Water Heater Bypass.. 2008 Designer 35RLSA

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 06:11 AM

Kind of stuck, and could use some advice/information from you good people. We traded in our older fiver late last year for a 2008 Designer, 35RLSA. While I have always winterized my own rigs, this time I let the dealer do it as it came with the deal. So yesterday was the day (finally) to un-winterize (can I hear ya' say "Hallelujah"!) Anyway, search as I could, I could not find any water heater bypass valves. The utility center has no description for any of the five or six valves there, and the plumbing, pump, and hot water heater are all hidden and inaccessible without pulling out panels. Is there a water heater bypass on this rig (the manual implies that there is), and if 'yes', where the heck is it? Any ideas or information would be greatly appreciated.

**norty1** · 05-04-2014, 06:24 AM

Get a online drawing of the utility panel valves. That is where it happens. Someone must have removed the combination key. It may be like mine if you can't get it.

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norty1

Get a online drawing of the utility panel valves. That is where it happens. Someone must have removed the combination key. It may be like mine if you can't get it.

I've been searching for just that, but can't find a drawing anywhere. May not be using the correct search terms, though. Can you point me in the right direction? Would much appreciate it.

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 07:05 AM

So here's another bit of information gained this morning. On another forum, a fellow advised that on his Designer, he needed to pull a small panel adjacent to the utility center to access the HWH bypass valve(s). If true, I'd not be wild about the idea of having to crawl into the basement, especially since I recently installed a reel for the 50 amp 'anaconda' cord that I'd have to work around. Anyone have any thoughts on this tidbit?

bad99ram · 05-04-2014, 08:08 AM

Go to Jayco.com and you can download a owners manual for your year. In section 7 they have a label of the valve positions for bypass ect.

tnchuck100 · 05-04-2014, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad99ram

Go to Jayco.com and you can download a owners manual for your year. In section 7 they have a label of the valve positions for bypass ect.

Out of curiosity I looked at this manual. As is typically with these owners manuals it describes the obvious but gives no indication whatsoever as to where anything is located. That is what Itching2go wants to know.

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 12:15 PM

Yep. The manual does say to turn the bypass valve, but gives no indication as to where it's at.

So, I just got back from the rig, and here's an update, now with a different problem.

Got into the basement and found the panel that I heard about on the 'other' forum. Got it off and sure enough, there was the elusive bypass valve which, as expected was not turned, meaning it hadn't been bypassed when the dealer put in the pink stuff. Purged the tank (again) to get as much of it out as possible, refilled it, and fired it up on propane. (No AC available at that point.) This is an Atwood heater, by the way. Had a Suburban in my old rig, so Atwood is new to me.

Must have taken a half-hour for the burner to light, but eventually it did with no intervention on my part. Waited a good half hour to an hour until it shut off, then ran the hot water at the kitchen sink. While the water got warm, it never did get hot. Same for the shower and bathroom sink Must have run it for a half-hour before the heater fired up again. So, with all that, I'm thinking I have either a faulty thermostat, or the mixer on the back of the heater is adding too much cold to not enough hot.

Has anyone else run into this and have some ideas to share? I'll take all the advice I can get.

Thanks..

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 12:19 PM

...and in case you're wondering, the water heater bypass is NOT one of the valves on the utility center. It's behind a small panel that is adjacent to the utility center that is held on by two screws. No label, so no indication that there's something behind it that one needs to care about.

**norty1** · 05-04-2014, 12:22 PM

There is no mixer. The middle valve on mine bypasses the heater. (See 3 valves on right)

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**Crabman** · 05-04-2014, 01:31 PM

Did you leave the bypass valve turned on (center valve in image below)? If so it will mix cold water with hot and the water will never get very hot. Here are the normal and bypassed valve illustrations.

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 01:34 PM

Looking at the Owner's manual now, and it shows a "Mixing Valve" on mounted on the rear of the water heater tank. This is a 10 gallon Atwood, dual gas/electric. There's a cold water line feeding into the mixing valve on one side. The hot water outlet is on the other side of this valve. Confirmed that this is the same configuration as is installed once I got the panels off and could take a look at the back of the unit itself. This is an Atwood model GEH16EXT.

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabman

Did you leave the bypass valve turned on (center valve in image below)? If so it will mix cold water with hot and the water will never get very hot. Here are the normal and bypassed valve illustrations.

By George, I think you may have it! I'm going to make a quick run back to the rig, just to make certain that the bypass is indeed closed. If it isn't you'll be able to hear the sound of my smacking my forehead and crying, "Dohhhh...."

Thanks, Crabman...

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 04:25 PM

Well, while I'd love to be able to slap the forehead and cry "Dohhh", the water heater wasn't bypassed after all. Did some more checking and I'm pretty well convinced that it's the mixer valve. Turns out from some web research, this isn't an uncommon occurrence for Atwood heaters with this feature, particularly for people running hard water through the system. Deposits get run through the mixer valve and clog it up. As I understand it, this almost always happens at the beginning of a season when people un-winterize and stir things up when filling up their heater tanks. The best defense is to make sure the sediment is cleared out of the tank when draining it at the end of the year. So now it's off to figure out my options to repair, replace, or bypass it altogether.

Fun times. If anyone's got any ideas, throw them my way.

**norty1** · 05-04-2014, 06:32 PM

I have had 2 rigs with Atwood wh's. Never heard of a mixing valve. I did have 3 valves on the back but they were hot, cold and bypass.

Learn something everyday.

Itching2go · 05-04-2014, 08:36 PM

Yeah. Mixing valves are only found on the EXT model Atwoods, such as the G9EXT, GE9EXT, GEH9EXT, G16EXT, GE16EXT, and GEH16EXT. Instead of heating the water in the tank to the normal 120 - 130 degrees, these models heat the water to 160 degrees, then mix it with cold water at the water heater outlet to get it down to the standard 120 or so. The idea is that in this manner, you can get 16 gallons of hot water out of a 10 gallon tank. Nice idea, but it's at times like this that the old adage, "simpler is better" rings true.

Itching2go · 05-10-2014, 01:01 PM

Just to close this thread out, I replaced the mixer valve this morning and lo and behold, hot water! On a difficulty scale of 1 to 10, I'd put this one at an 8 to diagnose, and a 6 to repair once I figured out how to get the access panels off. Now all is good with the world and we're ready to head out for a long Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Trails!

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