Gerard instant hot water - strange problem

[mbronto]

On a FC 30' 2022.
It has an instant hot water from Gerard. The other day I turned on the main power to the trailer (the round button with the green halo near the door). Suddenly, the water heater came to life - the blower inside was running and it was trying to light. The propane was off and no water was running, so it eventually errored out (E1 - failed to light).

Puzzled, I turned on the gas and then ran the hot water, which reset it and everything was fine. I then turned the gas off in preparation for my trip and again it tried to light spontaneously and with no water running. Eventually, I had to switch the whole unit off so it would stop trying to light.

I did go on my trip and it seemed to work mostly ok. It did not try to light spontaneously or do anything out of the ordinary. The issue only occurs when the gas is off. Also, although set to 124F, it could not heat higher than 111F on maximum load when the shower was running.

Any troubleshooting ideas? If it requires service, do you have to physically take in the entire trailer just for that?

[TitusNW]

Is it cold outside? Perhaps you've experienced the antifreeze protection. The water heater lights off itself at 38F and shuts down at 58F even while not in use.


Steve

[mbronto]

Interesting and that could be it. It is cold, but in my garage where this happened, it was in the mid-40's. But when we went camping it was below freezing the entire time and I never once heard it come on by itself. Maybe I didn't notice?

Would you also say not getting to the set temperature (again, in cold weather) is normal as well?

[TitusNW]

I wouldn't trust them that it starts exactly at 38F. In really cold weather you also have to restrict the outflow of the water heater to gain enough hot water. There's a valve on the back of the water heater.



See the water control valve flow optimization on page 14 of the manual



Steve

[mbronto]

Thank you Steve, this was very helpful

[vanderwielen]

Originally Posted by mbronto

Thank you Steve, this was very helpful

Update your profile to include your rig and year. that helps the various responders to help you in the future.

[27ftToaster]

Our Girard Tankless seems to cycle on the antifreeze protection in the mid 40's. Which I think is a little premature, as well as annoying. But I believe that is exactly what was going on for you when you turned the power back on. It was trying to warm itself up. That is another reason why it is important to put the RV in the Store mode. Alternately you can turn off the switch to the water heater from the outside access.

As far as your water not heating fully, yes it could be caused by the very cold water input into your rig while camping in below freezing weather. But we went through a whole lot of frustration with our system until we discovered that our LP Gas Pressure Regulator was not adjusted properly. Our systems are supposed to have 9 - 11 inches of Water Column. We were about 7 inches. We got that checked and adjusted and our tankless heater began to be an enjoyable asset. The flame on the stove became bluer and hotter, and the furnace flame was cleaner as well. But mostly the Tankless was quick to heat up and could heat the cold water to our comfortable level.

Also, we found that we prefer to set the water temp to about 111 or 112. Then there no adjusting the water temp in the shower. Just hop in.

[ricjones]

This happened to us as well. We figured it was the freeze protection, and like others note, it came on above 38F.

One trick is that there is a switch out in the heater compartment. Open the exterior door and you will see it. Turn that off when you are winterized and it truly shuts off the tankless heater.

Just have to remember to turn it on when you de-winterize.

[Brucedann]

So as 27 ft Toaster talked about 9-11" WC, review this link: https://www.airforums.com/forums/f44...ks-232293.html page 4.

This was my new science project to solve the problem of a 2022 25ft GT issue with the on demand heater. I purchase the tools to test the WC - yes factory had this way too low. Look at your 2nd stage valve, I had to turn this open by over 4 turns. Then WC would measure at 13" The factory should be testing this - the heater works great once it has the proper pressure. I have 122 deg water as long as I want it.