Interior No flow from Hot water!?

[Sammy D]

Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong section.


We have pulled up for the night and was looking forward to a nice warm shower but I am getting no flow at all from my hot water. I turned the gas on, as we are off the grid (got bogged turning around as you do so I unbogged the car and decided that here is as good as any place to stay for the night, but that is not the problem!) and it all started perfectly and l left it 20 minutes and then tried the hot water but I am getting no water flow at all when on the hot side of the tap. The cold side is working perfectly but if you turn the tap around to the hot side the water stops flowing. I opened the hot water hatch and gave the overflow a pull and got about a cupful of hot water out but then nothing.

It was working perfectly on our last trip and the only thing done since then is we got a diesel heater put in which we routed through the tunnel behind the hot water. I've had a bit of a look but I can't see any obvious wire problems and was just wondering what controls the flow through the hot water system?

Anyway I will have a decent look underneath tomorrow once I shuffle the van back onto the tar:doh:

 

[dagree]

Sounds like a good start to the trip

Are you having the same problem on all hot water taps or just one @Sammy D ? Just wondering if you have crimped a hose during the heater install maybe?

Bit hard to diagnose without being able to see but someone on here may have had the same issue and get back with a fix for it!

 

[Sammy D]

A crimped hose could definitely be the cause, as it is all hot taps. I am just cooking some bacon and eggs and then we will pull the van around onto the tar and I will crawl under and have a squiz.



PS it is frosty outside and a toasty 20 degrees inside don't tell crusty but these diesel heaters are awesome!!!

 

[Drover]

Have a look for a brass valve with a round black knob on it, this is a pressure/non return valve same as on HWS at home, regulates water pressure in and stops HW returning down line, it will be located near to HWS on feed in line. It may be turned off or you may have a bit of plastic swirl blocking the line.
Always bleed HWS from tap before turning on gas/240 to clear air from tank.

 

[Sammy D]

All solved:encouragement::encouragement:

It did end up being the non return valve but NOT because it was turned off, it seems when installing the diesel heater they had to undo a bit of plumbing to get it all installed and everything looked perfect but when I started crawling underneath and tracing the water from the tank the arrow on the valve was pointing backwards so it was as simple as pulling it off and swapping it round. Now we are all showered and out of the bog so things are looking up.

 

[Drover]

Well you achieved 2 things......1.....You know your non return valve works and 2..............you also know where not to park.............

 

[Dobbie]

And you smell sweeter......

:baby::baby:

 

[Drover]

How come you have water out there @Sammy D , huey must have got lost !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dagree]

Nice tow rig @Sammy D
And good to see it was an easy fix..... Going to send the installer a bill for labour?

 

[Sammy D]

Yes @Drover Huey must have tripped and spilt a little extra. I did suspect it might be wet so I should have known better but on the bright side we were looking for a nice quiet spot to spend the night and we didn't get bogged with the van on the road so it all could have been worse.

Yes @dagree i thought I had better unload the "tow vehicle" in hope that the van would miraculously push the car out of the bog but alas a more dedicated attack was required.

As for sending a bill to the repairer........ The heater is so good that I couldn't bring myself to even think about it and at the end of the day there are so many hoses going this way and that that getting a valve backwards wouldn't really be hard so no hard feelings


And as for smelling sweeter......... I think I need a lot more water than I carry onboard

 

[Base23]

All solved:encouragement::encouragement:

It did end up being the non return valve but NOT because it was turned off, it seems when installing the diesel heater they had to undo a bit of plumbing to get it all installed and everything looked perfect but when I started crawling underneath and tracing the water from the tank the arrow on the valve was pointing backwards so it was as simple as pulling it off and swapping it round. Now we are all showered and out of the bog so things are looking up.
View attachment 42500

Good to hear you got the water flow problem all fixed.
Looking at the picture of your basestation I noticed that the plumping pipe (grey water) is coming out in front of the wheels and you only have one outlet. Is this a modification or is it how the 2016 basestations are?

 

[Crusty181]

don't tell crusty but these diesel heaters are awesome!!

I heard that

 

[Sammy D]

Good to hear you got the water flow problem all fixed.
Looking at the picture of your basestation I noticed that the plumping pipe (grey water) is coming out in front of the wheels and you only have one outlet. Is this a modification or is it how the 2016 basestations are?

