One of the weak points in FT's ( and SOB ) is the PEX piping. The plastic nut at the WH outlet cracked and leaked. It was a PITA to repair. I used a push on fitting but the WH had to come out to get access. The first fitting I used broke due to side force on it and before I was done I had the WH in and out three times. Still a 16 year old WH that still works says something for parts that FT uses.
Foretravels excel at many things but water heater access is not one of them. I didn't have problems with the fittings breaking (my older coach has brass connectors to the PEX) but leaking from them. It's very difficult to swing a wrench up behind there. What I did was use two 3 ft long wire braided flex hoses between the PEX fittings and the WH. With the WH resting on it's face on a chair or stool in front of the compartment I could hook up the water lines with ease and check for leaks. I haven't noticed any downside to the flex lines in the 5 or so years since I did this. The flex lines had 1/2" NPT female fitting on both ends and I had to add a 1/2' NPT nipple to adapt to the existing PEX fitting. I'm not exactly sure the length was 3 ft - could have been shorter. I did this when I installed a new WH and I may have extended the electrical wires as well. The motoraid (also called heat exchanger) hoses were just barely long enough. I also added indicator lights to tell me when the gas or electric element is ON (by ON I mean the actively heating). I did this so I would know when the tank was fully heated and I could start a shower.
I had problems with a fitting on the back of the water heater leaking. I could tighten it and stop the leak for a while, but it would start leaking again after a week or two. I added some teflon joint tape to the threads on the water heater and attached the old fitting again. It has not leaked since that repair. It has been several months since the repair.
It appears that a lot of the leaking problems with the Foretravel installed water heaters is caused by the heat from the hot water and the proximity of the plastic fittings to the heater.
It seems that the next time I have to pull mine for a leak (any time now, probably) I will plumb it from the outlet with an ELL and pipe it downward. The end of the pipe will be no longer than the bottom of the heater for easy removal/replacement of the heater. Doing this will move the "connection" for the PEX down to where I can easily access it with my hand to re-tighten it if necessary. If I have to replace the PEX fitting due to leaking, it will be accessible to do it. I'll need to redo the PEX line and I already have the tools and parts to do it. Comments???
Jon Twork
It sounds like a good plan. But rather than deal with a fitting that's prone to leaking why not try a possibly better fitting?
For the past two months we have been fulltiming in Boise, ID until the close on our new house. I added an auxiliary 10 gal residential electric waterheater in the basement that feeds into my stock 6 gal Atwood unit. I tried these Shark Bite fittingshttp://www.sharkbite.com/ on the output side of the 10 gal unit where the most heat is. Their spec sheet says they're good for 200 psi and 200 F and so far they seem to be holding up well. Another bonus is they disconnect easy - but that little tool is recommended. Home Depot carries these but they are fairly pricey at $5-6 apiece.
Sharkbite fittings are a good choice,the only problem is they do not make a 1/2mptx1/2 slip swivel elbow,I replaced the elbows with new Seatech fittings, they are rated for 180 degrees@100psi, they work in close quarters