Tankless Water Heater on 2016 38A Shower Head

Bobbyj · 01-24-2016, 11:30 AM

I noticed the shower head does not have a water saving button on the one we looked at and drove at the dealer. I noticed that, and thought it odd that my 2015 Sportscoach has a water saving button, but my new, on the way, 2016 Berk may not. Is there a reason for that? Does your coach have a water saving button, or does the FR "upgrade" to tankless require constant water flow to work properly? When I saw the shower head, I assumed it was a mistake, and I could switch out the shower head to a water saving type when I pick up my new coach in a few weeks. Thanks for your help. Appreciate your thoughts. My wife is now thinking we made a mistake with this purchase if we cannot take a decent shower while staying overnight somewhere without a full hook-up...just saying.

northstar1960 · 01-24-2016, 11:35 AM

with a tankless h/w/h you need flow when it's in use. with a shut off on the shower head you will find you'll get hot and cold fluctuations and will have issues getting consistence temps . i prefer the old fashion storage water heaters much less to go wrong . imo

Campin Cajun · 01-24-2016, 01:27 PM

Bobby I have the Girad gen II, mine does not have the shut off valve. I really don't see a problem using the shower without one. If we are taking "camp" showers we just shut off the flow with the valve provided. And since it's a tankless system you will want to turn it back on with just hot water anyway.

RKNOLA · 01-24-2016, 01:43 PM

We switched out our showerhead for one with a shut off valve on the handheld piece when we bought the coach. Set your shower water temp to where you like it, shut water on or off at handheld piece for rinsing. Easy. We find the thankless works better than the tanked unit in our old coach.
Karen

conceptumator · 01-24-2016, 04:10 PM

Our Legacy has the Girard Gen II tankless, but we have a water saver button on the shower head. I don't use it as we never dry camp and I typically keep the gray water drain valve open when connected to sewer, but it is definitely there. The Girard does rely on a consistent flow to keep water temp uniform, but it should shut the burner off immediately when you stop the flow. If it doesn't, you've got a bad flow sensor. I had a bad sensor and had the blistered spot on my shoulder to prove it!

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2015 Legacy SR340 360RB with 2014 Wrangler Unlimited Toad
Gigi, Poppy and Sadie the Jack Russell (all 14 lbs of her)

Phil57 · 01-24-2016, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northstar1960

with a tankless h/w/h you need flow when it's in use. with a shut off on the shower head you will find you'll get hot and cold fluctuations and will have issues getting consistence temps . i prefer the old fashion storage water heaters much less to go wrong . imo

I pretty much disagree with most of this. First you can add a shut off as it does not come with one. I added the type that mixes air. I forget the brand. Also added a shut off. It works great. When you turn the water back on remember it might take a second or two to get the temp back. Having a shut off will not effect the flow at all.
The endless hot water is a very nice feature and I wouldn't want any other set up. I never run out of HW no matter if we are doing laundry or have guests that use the shower.
Very happy with ours.

tmmar · 01-24-2016, 07:39 PM

Phil is talking about the Oxygenics shower head. We have one also and love it. Just remember, when you shut the water off, the flow through the water heater stops and it does not heat the water until the flow starts again. It will take a short while for the water heater to start up again and begin producing hot water. This will cause you to have a period of cold water. It works better if you keep the water flow going.

oldkeywest91 · 01-24-2016, 09:34 PM

Talk to SubSailor or Jim9091 and they can explain to you how to take a shower using minimum amount of water.

JTN8 · 01-25-2016, 10:49 AM

If it's the stock shower head, it actually does have a shut off position. Took me a long time to figure it out though...... The button that changes the output type of spray on the head itself will shut the flow off when put in the last position I believe. I'd half to look at it to be sure. But if you mess with that selector and move it to all the positions you'll notice one of them shuts the water off.

Jason

2014 Berkshire 390BH
2011 Cadillac SRX (toad)
FB

Campin Cajun · 01-25-2016, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTN8

If it's the stock shower head, it actually does have a shut off position. Took me a long time to figure it out though...... The button that changes the output type of spray on the head itself will shut the flow off when put in the last position I believe. I'd half to look at it to be sure. But if you mess with that selector and move it to all the positions you'll notice one of them shuts the water off.

Jason

2014 Berkshire 390BH
2011 Cadillac SRX (toad)
FB

Jason, I think you have something here. I had forgotten all ab out that. If not the last position for sure in between clicks shuts the flow off.

JTN8 · 01-25-2016, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Campin Cajun

Jason, I think you have something here. I had forgotten all ab out that. If not the last position for sure in between clicks shuts the flow off.

You may be right, I remember being able to shut it off with the selector and now that you mention it, I think it is In between selections shuts the flow off.

Jason

2014 Berkshire 390BH
2011 Cadillac SRX (toad)
FB

oldkeywest91 · 01-25-2016, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Campin Cajun

Jason, I think you have something here. I had forgotten all ab out that. If not the last position for sure in between clicks shuts the flow off.

You are correct,just got out of shower and tried different positions on the showhead and between first and second position the water is shut off to a trickle.Just remember that with an on demand waterheater when you restart the water could be very hot.

RKNOLA · 01-26-2016, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldkeywest91

You are correct,just got out of shower and tried different positions on the showhead and between first and second position the water is shut off to a trickle.Just remember that with an on demand waterheater when you restart the water could be very hot.

using the handheld piece helps avoid the "hot water/cold water surprise". Turn water on, spray on foot, wait for right temp, rinse body. Much easier than the "water roulette" game.
Also, I use a collapsible wash tub when dry camping: run hot water in tub till temp right, rinse. After shower remove tub, dump water outside. (prevents filling up grey tank with wasted "temp test" water).

Karen

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