!!Help!! - no power to Girard Tankless Water Heater!

[CorbandErin]

Ugh, I'm about ready to throw in the towel on this RV adventure! Not ONE trip has gone right....ok stop whining....get to the problem. We are in our 2014 Bay Hill 320RS and the Girard Water Heater (tankless) will not power up - no red light. I don't get it, but it worked the last time, now nada. Plenty of propane, hooked up to shore power, just had the (damn) RV de-winterized, and now here we are with no hot water. Any ideas? Hubby has scoured the book, placed a phone call to the Girard tech (of course, no answer, left a v-mail). I know some of you have these tankless water heaters in your Bay Hill 5'ers. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[KenInCA]

Hi Erin...

I've read your (and your husband's) posts and certainly can empathize with some of the issues you've had to deal with over the months that you have owned your Bay Hill. My wife and I have had to deal with our share of problems and my wife is at "the last straw" phase of our Bay Hill ownership. Our kitchen slide is allegedly fixed.

We endured the same problem as you're facing with Girard water heater. For us the fix was to turn off the power switch on the trailer's exterior. I turned it off and left it off for about 15 minutes. When I went to turn the switch on, the light indicating power came on. I turned on the outside shower hot water knob and immediately heard the propane burner ignite. Within 90 seconds, hot water was flowing out of the shower head.

In addition, if the above remedy does not work, think about turning off the main circuit breaker(s) for about 5-10 minutes and then try the water heater again.

Also, do a "sniff test" around your propane tanks. I had a leak in my single propane tank regulator. Nothing major. My service technician at Toscano RV said that may have been the cause of irregular performance of the Girard tankless heater. On our last trip to Pismo Beach, I had to turn the temperature control knob to almost maximum to get usable hot water. Apparently, the Girard system needs about 11 pounds of propane pressure to work efficiently. The leaking regulator has been replaced and the water heater is working normally again.

And don't fuss over whining. It's endemic to RVers in general and maybe to Bay Hill owners in particular.

Hopefully you'll get your water heater problem resolved. We have already begun to look at other 5th wheel models in case the "last straw" snaps on our next trip.

Ken

[TonyDi]

I would check two items. The fuses for the heater and the water supply on to the heater.

[CorbandErin]

thanks!The external power you refer to is the switch on the waterheater panel? or are you talking about the main battery switch i the front panel?

[KenInCA]

My first reference was to the heater on-off switch inside the horizontally louvered door on the trailer's exterior. It's a simple flip switch. There's a round pull ring that opens the compartment door. When the ring is in the vertical position, you can open the metal water heater door. The door is on the driver's side of the trailer. Turn the switch to the off position and leave it off for at least 10 minutes.

This would NOT be the main battery switch in the front compartment.

[CorbandErin]

Thanks. i know the switch you are talking about. I'll try it out in the morning! I'll cross y fingers and hope it works!!

[KenInCA]

Erin...

I know this may not be feasable, but if you are in area that has a mobile RV service, you might think about employing their services. I had to do use a service in Tempe when water started backing up in the sinks. The tank release valve was located underneath the trailer and not labeled. The service tech was able to diagnose the problem quickly. I asked him about the Girard tankless water heater in idle conversation, and, surprisingly, he had a good knowledge of its operation (not that that had anything directly to do with water backing up).

If the problem is fuse related, the blown fuse will cause a small LED to illuminate. My fuse box is close to the steps going up to the bedroom, along with the circuit breakers.

Please let me know if any of this works.

Ken

[CorbandErin]

Thanks Ken - so we've checked everything -- fuses, turned off system, turned it back on, left it off, back on, etc. We're traveling to TX (from southern NM) tomorrow and we'll be there for some time, so we'll have (yet) another opportunity to employ an RV service tech.

Also, understand about the 2nd gray water tank -- that happened to us too -- kitchen sink backed up after 2nd time out. We took off sink pipes/elbows, etc. until I googled the problem on my laptop. Wahlah - who knew a 2nd valve -- not located anywhere NEAR the rest of the valves, and NOBODY told us about it on the walk-thru.

I'm not quite ready to kick this Bay Hill to the curb yet, but it would be nice to have ONE trip without anything going wrong. Although to be honest, not having hot water isn't a crisis, we just adjust to the moment.

Thanks again for your help - and knowing we're not alone. Erin

[KenInCA]

Hey Erin...

My wife read your posts and couldn't agree more! Just one trip...just one stinking trip without something going amiss!

We'll get our next opportunity on Monday as we head toward San Francisco for the first string of SF Giants baseball games.

Oh well...RVing in this 5th wheel has always been an ongoing series of adjustments.

Ken & Lucy

[KenInCA]

Hi CorbandErin (actually Erin ) )

I was thinking about your situation with the tankless water heater and hope you got the problem resolved. It's a bit of a roundabout story.

