Hot Water Heater (Truma) Bypass Valve Issue

[Frank C]

Not a Truma problem but the issue did manifest itself as very low HOT water flow at all faucets.  Problem of low hot water flow was the same whether on city water or using pump & fresh tank.   COLD water flow was good at all faucets.  And I’ve done the decalcification/cleaning process annually.  Did some troubleshooting and was initially thinking it was a Truma problem because flow to the hot side of all the faucets was good if I bypassed the Truma at the bypass valve on the Truma cold water inlet.  Fearing a very expensive Truma repair, I dug a little further.

Opening the Truma drain lever and removing the Truma screen filter, and turning the bypass valve back to normal operating position, and I saw very little flow emptying out of the Truma drain.  There really isn’t much inside the Truma on the inlet at that point to even get clogged up, it’s just a direct port into the screen filter, so low flow draining out pointed back to a problem at the plumbing going into the Truma.

I removed the bypass valve and found the rubber seal inside had degraded and swollen (see photo), restricting the flow in the normal position.

Found a CAMCO replacement on Amazon that’ll be here tomorrow.   Hopefully the seal on this CAMCO one holds up better than the original one (different valve manufacturer).  I really think a lot of these plumbing components aren’t tested with the chemicals using for RV maintenance like the anti-freeze winterizing solution, or vinegar/water or bleach/water sanitizing solutions, leading to issues with degradation of the seals. 

A pretty easy replacement of the valve but I’m also going to use this opportunity to redo the cold inlet and hot outlet plumbing connections on the back of the Truma to change to stainless braided flexible supply lines.  Not a fan of the rigid plastic connections used by Oliver initially in those locations.  Some owners have had the plastic hot water PEX fitting break at the brass TEE on the Truma outlet.  With all the bouncing down the road, and thermal expansion and contraction when using the Truma, I want flexible connections there like some of those other owners have upgraded to.

Camco bypass valve link to Amazon:

https://a.co/d/eGqkhrA

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

Thank you for the heads-up!

[Galway Girl]

You might also consider securing the backof the water heater to the frame with a strap or L brackets.

My water heater had an issue which included a fire, and one of the requested steps upon repair from Truma was to firmly attach the back of the water heater down to the frame it's sitting on.  (The back of the Truma is sitting on a frame member for the trailer.)

After about 3 months, I heard back that the water heater I had was found to have an improperly torqued internal gas connection from the Truma factory.   They told Oliver Service that upon tear down they found the torque issue was linked to a manufacturing line situation where their Torque tool wasn't properly calibrated.   Not sure what batch of units that impacted but they eventually fully refunded my replacement unit.

 

[Frank C]

16 hours ago, Galway Girl said:

You might also consider securing the backof the water heater to the frame with a strap or L brackets.

My water heater had an issue which included a fire, and one of the requested steps upon repair from Truma was to firmly attach the back of the water heater down to the frame it's sitting on.  (The back of the Truma is sitting on a frame member for the trailer.)

After about 3 months, I heard back that the water heater I had was found to have an improperly torqued internal gas connection from the Truma factory.   They told Oliver Service that upon tear down they found the torque issue was linked to a manufacturing line situation where their Torque tool wasn't properly calibrated.   Not sure what batch of units that impacted but they eventually fully refunded my replacement unit.

 

Thanks for the info from Truma on the mounting issue.   I’ll take a look at that as well during the bypass valve repair. 

[Swamp]

Question, was it increasing more difficult to open/close as the problem developed?

 

Swamp

[Frank C]

31 minutes ago, Swamp said:

Question, was it increasing more difficult to open/close as the problem developed?

 

Swamp

No, the bad bypass valve still felt normal when opening and closing it.  The faulty seal inside the bypass valve wasn’t noticeable until I removed the valve.   The new CAMCO bypass valve is installed and works well so far.  One nice little detail of this CAMCO valve is that the positions are labeled (open or bypass).  And I changed all water lines into and out of the Truma to braided flexible supply lines and brass fittings to eliminate the issue of breakage of the rigid plastic connections that some owners have had.

Camco 37463 3-Way By-Pass Valve Replacement - Brass https://a.co/d/8qur0uz

[In Pursuit]

Looks good!!

[Swamp]

16 hours ago, Frank C said:

No, the bad bypass valve still felt normal when opening and closing it.  The faulty seal inside the bypass valve wasn’t noticeable until I removed the valve.  

I went to winterize my trailer yesterday and my valve was very hard to move. I think a up grade is in future. Thanks for you help in identifying this issue. I hate to be lazy but could you share the info on the lines as well. I like the modification.

 

Swamp

[Frank C]

The braided supply lines with 1/2” female pipe thread ends are available in various lengths at any hardware store like Lowe’s, etc., along with the Sharkbite fittings to go on the existing water lines on the trailer. 

[topgun2]

5 hours ago, Frank C said:

along with the Sharkbite fittings to go on the existing water lines on the trailer. 

I do carry an assortment of Sharkbite fittings with me at all times in the event I should need to do a plumbing repair while on the road.

However, there have been several posts concerning the possible failure of these fittings (unless performed exactly correct) in the various abusive (read that as vibration and flexing) environments that are common with travel trailers.

Bill

[Patriot]

On 9/22/2022 at 7:22 PM, Frank C said:

No, the bad bypass valve still felt normal when opening and closing it.  The faulty seal inside the bypass valve wasn’t noticeable until I removed the valve.   The new CAMCO bypass valve is installed and works well so far.  One nice little detail of this CAMCO valve is that the positions are labeled (open or bypass).  And I changed all water lines into and out of the Truma to braided flexible supply lines and brass fittings to eliminate the issue of breakage of the rigid plastic connections that some owners have had.

Camco 37463 3-Way By-Pass Valve Replacement - Brass https://a.co/d/8qur0uz

Ordered to keep as a spare if needed. Thanks Frank C!

[rich.dev]

On 9/22/2022 at 7:22 PM, Frank C said:

And I changed all water lines into and out of the Truma to braided flexible supply lines and brass fittings to eliminate the issue of breakage of the rigid plastic connections that some owners have had.

Frank, I love what you've done here, really nice job! Sorry if I missed it but what did you use to connect the braided lines to the existing plastic lines/connectors in these 3 spots?  Other than the Camco by-pass valve, do you maybe have a list of all the parts you used? Thanks!

 

[Frank C]

32 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

Frank, I love what you've done here, really nice job! Sorry if I missed it but what did you use to connect the braided lines to the existing plastic lines/connectors in these 3 spots?  Other than the Camco by-pass valve, do you maybe have a list of all the parts you used? Thanks!

 

I used sharkbite connectors to go from the braided supply lines to the original plastic plumbing lines.  I got all the parts at Lowe’s.