Girard GSWH-2 3rd generation tankless water heater

[Davidmac]

Does anyone have the Girard GSWH-2 the 3rd generation Tankless on demand water heater working in their RV . It appears to be copied from the Suburban On demand water heater . Does it in fact work ?

[0and2]

Originally Posted by Davidmac

Does anyone have the Girard GSWH-2 the 3rd generation Tankless on demand water heater working in their RV . It appears to be copied from the Suburban On demand water heater . Does it in fact work ?

I do, and replied in your last post as I had the same problem. Solenoid stuck closed. Tapped solenoid (as per dealer service tech). Unstuck. Works great. Good luck...Joe

Solenoids are just below and to the left of the fuse...

[Davidmac]

Do you use hot water only or do you mix cold like a regular water heater ?
The build date of our unit is 6/15 I wounder when Jayco switched to the 3 rd generation .
Girard Teck support with a few simple test was able to isolate the problem to the gas Solenoid and is sending me the part .

[0and2]

Originally Posted by Davidmac

Do you use hot water only or do you mix cold like a regular water heater ?
The build date of our unit is 6/15 I wounder when Jayco switched to the 3 rd generation .
Girard Teck support with a few simple test was able to isolate the problem to the gas Solenoid and is sending me the part .

We run the water both ways. In the shower, my wife likes the water hotter than I do, so she'll just use the hot water. I'll add a little cold water to get the temp to my liking. We have the inside tankless thermostat and can adjust the temp that way too.

Joe

[jgerhard]

I have the Girard GSWH-2 the 3rd generation Tankless on demand water heater. It works flawlessly when using full hookups but not so much when boon-docking. Since I mostly boon-dock, I'm replacing it with a standard Atwood water heater. It's for sale if anyone is interested.

[edatlanta]

Originally Posted by jgerhard

I have the Girard GSWH-2 the 3rd generation Tankless on demand water heater. It works flawlessly when using full hookups but not so much when boon-docking. Since I mostly boon-dock, I'm replacing it with a standard Atwood water heater. It's for sale if anyone is interested.

I still don't see the attraction for the tankless water heater. Why would I want to pay to heat water (my propane) when on a full hookup site? Even when boondocking I can choose propane or electric since I have a generator.

Just don't see the need.

[Jopopsy]

If you have it set up right, you can use the shower as you do at home. I have a DW and two DDs. When its time to shower they go in one after the other and take as long as they need, not as long as the 6 gallon water heater will allow. And there is no waiting for the heater to recover either.

Finally when I decide to hop in, I can stay in there for 1/2 hour or more if I choose. The hot water keeps on coming.

[Boudreaux]

Our coach has the tankless water heater. Works well for us, but I'm wondering...

The tankless heater uses propane, while the tank type can use propane or electricity.

In matters of hot water I wonder which is more efficient, propane or running the generator (at one half gallon per hour)...???

[Davidmac]

Our GSWH-1M version 3 build date 6/15 uses very little propane even though it is stuck on high and supplies all the hot water you can want . What I am trying to figure out is there are 3 different Girard models . We have the second model with the dial in the bathroom to control the temperature. The third model had a digital controller that can be use like a conventional water heater . ( looks like a copy of the Suburban trakless ) Is everyone that dislikes the tankless water heater have the same Model Girard Tankless . It appeared that the 3rd model works , Although I would like to know why people don't like it for boondocking ( waste water ? )

[edatlanta]

Originally Posted by Boudreaux

Our coach has the tankless water heater. Works well for us, but I'm wondering...

The tankless heater uses propane, while the tank type can use propane or electricity.

In matters of hot water I wonder which is more efficient, propane or running the generator (at one half gallon per hour)...???

If I know there is going to be a need for a LOT of hot water I can run my water heater on both propane and electric at the same time. While not exactly unlimited hot water it is very close. But I have the option of either or both.

[3fivers]

How can you tell if you have the 2nd generation or the 3rd generation heater? Whatever one we have stinks so far. We have the 2016 Greyhawk. First time we used it the heater would not even fire up. Dealer had to order a part to fix. Now we have tried showering with both city water hookups and with the pump from freshwater tank. First when you turn on the hot water it takes a while for the hot water to come. A lot longer than the tank heaters. Also most of these thread talk about the showers. No one that we have seen has mentioned washing dishes. So here goes. You start running water to wash dishes and of course it is cold at first and then gets warmer. Then you start washing the dishes and then you need to rinse them and each time you do that you have to turn the hot on and off and of course you get the cycling cold to hot. But what is even worse is that by the time you finish rinsing a dish the water has not even gotten warm. Today I rinsed with basically cold water. That would never happen with the tank heaters.

