Dinosaur board for hot water heater

[jimnnee95]

A friend of ours has a Grand Design. They always were running out of hot water so he installed a dinosaur board on the hot water heater. He says they never run out of hot water now even with his wife taking 15 min showers. Has anyone done this mod to theirs? Trying to see if they really work or what. We have a Sprinter with a 6 gallon hot water heater.

[JRTJH]

The control board has nothing to do with the water recovery rate. You get the same BTU's of heat through the tube with the OEM board as with any aftermarket board. Where the Dinosaur board "shines" is in reliability. It is built better, has better solder technique, is sealed with Glyptol to prevent corrosion and weather damage for a longer period than the OEM board. So, it's reliability not "heat applied to the water" that gives Dinosaur the edge.

The recovery rate for the newer Suburban water heaters, when using both propane and electricity is around 17 gallons per hour. If you consider a shower head with a 3 GPH flow rate and a mix of 50% cold/50% hot, then you'd be using 1.5 gallons per minute of hot water. The 17 gallons would be consumed at about the 11 minute/20 second mark. A 15 minute shower shouldn't be "impossible" if you're using relatively warm water from the fresh water tank, but you can pretty much be sure that with cooler city water, the last couple of minutes, his wife is probably turning down the cold water to keep the temperature comfortable.

[busterbrown]

What John said is right on. The Dinosour boards are just better built circuitry.

The Dometic fridge board failed on my coach after only 4 seasons this past spring. Because I was crunched for time, I had to pick up a Dometic replacement at a Camping world enroute to our destination. If I had more time, I would have upgraded to a Dinosaur board.

[jimnnee95]

Thanks for the detail! This makes me feel much better. Sounds like I need to look at upgrading the water heater to a bigger unit and I will have some issues fixed. I did buy a Echo Camel shower head the other day. We are headed to Texas so the city water will probably be a little warmer hopefully.

[sourdough]

Be sure and do some analysis before trying to just "upgrade" to a larger hwh. Mine is in a little built in compartment that it barely fits in...almost shoehorned into. I couldn't put anything in there that was a gal. bigger I doubt so look into it carefully.

[Roscommon48]

For us it seems like if we turn the gas and electric on we have plenty for the 2 of us.

[JRTJH]

For us it seems like if we turn the gas and electric on we have plenty for the 2 of us.

^^^ What he said. We have the Oxygenics showerhead (1.5-2.2 gallon flow rate) and use both the electric and propane heating units when we shower. We can stand in the shower for long enough to take a "refreshing, almost leisurely" shower before the water gets cool. I'm not familiar with the Eco Camel showerhead, it may be similar.

As for a bigger water heater, the standard "tank heater type" come in 6, 10 and 12 gallons. They increase in size as well as capacity. Most RV's are "framed for a specific size water heater" and a larger one (in size) will not fit the framing in a trailer that's built for a smaller heater size. Yes, you can modify it, but at what expense????

Typically, most people who want "unlimited hot water" will consider a "continuous flow type" propane heater as a replacement for their tank heater. They are available, usually only about $100-200 more than a replacement for your current 6 gallon water heater. They fit the space without having to modify the trailer framing.....

A continuous flow water heater may be your best option is you're not satisfied with a conserving showerhead and 17 gallons of "tepid water" (about 10-12 minutes of shower time).