On Monday last we were going to head toward the Bay Area. The trailer was loaded and a new propane regulator had been installed to replace a seemingly leaking regulator that ran to the single tank on the door-side of the trailer. At 11:30 PM we heard the propane/carbon monoxide alarm blasting in the unoccupied trailer (at least I know that works well). Yikes...it even woke up the neighbors and sent numerous dogs into barking spasms. I immediately closed off the propane tank valves.

Early the next morning we stopped at the RV dealership that installed the new regulator which was supposedly leaking propane to start with. A new regulator was installed, but gas was still leaking somewhere in the propane system, hence the cause of the alarm to go off the night before. Two propane specialists evaluated the problem and quickly deduced that a propane line from the single tank to the regulator on the two tank system on the driver's side of the coach had been mis-plumbed at the factory, causing a condition referred to as "propane blow-back." This blow-back was allowed to properly vent through the regulator's pressure relief system but also let the propane seep into the living area. With the lines correctly plumbed, all has been fine.

Here's what I've noticed. The Girard system is now working flawlessly because the proper propane pressure has been maintained, and perhaps this situation may have contributed to your woes with your tankless water heater.

To my way thinking, this is just another example of the lack of quality control at the Evergreen plant. I hope other Bay Hill owners who are currently smelling leaking propane will have their systems checked for this condition.

Ken

[CorbandErin]

Ei yi yi - that's all we can say about this trip. We've been enjoying the area, just not the RV. So so disappointed. The tankless water heater has been dead in the water (so to speak) the entire trip. We had an RV tech meet us in F'burg TX - checked all the electric, etc. (he was stumped) but thought (?) it was the CPU panel, but was going to talk to a Girard tech -- that never happened and we didn't hear from again. Then we go to leave F'burg and the entertainment slide (yes the one we had fixed - took 4 mos.!!) failed again! Came in crooked, then stopped within 2 inches of final closure and has been dead since! We went ahead onto TX and have been without hot water and a main slide. If this RV park here in Mission, TX wasn't so pretty and peaceful, I'd dump this 5'er and catch the next flight outta here. But instead it's back home to ABQ, drop this contraption off at LaMesa and wait until more warranty work is done. I'm bummed with RV travel....not what I (we) expected. My hubby of course is more rose colored glasses...me not so much.
(Ken - I hope you and Lucy are on the trip of a lifetime and enjoying your Bay Hill!)

[KenInCA]

Hi Erin...

Trip of a lifetime...ummm...not quite. It's the usual RV park we stay at near San Francisco when we attend SF Giants baseball games during the season. Foggy, cool, right on the ocean and quite crowded with the spring break crowds.

My propane system is working well; however, another issue has creeped up or fallen down in this case. To avoid driving our GMC truck in the tight San Francisco streets, my wife follows me in our Volvo C70 convertible. She called me and said the rubberized undercoating was beginning to sag...again. Sure enough she was right. This was a situation that has been dealt with on two occasions from the dealership where we bought the trailer. I've got the undercoating tied up by punching holes in the Coroplast and then tying the undercoating to the bumper which is pretty ghetto looking. I've got an appointment to have it fixed next Monday.

My slide(s) extended just fine and, of course, I'm hoping they retract without issue. In my last visit to have the kitchen slide repaired, the technicians had a panel removed just inside the storage compartment on the driver's side. Imagine you are looking inside the storage bay. Extend your right arm and move it to the right. The fuzzy-coated panel you'd run into has a digital CPU behind it. The techs were using this digital display "to balance" or synchronize the motors that control the slides' movements. I'm assuming the same digital panel would be similarly located on your trailer. Perhaps the repair technicians where you take your trailer are unaware of this digital panel.

I'm clueless on your Girard tankless situation. I do know that tankless owners have had their units yanked out and then replaced with a conventional water heater installed.

Parked across from me at the moment is a Columbus 5th wheel. Beautiful! I spoke with the owner and he reported absolutely ZERO issues in the 4 months he and his wife have owned the trailer. The Columbus was a brand we strongly considered before purchasing the Bay Hill. The Columbus does not have the tankless water heater system but did have the auto-leveling system that was ordered as an option.

Hopefully you'll get your problems ironed out soon.

Ken

[ericds]

Hello Erin,

If you have the latest version of the water heater you might have tripped the heater, if the water temp became too hot...its a safety feature. To reset the unit you have to push the white reset button inside the heater. Its' slightly on the left behind the main power switch. I had this happen to me and when I called Girard they couldn't help me. I then called a local RV technician who traced the circuit wires back to this reset switch. I hope this helps.

[CorbandErin]

Thanks - the water heater is now working just fine and has been for awhile now (knock knock knock on wood!). Not sure what the problem was exactly, but do believe that cold (outside) and propane pressure has something to do with it. We actually love the Girard water heater - finally!