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Folks,

Wanted to post about a "fun" situation that Deb and I had on a trip we are now on.  Yesterday after setting up and hooking up we immediately started the relaxing ritual (beer and wine).  After dinner we discovered we didn't have hot water to wash dishes and take showers.  My thought was that I'd get to it in the morning.

The short version was that one of our Prevent a Freeze switches was not in "operation" mode which allowed the Swan switching valve downstream of the water heater to bypass to cold water.  So, once I switched it to "operation" all is fine.  We've never lived in cold climate and have never had to winterize the coach so the solution never crossed my mind until:

  1. I checked for propane.  Gauge showed ZERO but I was certain we had propane.  Broke camp, unhooked water and electric then drove to filling station.  We only needed 19 gals of propane so now I'm really perplexed (we have a 60 gal tank).  Came back to campsite and re-setup.
  2. Took both propane and electric on/off switches off and tested for voltage.  Nothing.  Checked fuses and honestly couldn't find the circuit.  At this point a little more than perplexed.
  3. Next, checked the manifold block to see if hot water lines have been closed off and bypassed.  Although we didn't have hot water we were getting cold water through the hot water faucets.
  4. Crawled into basement and traced lines back to hot water heater.  Put my hand on the hot water heater discharge line fitting and lo and behold it was hot.  I'm feeling a little better now since I probably have hot water.
  5. Further crawling around and I see a Swan Industries box that appears to be a mixer or bypass with both hot and cold water lines going to it.
  6. Got online to see what the heck is Swan Industries and I see the box and the Prevent a Freeze rocker switches.  So, got up and fiddled with the switches and one was not set correctly!
  7. Well......now we have hot water and both electric element and propane burners are working.

So, in my defense, this coach has only resided in California and Texas so we've never needed to winterize it and haven't camped in really cold climates so I never bothered to learn about the Prevent a Freeze system.  Probably should have!

Hope this helps someone else down the road!

Do I get the DA award today?

Blake

Swan Industries.JPG

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Isn't owning a RV such a wonderful learning experience. You also had the boss motivating you to "get the hot water working". :D

Bill

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Gets the hand clean from all that crawling around :o Yes I said Hand, the other is for beer...never dirty! :lol:

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