Some good progress

We decided to install a 6 gallon water heater in an adjacent bay so we could have hot water while we make the exchange of our Aqua-Hots.  Jason came up to help out.  We ran over to Home Depot to get the heater and the fittings we'd need.

Our new hot water heater

I decided to wire it up to a heavy duty extension cord, 12 wire, to make it more convenient and so we could bypass the motorhome electric and plug it directly into the campground pedestal, more on that later.  So amazingly, we ended up with all the parts we needed and only had one left over that I forgot to put back, much better than not having enough:-)  Most of the plumbing in our coach is done with Pex, a somewhat flexible plastic pipe, very easy to work with.  You can fasten it in different ways, but the most common ways are using a Pex crimping tool with either a band or a clamp, or a "Sharkbite" fitting.  The advantage to a Sharkbite is although it is more expensive, it requires no tools you just push the pipe in the fitting and you are done!  And it is easily removable with an inexpensive tool.

Pex tool

Band

Clamp

Sharkbite fitting

Since we only needed a couple fittings and the plan is to remove and sell the heater after we install the new Aqua-Hot, we opted for the Sharkbites.  It was an easy install, the cold and hot water pipes are readily accessible in the bay with the Aqua-Hot, so we cut them and stuck them through a convenient hole between the bays, and with a little wiggling around we were all hooked up and ready to go.

You can see where cut them off where it says water line
and the "hole in the wall"

After only one small leak, fitting not tight enough, we filled it and plugged the electric cord to the campground and went inside for a well deserved cup of hot coffee, yeah the cold has arrived here too, only 48 degrees.  So after about 20 minutes or so, Jan checks for hot water and it's freezing cold!  Oh man.  I know it's hooked up right, I must need to push the reset button on the heater, only problem is, it is extremely hard to get to in the basement, the access panel is on the opposite side of the heater, etc.  Thankfully before I contort myself to get in there to push the button I decide to check for electricity at the pedestal in the campground.....no juice!  So we report it to the campground, they are fixing it tomorrow, and meanwhile I plugged it into a receptacle in the coach, and we got hot water baby!

We also ordered our new Aqua-Hot unit, took a deep breath and needed to be sitting down for the price, but it should be delivered to Florida by the end of next week, so who knows, maybe by the end of next weekend we'll have a brand new spanking Aqua-Hot up and running.