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Old 05-11-2016, 08:15 PM   #1
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Hot water heater or lack there of

I've got a 2012 Berk and it has the Girard tankless heater. Ever since I've had this unit water temp has been very hard to keep consistent especially in the shower. This past few days I was boon docking with only my fresh water tank and never was I able to get anything hot, barley warm at best. Is there something wrong, are these things junk? I need to figure something out my family is doing a month trip soon and I don't want to fight water daily.

Thx.,!!
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Old 05-11-2016, 08:38 PM   #2
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I also had issues with the 1st generation Girard. Forest River swapped it out with the 2nd generation and things improved significantly but they are very sensitive to air in the water lines. The air seems to confuse the flow sensor. So the best advice I got from a Girard rep was to purge the lines by running water until there is no sputtering. Mine is especially sensitive when using the fresh water tank as it seems to pick up more air from the tank. I would suggest you keep the tank at least half full to avoid this.


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Old 05-11-2016, 09:10 PM   #3
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When I needed to replace my hot water heater (damaged) I had the option of going to a tankless one vs a 10 gal Suburban one. After reading countless comments abt the very problem you had, I opted to go with the standard one.... Haven't regretted it for one second..


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Old 05-11-2016, 10:31 PM   #4
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I have a 2012 390bh60 and up until last summer I never had
consistent hot water. After attempting every fix on this forum and going through countless hours of testing with the Girard engineer .... I finally have the solution


1 make sure to purge the system of any and all air. This must be done on the tank side as well as city water side.

Open all tapes and valves until the flow smoothly. This includes the ones by the water.pump as.well.as the one located.below the washer and being water heater.

I no longer use the barrel style pressure regulator since the flow rate is too low. I purchased a Watt high flow.regulator.from Lowe's .... see photos.

Must important is to by pass the temp sensor on the heater. From the factory the unit is set for auto/low setting. When you bypass the sensor it becomes a high/low setting.

The sensor is located.by removing the outside access panel for the heater. On the top left you will see a disc.shaped sensor with 2 wires coming into it. You simply remote the two blade connectors and connect to two wires directly. See photos
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Old 05-11-2016, 10:39 PM   #5
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Man oh man that's a lot of work to get hot water..... I simply plug in, turn water heater on and by the time I finish setting up I have hot water.... Have never run out even when washing clothes...


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Old 05-12-2016, 07:47 AM   #6
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I had an issue with my Charleston having little hot water when cold outside and some hotwater when over 70 outside, Called Gerard and they had me pull the rheostat out and check the resistance and found all go, the looked under the washer and dryer and found the never hooked up the ground which forces the heater to low. Attached the ground wire and my my what a difference, now a little hard to keep water from getting to hot, but sure do like having Hot water which can be controlled.
Hope it helps
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Old 05-12-2016, 10:35 AM   #7
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How did you know that was ground for the water heater?


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Old 05-12-2016, 12:31 PM   #8
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The procedure that I described about came directly from the Girard engineer.

Once we identified the problem ... one that is extremely common with this heater .... it was a 5 minute fix.

It is still a bit of a challenge to get the proper flow rate for.the desired temp ... but once I do, I have hot water until.the lake runs dry
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Old 05-12-2016, 01:09 PM   #9
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About the ground, at the back of the water heater the wire from the thermostat wire rolled up in a ball and never connected. The Girard engineer chuckled and told me with no wire attached it defaults to low. All the wires were color coded. All you have to do is look at the back of water heater. Mine was very easy because the heater is right under the washer and I could pop the board off under the washer and see them all.
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Old 05-12-2016, 01:12 PM   #10
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You can also just look at the fame on the water heater and have someone inside adjust the thermostat and see the flame get bigger or smaller, mine did no change.
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Old 05-12-2016, 08:29 PM   #11
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So my flame never changes no matter what I adjust or change. Thoughts? I bypassed the sensor with no result either
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Old 05-12-2016, 08:45 PM   #12
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Can you see the back of the water heater?
Do you have the manual for the water heater?
Gerard tech support will tell you how to check the temperature control. I can't remember what the resistance range is.
Then he will tell you how to fix the issue.
If not I have my notes on how to check in the Rv in storage and can get tomorrow.


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Old 05-12-2016, 10:10 PM   #13
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I have a Legacy that came with the same heater. While we usually had plenty of hot water, control was always an issue particularly traveling around encountering ever changing incoming water temperatures. When incoming water was warm, such as in the south during summer, it was a train wreck because it would overheat, shut down, restart, overheat, shut down.... The dial control was useless to say the least. I saw many posts about the Girard 2nd generation so I called Girard, got a good deal on one and installed it myself. Install was fairly simple, but the door has to be painted to match which I did. Wow, what a great unit so far. Temperature control is perfect at all flow rates, and incoming temps.

I have install pics and details on the Legacy forum.

All that being said, after 5 rigs over 40 years, a 10 gallon standard Suburban would be my overall choice. I did not convert because our wall slide is already too heavy for the mechanism, I did not want to add another 90 lbs.
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Old 05-13-2016, 03:52 AM   #14
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Rick, didn't you have that upgrade to the 3rd gen?
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Old 05-13-2016, 10:32 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dan-nickie View Post
Rick, didn't you have that upgrade to the 3rd gen?
Opps, you are totally correct. Ya mean I should proof read my own posts? Yes, I put in the Gen III.
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Old 05-18-2016, 06:57 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ndfellow View Post
I've got a 2012 Berk and it has the Girard tankless heater. Ever since I've had this unit water temp has been very hard to keep consistent especially in the shower. This past few days I was boon docking with only my fresh water tank and never was I able to get anything hot, barley warm at best. Is there something wrong, are these things junk? I need to figure something out my family is doing a month trip soon and I don't want to fight water daily.

Thx.,!!
After over a year of the dealer saying it's my misuse of system. I called girard. After a few calls they sent me replacement parts. They sent a new reset button and the flapper on the exhaust. I changed both and wow. Everything has worked since. They don't know if the reset was the issue or the flapper helps with air/water flow. Hope this helps.
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Old 05-18-2016, 08:18 AM   #17
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I'm going thru this right now also. It's ok at the sinks but the shower never gets very hot. Been talking to Girard techs to resolve. Does anyone know why the water that comes out of the back tees where one goes thru a solenoid and the other goes straight. Seems to me with the manifold in the wet bay you would have one in and one out. I haven't had time to trace it but it just seems one out to manifold.

Mike
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Old 05-18-2016, 08:27 AM   #18
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Now don't start yelling at me because I don't have a MH. But I might have some info for you. At the Tadpole Rally Frog Bob and Cindy came in the newest model MH. They are testing water heaters on it, he is I think he said his third already. I would shoot him a PM and ask about the new one FR is going to use to combat your problem......
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Old 05-18-2016, 09:17 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by gljurczyk View Post
Now don't start yelling at me because I don't have a MH. But I might have some info for you. At the Tadpole Rally Frog Bob and Cindy came in the newest model MH. They are testing water heaters on it, he is I think he said his third already. I would shoot him a PM and ask about the new one FR is going to use to combat your problem......

Thanks for your input and no you're not going to get lambasted. Bob and Cindy's new Berk uses an Atwood water heater not a Girard. I knew they had one unit replaced and now their on they're third? Wow.


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Old 05-23-2016, 08:57 PM   #20
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Update I called Girard and they gave me some pointers none of them worked. They gave me an upgrade to the Gen3 new unit for $500 which I felt was fair. Goes in Wednesday 7 day trip starts Friday!
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