Tankless Water Heater

Ram3500-KEY

Advanced Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2024
Messages
35
Location
Morristown
Hello,
I have a 23 Fuzion. I have the tankless heater set at 115 degrees. It's only going to 106 degrees. It has been working fine. Any ideas? Thank you
 
The water heater has a couple of factors that influence hot water temperature at the tap; one is the temperature of the incoming water and the other is the pressure/flow of the water through the water heater.

The heat exchanger is limited in size/volume so the colder the incoming water, the longer the water needs to remain in the heat exchanger to transfer the most amount of heat. Combined with too much flow moving the water through the heat exchanger too quickly, there is not enough dwell or contact time for the water passing through to get as hot as you might like it.
 
Mike,


I have never had a tankless in my trailer. In looking at new 5th wheels they all seem to have them. I'm not sure I want one! What was your reasoning to remove/replace.


My reasoning - I don't like to be tied to only propane and I like the "silence" of electricity when not "boon docking".


thanks
 
Jay, there are pros and cons to both types of water heaters. I have found that people tend to be as passionate on this subject as they are on the great debate on which truck brand is "the best".

There is no one-size-fits-all product out there, but having used the tankless for 7 months now, I have found the pros definitely outweigh the cons for us and our mix of camping (25% boondocking, 25% full hookup and 50% water/electric sites). In our prior campers we almost never used the shower (maybe the tub a few times to give our young daughter a bath), but now our showers are as good as home for as long and as hot as we want them (no more Navy showers)!

On a related note, the blower on ours makes more noise than the flame burning, so it is surprisingly really quiet compared to the tank water heater on gas.

YMMV
 
(not that it applies today in our usage but it would on some trips in the future).


Thanks for the update...appreciate the all opinions, one other item is a picture posted for the "fan running" thread. So is winter weather a concern?



The picture implied that the heat exchanger is not insulated to the outside where a tanked heater would have thermal mass and insulated by the styrofoam enclosure. I always envisioned these as being mounted internal to the trailer body with construction similar to a residential unit. (pipe for intake/exhaust and sensor that ensures the fan is working.
 
It still has the exterior door panel just like the tank-type but is a much shallower installation depth and does not have the thermal mass of 6 gallons of hot water waiting at temperature. The tankless does have a winter feature that will cycle the heater based on water temperature so it prevents freezing. I can post a picture of mine since it is sitting here in my driveway.

I would say that a tankless would not be ideal for use in consistent freezing temperatures. We camp from April to November, and it hasn't been an issue for us, but I can certainly see where it might be for some.

For what it's worth, I had picked up a brand new Dometic 6 gallon DSI gas/electric water heater and was planning to install it when we took delivery of our Cougar, but we started camping almost immediately and time got away from me. Before we knew it, we had gotten used to the tankless, which again for our camping style ended up working better for us than the tank-type so I sold it.

As long as there is enough depth to accommodate the tank type WH, it should fit in the same opening without modification. The power and the controller circuits for the gas and electric may be another issue depending on the model/floorplan. I was able to locate the bonded ribbon of 4 control wires on mine (they still ran the wires but didn't connect them to anything), so it would have been simple to wire a tank type in place of my tankless.
 

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My 2023 Cougar has the InCompetent command center and the Thankless water heater. Before spring hits, the Thankless water heater will be history and replaced with a gas only 6 gallon unit. The Thankless will be available for free if you pick it up in Bryan, TX. I won't waste my time shipping the junk.

Ken
 
We are in our 3rd 5th wheel in a 25 year span. The first two had the 6 gallon standard water heaters. Although they worked fine, the recovery time was not so great. Our newest, Cougar 29LRI, has the tankless and we never have to wait for hot water. Sure, the initial delivery of the hot water takes a few seconds more but we never run out. As for the temperature issue, I have noticed during our late fall camping here in CT, that when the ambient air temperature drops, the water temperature from the heater also drops. I am guessing that due to the colder water temperature the heater can not heat to full temperature based on the flow rate of the water through the heating element.

Tom
 
We have a tankless in our new 24 Avalanche and it definitely took some getting used to. Ours initially had the opposite issue where it would get too hot. We spoke to a few neighbors and they had a similar issue with theirs. An RV Tech told them there's a valve on the back of the water heater that you can adjust to control the flow of water into the heater.

They said typically the factory leaves it open full blast which results in the water getting too hot. Maybe you can check yours to see if it needs adjusting?

Our neighbor's trailer had an access panel in their unit so they could get to the back of the water heater without removing it but, unfortunately, ours did not.

Another "rookie mistake" we were doing was using cold water when we shower. Apparently the tankless heaters work better when you only run hot water through them and adjust the max temp to whatever you find comfortable (we settled on 105).

I guess adding cold water to the mix can cause the water heater to stop heating mid shower so you're constantly showering in ice cold or super hot water.
 
Lippert rep told me that in order for the water tankless heater to work properly it needs 1 gal of water per minute of water running threw it.
Suggested I check that first before we made any adjustments.
 
On my 2015 Astoria 5th wheel I have my 1st thankless. At 1st I hated it, but now that I am used to it now I love it. When I first begin I open hot water side about 1/2 throttle. After it gets near the temp setting I open hot water side all the way. That procedure seems to work well. The only downfall is your gray tank may fill little quicker then normal. As the 1st water is wasted as it's not hot immediately. But other then that I love it. And yes leave the cold water side off, it just confuses the heater
 
My 2023 Cougar has the InCompetent command center and the Thankless water heater. Before spring hits, the Thankless water heater will be history and replaced with a gas only 6 gallon unit. The Thankless will be available for free if you pick it up in Bryan, TX. I won't waste my time shipping the junk.

Ken

I don't need one but know someone who does. When you make the conversation contact me and I'll gladly pay you for your time and crating(boxing) and the shipping for the unit.
 
I don't need one but know someone who does. When you make the conversation contact me and I'll gladly pay you for your time and crating(boxing) and the shipping for the unit.

There's plenty of conversations here that are free! :LOL: Sorry, couldn't resist.:D
 

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