Thanks for your review. I’m having this unit installed on my 25ft motorhome today. I’de do it myself, but the RV tech is going to do a professional job for about $200 in labor…and I was not looking forward to scraping up my hands and speaking a lot of “french” working in tight quarters.
I expect delivery of me Girard GSWH-2 sometime the first of next week. However, you have made me green with envy. My wife and I are condo dwellers. I would give just about anything if me travel trailer was behind a barn on some farm. I will give you credit, unlike the other videos on this subject I have watched, you made it almost 13 minutes before you called it a “hot water heater.” It is a water heater. There is no need to heat HOT water. On a serious note, you might try cutting a few pieces of 2 inch rigid foam insulation to pack around this unit to muffle the draft inducer motor sound.
@@Luap302 I live full time like you with rough, cold winters - any issues with subzero operation? Pipes freezing? Obviously there is no insulation on the door so I'm wondering how it works in winter? Thank you.
@@Gubastek we didn’t have the pipes freeze. Our water heater is located below the refrigerator and when I knew it was going to be really cold, I would open up a cabinet door on the inside of the camper and allow the heat to get in and warm that area up a little bit more. We would also trickle water so that things wouldn’t freeze as well.
If anyone has the Atwood 6-gallon, with the recessed or flush mount door, this project is difficult, but doable. Use your original Atwood door. Take the rolled part of the hinge, and unroll it with needle nose pliers and squish it flat, or cut that part off. Take some tin snips and snip notches out so the factory Atwood cover sits flush over the Girard frame. I put tape over the inside cover near where you think the gas exhaust pipe is and smashed it against the tape so I knew where to cut the hole with tin snips. After I cut the hole with tin snips, I put the silicone ring from the Girard door around it. I was able to reuse the Atwood spring loaded latch at the top, and at the bottom, I used a self-tapping screw. It was not easy, but I did it and looks good. It probably took me 4-6 hours total. Also, to make the plumbing easy, I used some steel braided flexible hoses and Shark bite. Oh, and I did have a very small gas leak - very glad I sprayed my gas connection with soapy water! Before you screw your cover on, make sure you turn the switch on! Don't worry about the Atwood heat vent not lining up perfectly - the main thing is that it vents, and I have never had a problem.
The reason you had to buy a separate door is tank water heaters are different sizes, from 6 to 10 to 12 gallons. You can replace any of those with the same tankless water heaters but the opening in the exterior is a different size for each. Not to mention different brands have different size openings as well. If the one you were replacing was a different size you may have needed to build a platform inside for the new heater to sit on. Then you have a gap of different sizes between the new unit and the edges of the cut-out in the exterior. They don't want to just include the larges door for the larges possible gap, because your opening might be close to other doors or things on the exterior of the camper so you really want to use the smallest door that would work in your application. Like in your video you have another door right above your water heater within about an ince. The larger doors would have not been usable in your install as it would have hit that door above. I hope all that makes sense.
Great Video but do you have video that shows winterizing video's for that tankless water heater? I can't find a tankless video out there that's a detailed at you.
Hey Eric, thanks for the watch and comment. I haven’t done a video on winterizing it simply because we’re living in it full time. Meaning, we need it during the winter. However, I will do my best to make a video on how to do that soon. I’ll try to let you know when it’s up.
Good video, thank you. Yeah the door thing is because they can't possibly know what your previous setup is and additionally some folks buy these for non-RV use and the door is a waste of money. 6-gallon white, 6-gallon black, 10 gallon white, 10-gallon black, 12 gallon white.....and so-on... Also, when you started the water and looked at the control panel it was staying at 96 degrees or so. If you had not slowed the water flow down would it have reached 124?
We have a 2021 forest river sabre fifth wheel. Since day one we noticed that the water doesn't get hot. Any suggestions? We have to play with the switch, turn on different sinks, turn off just to try and get a hot shower. 2 full tanks of propane , that's not it. Thanks!
