COMBINED TOPICS - WATER HEATER PEX FITTING LEAK & POTENTIAL GFCI NOT RESETTING - 2008 Knight 40DFT

[Steve P]

I'll be doing the water heater PEX fitting replacement starting Monday morning.  My procedure will be:

1) Cut off propane tank, 2) burn off propane in line with stovetop, 3) disconnect gas line in WH bay from feed pipe, 4) unplug 120V WH plug from outlet, 5) disconnect 12V line to WH, 6) remove water hose hose connection in water bay, 7) start WH draining, 😎 open winterization drains for hot and cold in water bay.  9) When water heater is empty, remove it. 10) Repair PEX fitting or maybe both fittings to water inlets (hot and cold).  11) Reverse steps 1-9 and test all connections for leaks (especially the propane line).  12) Refill water heater and check that both 12V gas and 120V elements are working to heat water.

That's all I could think of, so IF anything is missing, please fill me in with your thoughts...  And thanks in advance.

Steve P

[Steve P]

I did the replacement of the cracked PEX fitting yesterday (on the hot water output line side of the WH bypass, using the steps above.  It was a job... I also added a cutoff on the input cold water line side to allow me to turn the main supply to the rest of the coach on while working on the water heater.  The main difficulty was getting the WH assembly to fit well to the mounting holes.  The bottom of the styrofoam insulation is almost completely compressed or worn off from vibration over the years (sorry, I forgot to take a pic).  And the small right-angled brackets with mounting holes seem to have been twisted/misaligned by previous owner repairs, so I had to rework those.  It took 3 tries to get the assembly in and mounted to my satisfaction.  I'll have to do it again after I purchase a replacement for the styrofoam insulation shell.  I'll be equipped at that time to replace the brackets.  I will post a pic of the cutoff valve and the final assembled interior from my phone as soon as possible.  Thanks to everyone who helped!!

[jacwjames]

Good idea adding a shutoff valve

I have the Manablock system and can isolate most of the locations. 

When I build my house I decided to do the same thing, ended up making my own manifold systems.  Made one for the whole house but also made one for each of the bathrooms on the first and second floors.   In the event of a problem I can isolate pretty much any fixture until I get it fixed and don't have to worry about being without water.  Took some time and more $$$ but looks nice and gives me piece of mind.  Building inspector was impressed, said he hadn't seen anything like that before.  Everything labeled so I don't have to guess.   

[Steve P]

A couple pics just to wrap up the report on the repair of the hot water line fitting and the cold water added cutoff.

[Tom Cherry]

12 minutes ago, Steve P said:

A couple pics just to wrap up the report on the repair of the hot water line fitting and the cold water added cutoff.

Looks GREAT.  OK...to sort of summarize and get all the eggs in one basket.

You changed out the GFCI (previous post) to a Leviton (one of the approved brands) and that resolved the Tripping issue....and it appears it was NOT related to the Pex fitting leak

You have repaired, and it looks great, the fittings and improved the layout.

SO...I surmise that all is well and now you are ready, like Don Quixote, to tilt another windmill...and we ALL know that they just hide and wait and sneak up on you.  LOL.  That's just my take on a MH.  You learn a lot and are often challenged and can do things that you never dreamt you could...and hope you never have to again.

If this is incorrect...I apologize....but it closes out this one.  The Topic will always be open for any others that have similar issues to use.

Good Luck and Good Job

[Steve P]

@Tom Cherry Your summation says it well.  All done with what appears to have been separate challenges.  I still have to replace the styrofoam shroud on the water heater, and correct some mounting problems (screw locations).  My mental picture is of a carousel.  Ups and downs, and dizzying with its challenges, occasionally getting dragged by the horses. 

On to mounting the front mask (until I can remove my moldy cracked Diamondshield).  

Thanks again to everyone for the able assists!!  There is no way I could afford a MH without you.