[C320-list] Hot water tank woes

[Pat Moriarty]

Your water pump just see water from the tank and not hot water but 
the steam may have affected the control switch. The 120VAC on the 
tank has a temp controller but it may be bad and if you are like me 
don't use it much because we usually get engine heated water. The 
engine heating circuit is not controlled at all and will be the same 
as the engine temp after a long run. Your T&P is probably bad and is 
no big expense but from what I have heard a real pain to change. Good luck.



Pat #130

At 03:31 PM 7/5/2007, you wrote:
>I just came back from a 4 day vacation on the boat and we had a bit 
>of trouble with the hot water tank.  With 4 girls (wife and three 
>kids) hot water is a must.
>There were a couple of strange things that happened but to save on 
>typing and you reading I'll talk about the main one.  On the third 
>day we were on a dock in Kennebunkport, ME and we turned on the AC 
>water heater.  After taking showers we forgot to shut it off and 
>went for a walk in town.  When I got back I could hear the water 
>pump running and figured we must have run out of water and I didn't 
>hear it before leaving.  When I flipped the tank over the system 
>pressurized and then the pump would kick on about every 30 seconds 
>for a short burst.  After thinking about this I remembered we didn't 
>shut off the water heater.  When I checked under the sink it was 
>very hot under there and sure enough there was water in there.
>
>First question:  Isn't there a thermostat in there that should not 
>allow the water to get that hot?
>
>In any case, I'm assuming the water was too hot and the pressure 
>relief valve keep shooting out water to let off steam.
>So I ran the hot water for awhile to cool the water down in the tank 
>and sure enough the water pump stopped kicking on.
>Now, when we left Kennebunkport and got to our destination I heard 
>the water pump doing the same thing.  The engine now caused the 
>water to get too hot.
>
>2nd question: If the answer to the first question is yes does the 
>thermostat work for engine heating and AC heating?
>3rd question: Because of this incident do you think my pressure 
>release valve is no longer good?  It seemed I had to cool the water 
>down quite a lot in the tank before it stopped causing the pump to turn on.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Chris
>#447

Pat Moriarty
PSI Urethanes Inc
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