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mouth012006 · 02-07-2009, 12:51 PM

Has anyone taken out the old hot water heater and installed a compartment door there to cover up the old hole?

Silverhobby · 02-07-2009, 02:33 PM

I have retrofitted a new water heater in place where the old one was located. Are you completely eliminating heated water from your trailer?

mouth012006 · 02-07-2009, 03:21 PM

no, we are going with a tankless water heater instead....and putting this further in the back of the trailer...so now there is a big opening in the side of the camper where the old original one was

danalee · 02-07-2009, 06:12 PM

We are going to just put a board in to seal up the space and put the vent and cover back on so it looks like it did. We are also going to go with an on demand heater and put it in the BR closet.

mouth012006 · 02-07-2009, 06:17 PM

That is exactly what we were thinking....we were going to put the tankless heater in the closet located in the rear bath of our Argosy.

3 Dog Nite · 02-07-2009, 07:57 PM

What's there now? I have an access door to service my heater. Why not just leave it & add a locking handle? Who couldn't use more storage? You could just get a large sheet of Aluminum & rivet it over the hole like it belongs there. Round off the square corners if putting on the panel.

mouth012006 · 02-07-2009, 08:03 PM

we still have the door to access the hot water heater that was there...now there is just a large opening....I was worried about trying to just mount it on there with a hinge because of the vents....do not need anything else leaking in my trailer. Already working on fixing the leaking from the front of the camper. Completely changed out the rotten floor in the front already. The opening will be in the back of the cabinets.

ncbambi · 02-07-2009, 08:16 PM

What brand of tankless are you considering?

mouth012006 · 02-07-2009, 08:29 PM

10L LPG Propane Gas Tankless Water Heater Marey 20D
That is the one that we are thinking about using....have to make a decision pretty soon....that part is coming up pretty soon.

airbassador · 02-07-2009, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mouth012006

Has anyone taken out the old hot water heater and installed a compartment door there to cover up the old hole?

I have a tankless heater in my house, and I don't know if I would want one in my RV if I was boondocking. Would be fine if you're hooked up all the time.

Mine is a Bosch, that has no pilot. Has a hydro start that works pretty well. The downside is that it actually takes water running through it for almost 30 seconds before the tank gets hot enough to start heating the water sufficiently. I imagine one with a standing pilot would not be much better.

In short, it's great for saving propane, but I feel it wastes too much water if you're running off a storage tank.

That said, a smaller one geared for camping might work. That portable coleman water heater for example, might work great converted to RV use.

EDIT: I should mention that my incoming water is pretty cold, as it sits in a storage tank outside first in freezing temps. If you're staying in the south, and your H2O is above 60 degrees most of the time, you may not experience the delay in heating.

FLYNCLD · 02-07-2009, 10:00 PM

This is a very well priced unit. I am very curious about the water running through it before it gets warm because that is a definite down side. Kevin & Monique, is there any info available on this?

FLYNCLD

FLYNCLD · 02-07-2009, 10:03 PM

PS-I think Inland RV has some replacement doors available:

http://www.inlandrv.com/catalog/imag...oors64to68.jpg

FLYNCLD

FLYNCLD · 02-07-2009, 10:06 PM

Actually now that I look more carefully, the heater says it works well where the incoming water is above 60 degrees. So I guess it's performance will depend on the temp of the water in you tank or you hose if you are on a hookup.

airbassador · 02-07-2009, 10:40 PM

The solution to the delay in warm water may be to implement a recirculator of sorts. Before you turn on the warm water, you hit a switch that turns on a small pump to circulate a small amount of water through the heater. After the appropriate time, you turn on the faucet and quickly get hot water with no water waste.

I imagine running the recirculating pump would be pretty efficient as it wouldn't take more than a solar panel could replenish quickly.

airbassador · 02-07-2009, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLYNCLD

Actually now that I look more carefully, the heater says it works well where the incoming water is above 60 degrees. So I guess it's performance will depend on the temp of the water in you tank or you hose if you are on a hookup.

Yeah, I'm sure it works with colder water as well, but here's the issue. When I've got 33 degree water running into the water heater, it will heat warm enough to run a shower at a comfortable temperature. However, the heater is designed to check it's outgoing temperature, and if it isn't warm enough, it thinks there's a problem with the propane source and just flips out and shuts off.

Thus, it's not much fun if you're taking a shower, and somebody turns on the kitchen sink. Rather than a temperature fluctuation, the increased volume flow causes the heater to shut down and you soon have a VERY cold shower. The thing is just too smart for it's own good. I expect that when I get my pump house insulated, this issue will go away for me, so inside your warm rv may not be a problem.

Remember that I'm talking about a different water heater than you're looking at there. I'm just guessing that this one of the reasons why they're giving you the 60 degree temp as a baseline.

I'm not trying to talk you out of the tankless heater. I think it's the most efficient way to go. It's simply not as convenient however and will cause you problems if you've got a spouse who has no tolerance for delays in modern conveniences.

centennialman · 02-08-2009, 07:53 AM

When I was shopping for a replacement water heater, I considered the tankless but went with the regular "tank" kind because of concerns about wasting water while waiting for it to get hot and the temperature of the exhaust heat going out of the trailer through vents etc...

There is a post about adding a valve at the end of the line and recirculating cold water back to the tank while you wait for the hot to come through the lines. That way, you are not wasting water. Tankless still intrigues me, but I am glad I stuck with the "tried and true" type and we never run out of hot water.

**Kevin245** · 02-08-2009, 08:17 AM

I love the tankless water heater (TWH) concept and would love to add one as well. Do you know that this one is RV rated? I see where the ad states "Camping", but no other information is given. RV rated TWH's are available, but they do cost a pretty penny more than the published price for this unit.

Things move, shake, and rattle pretty good when a trailer is in tow. As such I would be very reluctant to install a gas appliance in my AS that was not rated for RV use.

Kevin

toastie · 02-08-2009, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mouth012006

Has anyone taken out the old hot water heater and installed a compartment door there to cover up the old hole?

Take a look at this 1956 Flying Cloud - Access Doors

mouth012006 · 02-08-2009, 09:06 AM

Well thanks for all of the tips about doors....as far as the tankless issue we never boondock....we are always using full hook ups....and if we do boondock it is where there are shower facilities....we have been this way in our previous SOB and will be the same in the AS. Now with that said...we are still researching the tankless sytem...i found that tank through balrgn on his forum for the http://www.airforums.com/forums/f417...erd-46118.html and that is the system that he has purchased.....he has not added the unit as of yet.....This seems to be the best sized and priced out of the units that I have looked at so far. I would have went back with a "regular" water heater unit but it just took up way to much space and we would not have had any room in the cabinets. So now we are going with the tankless and going to try and install this in the cabinet that is in the rear bathroom. As we progress with this will keep everyone up on it. Most of our camping is done in between the spring and fall, so hopefully water temp will not be too big of an issue, but you never can tell.

FLYNCLD · 02-08-2009, 03:13 PM

From what I am reading Kevin245 is right. I don't believe the unit you are considering is approved or suitable for RV use. The only one I have found that is, is expensive, but I would be careful about using the other one in an RV. Could void you insurance if there was a fire!

Here is a link to the approved unit.

RV 500 Recreational Vehicle Propane Gas Tankless Water Heater (LP). RV 500 on demand hot water heater by PrecisionTemp