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Post by delawarecamper on Apr 2, 2021 8:45:51 GMT -5
first time out,, any tips or tricks for the on demand hot water,,, just dont seem to get hot water as we expected
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Post by jetzen on Apr 2, 2021 9:33:07 GMT -5
first time out,, any tips or tricks for the on demand hot water,,, just dont seem to get hot water as we expected I don't know a whole lot about this system yet but I have heard in general all RV on demand hot water systems struggle to make hot water when camping in colder weather. I have read allot of people with on demand systems have put an accumulator (tank) in line to solve this problem. If you could be more specific what problems are you having?? |
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Post by Edd505 on Apr 2, 2021 13:07:52 GMT -5
You might message ronc he has one in his 5W.
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Post by jstuart on Apr 7, 2021 19:33:23 GMT -5
Interesting. My wife was looking at that option as she said she barely has enough hot water. As for me its no big deal but I am curious if they are worth the investment. We loved the continuous hot water system in our home but that is obviously a totally different set-up.
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Post by Edd505 on Apr 7, 2021 21:42:10 GMT -5
12 gallons get us both through with electric add the gas for faster recovery.
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Post by delawarecamper on Apr 8, 2021 6:27:51 GMT -5
after our first weekend with the new camper we found out that you need to have a good flow going to activate the on demand hot water, also need the pressure going into the camper, as some have advised you need to set the hot water temp to the temp you like in the shower and only run the hot water to keep the flow and pressure in the hot water system,,, now to find a shower head that lets the flow travel and the pressure but having enough flow and pressure to get a good stream,,, not really liking the on demand yet but I think we need to tweek it to get it right,,, not the best of systems if you don't have sewer connection,, We'll be at the rally so between now and then we'll make it work,, other than that we love the 391 floor plan,, it is high at 13-6
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Post by jetzen on Apr 8, 2021 9:42:19 GMT -5
12 gallons get us both through with electric add the gas for faster recovery. I'm with you Edd. I'll keep the old fashioned system. Never a problem with enough hot water for the both of us. |
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Post by Chuck on Apr 9, 2021 16:48:53 GMT -5
Interesting. My wife was looking at that option as she said she barely has enough hot water. As for me its no big deal but I am curious if they are worth the investment. We loved the continuous hot water system in our home but that is obviously a totally different set-up. One of the members on the form bragged about his on demand hot water system till he had a problem an found out he had to take to a dealer who serviced his brand of hot water heater, he couldn't even buy parts directly from the MFG of the brand he had ...
He has since went back to the standard hot water heater his trailer cam with ....
Safe travels 
Chuck
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Post by ronc on Apr 15, 2021 14:42:13 GMT -5
12 gallons get us both through with electric add the gas for faster recovery. I'm with you Edd. I'll keep the old fashioned system. Never a problem with enough hot water for the both of us. I agree with the value of "the old fashioned system". We had a Truma AquaGo on demand water heater for the last 5 years. It was great until it wasn't ... mobile RV techs don't have parts for them, most can't work on them, and any needed parts are a $100 overnight charge away. Truma has a goofy after sales support system that makes for a good campfire discussion over wine. At any rate, I pulled mine out and went back to the gas/electric Suburban 12 gallon that was original equipment. Seems to provide plenty of hot water and every mobile RV tech can work on them, carry parts for them and understand how they work. On demand hot water is a good idea, but the whole ownership experience was not satisfactory ... for us. |
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Post by chulavista on Apr 15, 2021 14:56:35 GMT -5
after our first weekend with the new camper we found out that you need to have a good flow going to activate the on demand hot water, also need the pressure going into the camper, as some have advised you need to set the hot water temp to the temp you like in the shower and only run the hot water to keep the flow and pressure in the hot water system,,, now to find a shower head that lets the flow travel and the pressure but having enough flow and pressure to get a good stream,,, not really liking the on demand yet but I think we need to tweek it to get it right,,, not the best of systems if you don't have sewer connection,, We'll be at the rally so between now and then we'll make it work,, other than that we love the 391 floor plan,, it is high at 13-6 Ditto. We have an on demand in our current bumper pull toy hauler. You need to keep high enough pressure coming in, and the shower head needs to allow enough water through it as well. The third component is if you are hooked up to water, your water pressure regulator needs to also allow high enough pressure. We were told to turn the hot water all the way on, and adjust by adding cold as needed. The instructions said absolutely do not use the navy shower method, you will get cold water more than hot. |
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Post by kenc1325 on Apr 19, 2021 18:31:59 GMT -5
We are just doing our shake down trip on our 2021 301 RLT and it came with an on demand hot water system . I agree with all of you that said the regular system is best suited for rv use . We find that you waste a lot of water trying to get hot you can not turn it off and back on again like a regular hot water tank . The minute you turn it off and back on you start from the beginning and get cold and have to wait until the heater catches up . The best way to have hot water is to keep it running , hence the waste of water which if your boondocking could be a problem . I would rather have the regular system but not sure if there would be enough space to put one . Something I will look into in the future. Best of luck.
