Girard Tankless Water Heater Problems

SomedayIsToday · 03-21-2018, 11:02 AM

We are having a major leak at the base of the Water Flow Sensor on the water heater. The leak seems to be coming from the connection of the sensor with the water inlet pipe and the relief valve.
Anyone ever have this problem and solution?

Thank you in advance!

Larry

SomedayIsToday · 03-21-2018, 11:07 AM

Here is a picture of the problem area...

Fishrsafe · 03-21-2018, 05:31 PM

No problem with ours so far but we have only had it a month and only used a few times so far.

Pete

W5CI · 03-21-2018, 06:06 PM

I would never have a RV or a home with a tankless WH, they have to many problems that are well documented.

GFAR · 03-21-2018, 06:11 PM

Got one at home no problems! I don’t know about the one in the rv will know in a few weeks haven’t used! If it does like the one at home it will be ok!

Filterman · 03-21-2018, 06:21 PM

Have a generation 1 Girard and love it. We average somewhere between 100 and 60 nights of camping and it’s been trouble free once we learned to run it!

GFAR · 03-21-2018, 06:47 PM

I think mine is generation 2 the model is GSWH-2 I guess that is a generation 2 is that suppose to be a step up! I just hope it works good!

conceptumator · 03-22-2018, 01:27 PM

Call Girard. They have excellent customer service and troubleshooting over the phone.

card16 · 03-22-2018, 07:01 PM

I agree with the tech service quality, I have a 2nd generation as well and it has been trouble free (2 years now).

NMWildcat · 03-22-2018, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W5CI

I would never have a RV or a home with a tankless WH, they have to many problems that are well documented.

Then you should avoid them if you believe what you read. I'm convinced most folks who say they have problems just never learned to use them properly.

Meanwhile, those of us that have them will continue to thoroughly enjoy the many benefits

. We have been using ours for six years and never experienced any problems. And yes, we boondock 80% of the time with no problems with hot showers.

herbike · 03-22-2018, 07:43 PM

We have an Atwood, have had two "pressure" valves go bad in 17 months and over 120 days of camping. I use a jumper wire til we get the parts, unit works fine without the "pressure" switch.
Haven't had any water leaks.
Our friends had the same model finally traded the trailer back to the dealer and got a similar model trailer with a 10 gallon tank heater. I tease him that is a mighty expensive water heater.

DouglasReid · 03-23-2018, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W5CI

I would never have a RV or a home with a tankless WH, they have to many problems that are well documented.

Well thank you CaptainNegative for offering NO assistance whatsoever and only denigrating what the OP owns. How VERY HELPFUL of you!

DouglasReid · 03-23-2018, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filterman

Have a generation 1 Girard and love it. We average somewhere between 100 and 60 nights of camping and it’s been trouble free once we learned to run it!

We have a Gen 1 as well and love it.

The ONLY problem is that it will add only so much heat so this winter, when it got down to freezing over New Years we had to go to the bathhouse to get a warm shower. The WH could just not get the water hot enough.

Other than that one trip, when the weather is not that cold, it has performed flawlessly. Endless showers in an RV are a REAL Luxury!

NMWildcat · 03-23-2018, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

We have a Gen 1 as well and love it.

The ONLY problem is that it will add only so much heat so this winter, when it got down to freezing over New Years we had to go to the bathhouse to get a warm shower. The WH could just not get the water hot enough.

Other than that one trip, when the weather is not that cold, it has performed flawlessly. Endless showers in an RV are a REAL Luxury!

Gen 1 here also. We stay frequently where the temp is in the teens or below. We fill the fresh tank and use the pump as it is required for the WUD (winter use device) anyway. We have been able to take hot showers in these cold temps by turning the hot water valve flow down to just above the point where the tankless will turn off due to low flow rate. Combined with the Oxygenics shower head, we still get a decent shower, although the flow rate isn't anything to brag about.

s1njin · 03-23-2018, 10:53 AM

I had a Girard 2 on my Greyhawk. I did enjoy the endless hot showers. I did *not* enjoy:

Futzing w/ the temp knob to get it right upon arriving at camp
The low flow required to get that endless shower
On faucets that had a single handle, unless you opened it up full right (cold), the Girard would fire up immediatly even if you opened up the faucet in the middle (warm) and quickly moved it to the right (cold).

