Furrion Tankless Water Heater - Important: Please Read

[iswatman]

I reached out to Furrion after speaking with Daniel at Grand Design and here is the response I received from Furrion about the tankless water heater issues.

Support	8:22 AM (5 hours ago)
to me

As far as elevation, it will still work, but not as well as if it was at lower elevation. You will have to adjust the flow rate to find the best setting, but it will not be as efficient as it would be at lower elevation. Also, we do not have any freeze protection on our water heater. So if you are going to be in temps below freezing the water heater will not work. It is just not designed for that environment.

Jason Smith
Customer Support Representative
Furrion by Lippert
www.furrion.com
www.lippert.com




Whenever, wherever, we make your experience better.


--------------- Original Message ---------------
From: iswatman [johnisheephotography@gmail.com]
Sent: 12/6/2021 4:15 PM
To: support@furrion.com
Subject: On demand water heater

I just recently purchased a Grand Design Reflection 337RLS with your on
demand water heater. In the instructions you say it cannot be used below 39
degrees or above 4500 ft in elevation. I plan on taking this unit to
Colorado. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated on how to alleviate
these problems.

[hduring]

iswatman appreciate the info. Happy you got an answer. Did Daniel from GD state anything about this issue?

[iswatman]

Daniel basically echoed everything that has been already mentioned about this issue. My take away from all of this is that they are lawyering their statements to avoid any litigation.

[tdeperte]

Grand Design needs to stop installing these heaters and go back to the tank models. I like the tankless water heater but if I have to drain it every time the temp drops while we are camping and then have no hot water, well that's just ridiculous.

[howson]

Moderator Note: This thread has frequently wandered into discussing the Truma Tankless Water Heater as an option. All applicable posts are now in their own thread: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...-heater-option

Please limit discussion in this thread to the Furrion issue.

Howard

[hduring]

Grand Design needs to stop installing these heaters and go back to the tank models. I like the tankless water heater but if I have to drain it every time the temp drops while we are camping and then have no hot water, well that's just ridiculous.

I agree with you - we were happy with a tank unit in our previous TT. We saw an ingenuous jerry-rigging where someone attached a metal plate on the inside of the Furrion tank compartment and then attached a removable electric powered light (using a 60w light bulb) to the metal plate and made a passage through the removable door for the power plug. The door passage was sealed with a cover, and the power plug ran to a power plug in the Nautilus area. This is something even mechanically challenged folks like me could do. There was also fridge thermometer tucked in the TWH compartment. We’d rather wait and see what Furrion will supply to fix this issue, but we’re not confident Furrion will fix this anytime soon. We’ve winterized our unit for now but may look into the jerry-rigging at the start of next year’s camping season.

[Jlawles2]

After several drains of the HWH since the unit is currently parked for hunting and not left plugged in, I think Furrion could have done a better job with location of the drain and filter setup. The drain is tucked up under the filter with limited access. I have found that using my left hand makes it easier to get started. I am concerned about the small o-ring on the drain as it appears to be showing signs of wear from the multiple removals over the past couple of months.

If the temps at the hunting grounds would not be dropping into the 30's I would leave it alone.

[D&S-303]

Is there any reason the wh couldn't be moved to the center of the rv where it would be exposed to the heat that the rest of the pluming has? With accommodations for venting and draining of course. Our new 303 is our first experience with tankless. Just thinking out loud here.
Dennis

[JBill9694]

Just spit balling here, Jlawles2 . Would it be possible to put an extension between the WH and the drain valve so that the valve is in a mare accessible location? Maybe instead moving the valve just leave it in place and open and install another valve at the end of the drain line?

[Jlawles2]

JBill9694 John, the drain is behind the exterior cover and a removable shield. The issue is more with how far back from the opening it is and of course compactness. If you look at post 17 you will see a diagram of how the filter (top of the 2 items) and the drain are positioned. Reality of it is that the area around the filter is about 1/2" on the sides only with the drain installed. The drain and filter caps end at the same place, so you have to remove 1 before you get more room on the other. Now both of these are tucked back 1-1/2" or more to the end of the fittings from he face, lets add to that the width starting about 1" back from the face there are parts to the left of both. So to remove both the filter and the drain you are reaching down into the dark hole with just 2 finger tips and need to apply enough torque to break the fittings loose (they are straight thread) and unseat the now stuck o-rings sealing the 2 surfaces together like glue.

[Ultratravler]

Following this thread. Hope there is a fix.

Dave

[JBill9694]

Jlawles2 On my Suburban tankless WH there are two drain lines, one for the pressure release and one for the drain, to carry water out through the belly and I assumed yours has the same or similar set up. My thought would be to add a valve to the end of the drain line bellow the belly where it would be more easily accessible.

My drain lines are clear plastic so probably not rated for continued exposure to hot water or pressure. If yours are the same then I imagine you would want to change them out to PEX, which reads like a real PIA with your installation. Again, just spit balling, us engineers just can't leave anything alone.

[Cate&Rob]

Jlawles2 JBill9694
Hi Joseph & John,

From the descriptions here, it would seem that coming up with a few standard brass parts to extend the drain to where it is more accessible could be the plan. This is what I did (several years ago) on my Atwood water heater. I inserted a PVC piece to isolate the brass valve from the aluminum tank to avoid potential galvanic corrosion. This should not be an issue on the Furion since it looks like the drain is already brass/copper.

Rob

[RPAspey]

The drains are not a real issue, use a 6pt socket that fits over the black filter cap. With an extension, it's easy to see. As for the brass plug for the drain, cut a notch in it for a screwdriver. No issues. I happen to find replacement 'o' rings at a local hardware store for less than a dollar.

[Jlawles2]

The notch is on my list of things when I get the unit home along with a trip to the hardware store for a stock pile of o-rings. Might cut a X in the drain to see if a Phillips will fit to make it easier to stab back into the black hole.