Girard tank less hot water heater

Mejo · 11-30-2016, 01:10 AM

We have 2013 Berkshire 390BH, we just bought it about 3 months ago. We have tried for a week to contact Girard about our hot water heater, but they do not answer or return my calls. Our hot water heater does not get the water hot, it is just warm. Our son was reading was reading something on his phone that can bypass the Auto on the switch and it said to contact the company.

Oscarvan · 11-30-2016, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mejo

We have 2013 Berkshire 390BH, we just bought it about 3 months ago. We have tried for a week to contact Girard about our hot water heater, but they do not answer or return my calls. Our hot water heater does not get the water hot, it is just warm. Our son was reading was reading something on his phone that can bypass the Auto on the switch and it said to contact the company.

There is a potload of forum stuff on the Girard.....I am not personally familiar with them.

Is it a II or a III ? There seem to be less issues with the III

I do know that Forest River went to Atwoods because of all the trouble with the Girards, and was replacing them no cost with either the Atwood (also not completely trouble free) or the Trumin, I don't know if you're still within the age range to do that, but it doesn't hurt to call them.

Other than that, if it's a II it seems like replacing it is the best option. Messing with it should only be done by someone that KNOWS their stuff.

I-RV · 11-30-2016, 08:58 AM

Mejo, you definitely have a Gen I, same as what I previously had. Gen I has the Auto switch, Gen II has a temp. dial and Gen III (which I now have) has a digital command pad.

The Gen I has two burner rates; Hi & Lo. Out of the factory, the heater does Lo with the Auto being off. With the Auto on, the heater looks at the incoming water temp and if below a certain temp. (I believe 40), it turns on the Hi rate burner. Girard found this to be a bummer and freely offed kits with instructions to bypass the sensor and make the Auto witch into a Hi/Lo switch. It is a very easy change and I will look up my instructions an post them for you.

With this change, you will have more control but may still not be happy. The heater does not regulate the output temperature; it merely turns on the gas, medium or high. If the output exceeds 120, it shut the gas off for a short period and you will get a cold blast in the shower. You regulate the temperature by controlling the water flow and do not mix any cold water in.

I and several on the forum that installed the Gen III have been very happy with it. FR did away with Girard (around 2016 I believe) and went with Atwood. Now I believe that they are going with Truama; which I heard a lot of good things about.

Yes, there are many post about the Girard. Suggest you do some looking up. Although Girard is in CA., they moved their water heater support to Indiana. The techs. there are super. I dig up the number for you.
Hank

mcomer · 11-30-2016, 09:29 AM

Mejo, I have the genI Girard and the one thing I have found out is if I run off the tank and not city hookup, i don't have any problems, I don't know if the pressure has something to do with it. Example, we went to Gatlinburg over Thanksgiving week, the temps got down to 19 degrees two nights, and took a hot shower in the morning. Try to see if that works, cause is has for me. Also make sure there is no air in the lines this will cause water temp problems. When you run the hot water you should hear the exhaust fan on the water heater come on. If it doesn't, wiggle the sail switch which is the thing inside the exhaust vent cause sometimes they stick. Air blows the sail, makes the micro switch and let's the burner come on. Hope this helps.

Mike

I-RV · 11-30-2016, 12:15 PM

Mejo, The Girard tech support in Goshen, is Mitchell or Scott Thomas. Their number is 866-559-1221. They are great guys. You may have to leave a message and they will get back.

On the sales and admin. side is Kyle Johnston (Acct Mgr). He can be reached by the above number at extension 4032. However, you best bet is emailing him at Kyle@girardrv.com. It may take a couple days for a response.
Hank

Phil57 · 11-30-2016, 12:34 PM

Kyle was the main tech for several years. He knows his stuff and will get the water heater working. He has helped me several times and had parts sent overnight when needed. Great customer service.

Mejo · 11-30-2016, 01:25 PM

Thank you for this information. I will dicuss it with my husband.

Mejo · 11-30-2016, 01:30 PM

Thank you Mike we will try this before we do anything else.

conceptumator · 11-30-2016, 02:24 PM

Kyle Johnston is the fellow I spoke with when I called Girard and emailed them. He was always very responsive, so maybe their voice mail is messed up or something. In fact, he's the only reason the dealer finally got my Gen II operating correctly - he had to get on the phone and literally make them check and replace parts until it was operational. Has worked fine ever since. I blame a lot of the parts that needed to be replaced on the fact that the dealer left the RV sitting in their yard without the door on the water heater, letting pouring rain and everything else blow straight into it. There is a learning curve, but Kyle helped me to understand that, too. I saw his email already on here in another post - give him a shot. Good luck!

Phil57 · 11-30-2016, 02:24 PM

Make certain that you in fact have a Gen l WH. You can tell buy the controls. The Gen l has a toggle switch that switches from high and low or something like that. It's been awhile but it's a choice between two. The Gen ll has a dial that you can adjust. I thought the 2013's had the gen ll but it could be an early 2013. It sounds as if you have a sensor that is not functional. They will walk you through the diagnostics process. When you call them have a piece of wire handy. You will use this to test the different sensors. You test them buy jumping them with the wire. A insulated 6" piece with the ends stripped will work. You can do this before you call. Turn on the hot water and jump the different sensors. Watch the burner. It will go full blast when you jump a bad sensor.

I-RV · 11-30-2016, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I-RV

Mejo, you definitely have a Gen I, same as what I previously had. Gen I has the Auto switch, Gen II has a temp. dial and Gen III (which I now have) has a digital command pad.

The Gen I has two burner rates; Hi & Lo. Out of the factory, the heater does Lo with the Auto being off. With the Auto on, the heater looks at the incoming water temp and if below a certain temp. (I believe 40), it turns on the Hi rate burner. Girard found this to be a bummer and freely offed kits with instructions to bypass the sensor and make the Auto witch into a Hi/Lo switch.
Hank

As I stated before, Mejo, you have a Gen I. I am attaching the mod. kit and instructions that Girard provided back in 2012. From the picture, if you have a nickel size item (the sensor) with a wire as shown coming from both sides then your switch functions as Auto/Lo. If you cannot find the sensor or you see it with no wires attached, your switch functions as Hi/Lo.

The mod. kit that Girard provided had instructions (which I am providing) and a male/male spade lug connector. The mod. procedure is find the nickel sized sensor, remove the two wires and attach them together. Without having the spade lug connector, you can cut the connector's off the wires and wire-nut them together with some sealing tape.

Open the pdf file, Hank

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