[NC Roamer]

Our 2014 Greyhawk has had both. It came with the second generation Girard which we used for 16 months. Then our dealer had Jayco approve a swap for a Suburban electric/propane 6-gallon tank model. We much prefer the latter.

[jgerhard]

Girard Model GSWH-2 is the generation 3 water heater and is what came in your 2016 Greyhawk.

Mine stunk too. I removed mine and am installing a Suburban SW6DE water heater in it's place.

See Girard's webpage for info on model numbers:

Home - Green Rv

[Davidmac]

Our 2016 mv29 came with GSWH-1m second generation Girard water heater. Our build date is 6/15 it has a control knob in the bathroom . I believe ours is a very early 2016 . At some point Jayco started to install the 3rd generation GSWH-2 it , has a digital controller . By all accounts it seem that the third generation may work . My dealer is suppose to be trying to get Jayco's authorization to replace the heater with a tank unit . ( I am sure they will try to use a 6 gal ) If the 3 rd generation worked I would prefer the on demand unit . Is a 12 gal water heater enough water for 2 people should I hold out for a 12 gal unit ? Jayco really dropped the ball when they started to install the on demand units. This water heater has been the biggest problem with our enjoyment of our new motor home. Quit honestly I have repaired most of the annoying little things that have been wrong with our unit , then the repairs are done to my satisfaction. This is our first motor home , the on demand unit realty sounded like a good idea . I can see they should have left well enough alone .

[NC Roamer]

Originally Posted by Davidmac

Is a 12 gal water heater enough water for 2 people should I hold out for a 12 gal unit?

The 6-gallon Suburban can fit into the Girard's space without cutting which makes installation simpler and cleaner. When boondocking on propane I'd fire up the water heater for our evening showers. The burner ran about 20-22 minutes and then cut off. DW and I took back-to-back navy showers and the burner did not reignite. We had plenty of hot water but, as noted, we were in boondocking mode and conserving water.

[pconroy]

I just know I'm going to jinx it and regret posting, but our 31FK came with the Gen 2 and we've had no big issues. (Yet????) So put me in the "cautiously optimistic" camp for now.

We're coming up from a Suburban 6gal in our old coach, and I can see an appreciable increase in the length of time it takes to get hot water, but it can't be more that 5 seconds.

I've had two issues so far: the outside metal cover has dorked itself up and I had to do some repairs, and I had to push the reset button once.

Other than that, we're OK with the thing (again, "so far...").

[Davidmac]

We had tile install in the home shower this past week so we have used the Rv Shower this week in the drive way. The heater worked fine even with the Modulator valve stuck on high . We did learn that we could add cold water to the shower to adj the temperature without any problem . Possibly because I have removed the water restriction from the shower head . If I have good water pressure and volume the on demand water heater works OK . Some RV parks don't have enough volume or pressure then it gets too hot . The On demand Heater is not meant to be shut off and on . It needs to run as long as you need the hot water . There is no advantage to taking a GI Shower , it wastes the water you would have saved . ( Besides I have taken more GI showers than I ever wanted to in the service ) Girard sent me a new valve to replace the defective one , I have now put it in as yet because we were still using it . The valve doesn't look like it too hard to replace . Undecided if I will replace it before we leave on our next trip , we wont have a full hook up . I am thinking that this valve had been stuck the whole time that we have have it .

[Midwest Jeffk]

I too had a stuck solenoid on our last outing. After reading this post and "BANGING" on the solenoid it finally fired up. It required a crescent wrench and a good "whack" before it came unstuck. Attempted "tapping" with a screwdriver and didn't work. I hope this isn't a permanent part of set up. When it works, it is great. We have the generation 3 on our '16 31FS. Jayco and Gerard need to get this thing right, or not use them at all. Had a dual fuel 10 gal on our 5th wheel and rarely ever ran out of hot water.

[JetTech]

Our North Point came with the 3rd Gen, and as mentioned above, ours had a stuck solenoid, so I banged on the unit a couple times and it fired up. That was two trips ago, and we haven't had an issue since. I did let the dealer know that while I was willing to stick with it for now, if the issue arrises again, they'll need to make a repair/swap. But so far, it works great (once that slug of cold water comes through! Which, by the way, if trying to conserve water and shutting off the shower, will happen every time you turn the shower back on as the heater cycles off and it takes a very short time to heat the water back up, but in the meantime, some "cooler" water has made its way through...)! And also as said above, bang on the solenoids with something substantial. I believe I also used a crescent wrench!

[Wyn]

My 2015 Grayhawk 29MV has the 2nd Generation Gerard Water Heater, neither my wife or I likes it, more often than not we have fluctuation from cold to hot when taking a shower. Washing dishes is always cold due to the low flow of water. My dealer quoted me $1700 to install an Atwood 6 gal dsi gas/electric water heater which seems way to much to me, so I guess I have to live with little to no hot water.