Community Forums

greyt-parent · 06-17-2012, 08:43 AM

First, I never said the design of the Girard was bad, just that I bypassed it in preference of the design of the PrecisionTemp which seemed more flexible and able to adapt to many circumstances.
We are full timers and have encountered many scenarios; woken up to frost in the morning and have had 95 degree days by noon with the water supply in direct sun. In either case, the RV500 works as expected.

Dbeskan · 06-17-2012, 10:06 AM

The RV500 sounds good.

Fred1609 · 06-23-2012, 08:08 AM

I was having a word with my buddy at work who bought a new rig with the Girard tankless system.....He also cant get the water temp to balance. Gave him IRV2's info and told him to have a look at all the other problems with this system. Hopefully you all get this issue sorted out soon....Is this the Ford Edsel of the RV industry?

Dbeskan · 06-30-2012, 07:00 AM

Update. Have been traveling for over a week. Destination was Michigan and now in Ohio heading back to Tennessee in a few days.
1). Received a phone call from Lance customer service rep. Lance is sending out a bulletin to all Dealers to look for mis-wiring of of the Girard Tankless. Ours was at the auto/low switch. Note: I did read on another forum where Girard had misguided techs with wiring and were disclosing a correction; therefore I don't know who is at fault but to the consumer, the bottom line is acknowledgment and getting the wiring fixed.
2). At our first stop (after picking up granddaughter from Chicago O'Hare airport) we used the low setting, turning off the "extreme" switch. The water would not warm to tepid with the lower BTUs with the "extreme" switch on. Understandingly, the external water was really cold. With several adjustments in shower, I was quite comfortable, liking fairly hot showers. My granddaughter was uncomfortable but at least did not scald herself with burning.
3). the next shower my granddaughter took was 3 or 4 days later at a site outside of Detroit. Thank goodness for wet wipes, lakes, etc. I decided to try the extreme setting on a 90 plus degree weather. Perfect for her, and ok for me. The water was warm enough to enjoy the shower, get clean and NOT worry about adjustment of any sort after getting warm water. We are now both happy campers.

All in all, this experience has cost approximately $150 out of pocket, and hopefully we'll get $90 back from our dealer or Lance, as their was a problem and we're still under warranty.

We do help this blog on our experience and getting to the bottom of the problem will help others with Lance, Girard Tankless water heater, and other RV manufacturers. It was through our persistence and others finally listening and realizing it was not "operational" funk by me.

Thanks, and hope to be at National Rally, although was planning a Canadian excursion. Hummmm.

Rvcamper · 07-10-2012, 01:23 PM

Just want to add... I have a new Wildcat 5th Wheel model 302RL purchased April 25, 2012. After calls to Girard, Dealer and Forest River, I now have consistent water temp. This was done by by-passing the hot temp limiter sensor. However, I can not get the water temp cool enough to take a comfortable shower. The hot ambient temps are causing in-flow water temps of +70 degrees. On low setting that gives me 118 degree water temp at full flow. Unacceptable!! I read the post about the Extreme Warm Weather Kit. I am now in process of trying to get Girard to do this for my system. My question is did this work for you? Thanks

Mplawrence · 07-11-2012, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rvcamper

Just want to add... I have a new Wildcat 5th Wheel model 302RL purchased April 25, 2012. After calls to Girard, Dealer and Forest River, I now have consistent water temp. This was done by by-passing the hot temp limiter sensor. However, I can not get the water temp cool enough to take a comfortable shower. The hot ambient temps are causing in-flow water temps of +70 degrees. On low setting that gives me 118 degree water temp at full flow. Unacceptable!! I read the post about the Extreme Warm Weather Kit. I am now in process of trying to get Girard to do this for my system. My question is did this work for you? Thanks

I am the one that started this stream, and we are still not happy. We haven't camped since we got back from Florida in March. But we are camping with our granddaughter this week and the shower is not tolerable. I have not taken the temperature of the water yet, but it is scalding. I told our granddaughter to take a sponge bath and skip the shower. This morning I tried to use it. What a joke in this lovely Wildcat 302RL 5th wheel. I HAD to turn on the cold water which caused the limiting, swinging of hot and cold. I hand held the shower head and wet my body when the swing was in the middle and tolerable before it got too hot or too cold. Please let me know what solution worked for you so we can beat up on the dealer and Girard again. Is the Extreme Warm Weather Kit the answer and what is it? Thanks.

Dbeskan · 07-12-2012, 07:36 AM

Good morning RVCamper and MPLawrence,

We are once again RVing with my granddaughter--her final trip before heading home to California on Monday (by plane). Wifi was a bit spotty, and of course we were a bit busy. Please excuse typos (if you can) I have an Apple iPod touch that I use when camping and the virtual keyboard is tiny tiny. My last blog was full of typos. Sorry.

