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John1048 · 03-11-2019, 05:50 PM

All,
Can someone advise as to the length of time and amount of water required to get hot water to the galley faucet with the Suburban continuous hot water system. It seems we are seeing five minutes plus of cold water before any hot water appears plus the fill to the gray tank. Is this normal?

Will appreciate your help and input,

John1048

Pahaska · 03-11-2019, 06:28 PM

I just bought a 2018 and I posted a complaint about the same problem. The galley is a long, long way from the water heater.

Someone posted an idea that involved installing a solenoid valve that would dump water from the hot line into the fresh tank. I am considering that. There is also a thing called a ShowerMi$er that recirculates water back through the cold line that sounds interesting and would not use additional water.

Mansderm161 · 03-11-2019, 06:58 PM

What do you mean by hot? I just "unwinterized" so I ran cold thru galley until clear water coming thru, turned on water heater and started to run . I had "warm " water shortly. Since it was running clear, I did not prolong it . I'll run it again in the morning to see how hot it gets, then get back. I haven't paid much attention since I tend to shower at a shower house....I like elbow room and plenty of hot water for a shower. How hot were you aiming for? Oh, and my water would be coming from the water tank.... I was trying to fill/ wash and sanitize it so it was not from direct water hook up

Pahaska · 03-12-2019, 08:40 AM

I ran hot at full stream for quite a while, but it barely got warm. I couldn't pursue the situation since the AI is in the storage yard with fresh tank low and gray tank pretty full. That's the way the tanks were when I picked the new rig up at the dealer. I forgot to dump the tanks when I briefly had the AI at home.

Rain and fog this morning and thunderstorms expected tonight. I have reservations tonight at Pedernales State Park, but I may blow them off.

wesmithnv · 03-12-2019, 09:10 AM

I had a similar problem with our 2018 Interstate with delay and warm water. I found that the dip switches in the heater were set incorrectly. When fixed I got hot water with a short delay. Airstream customer can help with getting you the correct switch alignment.

Jdurossjr · 03-12-2019, 09:35 AM

Very interesting thread. I also have an Interstate 2018 and find the same issue. Long delay and wasted water to get it hot. The same really frustrates my wife in shower. She gets it hiot, it takes awhile, turns it off at spray controller to soap up, when she turns it back on water is cold! It hen takes about 30 seconds to get warm.
We are off the grid mostly so this is a big issue for us as it relates to conserving. I mentioned it at the AS factory but they said it was working as design. Can you pls give me further info on “the fix”

wachuko · 03-12-2019, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wesmithnv

I had a similar problem with our 2018 Interstate with delay and warm water. I found that the dip switches in the heater were set incorrectly. When fixed I got hot water with a short delay. Airstream customer can help with getting you the correct switch alignment.

Welcome to the forum!!

Was not aware of settings for these... because of how it is documented, the time to get hot water out aligned with the documentation... if there is a way to make that happen faster, the better...

I have the ShowerMi$er sitting at home for when I get time to tackle that... that was going to be my solution to this as there is a lot of water that is wasted (along with the impact on gray tank) in the process.

What has kept me from doing the install is not having a clear plan for how to return the water to the fresh tank. So the kit just sat there...

Silver Goose · 03-12-2019, 10:06 AM

If your ShowerMi$er works the way the one I saw does. It uses a small pump (120v for residential use) that pumps the hot water back through rhe cold water line to the source, effectively creating a loop with the existing plumbing from the WH to the distant fixture then back to the inlet of the WH. Not a drop is wasted, but when operated, it temporarily floods the CW line with hot water.

As another here mentioned, a simple solution if the plumbing is reasonably accessible is to tee in a 12v solenoid operated valve at the HW line at the distant fixture and run a new line back to FW tank. Operating this valve for a moment or so will fill the HW line with hot water, no wasted water here.

I have a similar issue with an ‘08 27FB. The shower is directly across the aisle from the WH but it feels like the HW line goes to the galley and then returns to the shower. This has a conventional WH so the tank is full of HW to start. Seems to take a long time to run warm at the shower.

WhoWhoo · 03-12-2019, 10:10 AM

We had the Showermiser put in our Atlas in October. Have only used it a few times but love it. Airstream should know better about filling folding tanks with fresh water!

Mansderm161 · 03-12-2019, 10:27 AM

Who installed it for you. I watched the YouTube video but not sure how that would go on the Interstate pull out shower. Does the Atlas have a pull out shower

wachuko · 03-12-2019, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silver Goose

If your ShowerMi$er works the way the one I saw does. It uses a small pump (120v for residential use) that pumps the hot water back through rhe cold water line to the source, effectively creating a loop with the existing plumbing from the WH to the distant fixture then back to the inlet of the WH. Not a drop is wasted, but when operated, it temporarily floods the CW line with hot water.