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Post by delawarecamper on Apr 20, 2021 15:39:49 GMT -5
we now have the hot water set at 110 deg f and will just let the hot water run until shower is complete,, it does waste some water letting it run and at the start till the hot water gets going, but it works,,
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Post by kenc1325 on Apr 21, 2021 5:27:36 GMT -5
we now have the hot water set at 110 deg f and will just let the hot water run until shower is complete,, it does waste some water letting it run and at the start till the hot water gets going, but it works,, I agree it is a matter of getting use to it . Our default temperature was set at 104 deg i will set ours at 110 and see if that helps .. Enjoy your new rig thanks and happy trails |
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Post by jfspry58 on Apr 23, 2021 12:25:06 GMT -5
Another vote here for the conventional system. Our 12 gallon Suburban provides plenty of hot water for us both. We don’t often boondock but a couple of lakes we like to go to have no sewer hookups and not being able to turn off the water during a shower could be problematic. Good luck!
Jay
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OTH
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 28
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Post by OTH on Apr 30, 2021 11:25:24 GMT -5
As others have said, there are pros and cons. With full hookups, so far we love it. Between the endless hot water and our water softener, showers are great. On a Nevada trip, I ordered a high flow shower head that is apparently illegal in California, and that works a ton better than the factory one. Then I added a valve at the faucet that can reduce or shut off the flow if desired. I set the temp at 104 degrees, so when I take a shower I only turn on the hot. One of the biggest downsides is it takes about 10 seconds for hot water, and you can't start and stop it while showering. Have not dry camped in it yet, but that will add a water issue on a week long trip. Have not had an RV park low water pressure issue yet, but its a concern. Worse case scenario is if RV park water pressure is too low to activate the water heater, you will just need to use the water pump and keep the fresh tank full. |
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Post by Edd505 on Apr 30, 2021 18:32:20 GMT -5
As others have said, there are pros and cons. With full hookups, so far we love it. Between the endless hot water and our water softener, showers are great. On a Nevada trip, I ordered a high flow shower head that is apparently illegal in California, and that works a ton better than the factory one. Then I added a valve at the faucet that can reduce or shut off the flow if desired. I set the temp at 104 degrees, so when I take a shower I only turn on the hot. One of the biggest downsides is it takes about 10 seconds for hot water, and you can't start and stop it while showering. Have not dry camped in it yet, but that will add a water issue on a week long trip. Have not had an RV park low water pressure issue yet, but its a concern. Worse case scenario is if RV park water pressure is too low to activate the water heater, you will just need to use the water pump and keep the fresh tank full. Illegal in CA? Is this another known to cause cancer in CA? If you don't live in CA you'll be OK, cancer free.  |
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Post by lynnmor on May 1, 2021 1:51:37 GMT -5
One of the biggest downsides is it takes about 10 seconds for hot water, and you can't start and stop it while showering. Have not dry camped in it yet, but that will add a water issue on a week long trip. For dry camping, I added an on-off valve inline with a metering valve under the vanity. The water flows from the hot water supply line to the fresh water tank vent hose. On some trailers this can be very simple and others very difficult. The metering valve is just a multiple turn valve to slow the flow so that the water doesn't go out the vent. When I need hot water at the sink or shower, I open the on-off valve till the water pump cycles twice and then there is near instant hot water at the faucets with virtually no waste. The valve can also be used to help prevent freezing of the water tank and some of the plumbing. |
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Post by kenc1325 on May 7, 2021 9:34:57 GMT -5
Can anybody tell me if you can switch these heaters from gas to electric . The ICI has a switch for it but it only seems to run on gas . I turn the switch off gas and onto electric but doesn't seem to make a difference. I also turned the propane off put the ici to gas off and electric on and got an error code saying it doesn't have ignition so the switch in the ice seems generic and this thing runs on propane only. Anybody know if you are suppose to be able to run on electric. I can't see anything in the Manuel that even mentions about electric.
Thanks
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Post by chulavista on May 7, 2021 11:36:23 GMT -5
Can anybody tell me if you can switch these heaters from gas to electric . The ICI has a switch for it but it only seems to run on gas . I turn the switch off gas and onto electric but doesn't seem to make a difference. I also turned the propane off put the ici to gas off and electric on and got an error code saying it doesn't have ignition so the switch in the ice seems generic and this thing runs on propane only. Anybody know if you are suppose to be able to run on electric. I can't see anything in the Manuel that even mentions about electric. Thanks I don't know about KZ, but I can tell you with our bumper pull toy hauler, the answer is no, they don't run on electric. There is a switch on the wall for our on demand hot water heater to switch to electric - which the service tech told us does absolutely nothing. It runs on propane only. We then asked why there's a switch there that makes us think it will run on electric as well, and his answer was "they use a universal panel". |
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Post by kenc1325 on May 7, 2021 17:09:51 GMT -5
Can anybody tell me if you can switch these heaters from gas to electric . The ICI has a switch for it but it only seems to run on gas . I turn the switch off gas and onto electric but doesn't seem to make a difference. I also turned the propane off put the ici to gas off and electric on and got an error code saying it doesn't have ignition so the switch in the ice seems generic and this thing runs on propane only. Anybody know if you are suppose to be able to run on electric. I can't see anything in the Manuel that even mentions about electric. Thanks I don't know about KZ, but I can tell you with our bumper pull toy hauler, the answer is no, they don't run on electric. There is a switch on the wall for our on demand hot water heater to switch to electric - which the service tech told us does absolutely nothing. It runs on propane only. We then asked why there's a switch there that makes us think it will run on electric as well, and his answer was "they use a universal panel". That is what it seems like that it is a universal control panel but the on demand runs on propane only . Which kinda sucks when you don’t have to . I will be looking at going to a standard hot water tank asap. |
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