Base23 we got a grey water tank fitted from new and that is how it came, if we didn't get that they still come with the dual outlets but I am not sure where they come out. The one we looked at that had the dual outlets was a 2015 model so I am not sure if they have changed but it was plumbed to come out behind the axles.

 

[Base23]

S

Base23 we got a grey water tank fitted from new and that is how it came, if we didn't get that they still come with the dual outlets but I am not sure where they come out. The one we looked at that had the dual outlets was a 2015 model so I am not sure if they have changed but it was plumbed to come out behind the axles.

Any chance you can take a few photos of the grey water tank and the plumbing under the van.

 

[Sammy D]

I sure can base23.

I will wait until we are back on decent gravel before I crawl under though as we are out west of Hillston and there is a horrible burr out here that breaks into a hundred pieces if it gets in your clothes!

 

[Sammy D]

S

Any chance you can take a few photos of the grey water tank and the plumbing under the van.

Finally got a chance to take some pics for you @Base23. Sorry it took so long, we all came down with the flu so I have been hiding under the bedcovers for a few days but am all better now and seeing as it is wet here at home I have been crawling around under the van installing my freshly acquired stonestomper so got some pics while I was at it.

The grey water tank is the rearmost tank (just in front of the front axle)

The sink drains directly into the tank on the door side of the van

While the shower and the basin drain into the off side of the van (the shower goes through a one way filter thingamajig)

The drain is also on the off side of the van and is basically just a ball valve attached to the chassis rail

The plumbing definitely isn't the tidiest I have seen but it all seems to work fairly well. In the long run I plan to put another tank or two down the rear only for use when not carting the buggy or bikes. The front tanks are fairly simple and go through this tap which selects tank 1 or tank 2 or both. (The brass valve in the background is on the cold water line between the pump and the sink/shower/basin, there is also one on the hot water line which is the one that had been fitted backwards)

 

[Base23]

Finally got a chance to take some pics for you @Base23. Sorry it took so long, we all came down with the flu so I have been hiding under the bedcovers for a few days but am all better now and seeing as it is wet here at home I have been crawling around under the van installing my freshly acquired stonestomper so got some pics while I was at it.

The grey water tank is the rearmost tank (just in front of the front axle)
View attachment 42759

The sink drains directly into the tank on the door side of the van
View attachment 42760

While the shower and the basin drain into the off side of the van (the shower goes through a one way filter thingamajig)View attachment 42761


The drain is also on the off side of the van and is basically just a ball valve attached to the chassis rail
View attachment 42762

The plumbing definitely isn't the tidiest I have seen but it all seems to work fairly well. In the long run I plan to put another tank or two down the rear only for use when not carting the buggy or bikes. The front tanks are fairly simple and go through this tap which selects tank 1 or tank 2 or both. (The brass valve in the background is on the cold water line between the pump and the sink/shower/basin, there is also one on the hot water line which is the one that had been fitted backwards)
View attachment 42763

Thanks for the pictures
I just wanted to see how they did it in the factory and where they mounted the tank as the grey water tank was not an option in 2015.
The shower one way filter thingamajig is actually called a hepvo valve, The hepvo valve is a back flow valve that will prevent water coming up through the shower drain as it is the lowest drain and almost at grey water tank level. I fitted one of these when I did my grey water tank install.

 

[Base23]

Is your front water tank factory as it looks smaller than mine and only has 2 straps holding it up?

 

[Sammy D]

Yes the front tank is factory as well and is supposed to be still 80 litres but it isn't as wide as the second tank but it is a fair bit deeper. I'm not sure if there is a reason for it or not but looking at them I do believe they will both hold the same volume but the second tank is a much lower profile (the same as the grey water tank) and would be the sort that I will get when I get around to putting a tank at the rear.

I did wonder if the deeper narrower tank was meant to be the grey water tank? Maybe it was meant to be and they got things back to front? But it doesn't really worry me it is all working so I won't be changing it.

 

[Drover]

I know when I filled my 80lt tanks on the Tardis with Jerry Cans, surprise, surprise 3 an a half Jerry Cans it took to fill up, very economical........but not really surprised.