As another here mentioned, a simple solution if the plumbing is reasonably accessible is to tee in a 12v solenoid operated valve at the HW line at the distant fixture and run a new line back to FW tank. Operating this valve for a moment or so will fill the HW line with hot water, no wasted water here.

I have a similar issue with an ‘08 27FB. The shower is directly across the aisle from the WH but it feels like the HW line goes to the galley and then returns to the shower. This has a conventional WH so the tank is full of HW to start. Seems to take a long time to run warm at the shower.

When I spoke to the owner of Aqua View Inc. (Gus Searcy) he did not mentioned the need for a pump... the only thing you need to be aware is that if you are using city water, your fresh water tank will get all that additional water while you are heating up... If you are not connected to city water, then it is just recirculating from the fresh tank using your existing pump. I hope that makes sense...

wachuko · 03-12-2019, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhoWhoo

We had the Showermiser put in our Atlas in October. Have only used it a few times but love it. Airstream should know better about filling folding tanks with fresh water!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mansderm161

Who installed it for you. I watched the YouTube video but not sure how that would go on the Interstate pull out shower. Does the Atlas have a pull out shower

Oh man... I would love to be able to see how it was installed... I need to give it some thought. My first reaction was "darn it, I need to run another line", that might not be the case and just tapping into the cold line could do the trick...

greghoro · 03-12-2019, 02:46 PM

I’m seeing two problems in the original posting; long time before hot water flows and resultant filling of gray water tank.

Regarding the second problem, use a gallon or so container to capture the water before it reaches desired temp. If hooked to city water, just dump it in the bushes. Technically, it isn’t yet gray water. If conserving fresh water is paramount, pour it back into the tank. Common sense rules when picking appropriate container.

Easy to do at the faucet, harder to do in the shower. For the shower, perhaps some sort of diverter, similar to the tub in your house.

Greg

busb2 · 03-12-2019, 05:44 PM

The AI “improvement”, from the electric and propane WH to the propane only WH is the only reason I won’t order a new AI on the new Sprinter when it is available, unless I can special order it with the old WH unit. We usually have electricity available so we almost never use the propane fo the WH except a few times when we overnighted without power. So, it is nice to have the option, but if we used it all the time we would need to take the time and money to refill the limited propane tank. Finally, the gas only WH takes up a lot more of the limited storage space in the back. The only real improvement in my opinion is a cosmetic one from the elimination of the vented opening on the drivers side of the sprinter.

1st time RV · 03-12-2019, 07:41 PM

We have a 2018 also and just on our last 2 night trip noticed that the water in the galley sink takes a long time to get warm and then gets cold again. Our shower water is fine - gets hot and stays hot. We have an appointment in April at Jackson Center and it's on our list to ask about. We'll see what they say.

Fixin2Drive · 03-13-2019, 10:37 AM

The best way to have hot water available is to put a flow switch on the hot water line that starts a small circulating pump that would operate for say 10 minutes after any use. The pump will need another water line parallel to the hot water line from the faucet back to the water heater. That will require two tee fittings - where the plumbing attaches to the faucet and the other at the cold water input to the hot water heater. The water in the hot line will be kept warm and available only when in use.

Tincampers · 03-13-2019, 02:02 PM

That is a crying shame that you have to jump through all these hoops in a $200k RV.

Pahaska · 03-13-2019, 02:16 PM

Last evening, during my shake-down trip, I crawled up under the couch, removed the wood and metal panels on the water heater, and reset the DIP switches on the heater to the highest temperature range. This didn't do anything much for the delay in getting hot water to the galley, but it did get me some reasonably hot water. I added 10 degrees to the factory settings.

The shower is close to the water heater and the delay is much less there.

I think a recirculating pump is in my future to put water back in the cold water line. With limited gray water tankage, I hate running water down the drain to get hot water. There should be plenty of room under the cabinet for the necessary plumbing.

napabill · 03-20-2019, 09:45 AM

https://www.amazon.com/Watts-500800-...ll-spons&psc=1

Pahaska · 03-20-2019, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by napabill

https://www.amazon.com/Watts-500800-...ll-spons&psc=1

Unfortunately, it says not for use with tankless water heaters. And that's just what I have in my 2018.

I timed getting hot water at the galley sink with about 1/2 maximum flow. It took 20 seconds and there was over 2" in the sink. That's a lot to keep putting in the gray tank.