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Old 11-06-2012, 01:28 PM   #1
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Girard GSWH-1M Tankless Water Heater

I've recently purchased a new motorhome (2013 Melbourne 28F) with one of these tankless water heaters in it. Reading a lot of negative reviews on various forums, and after two camping nights using this contraption, I'm not having much success getting it to work correctly.

Has anyone out there had a POSITIVE experience with these? The model in question has the new adjustable control, but it doesn't seem to modulate the temperature much, if at all. I'm using it with city water connection, and following instructions to the absolute "t", I get nothing but SCALDING hot water.

I realize the most likely scenario is that I have a faulty unit...but given all the negativity I've read, I'm not entirely convinced these just aren't total pieces of junk.

I'll be camping again next week on city water, and will use an adjustable water regulator to attempt to (safely) increase the water pressure coming into the rig in hopes that the increased pressure and flow lowers the temperature. I realize this would only be a "fix" in campgrounds that have a fair amount of pressure available.

I plan on calling Girard's tech line when actually having the camper hooked up, but I really doubt there's much they can do.

I'll give this thing a couple more tries, but plan on pricing replacing it with a more traditional water unit.

Thoughts anyone?
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Old 11-06-2012, 07:56 PM   #2
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Sorry to hear about the problem. Have you talked to your dealer about this? You unit is under warranty so I would have the dealership work on solving your problem. If Jayco doesn't get warranty claims, they don't know that the water heaters are not working properly.
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Old 11-07-2012, 10:39 AM   #3
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Dear Knox Camper:

I believe you are the same person that sent an email to the Girard web site.
If you are, you confirmed that you have our new GSWH-1M Water Heater with the Dial rather than the Mode Switch.
As I stated in my reply, I asked you to contact our Tech Support and/or take your coach to your dealer so we can trouble-shoot.
If you have no temperature variance with the dial, you definitely have either a defective Dial, wiring or a plumbing issue so the dealer and us can resolve.
Also as I mentioned in our correspondence, the main issue with the 1st generation (GSWH-1) has been Operating issues we we can resolve if Jayco customers will contact us....Girard Products Technical Support 949-259-4024

Thanks
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Old 11-07-2012, 11:31 AM   #4
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Jerry,
I am that same person, and as indicated in my post, I will call technical support when I have the rig in use two weeks from now.
The purpose of my post is to see if ANYONE has positive comments to share about the Girard product. I have not seen anything positive on this forum, or various others, leading me to believe that even after calls to tech support and subsequent warranty review, that I will have a reliable water heater.
Obviously I am not a "happy camper" with this thing, and I don't think anyone who had been subject to the scalding (dangerous) hot water this unit puts out would be.
Life is too short to play games with an unreliable appliance, especially when proven replacement options are out there. If my criticism here turns out to be unfounded, in fairness, I'll reply back to all and state as such.
Jeff
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Old 11-07-2012, 12:15 PM   #5
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Hope you will give them a chance to resolve it and keep the members posted on your results.
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Old 11-08-2012, 03:06 PM   #6
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Knox,
Check your PM.
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Old 11-15-2012, 08:11 PM   #7
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Still nothing positive to report on the new Girard product. Pressure fine, unit obviously faulty due to mfg defect or Jayco install error. Next step, see how they stand behind product under warranty.
After call with Girard tech support, I don't expect this to go well without a fight.
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Old 11-16-2012, 10:30 AM   #8
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Hope I can eat my words and pull back the negativity expressed on this product shortly. Thankfully, Girard folks have promised to step up to the plate on my issues. Will update in coming weeks. More to follow, my critisicm may have been unnecessary, and perhaps even harsh. Cautiously optomistic that my voice is being heard, although I reserve final judgement until I've had a nice long (tolerable) moderately hot shower...
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Old 11-23-2012, 09:12 AM   #9
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Hello Nnoxcamper, we're reading your post with interest, we also purchased a 2013 28f and picked it up in August, love the RV hate the water heater. On her maiden trip from Canada to the Florida Keys we were never able to shower in the rv, we could not stop the heater from cycling from hot and cold. Our heater has the mode button and until reading your post I was never informed there was a newer generation heater. We had contacted Jayco while on our trip and tried all the possible solutions they could think of to no avail. Unfortunately the rv is winterized and in storage until after Christmas when we will head out again, and we will have to deal with this issue again. Will follow your post with renewed interest to see how you made out.

