2017 Seneca Rats Nest Plumbing

[Oma/opa]

Trying to understand the plumbing system as I have some odd things happening like the hot water heater control panel lights up when you flush the toilet. Decided to undo the water "control panel" to look at the plumbing..What a mistake. It is the biggest rats nest plumbing job I have ever seen. I hope I don't need to replace the water pump any time soon as a bunch of the plumbing lines will have to be disconnected to get access. Also discovered that the "low Point" drain will not completely drain the lines as some of them dip down and back up to get around other lines. Will have to do some replumbing. Good thing it's PEX. Also cannot find a shutoff valve for the water heater inlet. If it springs a leak while away from home we will be without water. Going to try to get in touch with Jayco to see if they will supply a plumbing road map for my 37TS.
Enough ranting for now.

[Jagiven]

You will need your VIN number.

I bet you have a tankless water heater. If so, these water heaters sense a drop in the water pressure to tell the system there is a call for hot water. I bet, when you flush the toilet, there is enough of a water pressure drop at the water heater to think you turned on a hot water faucet.

The easiest "fix" probably would be to add an accumulation tank to stabilize the water pressure. The other option is to look at the sensor on the water heater, and see if you can change the water pressure differential. Not sure if you can make that change.

Added thought; adding a check valve at the Tee between the hot and cold water could help, by isolating the two.

Good luck,

[che57vy]

I know what you mean rats nest my greyhawk opened up the electrical panel a real good rats nest took me all day to straighten that up.

[RVermont]

If you have the Nautilus panel with four valves one of the valves is the shut off for the hot water system. I think it is the red one. This is switched when you winterize to prevent putting anti freeze in the heater. The cold water flow is then directed to hot water fixtures so you can deliver antifreeze to the fixtures but not the tank.

They try to make it simple on the outside but you are right it is a spaghetti behind the panel

I would suggest you check your electric grounds if you are getting lights to light up. I had a similar issue when I lost a ground the system back fed and caused my marker lights to light up. Rustynuts has a good description and repair photos on the ground issues.

[ALJO]

Ask any RV repairman they are not surprised, they are happy, lots of work for them and also the DIYer. They built them like that so nobody is board when camping.

[rgolding]

When I have a little spare time, I explore items like that "rats nest" of plumbing. There are some real good "rats nest" of electrical wiring, also. All this has to do with fast assembly and it is worthwhile to go back and do a little bundling and clean up.

On the plumbing, I've tried to get and keep the hot water coming to the faucet faster by insulating the hot water lines with the foam pipe insulation tubes where I can. Yes, we have learned to live with the demand hot water heater.

I started this project, by using a couple of roles of colored vinyl, or electrical tape, in red for hot and blue for cold. I marked each one of the water lines in all the locations, where I could get to the plumbing. Once you do this, the "rats nest" is not quite so intimidating. After I marked them, I went back and installed the foam tubes over the hot water lines and once again held it in place with red vinyl tape.

It may sound like a waste of time project, but the more you crawl around and learn where things are, the less intimidating the search for a problem becomes.

The Senecas are notorious for putting fancy, useless panels up to make things look nice. Especially in the belly compartments. Most are held in with just a few screws. Pull them out and looks what's behind there. We have left most of them off, organized the wiring and plumbing and then use the extra storage space. If that's not your desire, looking behind the panel, at least, and it lets you know how things run from area to area.

Please excuse my rambling and enjoy the ride.