| Water heater hose replacement tips [message #332867] |
Thu, 31 May 2018 15:07  |
lw8000
Messages: 201
Registered: July 2012
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 1
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Fairly soon I believe I'm going to tackle the replacement of the two long heater hoses that run back to the water heater. All of the other hoses we've replaced up at the engine, and many if not all looked original. For now I've put in shutoff valves for the two water heater hoses and am considering keeping those shut off for now. Yes the hot water is nice but I'd rather play it safe until I can do this. From what I can tell there's no issue in closing those off. The hoses look and feel just fine but I'm not sure how long I will trust them.
I've read up here:
http://gmcmotorhome.info/living.html#hose
Any other tips for this? Sounds like we'll go in behind the fridge to help feed through the two holes in the floor, which seems like the worst part of it. Unfortunately last year I replaced the deteriorated foam behind the fridge so I'll have to take that back out.
Thanks all!
Chris S. -
77 Kingsley, 3.70 FD, mostly OEM -
S.E. Michigan
[Updated on: Thu, 31 May 2018 15:13] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: Water heater hose replacement tips [message #332928 is a reply to message #332867] |
Sat, 02 June 2018 20:00  |
mrgmc3
Messages: 210
Registered: September 2013
Location: W Washington
Karma: 2
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The easiest way to feed the new hoses in behind the fridge and into the bathroom is to use the old hoses to pull the new hose through. I used a smaller than 5/8 tube, something like 1/2 inch, a couple inches long. Slit a couple Vs in the end of each hose so the hose can "shrink" a little in OD. You want to slip the tube in the old hose halfway, and I insert the other half in the new hose and wrap tightly with duct tape. The goal with slitting or Veeing the end of the hose is to shrink the Outside Diameter just enough so when you wrap with duct tape it is no larger than the hose normally. On my coach the hole in the floor in front of the rear wheel was so tight that hose with the added thickness of tape would not fit through! Once you get the new hose joined to the old you can just pull it through. It's really a two person job as one has to pull from one end while the other person feeds from the other end. We pulled from underneath and fed the new hose from the bathroom, but I see no reason why you could not do it the other way.
Chris Geils - Twin Cities / W Wa
1978 26' Kingsley w/ very few mods; PD9040, aux trans cooler, one repaint in stock colors, R134a, Al rad, Alcoas, 54k mi
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| Re: Water heater hose replacement tips [message #332973 is a reply to message #332867] |
Sun, 03 June 2018 21:21 |
lw8000
Messages: 201
Registered: July 2012
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Chris:
Thanks for the suggestion on the V idea. I really like that idea of using the old to feed in the new. In fact, if that worked well enough it sounds like we don't even need to access behind the fridge but we might try to feed it from the bathroom just like you did or vice versa through the floor and up. I appreciate the feedback on this, we will give this a try soon.
Chris S. -
77 Kingsley, 3.70 FD, mostly OEM -
S.E. Michigan
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| Re: [GMCnet] Water heater hose replacement tips [message #333014 is a reply to message #332976] |
Mon, 04 June 2018 13:28 |
lw8000
Messages: 201
Registered: July 2012
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 1
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emerystora wrote on Sun, 03 June 2018 22:09Chris
Another way is to remove an end from the water heater and drill a hole about an inch back from the end. Put a strong wire through the hole and make a loop. Tie a rope to the loop and then pull the hose from the bottom pulling the rope with it.
Then attach the rope to the new hose and have someone feed it from the bottom while someone else pulls the rope from the top.
Then repeat with the other hose.
Thanks Emery. I thought about doing something similar, but I wasn't sure if there are any hangers that hold it up inside the wall areas that I would get stuck on. It's been a while since I've been back inside there behind the wall. Thanks for the feedback and ideas!
Chris S. -
77 Kingsley, 3.70 FD, mostly OEM -
S.E. Michigan
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| Re: Water heater hose replacement tips [message #335475 is a reply to message #332867] |
Sun, 22 July 2018 19:35 |
lw8000
Messages: 201
Registered: July 2012
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Just a follow up to this post. Today we finally were able to install the new hoses. Here's what I ended up doing. I removed the hoses at the engine and pulled them out of all of the loops all the way back to where they enter the floor through the two holes in the plywood. We cut the hoses about 2 feet from where they enter the floor, and did the V trick by cutting the V in the ends (I used a threaded bolt and duct tape to hook the two ends together securely). We hooked both ends of the new hose to the old and had to pull them both through together as the old were zip tied together behind the cabinets and we could not get back there to snip it. It ended up working perfect, feeding them up from the bottom and the other person pulling them from the bathroom. All in all a success, thank you again for the help. It was not as bad of a job as I thought. Thankfully the hoses behind the cabinets where simply laying on the wheel well and not tied anywhere on the inside walls.
Chris S. -
77 Kingsley, 3.70 FD, mostly OEM -
S.E. Michigan
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