Any tips on the tankless water heater

tmmar · 02-17-2014, 10:02 PM

Has anyone mastered the Garrard tankless water heater? After 3 weeks of using the water heater, I still have not been able to take a shower without the water getting cool. Have plenty of water pressure (about 40psi) and I make sure that there is no air in the system. Not sure what else to try. Any tips?

Campin Cajun · 02-17-2014, 10:33 PM

I set my thermostat about halfway. I run just hot water for a few minutes then move the shower faucet about to the half way position the temp does change a little but I wouldn't call it cool to hot, more like hot to warm..

Phil57 · 02-18-2014, 04:35 AM

I do the same. I also use a Oxygenics Body Spa Handheld Shower Kit, White
Oxygenics (69). That seams to help also. I change the thermostats with the outside temp a little at a time. Always full blast and about in the middle between hot and cold.

JJvike · 02-18-2014, 04:48 AM

Having one in the house prepared me for the RV. It is the flow regulator in the shower head. May not be the best for water conservation when you are running off the tank alone, but I would be surprised if you removed the regulator or swapped it out and the problem didn't fix itself.

TURBS · 02-18-2014, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Campin Cajun

I set my thermostat about halfway. I run just hot water for a few minutes then move the shower faucet about to the half way position the temp does change a little but I wouldn't call it cool to hot, more like hot to warm..

Lol no offense but im done taking a shower "in a few minutes"

TURBS

Goshen is my playground.
The last man standing also has a sharpie

Campin Cajun · 02-18-2014, 02:21 PM

I mean is I let the water heat up with just hot water running. I take long showers lol

jevanb · 02-18-2014, 02:34 PM

it has a low/high switch , put to low for showers, and turn the hot water knob only... in some areas where the ground water is warm , like above 60 degrees their is a mod to fix this issue, I had lots of issues with mine last year and spent a bunch of time on the phone with the techs at girard, finally got it to work right, and it is nice..

Iggy · 02-18-2014, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmmar

Has anyone mastered the Garrard tankless water heater? After 3 weeks of using the water heater, I still have not been able to take a shower without the water getting cool. Have plenty of water pressure (about 40psi) and I make sure that there is no air in the system. Not sure what else to try. Any tips?

Questions....
Have you ever gotten a lot of hot water out of it ever?

Is the bypass valve open?

tmmar · 02-18-2014, 05:34 PM

I run the water and I get very hot water from my shower head (Oxygenics) and after the water is flowing very hot, I adjust it to a comfortable temperature. While showering the temp varies from hot to tepid. Not sure why the temps vary and that is my problem.

beipers · 02-18-2014, 08:49 PM

I've learned that the shower control always allows some cold water through. I shut the cold water to the shower off at the outside manifold in all but the warmest weather in the summer. We then use the auto (which is wired as high) / low switch to keep the kids from burning themselves.

After reading most of the threads on the forums, I've already decided, when ours dies, I'm going back to one with a tank. I can make the shower work, but I hate living with the cold blast while trying to wash the dishes. In my opinion, it wastes too much water when dry camping waiting to get the long line from the heater to the shower / sink warm when starting either.

Phil57 · 02-18-2014, 11:33 PM

Tom I have found the more I use the cold water to adjust the temp the worst that temperature swings will be. I use the adjustment for the burner and move it a little at a time. I think the flow gets to low and over heats. Of coarse that turns off the burner for a sec or two.

tmmar · 02-21-2014, 05:16 PM

Phil,
I took your advice and adjusted the temp on the water heater to a lower setting and that worked great. Water temp now stays consistent when showering.
Thanks and hope all is well.
Tom

Phil57 · 02-21-2014, 07:39 PM

Happy it worked Tom. Things are great. Loving FL. Sat by the pool all afternoon until happy hour started. What a life.

