Atwood on demand water heater

[sandstormfam]

I have the Atwood On Demand Water heater in my 285GLSR. It's never worked properly, I've run 100's of gallons through that thing adjusting the modular valve on the side and I haven't been able to take a decent shower yet. Super frustrating.

I'm finally getting it into the shop next week for the recall fix, as I found out my unit is affected by it. Has anyone else out there had the recall done on it yet? You can tell it's been done if there's a scalding warning sticker on the metal plat located just above the modulating valve. I'm not sure this will fix my hot water problem, but I'm going to start with that.

It could be that there's something restricting water pressure to it, as it not supposed to heat the incoming water if it's getting less than 1 GPM. As it sits right now, there's no consistency with the hot water, it's either full on, or off. You can't feather in cold to bring the temp down to a reasonable temp, it just shuts off the heater once you introduce cold water. And adjusting the modulating valve doesn't do the trick either.

I'm curious is others are having the same issue with their new Sandstorms and if anyone's done the recall yet? I believe this heater unit is standard on the new ones. Thanks.

[sandstormfam]

Update - had the recall done. It was literally adding a lock washer to the a screw on the modulating valve. Has nothing to do with operation.

I've had two shops look at the water heater and both can't figure out why it's not working. They called Atwood support, who has had them conduct a flow test, propane pressure test, taken off all the flow restricting elements on the fixtures and adjusted the modulating valve. Still wont work and Atwood still maintains that there's nothing wrong with their water heater.
I'm going to take it back to the dealer, which I probably should have done in the first place. Maybe there's something wrong with the plumbing.

[guyster]

Had to have the recall done on mine. Seems to be working so far. Had to go out and reset the little reset button on top left corner once but hope that was a one time deal. Before recall had to reset all the time then it quite altogether. Its on a 2016 Sandstorm

[joet19711]

Originally Posted by sandstormfam

I have the Atwood On Demand Water heater in my 285GLSR. It's never worked properly, I've run 100's of gallons through that thing adjusting the modular valve on the side and I haven't been able to take a decent shower yet. Super frustrating.

I'm finally getting it into the shop next week for the recall fix, as I found out my unit is affected by it. Has anyone else out there had the recall done on it yet? You can tell it's been done if there's a scalding warning sticker on the metal plat located just above the modulating valve. I'm not sure this will fix my hot water problem, but I'm going to start with that.

It could be that there's something restricting water pressure to it, as it not supposed to heat the incoming water if it's getting less than 1 GPM. As it sits right now, there's no consistency with the hot water, it's either full on, or off. You can't feather in cold to bring the temp down to a reasonable temp, it just shuts off the heater once you introduce cold water. And adjusting the modulating valve doesn't do the trick either.

I'm curious is others are having the same issue with their new Sandstorms and if anyone's done the recall yet? I believe this heater unit is standard on the new ones. Thanks.

Yes, as you found out the recall had nothing to do with the problem. The problem is a bad design if you ask me. There are a couple of things that you can do to help the situation out. I replaced the shower head with this Jetstorm Plus. It made a huge difference in the flow. Also all of the sink faucets in bathrooms, kitchen etc, all have water flow restrictors in them.
Take them apart and remove and it will improve your hot water flow and keep it a lot better. It will not be perfect but it will be a lot better. Give it a try..

[rtaverne]

Mine came with a Girard tankless heater...works great. Operate it by just the hot water valve.

[Alpine207]

I'm having the same issue with the on-demand Atwood in my Shockwave.