Clogged water Lines, no hot water

[Pops R]

Have been dealing with clogged water lines from that white mineral build up crud. Have flushed the water heater twice now, but that white crud has passed into the lines and now seems to be causing no hot water even with the hot water tank full of hot water.
Have full cold water pressure but no hot water. If I run both hot and cold water faucets the turn off the cold I will have water pressure on the hot side for under a minute but with cold water till it slows down to a trickle then nothing.
Turning the hot water off at any and all sites then coming back after a while will bring back water on the hot side but still just cold and soon again slows down to a trickle then nothing. So it does build back up but no hot water.
My thought is to try and flush the whole water line system with white vinegar.

Has anyone else ever experienced this issue and or use the white vinegar to clear the water lines?

[Bob Denman]

I'm not familiar with this "white crud" that you have referenced. Is this a known water issue in your area?
Vinegar (or something stronger!) would be a good start.
Are there any known local remedies for this?
Good luck!

[lwmcguir]

If this mineral deposit and build up is calcium carbonate then white vinegar or citric acid will dissolve some of it

It will evervese during contact so don't block it by having all faucet or valves closed

What temperature is your water heater setting?

Higher temperature will form scale in moderately hard water and very quickly in high hardness water

HCl (muriatic acid) will dissolve calcium carbonate easily but must be handled and applied very carefully

Eye and equipment damage can easily occur

Sounds like you have a bad water source and to high water temperature

LSI of any given water determines the scale potential

[lwmcguir]

A few folks get crazy with bleach and in hard water areas that will produce great quality white precipitation, due to the NaOH in the bleach

[lwmcguire]

One more item, does your water have an anode?

If so what is the condition?

Aggressive unbalanced waters tend to consume the anodes

[Pops R]

Thanks for all the responses.

There are several YouTube video's of this White crud as I called it and yes hard water mineral deposits aka calcium.

No we do not have an anode rod we have the Atwood aluminum tank water heater and only has a drain plug

Will try the full system white vinegar flush.

We also do have a water softener now as well to help reduce the hard water mineral deposits

[OldWEB]

Originally Posted by Pops R

Thanks for all the responses.

There are several YouTube video's of this White crud as I called it and yes hard water mineral deposits aka calcium.

No we do not have an anode rod we have the Atwood aluminum tank water heater and only has a drain plug

Will try the full system white vinegar flush.

We also do have a water softener now as well to help reduce the hard water mineral deposits

Here is some instruction in addition to what you have seen on YouTube. Good luck!

[Travelin' Texans]

We've lived/traveled where the water was extremely hard & have never experienced it so bad that it plugged the lines. Seems it would've had to sit with a good amount of water left in the lines long enough to dry completely out for it to get that bad.
Are you sure the water heater bypass valves are properly aligned to get to the faucets?
Have you removed & checked that the check valve that's on the top out flow line on the water heater is not plugged or stuck shut?
If the vinegar doesn't work I'd be a bit hesitant to use anything much stronger, you are dealing with a rv that the cheapest products on earth were used to build it, so what would something stronger do to the lines, their fittings or the faucets.

[lwmcguire]

After you do the 50% vinegar you will most likely need to follow up with straight vinegar for another flush

Your water softener is going to need regenerated often if your water is as hard as it appears to be. Check the GPG on the water used and regenerate accordingly

[wrapped]

Unscrew the strainer and water saver discs on faucets and remove the Shower head and see if chunks will pass through.

[Glensouth]

Check your heater bypass valve.

[JimOIB]

Is your water heater in a slide out? Mine is and Thor used a flexible hose to hook to the hard plumbing and it has kinked numerous times resulting in no hot water. Worth a look.

[Pops R]

Well thanks all for the input. For me the issue ended up being a clogged cold water line to the water heater. I ended up having to call in a mobile RV repair guy and he said he had never seen or heard of such a problem but it has been cleared now and hot water restored.

[Bob Denman]

Thank goodness it was something relatively simple to clear up!
So when you're in hot water now: it'll be a good thing!