Maiden Voyage = first issue

[MMoran]

Recently purchased our new Jayco Flight SLX 287bhs and we were excited to get out there on our maiden voyage. We had a great time this past weekend but found out on day one that while it DID work for the first 30 min or so after testing, the water heater furnace stopped working. The TT was all of 3 weeks old and had been onsite for only an hour before experiencing our first issue. Welcome to RV'ing!!!

 

[2edgesword]

If I'm understanding this correctly you got to your campsite, hit the switch to turn on the water heater, you heard the heater burner go on, it stayed on long enough to heat the water in the tank and then shutdown. You used the hot water in the tank and the burn won't reignite to reheat a fresh supply of water. Is that correct?

 

[MMoran]

Partially correct. Turned on the water heater, heard it do it's thing. Short time later we were outside and our little girls needed to be hosed off using the outside shower. The water was extremely hot until we found the right mix of hot and cold (similarly how one would in any shower)...used the water for all of 2 minutes off and on (meaning by no means ran out the capacity in the heater. Later that evening the shower would NOT get hot at all. Barely luke warm. Close to an hour of troubleshooting, the water heater try's to cycle, get's gas going but will not light. I tried manually lighting it successfully but it only works for several seconds and turns off. I hope this makes sense.

 

[Vaquero]

Sounds like a regulator issue.
Do the stove burners work?

 

[MMoran]

Good question, Vaquero. We never used the RV stove this trip. I done all the cooking outside on my Camp Chef propane stove.

 

[mohok1]

Issues

Welcome aboard, Mate. Consider the 1st 2 years of ownership as a "shakedown cruise" and you will be lucky if you get the bugs out by then.

 

[Jagiven]

We always light the stove when we get to camp. This is the easiest way to purge the air out of the lines. They always get air in the lines, when just sitting. Not sure how, must be a chemical reaction, but they always do.

Also double check the bypass valves behind the water heater, if all the valves are in the open position you will get like warm water.

 

[Zoggie]

Partially correct. Turned on the water heater, heard it do it's thing. Short time later we were outside and our little girls needed to be hosed off using the outside shower. The water was extremely hot until we found the right mix of hot and cold (similarly how one would in any shower)...used the water for all of 2 minutes off and on (meaning by no means ran out the capacity in the heater. Later that evening the shower would NOT get hot at all. Barely luke warm. Close to an hour of troubleshooting, the water heater try's to cycle, get's gas going but will not light. I tried manually lighting it successfully but it only works for several seconds and turns off. I hope this makes sense.

I have heard that if you use the outside shower and turn the water off at the shower head (not the hot and cold knobs), that the water in the camper will be luke warm. Did you shut off the outside shower at the knobs?

 

[Campingteacher79]

Recently purchased our new Jayco Flight SLX 287bhs and we were excited to get out there on our maiden voyage. We had a great time this past weekend but found out on day one that while it DID work for the first 30 min or so after testing, the water heater furnace stopped working. The TT was all of 3 weeks old and had been onsite for only an hour before experiencing our first issue. Welcome to RV'ing!!!

I'm dealing with this issue as well, see my thread "Atwood water heater issue."

 

[Shroomer]

A similar thing happened to me the first time out this year. The problem was that I inadvertently had my winterizing valves in the wrong position on the hot water heater. The result was that it heated up a very small amount of water, shut off, and left me with a very short hand washing.



Also, since this is a new camper, it might not have the valves set in the correct position. (My first camper came this way). Check your owner's manual for the correct setup. It could be a very easy fix.

 

[rockaw]

caution with the HOT water, most RVs trailers fixed hot water thermostats, they do not have a hot temp regulator like homes do. The run EXTREMELY HOT, it's to compensate for a small hot water tank to make it last longer when mixing with cold...make sure your family is aware of it.

 

[MMoran]

A similar thing happened to me the first time out this year. The problem was that I inadvertently had my winterizing valves in the wrong position on the hot water heater. The result was that it heated up a very small amount of water, shut off, and left me with a very short hand washing.



Also, since this is a new camper, it might not have the valves set in the correct position. (My first camper came this way). Check your owner's manual for the correct setup. It could be a very easy fix.

What valves are you speaking of?

 

[MMoran]

We always light the stove when we get to camp. This is the easiest way to purge the air out of the lines. They always get air in the lines, when just sitting. Not sure how, must be a chemical reaction, but they always do.

Also double check the bypass valves behind the water heater, if all the valves are in the open position you will get like warm water.

What are the bypass valves "bypassing"? I didn't check these but at one point, the water was definitely HOT and not just luke warm. I believe the "luke warm" water was just what was in my 35' water hose that had me connected to their supply.

 

[Shroomer]

Tank style hot water heaters typically have three valves that control the flow of water. A cold in - a hot out. But there is also a bypass valve in the middle that's used in the winter. You close the hot and cold to prevent antifreeze from getting in the heater and you open the bypass to allow the antifreeze to run through all the lines. These valves are often accessible from the inside of the camper by removing a panel. You won't see them from the outside cover to the heater.

 

[MMoran]

Tank style hot water heaters typically have three valves that control the flow of water. A cold in - a hot out. But there is also a bypass valve in the middle that's used in the winter. You close the hot and cold to prevent antifreeze from getting in the heater and you open the bypass to allow the antifreeze to run through all the lines. These valves are often accessible from the inside of the camper by removing a panel. You won't see them from the outside cover to the heater.

Gotcha. Thanks, Shroomer. Yes, we have a panel under one of our rear bunks to access this area. Everything worked at one time so I believe they're in the right position. We have an Atwood Direct Spark Ignition water heater (gas only). I spoke with a tech at Camping World yesterday and he claimed that it's more than likely the ECO/Brain Box. He actually said that they've seen a rash of these here as of late. I'm gonna take it off and up there so they can test it. Hoping it's that easy and that I don't have to take my new camper up there to sit for however long until they can fix it.

 

[Shroomer]

It's nice that you don't have to drag the camper and leave it. Hope it's as easy as that.

 

[MMoran]

Yes! I'll let everyone know when I know. Will be Thursday before I can get the ECO/Brainbox up to them to test.