especially nice since I ended up running out of propane sometime Sunday night which made for a nippy Monday morning for me. So much to learn I guess!
We use one in a 28' bunk house and another in a 26' rear living. It does a really good job and we never heard the furnace kick on with weekend temps getting down to around 40 in mid April.

I don't know how many people you have in your 17z but I'd venture to say that heater might be too large. You might want to consider a smaller heater due to limited interior space in the 17z.
__________________
2013 Jayco Jay Flight 26RLS - 2013 1500 Ram Big Horn
2013 Jayco White Hawk 28DSBH - 2010 V8 Tundra

2012 Jayco X17Z SOLD!:Beerchug:
LongIslandCamper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2013, 05:11 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: CT
Posts: 361
Watch the AC current draw on some heaters, drawing 15 amps is not out of the question on some of those. You might trip a breaker.
__________________
Model X19H Expandable
GMC Sierra Pick up

Been a camper since I was a kid, and that was a long time ago :)
From pup tents with no floors, to tents with floors and flies, to a pop up, to the expandable.
chuckworkb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2013, 09:55 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
mcfarmall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Kalamazoo, West Michigan
Posts: 1,817
I have a tiny Pelonis 'ceramic' heater that is about the size of a childs shoebox and only run it on low (around 700 watts) and it keeps the 23B too warm for me. I will never use my propane as long as I can use the electricity that I already paid for.
__________________
2006 23B Hybrid with 10k round bar WDH
2011 F150 4x4 SCREW Ecoboost, Max Tow, Integrated TBC, 3.73 LS axle, Firestone Ride Rite airbags.
mcfarmall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-02-2013, 06:00 PM   #10
Member
 
BluJay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Fort Wayne
Posts: 60
Send a message via ICQ to BluJay
We've been using an older version the the following since our PUP days and it still does the job in our 17Z:
Click image for larger version

Name:	51icpw6z-ML._SY450_.jpg
Views:	8
Size:	30.9 KB
ID:	8326
Lasko Oscillating Ceramic Tower Heater
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...F8&me=&seller=
__________________

BluJay
Fort Wayne, Indiana
TV = 2013 Toyota Highlander
BluJay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2013, 08:00 PM   #11
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 48
You guys swapped out your thermostat for a digital one? I can't believe that never crossed my mind. I absolutely hate the thermostat that is in my X18D with it's guess work system of long and longer dashes representing hot and hotter. The worse part is that the kids sleep on that side of the camper so every time I'm trying to adjust it I have to shimmy past a pack and play while simultaneously praying that a 1 1/2 year old or 3 year old don't hear me and wake up.

Next weekend I was planning on installing an electric power jack. Now I will definitely be installing a new thermostat as well. Will any cheap thermostat work, Or do you need to look for anything special when picking one out?
Nathan48035 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2013, 09:06 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Jagiven's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 9,737
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathan48035 View Post
........ Now I will definitely be installing a new thermostat as well. Will any cheap thermostat work, Or do you need to look for anything special when picking one out?
I bought a cheap $20 one from the local building supply yard. It is not programmable if I recall. It uses 1 or 2 AA batteries which last the season for us. When I want heat I flip the switch from Off to Heat, and that is it.

As for electric heaters I have an old 1500 watt ceramic heater. It is a small little cube, that never leaves the HTT.
__________________

2012 Jayco X23B
2020 Ram Laramie 3500 SRW Air ride 50Gal fuel tank.
2007 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab (sold)
Equal-I-zer 4-Point Sway Control
Jagiven is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2013, 07:36 AM   #13
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 4
17Z hot water observation

A few people have told me that you should use a special 12v thermostat instead of a household model... Can't remember why, and I had a household one retrofitted into my pop up years ago with no problems...
__________________
[HR][/HR]2008 Jayco Jay Feather Hybrid 17C; 2008 Suzuki XL7
ScottM123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2013, 04:11 PM   #14
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Missouri
Posts: 24
We use those tiny electric ceramic heaters in our x17c, and unless it's about 30 outside it's almost too much for me. We set it on the wood stove cover at nite, and generally tuck it away in the cabinet during the day as we don't generally need it. If I remember correctly, we got it at Walmart. These little trailers just don't need much extra help to keep it comfy at nite.
__________________

Betsy & Kevin Cummings
Tribute Salukis
St. Louis, MO

2011 JayFeather Ultralite x17c
Ancient Dodge Ram 3500 15 passenger van
TributeSalukis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2013, 04:22 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
mcfarmall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Kalamazoo, West Michigan
Posts: 1,817
[QUOTE=TributeSalukis; We set it on the wood stove cover at nite, [/QUOTE]

You have a wood stove in your trailer? Ours has a propane furnace.
__________________
2006 23B Hybrid with 10k round bar WDH
2011 F150 4x4 SCREW Ecoboost, Max Tow, Integrated TBC, 3.73 LS axle, Firestone Ride Rite airbags.
mcfarmall is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jayco, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:36 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2002-2016 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.