Hot water heater melting plastic

[normn7337]

After practically growing up in a pop up.  The wife and I purchased an older model but new 2004 model Bayside this year.  For the first time we hooked up city water and decided to test out the outside shower.  After both of us completed our showers, I checked the hotwater heater.  Above the vent of the hot water heater, the plastic had become so hot it bulged into the metal cover of the heater and then melted.  It was not that hot out and the wind was minimal.  I am checking with the dealership to see if this is common and if warranty will cover it.  Has anyone else encountered this problem?  I am glad I checked and shut it down.  I would think this could be a huge fire risk.  We love the bayside, however, I am shutting the hot water heater off at night and when unattended. Anyone have the same problems and is there a solution?  (other than not using the hot water heater)

BTW, thanks for all the great input everyone has put into this forum.  I have already put several modifications in and it keeps getting better every time we camp.

[mike4947]

I've heard IIRC 3 reports on plastic melting around water heater vents. Sorry but I don't remember the cause or fix for the problem.

[AustinBoston]

For the first time we hooked up city water and decided to test out the outside shower.  After both of us completed our showers, I checked the hotwater heater.  Above the vent of the hot water heater, the plastic had become so hot it bulged into the metal cover of the heater and then melted.  It was not that hot out and the wind was minimal.  I am checking with the dealership to see if this is common and if warranty will cover it.  Has anyone else encountered this problem?  I am glad I checked and shut it down.  I would think this could be a huge fire risk.

I don't know if this would make a difference or not, but how high was the control on the hot water heater set for?  Ours has five settings.  We have never moved it from the middle one.

We love the bayside, however, I am shutting the hot water heater off at night and when unattended.

I would bet there is something in the fine print somewhere that says you should do so.  Even so, you are the first person to say that they would.  Based on what you've experienced, I can't blame you; under the circumstances, so would I.

Anyone have the same problems and is there a solution?  (other than not using the hot water heater)

We've had a Coleman Bayside since the spring of 2000.  It has over 25,000 miles on it, and has been slept in in hundreds of campgrounds in 26 states from Maine to California and from Tennessee to Oregon.  The hot water heater has been run at virtually all of those campgrounds, with altitudes ranging from sea level to 9,000 feet, with stiff (and gusting) winds to dead calm.  It's not a problem I have encountered.  Unless Fleetwood changed the hot water heater, I believe this is abnormal behavior.

One thing I can think of might be if you did not give the heater time to cycle.  After hooking up city water, did you wait for the hot water heater to turn off before showering?  Between showers, did it get a chance to "recover" before the next shower?  I could understand the vent getting hotter than normal if the heater ran continuously for 45 minutes rather than three spells of 15 minutes with a few minutes in between.  (numbers are for illustration only)

There is also a small possibility that the propane regulator is out of adjustment.  If there is too much gas going into the heater, then the flame will be longer and may still be burning quite close to the vent.  It's a less efficient arrangement that I would expect to force hot gasses out the vent instead of heating the water in the tank.  Propane pressure is something most dealers can check easily in a few minutes.

Austin

[JimQPublic]

I don't unplug my toaster so you might not want to take safety advice from me- but there are millions of RV's in regular use with 6 gallon Suburban and Atwood water heaters.  Most recent RV's have plastic Filon sidewalls over polystyrene foam.  Few turn the water heater off at night and the MFR doesn't tell you to.

There is something wrong with your water heater or installation.  The first question I'd ask is if anyone has added a wind deflector or bug screen to the access door.  If so remove it and try the water heater.  If not then get it to the dealer ASAP.  Don't use the water heater until then.  Usually dealers and manufacturers are more liberal about warranty policy if there's a risk that the item will burn up and kill somebody.  Insist that it be fixed or replaced free.

[wavery]

The first question that I would ask is......did you run the hot water tap in your sink and evacuate all of the air, after hooking up to city water and before lighting the water heater?

You should make sure that your water heater is full of water and has expelled all of the air before lighting your water heater. If you didn't do that, that may be what caused your problem.

When the water heater is full of water, most of the heat from the furnace is dissipated to heat the water. If the water heater is not full of water, the hot air from the furnace leaves the vent at far to high temperature.

[normn7337]

We have used the pump system and  outside shower several times before, however, we were very careful with the water usage.  When we hooked up to city supply, we both used more water simply because of the supply.  I did wait 10-15 minutes after my wife took a shower before. However, I am sure we pressed it for its usage.  I do make a point to purge the lines and heater tank before starting the pilotlight.  What suprises me is I have tested it several times since.  Once I left the cover off the water heater and let it run.  The plastic was warm, however, you could tell it was cooler than when the cover is closed.  I checked the thermostat it is set in the middle position.  The water heater and cover is straight from the factory.  I was thinking about a screen to keep the wasp out.  I think I will hold off on that idea.  Just thinking, If the water heater was not installed properly, it looks like the heater would be setting further away from the vent cover.  The only reason I say this is when we drain the water heater, I get  some water in the front plastic storage.

[tlhdoc]

I have had the plastic get warm and bubble on my camper, but it was caused by the wind guard on the water heater.  What I have done to prevent it from getting worse is to take some heavy duty aluminum foil and make a ">" out of it.  The top end of the ">" is attached to the PU by sticking the end of the foil under the lid of the trunk.  The bottom of the ">" is attached to the door of the water heater.  I also put  hole in the top half of the ">".  I install it when we set up camp and remove it when I turn the water heater off.

[Preacher]

Someone has already mentioned it, but do you have a wind guard over the vent.  When we had our Westlake, I put a wind guard on it and found the plastic above the vent starting to "melt".  When I took it to the deal, they said they see that problem happen more often when someone has put a wind guard on.  They fixed it, under warranty, and I left the wind guard off.  Didn't have a problem afterwards.  Don't know if it was leaving the wind guard off of the new piece was better.

[wynot]

After practically growing up in a pop up. The wife and I purchased an older model but new 2004 model Bayside this year. For the first time we hooked up city water and decided to test out the outside shower. After both of us completed our showers, I checked the hotwater heater. Above the vent of the hot water heater, the plastic had become so hot it bulged into the metal cover of the heater and then melted. It was not that hot out and the wind was minimal. I am checking with the dealership to see if this is common and if warranty will cover it. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I am glad I checked and shut it down. I would think this could be a huge fire risk. We love the bayside, however, I am shutting the hot water heater off at night and when unattended. Anyone have the same problems and is there a solution? (other than not using the hot water heater)
 
QUOTE]
 
If you have a WindGard on that vent, it will melt the plastic.  I never had the problem before or after the WindGard was removed.  I (and others) devised heat deflectors for it.