Hey Ana. We had the same problem pop up out of the blue! After thinking the thing went bad, I called the manufacturer. What they told me fixed the issue. Check your outside shower or faucets. Make sure the water is off at those. If the water handle is on at your outside showers, it will cause the water not to get hot inside. So, check those first. Hope that helps.
We just took our first week long trip in our (new to us) RV. It has this heater installed, but we had issues getting constant hot or warm water. What did you do to the flow adjustment valve? Full open or restricted? I have also read that input water pressure should be 53-55 to get good operation. Does your red light stay on all the time, whether it is on or off? Thanks for the help. My wife says I must figure this out before we hit the road again. Good video, ignore the armchair experts.
Hey Mark, sorry for not replying sooner. We’re in the middle of wheat harvest… Anyway, here’s the answers to your questions (to the best of my knowledge). If you do have the fluctuating of temperature, my bet would be that the water pressure is too low/high. Here at the farm, if we’re in the shower and someone turns water on somewhere else on the farm, it causes the pressure to drop and we lose heat. So, grab a water pressure regulator and see if you can get a consistent pressure. Yes, the red light stays on letting you know there’s power to the unit. As for our flow adjustment, it’s been on max since the day I installed it. I haven’t even given that a second thought since I installed it. I hope this helps keep you (and your wife) happy on your next trip out.
I’ve heard you never want more then 40psi water pressure this may be your issue if the water is flowing to hard/fast it will never heat up enough to get to desired temp, hope this helps
Awesome video. Question I have are the connections for water heater are 1/2" also? I like to use those metal flex pipe you have used. Just want to buy the right size...thanks again
The connections on the back of the water heater are the same as the PEX lines that were initially installed at the factory. I just got some brass fittings to connect the existing to the new flexible lines. I want to say that it’s 1/2”. I would go check but I have sold the camper.
So, I'm a little unsure about wiring, I know how to wire controll box. How do you know what is the ground wire in your camper and what is your positive? We are going to slice in. Please help
I would suggest grabbing an ohm/volt meter from any hardware store. It will not only help with this job but MANY other jobs on your camper. They can help you figure out 110 or 12v wiring issues.
Hey there, yeah what we did was find the right heat setting that we liked for shower water and then we didn’t touch the cold. If I remember correctly, we had it at 115 or 118 degrees.
so this will only work on propane? I have trailer in my back yard that is being lived in. I have dedicated power for it. This will only use propane to heat up water and not electricity?
@@stevenscott4096 No. The water heater does not need 120VAC. It only needs 12V DC for the control panel and the igniter. All the heating is done with propane. FWIW, we went on a 1-month trip, we have 2 kids, our propane is 20 pounds/gallons, and we took unlimited showers, and used the stove top a LOT and used only about 1/2 tank.
@@brianelton6238 I understand the WH runs on 12vdc. I was replying to your question if you could run the water heater off something like a doorbell transformer. You would need 120vac to power the transformer. You'd als0 need to make sure the transformer VA was sufficient to run the WH. Half a tank for a month's hot water is pretty decent.
It is a GSWH-2. I am not sure about freeze protection. We have lived in our camper now about 2 years. The coldest that it has gotten while living in the camper is down into the teens at night. I have not had a problem with it freezing.
What fitting did you use for the gas line to the heater? I purchased a 3/8'' compression to 3/8 flare but the compression side does not fit. Can't find any info online and the manual says it is a compression fitting, however the standard flare nut fits I'm confused.
Actually, I didn’t have to buy anything. The fitting that was in the camper before fit perfectly. I did use use some pipe sealant on the threads but that’s it.
Could the 12 volt not working be due to that line has the switch for turning on the old units auto ignite? I am getting this model in next Tuesday from Amazon for $529.00 and $30.93 I think the door is separate cause this will replace 10 gallon units but will have a bigger hole and the other cover comes blocking that extra off.
