When our second valve failed, I did some research and found that they are serviceable. You just have to know how to do it. It involves splitting the unit in two by unscrewing the body. The first time you do this, it will be very difficult, but with some gentle force and the right tools, it can be done.
Once apart, you’ ll find a brass piston with two rubber rings inside. This is meant to slide up and down the valve body against the incoming water, and a spring pushes it in the opposite direction. This piston requires lubrication to work effectively. A little plumber ' s grease inside the valve body and around the rings will be enough to get it working again. Check out the video within this article for a tutorial on how to make repairs to this valve.
Old and new hose connection of our hot water system.
A leaking fitting like this is easy to replace.
LEAKING HOT WATER SYSTEM
This was a bit of a strange issue. At first, I couldn’ t see what the problem was.
We have a Swift hot water system in our van and it is usually very reliable. The stainless steel tank doesn’ t need an anode to prevent corrosion so you can imagine I was a bit surprised to see a steady drip coming from ours.
The good thing about these units is that all the water connections are on the outside, so any leaks do not cause any water damage inside the van. The connections are accessible by removing the outer cover.
When I did this, the issue was obvious. One of the water connections had suffered a tiny stress fracture. I removed it and took a trip to the local caravan repairer, who explained it was a common issue with vans that did a lot of offroad work. They carried plenty of spares.
44 \