Girard Tankless Water Heater GSWH-2 HELP

[lilitaliangal]

Gas in on and working but heater will not ignite. They just installed it and obviously did not test the thing before they sent me on my way Help!! Leaving in the morning

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. Remember it will not lite until it senses water flow at a certain rate have you opened a facet wide.

[lilitaliangal]

Yes, I have opened one and then both bathroom faucets all the way. The control panel does not light up at all to indicate that water is flowing and the heater has ignited. Also tried adjusting the temperature, checked the fuses. and checked the propane supply going to the unit by loosening the nut on the inlet. It is getting propane and electricity. It just won't ignite.

[Cypressloser]

I may not be able to give solid advice, only a few tips but you never know.

If you have a pressure regulator take it out, yeah I know but the sensors in the unit are so finicky.... These tankless water heaters operate best from the freshwater tank not from the campground spigot.
The water heater needs a minimum flow of 0.5 gpm flow in order to operate and there is a 10 -15 second time delay before the panel even illuminates after you turn the hot water on.
Make sure there is no other tap open other than the one you're intending to draw from, especially no cold.
Prime the propane line going to the heater, if no propane flows for x number of seconds the unit shuts down.
When you open the hot tap make sure water is flowing through the heater and not bypassing it somehow like through the open shower mixer valve or outside shower valve.

[Cypressloser]

One more thing, check the winterizing valve settings from your previous hot water tank and make sure they're not set to bypass the new water heater. A good installer should have removed them as they are not needed for this model of tankless water heater.

[lilitaliangal]

Thank you for all the great suggestions. None of them worked and I am so bummed because we're supposed to be leaving in 2 days. This is a brand new unit and shouldn't have any problems

[dblr]

I know on our River Stone the heater was installed at the factory so yours might differ then what mine is, I turn my gas on then there is a switch inside the control panel that must be turned on ( lights up red ) then I have to push the on button ( red ) on the temperature control panel for it to work. Not knowing how they installed yours or where they might have put them you might have to ask them where the switch might be? Hope this helps you some.

[Cypressloser]

The only other suggestion I have is to download the owner's manual and the service manual for the GSWH-2 if you don't already have it and/or get in touch with the installer.
https://greenrvproducts.com/pages/owner

[Bobf074]

Make sure they didn't hook it up to the water heat switch on you control panel. Check to see if the water heater control panel has power and is displaying the water temp.

If not, Turn it on the water heat switch and see if you now have power to the unit. If you do the water heater control panel will power on. Run your hot water. You should hear the ignitor clicking. If it is and it still doesn't light it may be a propane issue.

Let us know how you make out.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by lilitaliangal

Gas in on and working but heater will not ignite. They just installed it and obviously did not test the thing before they sent me on my way Help!! Leaving in the morning

Behind the outside cover there is a black rocker switch. It may just be that the switch is turned off.

I turn mine off when winterizing (I blow the lines out with air pressure) so it doesnt ignite on an empty WH. I make sure there is water throughout the water lines before turning the switch on.

[Bobf074]

Originally Posted by Bobf074

Make sure they didn't hook it up to the water heat switch on you control panel. Check to see if the water heater control panel has power and is displaying the water temp.

If not, Turn it on the water heat switch and see if you now have power to the unit. If you do the water heater control panel will power on. Run your hot water. You should hear the ignitor clicking. If it is and it still doesn't light it may be a propane issue.

Let us know how you make out.

You might need to reset the unit

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eE89B4zQoKc

[card16]

2 years ago I bought that same model and had problems lighting it. I called Girard and they said that they had some problems with the gas valves sticking. They suggested that I open the access door to the heater and look on the left side and that I would see two gray metal cylindars. They said to strike them firmly with a small hammer and that would free the sticking valve. It worked and I haven't had a problem since then. Hope this helps.

[DeanV]

I know this thread is ancient but I had the same issue on our 2018 CC. Turns out the entire operation of the heater is reliant on the flow sensor. Tapped on the outside of it with a wrench and that freed it up and everything is working as it should. If you get any crud in the little spinning wheel the sensor does not tell the control board that water is flowing and you get a non operational heater until that sensor starts working.

[Huckchughan]

I had a problem with my GSWH-2 tankless water heater. No hot water. The display has no flame, shower head, or flame icon. Girard tech support said to take a wrench & rap on the brass water inlet fitting. Crazy as that sounds it worked. Hot water was restored. A couple of additional things I found. Water flow must be able to fill a 1 gallon jug in less than 70 seconds. Also tankless water heater doesn't work well with faucets equipped with aerators.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Huckchughan

.... A couple of additional things I found. Water flow must be able to fill a 1 gallon jug in less than 70 seconds. Also tankless water heater doesn't work well with faucets equipped with aerators.

It is more accurate to say that a faucet with restricted flow may impact the function of an on demand water heater. So if your aerator is partially blocked by sediment or debris, simply clean it. I've never had a problem with any faucet (those with aerators) and our Gen1 Gerard, but I clean all ours at least once a year.
On demand is all about the flow rate. In the heat of the summer our shower is too hot, so we can simultaneously open a sink valve slightly to increase flow and decrease heat. We also found a higher flow shower head works better.

[DouglasReid]

We got sick and tired of fighting with the Girard. Once we made the decision to keep the camper I decided to upgrade the WH. The Furrion unit was not only the most cost effective but, as my English friend would say, "It works a treat".

Steady water temps whether OAT is hot or cold. No worrying about too much or too little water flow, the temp stays at what you set on the control panel.

DW likes her showers a bit warmer than mine so we set it for her and I add a bit of cold water (That DOES NOT affect the WH output temp at all) to make the temp good for me.

IMHO it is the best mod we have done to this camper to date.

[jimhbridges]

We had problems with our original Girard so we bought one of the new Girard-GSWH-2 units and had it installed in Corpus Christi. It would not work so they shipped me a new one from the factory to Galveston my next destination, I had to pay $60.00 extra for overnight, it actually took 5 days to receive it over the weekend. Once received I had to pay for the installation because a different RV Service company had to come to our site to install it. It works great but quite a hassle and still waiting for them to re-imburse me for the replacement labor.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Sorry about your problems. It's no fun being without hot water, but glad to hear everything is ok. Hopefully Forest River will reimburse you soon. You need to contact them directly with any questions.

Welcome to the forum!