Great question. I think the consumption is about the same. If it is more, it’s not much. But, if it is more, having more than 6 gallons of hot water is definitely worth it.
Restoration Farmer thx! So since you live in your RV full time, what do you do to keep your 12v battery charged so you don’t lose hot water unexpectedly if the battery dies?
@@seanmlarue Well, we currently have our 30amp connected so that we can run 110v fixtures and things like the microwave. Our RV has a 12 power wizard that keeps the battery charged.
Hey Brian, sorry for the late reply... I wish we had an RO (reverse osmosis) system in the camper, but we don't. We just have a filter installed under the sink for added filtration. It works for us.
I bypassed the Propane switch. To be completely honest, I'm not sure why. After doing some thinking, I decided that, with 2 boys who like to press buttons and flip switches, it's better for us to not have another switch that could be turned off when someone needs a hot shower.
@@Luap302 Yeah ok, basically you just have to turn it on at the control panel instead of having the additional switch for the propane water heater that would supply the 12v.
From what I've been able to gather, the Girard can only handle 1-1.5 GPM flow at its max of 42k BTUs. This seems like its accurate since you had to restrict your flow WAY DOWN to reach your 124F temperature.
I recently installed this water heater , and it was a bad job . Not recommended for 99% of the public . To start with , the new heater was too big for the hole left from old heater . So cutting and framing is not an amateur job . Water lines never fit . And power lines are not labeled . Mounting the control panel and running the wires to an accessible location is trouble some .
Thankfully I didn’t have those issues. however, I did do some major double and triple checking on measurements before removal and installation. But, I will agree that if you don’t have a basic knowledge of electric and some construction, it would be pretty difficult to install.
Appreciate the reply. I’ve had 2 different campers with the same unit and never had an issue. My parents and in-laws and brother-in-law have the same unit and no issues there either. Sorry you’ve had problems with yours.
I used an air compressor and set the regulator to 30-35psi. Then, blow out the water lines and it will empty out the water heater. I did make a video on winterizing our camper.
Thanks for your review.
I’m having this unit installed on my 25ft motorhome today.
I’de do it myself, but the RV tech is going to do a professional job for about $200 in labor…and I was not looking forward to scraping up my hands and speaking a lot of “french” working in tight quarters.
I expect delivery of me Girard GSWH-2 sometime the first of next week. However, you have made me green with envy. My wife and I are condo dwellers. I would give just about anything if me travel trailer was behind a barn on some farm.
I will give you credit, unlike the other videos on this subject I have watched, you made it almost 13 minutes before you called it a
“hot water heater.” It is a water heater. There is no need to heat HOT water.
On a serious note, you might try cutting a few pieces of 2 inch rigid foam insulation to pack around this unit to muffle the draft inducer motor sound.
Actually he says it before the first minute hit..
You video allowed me to troubleshoot my Girard GSWH-2.. Good Job Sir!!
Great!
@@Luap302
I live full time like you with rough, cold winters - any issues with subzero operation? Pipes freezing? Obviously there is no insulation on the door so I'm wondering how it works in winter? Thank you.
@@Gubastek we didn’t have the pipes freeze. Our water heater is located below the refrigerator and when I knew it was going to be really cold, I would open up a cabinet door on the inside of the camper and allow the heat to get in and warm that area up a little bit more. We would also trickle water so that things wouldn’t freeze as well.
@@Luap302
Makes sense, thanks for your reply, I bought and installed same unit - so far so good!
