2017 Precept Water Heater Problem

[chasfenwick]

On our first trips, we established that an output temp of 118 degrees was the desirable set point and WH had no problem reaching that temp and holding it there. Now, the output temp limits at 106 degrees no matter what you set as a desired temp above 106 degrees, which does not produce an acceptable shower. I assume that the water temp is meaningfully lower than 106 degrees by the time it reaches the shower head. Has anyone seen this?

[Oklahoma Dan]

Is your WH one of those Girard on demand water heaters? If so, you may want to do a search on this site using the word Girard. Many suggestions regarding all sorts of complaints...mainly water temperature. I replaced mine with the old fashion tank type so now I can again. Hope this suggested search will help you out.

[chasfenwick]

The new Girard model that was introduced in Precept 2017 model year was SUPPOSED to fix all the squawks of the past. And in fact, this one worked just fine for a month. So something has changed with this particular one. Conceivably the temp of the incoming city water is quite a bit lower here in MO than it was in FL where it worked OK. . . . We had one of the earlier Girard tankless models in a 2014 Jayco Melbourne 29D and went through hell with no resolution other than the dealer telling us that we needed to undergo training on how to use it. Incredibly insulting! But we did, and it proved that their tech didn't have a clue.

[sennister]

Try and turn down the flow of hot water. The less you turn it on the hotter it will be because the water will pass through the heat exchanger slower and heat up more.

[Oklahoma Dan]

That sounds exactly like the one I had. I would set the temp setting every time I changed campgrounds due to different incoming water temperature or even the water pressure. Thor who purchased Jayco will get tired of all the complaints someday. Sennister has offered a good suggestion for you.

[chasfenwick]

I see that Jayco has now dumped Girard for Truma, at least in the Precept. . . . Will do some experimenting. . . .

[chasfenwick]

Raised the temp of the water going into the WH from 59 degrees to 65 degrees. That increased the max output temp from 106 degrees to 118 degrees. In other words, performance was perfect. Will move on to other things to worry about. For now, anyway.

[chasfenwick]

sennister - I'm finding that turning down the flow has the desired effect, and raising the temp of the water going into the WH also has the desired effect. So it looks like there are several ways to deal with this. At least we haven't yet encountered the main problem with our earlier version of the Girard product, in which the burner just kept shutting off at random intervals. That was very annoying - standing in the shower until the water got hot again, before you could proceed. I can't believe that Jayco would continue to install those things as standard as long as they did.

[Arniesports60]

Excuse my ignorance...but how do you increase the temperature of the
Water coming into the motorhome ....

[sennister]

Originally Posted by Arniesports60

Excuse my ignorance...but how do you increase the temperature of the
Water coming into the motorhome ....

I thought I asked the same question but I must not have clicked submit.

My only thought is to feed the WH off the fresh water tank which could be heated by running the tank heating pads if equipped. Though I don't know if they cut off at a certain temp. I don't have them do I don't know exactly how they work other than there is a switch to turn it on.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[chasfenwick]

I increased temp of water going into WH by using water from the FW tank, heated for several hours with tank heaters, which raised water temp by 6 degrees. I measured water temps with an Etekcity Infrared Thermometer pointed at a plate of metal that had the water playing on it. You'd be surprised what I have in my "kit" to enhance survivability out on the road!

[rahawk]

For six months ours has been flawless. Today I ran the hot water and it would not go above 113. Normally set for 115. The input water temp was 70. I always used water from the fresh tank and the rvs pump always provided consistent pressure/volume. Today was the first time it has not provided 115 degree water, I tried setting it higher
To no effect.

[chasfenwick]

Sounds a lot like the erratic behavior we're seeing here.