My kids had a little song when they went to use the bathroom faucet (To the right to the right not the left not the left).

DouglasReid · 03-23-2018, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Gen 1 here also. We stay frequently where the temp is in the teens or below. We fill the fresh tank and use the pump as it is required for the WUD (winter use device) anyway. We have been able to take hot showers in these cold temps by turning the hot water valve flow down to just above the point where the tankless will turn off due to low flow rate. Combined with the Oxygenics shower head, we still get a decent shower, although the flow rate isn't anything to brag about.

We were still using the park water as the temp was not low enough to freeze the water in the hose.

What does using the tank water have to do with how the WUD functions?

Im not sharpshooting, but trying to learn.

I had actually considered getting an inline electric water heater that would flow through so I could pre-heat the water going into the Gen 1

Thanks

NMWildcat · 03-23-2018, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

We were still using the park water as the temp was not low enough to freeze the water in the hose.

What does using the tank water have to do with how the WUD functions?

Im not sharpshooting, but trying to learn.

I had actually considered getting an inline electric water heater that would flow through so I could pre-heat the water going into the Gen 1

Thanks

It is what I read from gswh-1 wud manual: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/12...?page=4#manual

You would think if you had fresh input water from the park, that it would also work, but I never tried it that way as we boondock most of the time. Whenever it is freezing, we don't use the park water if at hookups as we aren't there long enough to warrant a heated hose.

Maybe it does operate with both inputs, but I just do what I read in this doc. Maybe it changed later?

DouglasReid · 03-23-2018, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

It is what I read from gswh-1 wud manual: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/12...?page=4#manual

You would think if you had fresh input water from the park, that it would also work, but I never tried it that way as we boondock most of the time. Whenever it is freezing, we don't use the park water if at hookups as we aren't there long enough to warrant a heated hose.

Maybe it does operate with both inputs, but I just do what I read in this doc. Maybe it changed later?

I just read it, thanks!! When I winterize I use a compressor to blow all the water out of the entire system. We just went to New Orleans for New Years and it got colder than we had anticipated or the weather man claimed it ws going to.

NMWildcat · 03-23-2018, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

I just read it, thanks!! When I winterize I use a compressor to blow all the water out of the entire system. We just went to New Orleans for New Years and it got colder than we had anticipated or the weather man claimed it ws going to.

Stinking weathermen!!!

. They do that to us all the time also. But I do envy their job. Don't have to be even close to correct, and still get paid

SomedayIsToday · 03-24-2018, 07:55 AM

**UPDATE** on our Girard GSWH-2 Tankless Water Heater -

We're back in business! Found a broken set screw (see Picture) at the Water Flow Sensor and the Inlet Pipe junction. If you look at my original picture you can see the separation of the two parts. I had to basically take the front section apart in order to get to the problem area. Removed the sensor with a 15/16" wrench and checked that it looked in good shape and then replaced the set screw.

The only thing I figure is the set screw must have had a crack in it and freezing water did the rest. One troubling thing that I did notice while I had it disassembled was the o-ring at that same junction looked a little sketchy. It will probably fail in the future. This is odd considering that this unit is a 2017 model (built in 2016) so it's only 2-years old and the rubber shouldn't be deteriorating already. No matter, now that I know how to get to it I can fix it, if and when the time comes.

I appreciate all of your input! It's interesting to see the variety of "opinions" and interjections.

We are still on the fence about our tankless water heater and need more time to "learn" how to use it to our advantage. There is definitely a learning curve. I understand that there are discussions about this elsewhere on this forum so I'll have to check those out.

Thanks again everyone!!!

Larry

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