Running Out Of Hot Water

[amarzano]

We have done about 5 trips in the RV now. Each time - the DW has gone to take a shower - she has quickly run out of Hot Water. The 3 kids and myself have been fine - but as you can see - this is a cause of MAJOR concern!

When Mom is not happy - NO ONE IS HAPPY!!

So - perhaps I need to step back and understand how the heater works and make sure that I do NOT have a valve flipped wrong..

As I understand it - the Berkshire 390BH has a 10gal DSI water heater. When we start off on a trip - I will immediately turn the heater ON (red light comes on and then goes off). I will usually also turn on the water pump. (Do I turn this OFF when I hook up to the campsite - or does it matter?)

When we get to the campsite and are hooked up - We seem to have hot water (ie - washing hands filling tub for kids). But it runs out VERY quickly.. She tried taking a shower first think this morning before ANYONE used any hot water and it was out in about 4 mins. The coach sat all night - but the heater had been running (at least I think so). I know our propane is near full.

What can I do to ensure a warmer experience for her before the next trip?

Thank you,

Alex

[smokeater75]

You could try running both your gas and electric heaters at the same time. If your using your water pump while on city water you are using up the tank quicker. Just a thought, Smokeater75

[Guest BillAdams]

Hopefully, you understand that 10 gallons of hot water is not much and if someone takes a shower and leaves the water running that will take care of all of your hot water! It sounds like you have a lot of folks on board so you are going to have to conserve the hot water.

Now to troubleshooting. Is the water heater propane only or do you have an electric option? When on propane, do you hear the propane burner (is pretty loud)? Is the water very hot (around 140 degrees) before you start using any?

[Guest Wayne77590]

If both your electric and propane are working correctly, as stated, you can run both at the same time for a fast turn-around on hot water. Check you manual for clarification. And again as stated, water conservation, wet down, turn water off, lather up, turn water on and rinse off. Kind of hard to get the kids to do that all the time.

Good luck

[amarzano]

Bill -

We have an Propane / Electric heater. Yes - it starts out VERY Hot - more than I run in our house.

I have heard it click on and been on the outside of the coach while the water heater was running.

I assume it has an electric function as well - I will have to find the manual and research that one. I

am assuming that it has an automatic feature - like the fridge that will flip back and forth? or do I have

to flip a breaker each time?

The odd one was when the DW took a shower first thing in the morning and ran out. The kids weren't

even up yet. I first thought the pilot maybe went out over night - but it is a DSI - so there is no pilot. What

I don't know is if has a thermostat like the house - where it keeps the tank hot over night - or if it will cool down

over night and need to be restarted or something??

Also - any idea how fast they heat up from cold - or when they are empty - ie - please wait xx before your

shower? Does Gas or Electric heat faster?

Thank you..

Alex

Hopefully, you understand that 10 gallons of hot water is not much and if someone takes a shower and leaves the water running that will take care of all of your hot water! It sounds like you have a lot of folks on board so you are going to have to conserve the hot water.

Now to troubleshooting. Is the water heater propane only or do you have an electric option? When on propane, do you hear the propane burner (is pretty loud)? Is the water very hot (around 140 degrees) before you start using any?

[Guest BillAdams]

If you set the heater to electric (and you are plugged into power that will allow enough juice to run all the time) your hot water heater will stay hot. If you turn off electric and turn off the propane heater you will have cold water in the morning. It will likely take 10-15 minutes before you have a tank of fully hot water on propane and longer with electric.

[Jon796]

I had a bad mixing valve on my heater. Started off hot than only warm water. After it went warm, I checked the temp. of the water tank and found it very hot. Seeing this I knew it was the valve. The company that made the valve had me put it in vinager over night to clean it. After that no more problems.

You may want to turn your gas off and leave on the electric to see if it heats your water. If it doesn't you may have a bad element. If you left the power to the heater on and disconnected your water, you may have drained the tank and burned out the element.

[Roodriver]

Jon may have the solution for you with the vinegar to break down any mineral deposits. You may try flushing the tank to get any sediment out. My first impression was that you may not be getting a full tank of water in the heater. A friends hwh was acting up because he was vapor locking and the tank wasn't filling. Have you tried releasing the pressure release valve to get any air out of your tank which would allow the tank to fill completely?

Ward

[amarzano]

The CURSE has been broken!

I am happy to announce the DW has been able to complete her FIRST shower in the RV after 5 trips!! :-)

She did the Navy Shower routine and made it thru with hot water to spare.

Thank you all for the tips and info. I now know more about the Heater than I knew existed.

FYI - I did find and check the bypass valve (it was not an issue). I also switched

the electric to ON a since we are on CG 50 amp. I will switch it OFF when we hit the road.

I did NOT check the pressure valve - But will check when I locate it..

So - this all said I noticed a thread on Tankless water heaters. If this can be retro fitted? It would be an upgrade

I would like to try..

[rrlowther]

I know this is an old topic but we just installed a Girard(sp), propane, tankless water heater. It's on demand, which means it conserves propane. We did have a little problem with the Electronic Overheat Control. But since that's been replaced we've had no problems. We can shower for an hour! If we have water we have hot water. The cost was about $600.00 for the unit and $150.00 for labor. The unit slide right into the space vacated by our 10Gal W H. It was money really well spent.

Tip. if you have a washer/dryer, run the hot water in the sink closest to the unit before starting it. They way your sure to get hot water into the washer.

[tbutler]

I know this is an old topic but we just installed a Girard(sp), propane, tankless water heater.

I'm in the market for a tankless water heater to replace our 10 gallon standard electric/gas model. I found the web site for Girard. This looks like just what I want. Thanks for the tip.

[rrlowther]

I'm in the market for a tankless water heater to replace our 10 gallon standard electric/gas model. I found the web site for Girard. This looks like just what I want. Thanks for the tip.

You bet, be sure to get the winter use kit. As long as the water and propane are on, you supposedly don't have to worry about winterizing it.

Also, be sure to ask for a discount. They weren't on sale when we got ours, just by asking the nice lady gave us a 20% discount. All in it was about $600.00 for everything. And be sure to get the door or cover too. The one you have now won't work. It was a really straight forward install too. Only problem was that the 12Volt circuit used to ignite the old on is the same that is used for the furnace. So if the furnace is on you have to turn it off in order to get the water heater going. A small inconvenience for a nice long hot shower.

[ClayL]

A guy in the RV park where we spent last winter got a Girard. His instructions said the water temp was controlled by how fast the water went through the unit. To take a shower he had to close the cold water valve and then regulate the temp by increasing or decreasing the amount of water coming out with the hot water valve.

He was not real happy with that arrangement.

There is another brand out there that has a thermostat but I don't recall the name.

[rrlowther]

That's exactly how my Girard works. To be honest, it's not been an issue. In several instances we've had to add cold water flow to keep from being scalded.