On our last trip.....

[Dave Nowlin]

I had something very unexpected happen. Before leaving home I had turned on the hot water heater and my wife and I cleaned the fridge and anything else that seemed to need it. Then I turned off the switch to the hot water heater. When we got to Topsail and I got everything all hooked up, I turned on the water heater switch. Later my granddaughter told me there was no hot water. I went to the heater and checked. The pop off valve and the sacrificial anode were both hot but no hot water came from the faucets in the unit. I opened the pop off after I had turned the switch off and let water come out of it until it turned cold. Then I shut off the water supply to the trailer amd removed the drain plug/sacrificial anode and drained the heater. I looked inside as best I could with a flashlight but couldn't see anything wrong. I put the plug back in and turned on the water and refilled the heater and turned the switch back on. I waited a while and still no hot water. At this point it was clear that water was flowing into the bottom of the heater but it wasn't coming out of the top. I drained it again and then took the plumbing loose from the outlet of the heater and discovered that the back flow preventer on the outlet had failed. I removed a nylon plastic piece that looked like an engine valve and put everything back together and refilled the tank and turned the switch back on. In a little bit I had hot water. It seems the back flow preventers used on our Montys have plastic insides and a quick surge in pressure will break the valve stem and cause it to block the out flow of water. When we returned home I bought a new one from my local RV service shop which is made of brass and won't break.

[stiles watson]

Good discovery, Dave. Great info for all of us. Good report.

[CORattler]

Great info Dave! This goes in my "fix it" library for the Monty. Thanks for sharing.

[HOOK]

Thanks, good stuff. Larry

[Bill-N-Donna]

Thanks for sharing!
Great information to keep on file.

[sfish]

Good info . Thanks.

[garyka]

I had the same thing happen to me and removed it and forgot about it

[Dave Nowlin]

The problem with removing it and forgetting about it, is that you fill your hot water heater with anti-freeze by accident while attempting to by-pass it.