Tankless Waterheater.

[tumbleturn]

Has anybody put a tankless waterheater in there rig? If so how much? and did you do the install yourself?
Mike

[cj5 jeeper]

I had a tankless in my 2008 Rexhall. We found out the hard way that you can not turn the water off and back on while showering. When you do you end up running the water until the heater cycles on again. We thought there was something wrong until reading the instructions again you are told to leave the water on. Not good for dry camping. There is no electric option, so you can not use the electricty you paid for when you paid $30.00 per night at a campground. We paid to have it replaced with a 10 gal suburban gas/electric.

[dieselclacker]

Thanks for the info on the tankless jeeper. I was under the impression that they fired up whenever the water pressure dropped. Didn't know it was necessary to keep water going all the time. Not good for boondocking. Also completely forgot about not being able to heat with shore power when available. Guess I will stick to my present setup. Thanks again.

Dieselclacker

[tumbleturn]

Jeeper I have experience with only one. It was a home unit that worked on water pressure. Where I got the Idea for the rig because of my hunting Partner. He showed up this year with a outdoor portable unit he paid $100 from sportsman guide. It also ran on water pressure. His only complaint was when he turned it off then back on it was a little hot for a moment. I guess they dont all run on a pressure valve. Thanks for the heads up. So far only units online I can find are around a grand.
Mike

[Martind4]

My daughter and granddaughter do a lot of horse camping and their horse trailer didn't have a water heater so they asked if we could install one. I found an Ecotemp model L5 at CW for about $120. It has to be used outside for venting, so we rigged a hook on the outside of the trailer for the heater and routed the water and gas lines to the existing lines inside. Quick disconnects and a BBQ gas adapter make it a quick and easy set up. Two D cells power the ignitor. They only use it for "cowboy showers", standing in a bucket in the horse stall. Not the way I prefer to take a shower, but it works for them. The heater starts and stops automatically and doesn't require winterizing, it drains completely when disconnected. This was a much cheaper alternative and I think works just as well for their application.

I've even thought about getting one for our stick house to provide hot water for outside cleaning or to wash the rig when the weather gets chilly.

[jspande]

Tankless water heaters are controlled by a combination of flow meter and temperature sensors. They work only in a range of flow - below about 1/3 gallon/minute they cut out, and of course, above a certain flow the heat just can't keep up (generally not a problem).

So, they're not so good for dry camping but great for long, hot showers when connected to city water.

Another obscure issue is what I experienced here in So. Cal. In the summer with triple digit heat, my source water was sufficiently warm the the burner had trouble throttling down low enough not to overheat the water. The only way I could take a shower was to increase the hot water flow by opening an extra hot water faucet!

Other than that, it worked great

BTW, I changed it out in favor of a hydronic space/water heater.