Water Not Getting Hot

[EddieK82]

Hi,

We aren't getting any hot water. It worked before we brought it in for service, but now it's not getting hot on Electric or gas. Any troubleshooting steps we can take?

[geotex1]

Verify HWH tank is full and valves in all the proper orientation. Next make sure it's getting 12VDC power and igniting on gas. Verify 120VAC for the electric element.

[boyscout]

We aren't getting any hot water. It worked before we brought it in for service, but now it's not getting hot on Electric or gas. Any troubleshooting steps we can take?

Have you checked to see if the tank is getting hot?

If tests suggested by @geotex1 above all pass, then the tank should be getting pretty warm. Check where the drain plug is located, is the tank wall in that area hot?

If it is, the hot water in the tank isn't getting out of it and the likely cause of that is a failed check valve on the tank where the hot water outlet exits the tank. I'm not familiar with what heater is used in the Imagine line or how it's installed. The Reflection and Solitude trailers we've owned had/have a Suburban water heater with the outlet and check valve on the rear wall of the tank near the top.

The check valve allows hot water out while preventing cold water from coming in the outlet. The valves have generally lasted a couple of years or so but there has been a large handful of reports here of the valve failing on 2020 trailers after only weeks or months of use. It may be that Grand Design is using a bad batch of them.

It's an inexpensive part and often easy to install. Here are a couple of videos, not Grand-Design-specific but likely useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcBZ6K19pWc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMqm_dPme8k

Good luck.

[powerscol]

The other thing to check is to be sure the outside shower valves are closed. If open the allow the hot/cold to mix. Also make sure the 110 plug is plugged it too.

[EddieK82]

It's fixed, turns out I didn't have the propane on, but it works now on both electric and gas.

[Grammy&Grandad]

Learned something today by glancing through this thread... New 380FL owner. I knew how to troubleshoot water heater problems but have never owned a unit with a Nautilus system. We had dry camped one night on our current trip, and I had not returned the system to city water mode afterward. Fail #1 . Aaaaaand I had used the outside sprayer to rinse hands after setup when we arrived at current site, but had not closed fixture handles afterward. So even when I switched Nautilus system to city water to correct Fail #1 , I only had tepid water. My power looked good, but heater wouldn’t fire up. No DSI light. Because the tank was already full of hot water, but it was mixing via the spray fixture as mentioned in this thread and elsewhere. So Fail #2 discovered and corrected. All good.

I had pretty much decided to call a mobile tech, but thought it couldn’t hurt to glance through the Forum before jumping. You guys saved me an unnecessary expense and I’ll enjoy a peaceful night of sleep!

[That 1 Ron]

Well, add me to the list of no hot water as well. Everything worked great last night and this morning but no hot water tonight. It is slightly warmer than just the cold water but not by much. Nothing to my knowledge was messed with while we’re here at camp. I did check the breaker and that was not tripped but I reset it anyway. I don’t hear it trying to fire on gas alone either. It’s late now so I’ll dig into it in the morning. Hopefully it’s an easy fix, I could really use a shower.

This may be a dumb question but, I can just leave the electric water heater switch on as long as I have water and shore power correct?

[TNFisher]

Well, add me to the list of no hot water as well. Everything worked great last night and this morning but no hot water tonight. It is slightly warmer than just the cold water but not by much. Nothing to my knowledge was messed with while we’re here at camp. I did check the breaker and that was not tripped but I reset it anyway. I don’t hear it trying to fire on gas alone either. It’s late now so I’ll dig into it in the morning. Hopefully it’s an easy fix, I could really use a shower.

This may be a dumb question but, I can just leave the electric water heater switch on as long as I have water and shore power correct?

Yes. I only run propane when we take showers one after the other. Then turn propane off and leave electric on.


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[That 1 Ron]

Good news! I seemed to have fixed the issue. It was a bad connection at the thermostat. I found it as I was testing for power with my volt meter.

[BearNTrail]

The other thing to check is to be sure the outside shower valves are closed. If open the allow the hot/cold to mix. Also make sure the 110 plug is plugged it too.

Yep. That was it (outside shower valves). Thanks. It was driving me crazy!