If anyone has the Atwood 6-gallon, with the recessed or flush mount door, this project is difficult, but doable. Use your original Atwood door. Take the rolled part of the hinge, and unroll it with needle nose pliers and squish it flat, or cut that part off. Take some tin snips and snip notches out so the factory Atwood cover sits flush over the Girard frame. I put tape over the inside cover near where you think the gas exhaust pipe is and smashed it against the tape so I knew where to cut the hole with tin snips. After I cut the hole with tin snips, I put the silicone ring from the Girard door around it. I was able to reuse the Atwood spring loaded latch at the top, and at the bottom, I used a self-tapping screw. It was not easy, but I did it and looks good. It probably took me 4-6 hours total. Also, to make the plumbing easy, I used some steel braided flexible hoses and Shark bite. Oh, and I did have a very small gas leak - very glad I sprayed my gas connection with soapy water! Before you screw your cover on, make sure you turn the switch on! Don't worry about the Atwood heat vent not lining up perfectly - the main thing is that it vents, and I have never had a problem.
I want to see a pic of what it looks like
You are very genuine man, keep it up!
The reason you had to buy a separate door is tank water heaters are different sizes, from 6 to 10 to 12 gallons. You can replace any of those with the same tankless water heaters but the opening in the exterior is a different size for each. Not to mention different brands have different size openings as well. If the one you were replacing was a different size you may have needed to build a platform inside for the new heater to sit on. Then you have a gap of different sizes between the new unit and the edges of the cut-out in the exterior. They don't want to just include the larges door for the larges possible gap, because your opening might be close to other doors or things on the exterior of the camper so you really want to use the smallest door that would work in your application. Like in your video you have another door right above your water heater within about an ince. The larger doors would have not been usable in your install as it would have hit that door above. I hope all that makes sense.
Great Video but do you have video that shows winterizing video's for that tankless water heater? I can't find a tankless video out there that's a detailed at you.
Hey Eric, thanks for the watch and comment. I haven’t done a video on winterizing it simply because we’re living in it full time. Meaning, we need it during the winter. However, I will do my best to make a video on how to do that soon. I’ll try to let you know when it’s up.
Hey Eric, I finally got around to making that video. I hope it helps... th-cam.com/video/vjyaQD3YBfI/w-d-xo.html
Good video, thank you. Yeah the door thing is because they can't possibly know what your previous setup is and additionally some folks buy these for non-RV use and the door is a waste of money. 6-gallon white, 6-gallon black, 10 gallon white, 10-gallon black, 12 gallon white.....and so-on...
Also, when you started the water and looked at the control panel it was staying at 96 degrees or so. If you had not slowed the water flow down would it have reached 124?
We have a 2021 forest river sabre fifth wheel. Since day one we noticed that the water doesn't get hot. Any suggestions?
We have to play with the switch, turn on different sinks, turn off just to try and get a hot shower. 2 full tanks of propane , that's not it. Thanks!
Hey Ana. We had the same problem pop up out of the blue! After thinking the thing went bad, I called the manufacturer. What they told me fixed the issue. Check your outside shower or faucets. Make sure the water is off at those. If the water handle is on at your outside showers, it will cause the water not to get hot inside. So, check those first. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your reply!
The tried this and the only thing that did the trick was taking the water regulator off, go figure.
Now hot water always:)
@@ana1441 Awesome! Glad you got it figured out!
We just took our first week long trip in our (new to us) RV. It has this heater installed, but we had issues getting constant hot or warm water. What did you do to the flow adjustment valve? Full open or restricted? I have also read that input water pressure should be 53-55 to get good operation. Does your red light stay on all the time, whether it is on or off? Thanks for the help. My wife says I must figure this out before we hit the road again. Good video, ignore the armchair experts.
Hey Mark, sorry for not replying sooner. We’re in the middle of wheat harvest… Anyway, here’s the answers to your questions (to the best of my knowledge). If you do have the fluctuating of temperature, my bet would be that the water pressure is too low/high. Here at the farm, if we’re in the shower and someone turns water on somewhere else on the farm, it causes the pressure to drop and we lose heat. So, grab a water pressure regulator and see if you can get a consistent pressure. Yes, the red light stays on letting you know there’s power to the unit. As for our flow adjustment, it’s been on max since the day I installed it. I haven’t even given that a second thought since I installed it. I hope this helps keep you (and your wife) happy on your next trip out.
