Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-30-2022, 11:45 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
WanderingDennis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: Arizona
Posts: 13
Instant hot water heater

Purchased a used 5th wheel trailer that has girard demand water heater model gswh-2. Any one know how to change it over to a regular gas or electric not instant?
Thanks in advance
WanderingDennis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2022, 12:34 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Dayton Ohio
Posts: 3,567
There is a learning curve to operating your unit. Try that first if the DW pemits it.

Option 1 get the Truma. Most folks like them. You will not like the price.

Option 2. YOu need to run electric to the WH. Also ours has a switch in the control panel to turn the gas on. Be careful. The ones like this as I understand it are smaller than the old 10 gallon suburbans. Measue like crazy. could get complicated.

When we bought or fiver the wife researched your unit and insisted Forest river give us the standard Suburban. They had made the one you have standard.
tomkatb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2022, 12:51 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
robo44's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 998
We opted to have the Truma installed on our FR3, yes it was not cheap but best money we've ever spent on the RV
__________________
2019 FR3 33DS Motorhome
650 Watts Solar, 400Ah LIFEPO4, 2000 Watt Inverter, 40A DC/DC Charger, SumoSprings, Roadmaster Steering Stabilizer, BlueOx Trac Bar, Truma AquaGo WH, NVIDIA Shield TV
Days Camping
2019 57:2020 20:2021 30:2022 46:2023 47:2024 7
robo44 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2022, 12:58 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 575
To "change over" you would need to remove it and replace it with a standard one.

As others have said the Truma is AWEOSME!
Phreak480 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2022, 03:16 PM   #5
Junior Member
 
WanderingDennis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: Arizona
Posts: 13
Why does the book say this
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	20220630_151203.jpg
Views:	95
Size:	191.9 KB
ID:	275727  
WanderingDennis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2022, 06:14 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 4,041
Quote:
Originally Posted by WanderingDennis View Post
Purchased a used 5th wheel trailer that has girard demand water heater model gswh-2. Any one know how to change it over to a regular gas or electric not instant?
Thanks in advance
Now days the Truma and the girard are almost identical . pull them out of the cases and most couldn't tell them apart . the Girard is a good unit water flow is your friend . what problems are you having most are user error .
MR.M is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2022, 06:16 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 4,041
Quote:
Originally Posted by WanderingDennis View Post
Why does the book say this
That's saying you can turn up the temp untill you need to add cold water to cool it off enough to use or you can set it to say shower temp and no need to turn on the cold water . since you can adjust it you can change when showering or washing up and increase when doing dishes or want hotter water .
MR.M is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2022, 07:26 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
campingbaba's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 155
On demand water heater

We have a new Cardinal 5 er with a giarad heater . We will be looking to ga back to a tank model water heater . The on demand is just to sensitive. When you try to turn down the temp. The heater shuts off. When rinsing dishes and shut the water off and than turn it back on you get cold water . Never happened with our tank model in our old Wildcat.
campingbaba is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-04-2022, 08:58 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
DouglasReid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Maurice, LA
Posts: 4,095
Quote:
Originally Posted by campingbaba View Post
We have a new Cardinal 5 er with a giarad heater . We will be looking to ga back to a tank model water heater . The on demand is just to sensitive. When you try to turn down the temp. The heater shuts off. When rinsing dishes and shut the water off and than turn it back on you get cold water . Never happened with our tank model in our old Wildcat.
Girard has been making On Demand WH for more than a decade. WE had one of the original ones and it was VERY finicky. Sometimes perfect, sometimes it would then scald you followed by sometimes freezing you.

We changed it out for a new Furrion On Demand WH with a digital control that gives the precise temp you set on the control. We set ours at 109 because DW likes her showers hotter than I do. I simply add a bit of cold water to cool it down a bit. We both Love this unit.

Unlike the Truma you do not have to pay for installation. I did it myself in a day and a half. It only took that long because I redid the PEX plumbing to get rid of all the plastic fittings and replace them with brass fittings I know will NEVER fail.
__________________
2012 Wildcat Sterling 32RL, Gladiator Qr35 ST235/85R16 Load rating G, TST 507 TPMS w/ Flow-thru Sensors & Repeater, Reese Sidewinder 16K Pin Box, PI EMS HW50C
2009 Chevy Silverado 2500HD CCSB LTZ Diesel, Fumoto Oil Drain Valve, Turbo Brake activated, 39 gal Aux Tank W/ Fuel Pump transfer, Air Lift Loadlifter 5000 air bags.
DouglasReid is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
heater, hot water, water, water heater

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:29 PM.