General Boards > Technical Support
Hot Water--What should I expect?
Jim Chambers:
Thank you George. Found the diagrams and see the mixing valve. Apparently there is a cover I must remove on the rear of the unit under the coach. When I reach up there I only feel sheet metal.
Bill Sprague:
[quote author=]Thank you George. Found the diagrams and see the mixing valve. Apparently there is a cover I must remove on the rear of the unit under the coach. When I reach up there I only feel sheet metal.[/quote]
Yes, there is a cover on the rear. It is a rectangular piece sheet of metal held in place by about 20 sheet metal screws. On mine, the screws had been overtightened by Beaver making them spin in their holes when trying to unscrew them. You may want to have a hand full of screws one size bigger when you put it back on.
Once the panel is off, the mixing valve will be obvious. As I recall it has three hoses attached. The two inlets are "really hot" and "cold". The outlet is "normally hot". The valve operates automatically like a thermostat. They say it can get "stuck" do to hard water deposits. If you can't rotate the adjustment knob, yours is stuck. They say that you might be able to "unstick" it by rotating fully both directions and replacing it to the initial position.
Hydrohot has a book with step by step trouble shooting procedures in it. I have a printed copy for my model, but I think you can download a .pdf for yours.
If you do take the back panel off, I think you can trouble shoot a little by touching the hoses attached. With the diesel running and a hot water knob on inside you should be able to detect a temperature difference between the "really hot" coming out of the Hydro Hot and the "normally hot" going to the coach system. If the "really hot" is not, you probably have another problem.
Does anybody know if you can dip an instant read cooking thermometer into the coolant at the cap and measure a "standard" temperature. I'm guessing you can and it should be well above 120F.
You may be able to reach the knob from the front. Depending on your installation you may need to be skinny or have extra long arms. I can barely reach mine but I can't see what I'm doing.
Good luck!
Jim Chambers:
Making some progress. I can almost crawl into the compartment and look at the back of the unit and see the valve.
Attached is a pic from the top. It appears as though the valve is the gray knurled knob. I can see a number "1" on the side of the knob and a number "3" on the opposite side using a mirror. I can reach the knob with my long skinny arm but cannot turn it. Maybe "frozen" as suggested. Earlier advice says to rotate 1/4 turn clockwise. Since I am viewing from above I am guessing I should turn in counter clockwise to increase heat.
Dare I reach in there with a pair of channel locks to try to turn the knob?
Finally, I see that my reservoir shows no fluid when cold. It was only about an inch above the "cold" line when warm. I checked the manual and it says check only when hot. So why a cold line on the reservoir if it is meaningless?
George Harwell:
Glad to see you are on the right track now. The adjusting knob most likely is frozen from lack of movement so go ahead with the channel locks but don't go gorilla on it. The worst case is you may have to remove the valve , put it in a vise so it can be disassembled for cleaning and new seals. If my memory is correct you will have to hold the valve body with a wrench since it is not mounted solidly. Be advised also that the adjusting knob may have a rotation limiting arm installed.
Joel Ashley:
Got this belated message from Roger in response to an inquiry re. your problem:
Joel
Sorry for delay. Your message ended up in my spam folder.
The mixing valve on a Hydro-Hot is in the back of the Hydro-Hot. In many Beaver Coaches you have to get under the coach and remove a panel on the back of the bay to access the back of the Hydro-Hot.
Once you have access to the back of the Hydro-Hot you should exercise the valve. Note where the knob is located. Turn the knob all the way on, then all the way off. Check water temperature. That will normally correct the low water temperature problem. If needed you can adjust the temperature on the knob. The straight hot water should be no higher than 120 degrees in the coach.
Photo of back is attached. Mixing valve has gray knob. Should be set at #2. Note that the valve is installed backwards. The #2 lines up with mark on back of mixing valve (that you cant see). When properly set the number 4 should be what you see.
- Roger Berke -
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