Tankless water heater

[whitegs]

I have a 2018 which has a 'tankless' water heater. But when I brought it back to the dealer for first time winterization so I could learn how, the young acrobat twisted himself in through the back to 'drain' and 'bypass' the tankless' heater. But if it is tankless, why does it need to be drained and bypassed?

Richard

[wachuko]

Because you still have water in the lines... tankless does not mean waterless

[whitegs]

Originally Posted by wachuko

Because you still have water in the lines... tankless does not mean waterless

But why not just blow out the lines with an air compressor?

Richard

[wachuko]

Originally Posted by whitegs

But why not just blow out the lines with an air compressor?

Richard

To drain it, yes, air should work... that is how I was planning on draining it when the time came for me to do that.

[toskeysam]

In additon to blowing out the lines....I suspect there is a small heat exchanger that needs to be blown out or drained as well

[GAAirstreamr]

Who makes the newer tankless water heaters for the Interstates?

[Pahaska]

My 2018 had a Suburban, which is a piece of junk. I replaced it.

[NevadaGeo]

How well do the tankless water heaters work while boondocking? I understand they require a lot instant power to be instant hot water.

[wulfraat]

Originally Posted by NevadaGeo;

How well do the tankless water heaters work while boondocking? I understand they require a lot instant power to be instant hot water.

RV instant hot water heaters work using LP / Gas.... (not electricity)

[Pahaska]

The tankless heater requires many seconds of high flow to even start heating water because of internal delays. Add a few seconds to get the elements up to temperature and a lot of water goes through before it really gets hot. That fills the gray tank very fast and is terrible for navy showers where you have to wait for hot water again to rinse off.

If you are boondocking, you had better figure a way to catch the excess water and put it back in the tank or you will run out of water fast.

That is why I ripped mine out and replaced it with an under-counter electric unit. We do not boondock, but I hated the tankless unit because of the delays.

[LB_3]

Tankless heaters can build up lots of scale on the heat exchanger and need periodic acid flushes. Winterizing is the perfect time to flush with vinegar.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by NevadaGeo

How well do the tankless water heaters work while boondocking? I understand they require a lot instant power to be instant hot water.

Anecdote on the tankless water heater option:

We don't have one in our Interstate for exactly this reason - infeasible for boondocking due to volume demands - but we installed one in our Interstate's newly-renovated attached tiny house.

And it's a nice water heater, too - not a cheapie. It's supposed to work as long as it receives about 0.7 gallons per minute (gpm) or higher throughput, but guess what? It really needs closer to 1 gpm. Which means that in order to get hot water at our kitchen tap, I need to run the bathroom hot water at the same time, because water pressure is low in the rural area where we are situated. If I don't open both taps, there's not enough to trigger the flame to come on.

This, of course, is like fingernails on the chalkboard to my engineer husband. When I open both taps, it's like an abomination unto the Almighty. His hair stands on end. I see the whites of his eyes. It's hilarious. Nothing offends an engineer like something that refuses to work as engineered, and which requires an absurd work-around to boot.

Moral of that story: I have even less confidence now that any such device could ever be successfully integrated into our Interstate. It's just not the right tool for that application.

[Pahaska]

That is precisely why I ripped the stupid Suburban tankless out of my 2018 GT. The pump would not move enough flow through the long lines to the galley. It would not kick in unless I had an external hookup with pressure high enough.

Even then, it took half a minute of high flow to get really hot water to the sink.

The Suburban is cluttering up my shop. Too expensive to trash. It is free to anyone who wants it and is willing to pick it up SW of Austin.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

The Suburban is cluttering up my shop. Too expensive to trash. It is free to anyone who wants it and is willing to pick it up SW of Austin.

JOHN - Wow! That would be a really nice freebie gift to whoever picks it up. But it still surprised me that you didn't figure out a way to plumb it into your shop restroom. Those aren't exactly cheap. List it on ebay. Even as 'Pickup Only' - it'll sell fast.