geman
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Old 11-25-2012, 10:10 PM   #10
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My 2013 29d melbourne also has this heater. it has the mode switch rather than the dial control, leftover jayco stock i guess. We are having the same issues that other posters are. Wife wants it gone as we have had rv's since 1999 and never had a water heater issue until this and something else to think about if using rv parks is why would you want to use your limited propane supply when you have already paid $$$ to the park for electricity. I too plan to contact my dealer, but doubt they will be able to help.
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Old 11-26-2012, 07:36 AM   #11
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Finally, I have Jayco in for service, will advise all if there is any success getting this thing to operate correctly. (Water pressure is NOT the problem with my unit). I would suggest sending a private message to Jerry Rennert from Girard (see thread above). Jerry has been pretty pro-active in responding to my concerns, they even shipped some parts to my service dealer prior to my taking the unit in. Still unsure about the end result, but customer service seems to be pretty solid at this time. More to follow...
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Old 11-27-2012, 04:21 PM   #12
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I have the tankless hot water system in my Skylark and love it. I did have one problem and the local All Valley RV dealer in Acton CA fixed it right away. I used it when our house was going through a remodeling and we used the shower regularly. My wife and I are going to change to a home tankless water heater when our 50 gallon heater goes bad. I hope you have your problem fixed. Please remember to give the dealer a chance and generally they will go out of their way to help you.
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Old 12-19-2012, 05:25 PM   #13
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Girard agreed just today to do full replacement. Hope to get camper back January and take out camping. Glad operator error has been finally been ruled out. That has been the frustrating part. Hope to be able to reply back next month saying I like this thing! Skeptically, but remaining hopeful...
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Old 12-20-2012, 09:47 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by knoxcamper View Post
Girard agreed just today to do full replacement. Hope to get camper back January and take out camping. Glad operator error has been finally been ruled out. That has been the frustrating part. Hope to be able to reply back next month saying I like this thing! Skeptically, but remaining hopeful...
Thanks for the update knoxcamper. I hope this takes care of your problem. I plan on trying to get mine in the first week of January.
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Old 01-13-2013, 05:28 PM   #15
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Had 28F out this weekend for first time since Girard heater replaced. It worked! Still prefer traditional water heaters because you simply don't have to think about how they operate.
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Old 01-14-2013, 11:23 AM   #16
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Any resolution?

Currently in process of buying a 26A, 2012, and wondering if I should make this tankless water heater an issue prior to signing the papers!
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Old 01-15-2013, 12:02 PM   #17
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If the opportunity exists to have something (anything) other than the tankless water heater, you won't regret it. I'm pretty disappointed in the quality of my Melbourne and the decisions Jayco has made as to component parts and equipment. I had a 2002 Jayco Designer, and from what I can tell, Jayco has implemented very, very few advances into the quality of their build since then. I had a 2005 Fleetwood Southwind MH prior to the Melbourne, and it was an entry level unit - it far surpassed the quality of this thing. Jayco needs to get out of the MH business and build only towables.
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Old 01-18-2013, 08:14 AM   #18
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Tankless Water Heaters may not be for everyone but they are a very popular item.
It really boils down to 4 questions:
1. Are you tired of running out of Hot water?
A 6 gallon tank water heater gives you about 8 minutes of "useable" hot water and then you have to wait for it to recover.
2. Are you interested in saving LP Gas?
A Girard Tankless Water Heater will use 50% less LP Gas than a tank water heater for the same amount of Hot water.
3. Are you interested in saving weight?
A Girard Tankless Water Heater weighs 23 pounds "wet". This is 50 to over 100 pounds less weight than tank water heaters (depending on size and brand).
4. Do want an easier way to winterize your RV?
No by-pass needed, no tanks to drain and no anode rods to replace. Just run RV antifreeze through you Hot and Cold Water lines or blow them out with air...your done!

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions you may want to check out the Girard Tankless Water Heater.
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Old 01-19-2013, 07:17 AM   #19
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I was hoping to replace our tank with a tankless, but I haven't heard anything consistantly good about ANY brands. We have 5 people camping in our 29X and hot water does not last long. I guess it will be a while before the bugs get worked out of the technology. My brother installed a tankless in his home and has had problems with it since the day it was installed.
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Old 01-20-2013, 03:24 AM   #20
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The biggest problem I see with the tankless water heaters is you are limited to propane only, unless I missed something. My Suburban heater when running on electric and propane at the same time is almost limitless hot water anyway.
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