As usual, it was a rush to get everything tidied before mom and dad came. I had winterized it last fall and I knew there a few things that needed continued attention. For example, I thought there was a leak at the water strainer for the pressure pump. Thankfully that only needed to be tightened up a bit and its been fine since then. What I hadn’t expected however, was that the water heater was giving an error code when demand called for hot water. Ugh.
I tried every imaginable known fix for the E5 error… clearing out the venturi tube line, swapping panels with my RV’s water heater, replacing the pressure switch…. all to no avail.
I called Lippert/Furrion tech support, and while helpful in providing some guidance on what to check, when it was decided that it likely needed a flue fan assembly, he stated that the parts themselves where back ordered. In case you haven’ been following current politics… that means they are on a containership somewhere on the Pacific and they may never be delivered to Indiana, let alone Annapolis, MD. He provided me with the proper part numbers for me to call around to the local dealers or parts distributors online. After exhaust all my efforts, I happened to be on a call to DelMarva RV where we bought Penny and mentioned my dilemma when the parts guy said he might have one. He placed me on hold while he wandered to his parts warehouse. When he returned, he informed me that he had recent replaced two water heaters like mine under warranty and the parts were to be trashed. I could have whatever I wanted. DONE!
I drove there the next day and walked away with two complete water heaters. I tore the first one apart to retrieve the fan assembly, pulled mom and dad’s out and within an hour they had hot water once again. Wow. Not only was that successful, I also had additional parts to save for future issues should any arise.
Title Inspiration: Tom Waits – Cold Water