1). Extreme Hot Water Kit: works when weather is warmer/hot and water into RV is at a warmer temperature. I think somewhere above temps may be included. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THIS MERHOD is the waste of water and time. It takes about ten minutes before the warm water stays regulated. We were told to turn the hot faucet all the way on for flow. I'm not certain why it takes that much time and water to get a consistent Luke warm temperature in hot weather since it is tankless. Our RV Is a 19' (with tongue) trailer. Not that much pipe to clear out. This is the best method in hot weather for me and the grandchild.

2). Maybe this should have been stated first. There have been many mis-wired Girard switches. That's the auto-low switch or some may say hi - lo. Ours was one mis-wired. Some were Girard's fault and others were RV manufacturer's.

3). After getting the switch fixed, my granddaughter tried a shower on LOW setting--once. No go. Too much turning up and down of faucet for her not to stress and finally jump put of rub with water on and getting everything wet. The next showers were with the Extreme Weather Kit setting and she was happy, but like I mentioned, that is tepid water.

The auto-switch does work but then again, there are adjustments to be made during the shower, and again, a waste of time (I have that) and more importantly, a waste of water. No dry camping for us with just a 25 gallon tank.

We will take showers at this site later, but the workability of the Girard tankless will most likely stay the same. At least I am no longer afraid of taking a shower! As you know, don't let anyone use the water in your RV while someone is in the shower. Also, flow of water is important but a lot of times we have no control of flow in campsites except regulating it downward and usually it's a problem of needing more flow.
Thanks. Debbie in Waynesville, NC at Pride RV park. Heading to Georgia.

JohnBoyToo · 07-12-2012, 02:02 PM

Ouch, we are going out again this weekend and we'll see how ours operates in the heat...

wait, when we were at cajun palms in louisiana it was HOT... and the girard worked fine for me... and the wife did not complain.... good luck getting this resolved....

did I ask this already ?
do you have the low and high switch on the inside of the coach and the on off switch on the heater outside ?

Do you use a water pressure regulator for your water line?

If it's a new rv is it possible there is air in your water line or low water pressure < 1 gpm?

What about propane delivery, do you think that may be spotty and not allowing the flame to generate consistent temps ?

Just trying to understand and help you resolve it... I can't imagine Girard not stepping up to the plate ....

Would the manuals help ?
http://greenrvproducts.com/owner/

http://greenrvproducts.com/operating-tips/

Rvcamper · 07-12-2012, 08:08 PM

Debbie. The Girard system is so sensitive to water flow it is near impossible to get consistent water temps for an entire shower. The ten minute warm up is totally unacceptable. As some one stated earlier a shower should be a pleasure not something you dread to do. A&L RV Sales in Johnson City, TN is going to install the warm weather kit but I still have serious doubts about it working satisfactorily. if it does not cure the issue I will go back to Tom Johnson Camping Center. I have heard that Forest River will eventually agree to install a tank system if the tankless does not perform to expectations. At this point in time I am literally sick that I ever made this purchase. We are at Warriors Path State Park in Kingsport, TN. If you are familiar with most state parks you know the water pressure is very unstable. Wish us luck as it is shower time. Bill

Rvcamper · 07-12-2012, 09:07 PM

To all Girard Tankless users: just got out of the "shower" ???? Folks there is no adjusting this system to have consistent water temp. If you had a small child could you or would you feel confident that your small one would be safe in that thing?? I promise you would not if it operates like mine. I am no idiot, I can read and follow directions. I understand how the system is suppose to work. Backwards, forwards, sideways, ten ways from Sunday. It Aint Working. PERIOD

JohnBoyToo · 07-17-2012, 09:05 PM

Sorry yours is not working well... so far in the hot Texus climate it's worked well for us...

I will say though that the wife likes HOT water,
I on the other hand have to have the hot on full flow and the cold on as well...

the way I figure it is that if the girard design is such that you lower the temp with more flow, why not give it the full flow of hot and cold ?

seems to work for me...

Rvcamper · 07-18-2012, 10:42 AM

JohnBoytoo
I have tried every combination I could think of on this. If the water pressure drops or rises, I get a extreme hot or cold temp change as well. Currently Tom JohnsonCamping Center has the camper and are trying to cure the issue. My possibly install a conventional water heater. We will see

JohnBoyToo · 07-18-2012, 02:17 PM

good luck !

greyt-parent · 07-20-2012, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rvcamper

JohnBoytoo
My possibly install a conventional water heater. We will see

If you want to stay with a tankless system, take a look at the PrecisionTemp RV500. It has 3 thermisters that measure:
1. Incoming water temperature.
2. Water temperature at the midway of the heating coil
3. Output water temperature.
The processor board measures all three and insures that the output temperature is achieved by altering the gas flow to the burners. The unit requires a minimum water flow of .5 gpm before ignition will occur. The LED indicators display error information as well as current water flow gpm. Output water temperature is factory set at 120, but is adjustable by changing a setting of the circuit board.

We have been using this in our rig for the past year and it copes with every situation from frost overnight to 95 in the shade, and the water always comes out at the right temperature.