Girard water heater problem

[Magnolia Tom]

We went camping this spring break and had a problem with our water heater. It would not get over 96-98 degrees at the shower. Bath faucet only got to around 110. Have it set for 124. I had my tanks refilled the day I got there and the campground water pressure seemed fine. Coincidentally another member we camped with had the same problem. He also got his tanks refilled. (Same day, same location)

Could this be a gas regulator problem or am I missing something? My outside shower was off and the unit was coming on and warming up the water, just not hot.
On our way home, we spent the night at a different park and the issue was the same.

Thoughts?

Edit: I replaced my gas regulator about 6 months ago and we both have the GSHW2 version

[Dskyward]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

We went camping this spring break and had a problem with our water heater. It would not get over 96-98 degrees at the shower. Bath faucet only got to around 110. Have it set for 124. I had my tanks refilled the day I got there and the campground water pressure seemed fine. Coincidentally another member we camped with had the same problem. He also got his tanks refilled. (Same day, same location)

Could this be a gas regulator problem or am I missing something? My outside shower was off and the unit was coming on and warming up the water, just not hot.
On our way home, we spent the night at a different park and the issue was the same.

Thoughts?

Edit: I replaced my gas regulator about 6 months ago and we both have the GSHW2 version

Sorry to hear your woes with the Girard. I had a similar issue with our Truma AquaGo comfort model a few years ago. Found out the issue was factory shower faucet mixer hot side isn’t 100% hot as it’s mixing 10%+ cold, so I simply swapped the lines and problem solved. I think these shower faucets have this set intentionally to prevent scalding. But try switching the lines and see if it improves the hot side. Takes some getting used to, but nice hot water in the cold side is just plain nice.

[Parrott]

I found out on my Girard, I have separate knobs in the shower for hot and cold. We set the temp for 107 and only use the hot side. I also figured out I can turn the hot on full and after the the water warms up I can turn the knob down about half which is still enough to shower and the water gets almost too hot. You have to turn it on full at first to get the fan and flame on. Just my experience and when we boondock it uses less water.

[Magnolia Tom]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I’m pretty sure it’s not a flow problem as it’s worked perfectly as long as we’ve had it.

[Magnolia Tom]

Just following up on my “fix”.

Since both Mark and I had the same issue I figured it had to be something gas related as we both refilled our tanks at the same place.

I hooked up the water from my house and tested it. Still not hot. Then, it dawned on me. I turned off the propane tanks, disconnected and let the excess bleed off. Reconnected and this time opened the valves SLOWLY.

Tested again and water was 124 degrees, nice and hot. Apparently one side of the regulator tripped the high flow protection and getting gas from the other tank at a reduced volume. Moral of the story, open your propane tanks slowly! Lol

[Dskyward]

Glad you figured it out, Tom. That’s great info to share. So did Mark’s Gerard get going in the same way, or some other issue?

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by Dskyward

Glad you figured it out, Tom. That’s great info to share. So did Mark’s Gerard get going in the same way, or some other issue?

I’m not sure if Mark got his unit working yet but I told him about it. I’m fairly certain his will work as mine did. He keeps his trailer at a storage facility so he may have to test his at the next campsite since he doesn’t have water nearby

[Dskyward]

Roger that. We love our Truma, but on another note, we’ve never decalcified it yet and it’s coming up 6 years. We have extreme hard well water out at our place in Llano (just over two years) and I’ve been trying to figure out how to decalcify our early model without their inside controller safely as we cannot use their 6 tablets that get placed in drain strainer as a controller is needed to regulate the cleaning process and they want a few hundred dollars for the upgrade components. So I’m trying to figure out how to siphon in a vinegar solution to just let sit over night and flush it out. It’s worked flawlessly all this time. I’ll figure it out somehow. Take care!

[MadJoker TX]

Gonna try the steps out on the next trip we take since I cannot test it right now in storage. I am pretty sure the steps Tom outlined will correct it since we both had that same crazy issue.