Tankless hot water options

[JJvike]

Happy Holiday's everyone.

Finally got bit by the gremlin. At a site in Virginia and no hot water. Talked to girard and after a couple of walkthroughs, they have determined that my board and igniter(sp?) are bad. New ones will not be mailed until after the first of the year. Great, right? It lights but the igniter keeps going and fails to recognize it lit. So it shuts down and then "locks out".

Question I have for all of you, has anyone upgraded to the latest girard or found another brand to replace the gen 1? I've read the latest version is much better and less of a hassle.

[Mmnsc]

I had the Generation 1 in my 2012 Berkshire. Had problems with it from day 1 and Girard sent me a Generation 2 at no charge but I did have to pay the dealer, Boat n RV in Ridgeland SC $200 for the swap out. The new Generation 2 works soooo much better than the original. If I were you I would ask for a Gen 2 replacement. Good luck and Happy Holidays.
Marty


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[gspencer4]

I had a problem too - I don't know what generation it is, but I have a 2014 Berkshire. Took it into Lazydays in Tucson and diagnosis came back that they couldn't make it fail. The problem seemed to be not enough water pressure. I did have a regulator that restricted the flow too much. Changed the regulator and no problems since.


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[JJvike]

About 9 hours after messing with this and writing the original comment....it started working. I have no idea what the problem was. Nothing changed except for the time of day. Still waiting for the parts from Girard. I'll keep them on board in case something happens again. I'm still looking for a more reliable and less temperamental than what I have. Still looking at the 2nd generation or one of the competitors.

[edgewant]

FR changed mine from gen I to gen II at the plant. Like the gen II much better.

[I-RV]

FYI about Girard:
The GSWH-1 (1st Gen) was put into Berks up to sometimes in 2013. It had a two position rocker switch inside. Early models had a water input sensor for which one of the switches position selected. Later Girard modified the unit (and even provided mod. kits) to make the switch select low or high burner rates.

The GSWH-1M (2nd Gen)can be recognized by having a temperature dial. The dial may miss-lead you that it has an incoming water sensor. Actually, you are the sensor and merely adjust to suit to get the water temperature that you want. Because you can vary the burner from 18,000 BTU/Hr to 36,000 BTU/hr in fine steps, it is why it is better then Gen 1. (I wish that I had it - LOL)

Remember that both units performance are affected by incoming water temp. and water flow rate, which is dependent upon your supply pressure.

Both units would work so much better if only the gas burner valve was variable and automatically adjusted by a smart controller which compares the output temperature to the users desired temperature.

The Precision Temp RV-550 works this way. I keep asking the forum if anyone has installed or used the RV-550. I am not a salesman for it, but it is what the Girard should want to be. Here is a link............

RV-550 – Tankless Water Heater for RVs and Trailers - PrecisionTemp

Hank

[JJvike]

So if we have the temperature dial in the coach(mine is in the cabinet above the bathroom sink) then we have the Gen 2? The label on the unit doesn't show the "M" in the gen 2 model number. Hmmmm. Now I wonder which one I have. Either way, I need to do something. Has anyone removed the flow restrictor in the shower head? The current flow from the head is nothing compared to the faucets.

[realshelby]

If I could fix one of the many problems with my 2014 Berkshire 400 QL it would be the water heater. Been worked on by the dealer twice. They want to tell me that it is normal. But they too are shocked at the temperature variations you can get with it. Recently it was in the high 30's and we couldn't get the water hot enough for my wife to shower. Not to mention do dishes. We had to turn the water flow down about halfway to get temps up.

I installed a regulator on the RV hook up line and that has helped. Less water flow but much better temps and regulation.

I have not seen it in a while. It is going on the fifth week in the shop this time, 4 weeks right before this. Overall it has been in the shop about 10 times as many days as we have used it.......

[Mojojojo]

Originally Posted by JJvike

So if we have the temperature dial in the coach(mine is in the cabinet above the bathroom sink) then we have the Gen 2? The label on the unit doesn't show the "M" in the gen 2 model number. Hmmmm. Now I wonder which one I have. Either way, I need to do something. Has anyone removed the flow restrictor in the shower head? The current flow from the head is nothing compared to the faucets.

Buy a different shower head that's what we did.

[Mojojojo]

If your rig has a single water handle, meaning it mixes cold and hot based on the direction of the handle it is next to impossible to use the Gerard as the faucet always adds cold. Our Teton was that way so I took off the access panel to the faucet back and capped all the cold water lines so only hot can flow then used the water pressure and dial to adjust the temp we each wanted for a shower. If you have two handles don't touch the cold side use flow and dial to adjust , that's how our Sierra is.

[Berkshire Driver]

Had a problem with ours on our first trip and had to replace the water pump cause it would pulsate causing the heater to not pickup flow and would keep shutting off the heater and after replacement have had no problems to date with the water heater, i did go outside and unstick the exhaust switch in the heater 1 time with a long flat tip screwdriver on that first trip cause i read it would cause a flame off condition. but all good now and much better water pressure too.

[RLloyd]

we had the same problem with the water temperature varying. I decided there wasn't enough water flow to keep the water heater operating. I turn the shower on set at all the way hot, and adjusted the water temperature at the thermostat. The shower is now perfect, no change in water temperature.

[Big Rig]

I had the RV500 tankless in my seasonal Alumascape. It was 4 years old when I sold the trailer. I frequent that campground regularly and know that it is still working fine. I hope to put one in my new trailer. I assume the 550 is new and improved.


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