I’ve heard you never want more then 40psi water pressure this may be your issue if the water is flowing to hard/fast it will never heat up enough to get to desired temp, hope this helps
I’m literally reading the manual right now, it calls for 45 PSI or greater.
Awesome video. Question I have are the connections for water heater are 1/2" also? I like to use those metal flex pipe you have used. Just want to buy the right size...thanks again
The connections on the back of the water heater are the same as the PEX lines that were initially installed at the factory. I just got some brass fittings to connect the existing to the new flexible lines. I want to say that it’s 1/2”. I would go check but I have sold the camper.
So, I'm a little unsure about wiring, I know how to wire controll box. How do you know what is the ground wire in your camper and what is your positive? We are going to slice in. Please help
Splice in
I would suggest grabbing an ohm/volt meter from any hardware store. It will not only help with this job but MANY other jobs on your camper. They can help you figure out 110 or 12v wiring issues.
Nice to see country folks out there....
I just had the same tankless installed. The only issue I have is that when I turn the cold water on to even out, it goes cold. Any recommendations?
Hey there, yeah what we did was find the right heat setting that we liked for shower water and then we didn’t touch the cold. If I remember correctly, we had it at 115 or 118 degrees.
By setting your temp on water heater you can rise your flow rate on the hot valves
Same model in van rv. Been great 4 years, now I’m working out eco3 error, I think it’s just confused.
I’m having wiring issues too? Mine flickers? Like a bad ground…, any advice would be appreciated!
Can you elaborate a little more?
so this will only work on propane? I have trailer in my back yard that is being lived in. I have dedicated power for it. This will only use propane to heat up water and not electricity?
That’s correct. It needs 12 volts to power the igniter but the heat source is propane.
If one is unable to located +12V power source, what about using a transformer? i.e. home doorbell transformer that converts AC to +12V DC?
I'd like to know this too.
Sure, you could do that, but then you'd need 120VAC to get the water heater to work.
That’s a great question. But, way over my head.
@@stevenscott4096 No. The water heater does not need 120VAC. It only needs 12V DC for the control panel and the igniter. All the heating is done with propane. FWIW, we went on a 1-month trip, we have 2 kids, our propane is 20 pounds/gallons, and we took unlimited showers, and used the stove top a LOT and used only about 1/2 tank.
@@brianelton6238 I understand the WH runs on 12vdc. I was replying to your question if you could run the water heater off something like a doorbell transformer. You would need 120vac to power the transformer. You'd als0 need to make sure the transformer VA was sufficient to run the WH. Half a tank for a month's hot water is pretty decent.
The hum is not that bad at all. We have one. Love it
Does it have freeze protection?
Does it have freeze protection, and what model is it? Thanks.
It is a GSWH-2. I am not sure about freeze protection. We have lived in our camper now about 2 years. The coldest that it has gotten while living in the camper is down into the teens at night. I have not had a problem with it freezing.
@@Luap302 does it have a drain hole ? For dewinterizing ?
Yes, this one has freeze protection though I’ve read reviews that sometimes it doesn’t work, more than likely operator error.
What fitting did you use for the gas line to the heater? I purchased a 3/8'' compression to 3/8 flare but the compression side does not fit. Can't find any info online and the manual says it is a compression fitting, however the standard flare nut fits I'm confused.
Actually, I didn’t have to buy anything. The fitting that was in the camper before fit perfectly. I did use use some pipe sealant on the threads but that’s it.
Could the 12 volt not working be due to that line has the switch for turning on the old units auto ignite? I am getting this model in next Tuesday from Amazon for $529.00 and $30.93 I think the door is separate cause this will replace 10 gallon units but will have a bigger hole and the other cover comes blocking that extra off.
to get the 12 volt to work just turn on the exsisting switch for the old water heater.
