Hot water heater check valve

[BobbyR]

Is the check valve on the discharge of the hot water heater really necessary? I had a problem with mine on my camping trip last week, once the hot water heater heated up I had very little water pressure & water, pump kept going on & off. This was true for all hot water outlets, cold was fine. Tracked this down to the check valve, I removed it and found it was very tight once it cooled it worked fine, no debris in it so I assume it was expansion with the heat. I ended up gutting it out so now it’s just a plastic pipe nipple and it’s working fine now. The 5th wheel was new last summer with only 4 trips, first 3 no problems. So can I leave it as is or should I put a new check valve in, any pros or cons? Thank you for your answers

[morleyz]

Which trailer model is this regarding? I haven't had a check valve on hot water on either Jayco TTs that I've owned, but both had 3-valve manual bypass to keep the water heater from backfilling if you're not using it or during winterizing. If your trailer only has a 1-valve bypass/cutoff, I would assume the check valve prevents back-filling from the rest of the system if you turn off the cold water input into the water heater.

If you have a 2 or 3 valve bypass AND a check-valve, I do not see why the check-valve would be necessary on the hot water out line.

[BobbyR]

It’s a 28.RSTS 5th wheel thanks, I will have to check out the Winterizing by pass valve on it, it’s a B&B 3 way by pass valve.

[Jagiven]

If you ALWAYS use your hot water heater, it should not be required.

If you ever want to bypass the water heater you will need a valve, such as when winterizing. You could add a 3 way valve so you have two valves verses just one.