Sherbann · 02-22-2014, 11:52 PM

We have 2 settings, auto & low. We keep ours on low at all times. Turn the hot on about half, once it gets hot, put it up all the way. The temp is always perfect, no hot/cold changes

Phil57 · 02-23-2014, 05:14 PM

Thanks Sherbann and welcome to the forum. I see this is your first post but a member since Aug 2012. Sorry to hijack but wanted to welcome.

I-RV · 02-26-2014, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beipers

I've learned that the shower control always allows some cold water through. I shut the cold water to the shower off at the outside manifold in all but the warmest weather in the summer. We then use the auto (which is wired as high) / low switch to keep the kids from burning themselves.

After reading most of the threads on the forums, I've already decided, when ours dies, I'm going back to one with a tank. I can make the shower work, but I hate living with the cold blast while trying to wash the dishes. In my opinion, it wastes too much water when dry camping waiting to get the long line from the heater to the shower / sink warm when starting either.

We had the most trouble with keeping hot water flowing at the kitchen sink. After doing a flow measurement with an empty gallon container and a stop watch, I found only 0.63 gal/min. At the bathroom sink I got much larger flow. I found the culprit to be a one way valve underneath the sink that limited the flow. After removing it, I got flow like the bathroom and the heater didn't constantly shut down because of reaching the 122 degree shutdown limit. I hope this helps.

Hallen01 · 02-26-2014, 02:03 PM

Most of the success stories with the Girard that I have read here seem to agree with what I posted last August (2013): Turn your water heater to low, and crank up the static inlet water pressure regulator (I have mine set at 52 psig static, which drops considerably when the flow starts.

Actually, during late season near-freezing camping in November, I found I had to move it to the "auto" position to get both burners going, but after a couple of minutes when the water which sat chilling all night in the hose and internal plumbing had cleared out, there was some long-period cycling. Later when the day warmed up, I took another shower, and had to move it back to "low" (one burner operation) to avoid temperature cycling.

From my previous post:
...Berkshire tested their plumbing to a static pressure of 80 psig with no failures...

beipers · 03-01-2014, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I-RV

We had the most trouble with keeping hot water flowing at the kitchen sink. After doing a flow measurement with an empty gallon container and a stop watch, I found only 0.63 gal/min. At the bathroom sink I got much larger flow. I found the culprit to be a one way valve underneath the sink that limited the flow. After removing it, I got flow like the bathroom and the heater didn't constantly shut down because of reaching the 122 degree shutdown limit. I hope this helps.

Thanks for the info on the kitchen sink flow restriction. I'll look into that this spring. I've always assumed my problem with the shower has been the fact we take navy showers to conserve water and the start time of the water heater allows too much cold water through. However, after reading here, maybe the"leak" on the shower head is enough to keep it running and it is overheating. I will try using the low setting and see if it helps.

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Al J · 03-15-2014, 12:35 PM

Sorry to join in this conversation so late. I just joined the forum minutes ago. Bought a 2013 Berkshire 390FL last June and have taken several trips with it. IMHO (in my humble opinion) the tankless water heater sucks. I have not been able to figure out a way to take a good shower with it. Once in a while when the park water pressure is just right it works OK. My solution is to replace it with a tank type. I'm told there is a "second generation" Garrard tankless that doesn't suck. Anyone ever hear anything about that? Also - What is this thermostat you guys are talking about and where is it?

Phil57 · 03-15-2014, 12:55 PM

Al first welcome to the forum and congrats on the new MH. Hope that gives you lots of good memory's. As for the water heater you must have the Gen1 and although I don't think they suck they do have some give and take that is sometime a hassle. If you are close to a good dealer start with them and get the issues documented. Next start pushing for a replacement for the Gen 2. The biggest difference is the Gen 2 has a thermostat that you adjust the BTU output.
Until then try removing the water filter. With the Garrard it's all about constiatant water pressure. I also changed out the water regulator we had and bought a better one. That and the filter helped us the most. Honestly u have had both and for me it's worth the hassle. Sorry if this is poorly written I'm at the pool and it hard to see the screen in the sunshine. PM me with a phone number if you would cRe to discus it.

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