Will it run on 12v only. Or do you have to have propane?
12v is the ignition source of propane. Propane is what ignites to heat the water.
How do you light the burner without causing an explosion? I think mine went out and needs to be lit but I've never done it.
Ours is self ignited. When we turn the hot water on, it ignites and heats the water.
How do you winterize this heater?
Hey Jason, check this video out... th-cam.com/video/vjyaQD3YBfI/w-d-xo.html
Has your propane usage gone up or stayed the same as your old heater?
Great question. I think the consumption is about the same. If it is more, it’s not much. But, if it is more, having more than 6 gallons of hot water is definitely worth it.
Thank you for your post
So since the heater uses 12V DC, does that mean that your shore power no longer powers your water heater when plugged in?
Sean La Rue Yes. Right now we are hooked to shore power but we don’t need 110v to power it any longer.
Restoration Farmer thx! So since you live in your RV full time, what do you do to keep your 12v battery charged so you don’t lose hot water unexpectedly if the battery dies?
@@seanmlarue Well, we currently have our 30amp connected so that we can run 110v fixtures and things like the microwave. Our RV has a 12 power wizard that keeps the battery charged.
@@Luap302 last question...what size are the fittings? 3/4"?
Great info thanks!!
Thank you for the information and honest review. Where did you buy yours?
Thank you. I believe we got it from Camper Parts World.
@@Luap302 will this system run fine when free camping of the rv water pump
Does this tank heat with propane only or does it use electric to heat as well?
Just propane. Hasn’t Cayuse any issues. We still love it.
I noticed you have a drinking water faucet - what do you use?
Hey Brian, sorry for the late reply... I wish we had an RO (reverse osmosis) system in the camper, but we don't. We just have a filter installed under the sink for added filtration. It works for us.
Thank you. Just thank you.
Great video thank you
Isn't the 12v power at the propane switch?
I bypassed the Propane switch. To be completely honest, I'm not sure why. After doing some thinking, I decided that, with 2 boys who like to press buttons and flip switches, it's better for us to not have another switch that could be turned off when someone needs a hot shower.
@@Luap302 Yeah ok, basically you just have to turn it on at the control panel instead of having the additional switch for the propane water heater that would supply the 12v.
@@nigelio3 If by control panel you mean opening up the outside of the water heater and flipping the switch there, then yes.
From what I've been able to gather, the Girard can only handle 1-1.5 GPM flow at its max of 42k BTUs. This seems like its accurate since you had to restrict your flow WAY DOWN to reach your 124F temperature.
I can't imagine taking a shower with that little of flow just to get the temp up, glad he showed that now i know i need a 60,000 btu instead.
Hot water heater? If it's already hot why do you have to heat it?
Test light
I recently installed this water heater , and it was a bad job . Not recommended for 99% of the public . To start with , the new heater was too big for the hole left from old heater . So cutting and framing is not an amateur job . Water lines never fit . And power lines are not labeled . Mounting the control panel and running the wires to an accessible location is trouble some .
Thankfully I didn’t have those issues. however, I did do some major double and triple checking on measurements before removal and installation. But, I will agree that if you don’t have a basic knowledge of electric and some construction, it would be pretty difficult to install.
Wago's are much easier for wiring. Much quicker.
Rv hot water heaters are a scam. I had this unit. The heat exchange coils burst four times in 3 years. Total garbage
Appreciate the reply. I’ve had 2 different campers with the same unit and never had an issue. My parents and in-laws and brother-in-law have the same unit and no issues there either. Sorry you’ve had problems with yours.
You’re wasteing your time and money on that junk water warmer!
How do you winterize it?
I used an air compressor and set the regulator to 30-35psi. Then, blow out the water lines and it will empty out the water heater. I did make a video on winterizing our camper.
th-cam.com/video/vjyaQD3YBfI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=4d9qjTNPt_l7nBe8