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02-19-2023, 10:28 AM
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#21
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Rivet Master 
2023 23' International
Macon
, Georgia
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 722
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foobar
In case this question is directed at me...
I switched water heaters to mitigate multiple negatives for the Girard tankless.
1. Minimize wasted water when boondocking (it takes 40-50 seconds for the Girard to heat up a deliver hot water)
2. Girard heater requires a fairly high minimum flow rate to trigger the heater.
3. When trying to trickle hot water after the heater is triggered by a higher flow, the Girard will overheat and shut down as there is inadequate flow of cold water to keep the Girard internal in a safe operating condition.
Navy showers suffer from all 3 limitations above. When you shut off the shower head, the Girard shuts down and then needs another 40-50 seconds to turn on, heat up, and then deliver hot water. It's this behavior that causes the 'cold water sandwich' problem.
The Truma has a small internal tank (around a liter or so) that it can preheat. This small tank provides a hot water buffer that allows trickling hot water at the kitchen sink and also absorbs the cold water that comes as part of the cold water sandwich that occurs when you are cycling the hot water on and off (navy shower style or when washing dishes). The Truma also turns on at a lower flow rate and heats up faster than the Girard.
Now I have a brand new, never used Girard heater that I have to figure out what to do with, lol (sell it perhaps?)
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Is your Truma the AquaGo Comfort or Comfort Plus? The description is not clear to me on Truma's website. Do they both have the tank? What is the difference? I read somewhere that you can't buy the Plus from a dealer, has to be OEM installed??
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02-19-2023, 11:28 AM
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#22
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Rivet Master 
2022 27' Globetrotter
DALLAS
, TX
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 1,674
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadtech
Is your Truma the AquaGo Comfort or Comfort Plus? The description is not clear to me on Truma's website. Do they both have the tank? What is the difference? I read somewhere that you can't buy the Plus from a dealer, has to be OEM installed??
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Hi Roadtech. Both the Truma AquaGo Comfort and Comfort Plus have the integrated small preheated water tank.
The comfort plus is only provided to trailer manufacturers because it has some features that are only practical to integrate at the time the trailer is being built. Such as support for hydronic heating (a space heating function like Airstream uses in the classic models) and hot water recirculation loops (provides instant hot water like hotels have via an recirculating loop of hot water piping).
So if you are looking for an upgrade for the less than stellar Girard, you will be installing the Truma AquaGo Comfort and not the plus version.
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02-19-2023, 12:56 PM
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#23
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Rivet Master 
2023 23' International
Macon
, Georgia
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 722
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foobar
Hi Roadtech. Both the Truma AquaGo Comfort and Comfort Plus have the integrated small preheated water tank.
The comfort plus is only provided to trailer manufacturers because it has some features that are only practical to integrate at the time the trailer is being built. Such as support for hydronic heating (a space heating function like Airstream uses in the classic models) and hot water recirculation loops (provides instant hot water like hotels have via an recirculating loop of hot water piping).
So if you are looking for an upgrade for the less than stellar Girard, you will be installing the Truma AquaGo Comfort and not the plus version.
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On the AquaGo Comfort installation, is all that is required is swapping out the units and mounting the controller in the same location as the Girard controller?
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02-19-2023, 09:18 PM
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#24
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Rivet Master 
2022 27' Globetrotter
DALLAS
, TX
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 1,674
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadtech
On the AquaGo Comfort installation, is all that is required is swapping out the units and mounting the controller in the same location as the Girard controller?
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That is my understanding. We had someone else handle the installation as part of a much larger upgrade project. There are some minor plumbing modifications that are required in order to set up a bypass path around the water heater for winterization purposes, etc. But it is pretty straightforward.
Note that the Truma with a black faceplate cannot be painted while the white one can. Many people paint the faceplate with an aluminum colored paint to blend in with the the rest of the aluminum shell.
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05-21-2023, 08:01 PM
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#25
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Rivet Master 
2022 25' International
NEW PRAGUE
, Minnesota
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 756
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First trip of 2023 under our belt, and the first one since we had the Truma Comfort installed last October. It lives up to its billing. Hot water much faster than the Girard. Anyone wondering if it’s worth the switch, I say absolutely. Night and day difference.
__________________
"I've got aluminum fever, and the only prescription, is more AIRSTREAM!!!"
'64 Safari Resoration Blog ("May"):
https://ts8501.blogspot.com/
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01-17-2025, 12:53 PM
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#26
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2 Rivet Member 
2024 23' Flying Cloud
Tampa
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 39
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Truma AquaGo Tankless Retrofit
We traded our 2019 23' Flying cloud for a 2024 23' Flying Cloud with a Gerrard tankless water heater. The Gerrard is functionally useless. We do not have sufficient water flow to activate the heater at the kitchen sink and the shower is hot/cold water torture. The Gerrard requires 0.6 to 0.8 gpm to active the heater. Great if you are at a full hook up site. When camping we need to conserve our gray tank volume. We have to run our water full blast in order to have hot water. With our old tanked model we were able to run just a trickle of water that stayed hot for rinsing dishes or washing. That is what is needed to conserve gray tank space.
We just attended the 2025 RV Show in Tampa Florida and spoke with the Airstream Factory staff who stated that our customers love the Gerrard heater. They apparently are installing circulating systems on some models.
We also ran into vendors for the Truma systems. according Truma, they operate at 0.25 gpm and have a 1.3 liter hot tank. They are offering a show price of $1620 to install a retrofit.
Does anyone have any history using these heaters?
Tampa Florida
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