Winterizing a Furion Tankless Water Heater

[joeb21921]

I have a 2021 337RLS 5th Wheel and it has a Furion Tankless Water heater. I realize that this my be a very basic question but I this is my first experience with a tankless water heater and I would like to know if there is any thing special that I have to do when winterizing the water heater? Just let the antifreeze flow through the Nautilus system and that is it? Thanks.

Joe Buskirk

[Country Campers]

There is a drain for the tankless heat that you could use. The settings on the Nautilus panel usually bypass the water heater while in the winterization mode, these settings are for the tank style. I am curious if the new models with the tankless water heater have different instructions and settings, maybe this is something you could confirm for us. Does the Furrion manual have any information on the winterization of the unit?

The tankless water heater is very new and only a few of us have even seen one so any info that you may be able to provide will surely be helpful as we enter the colder seasons.

Brian

[Jlawles2]

Country Campers Brian, No the manual is not different and does not have different instructions for tankless vs traditional tanked HWH. I know there is at least 1 drain on the unit. Its visible when the panel is opened on the lower right hand side. I have not tried it to see how it works. Will need to do that before hunting season to see how hard it is to drain as the camper will be several hours away.

[JBill9694]

Have a Nautilus, not Furrion, tankless heater so there could be a difference. Owner manual says "1. Follow RV manufacturer's instructions for draining entire water system. 2. Once drained, RV NON-TOXIC antifreeze can be added if recommended by your coach manufacturer."

[TucsonJim]

From the Furrion water heater manual:

[Hilltop]

I have a 2021 260RD 5th wheel with Furrion tankless water heater and Nautulis Panel. There is a additional, more detailed, section in my owners manual on winterizing the Nautilus water system. It staes to first turn handles to "Powerfill" and open low point drains and water heater drains. Turn Red, Blue, Green and White handles to a 45* angle and blow out with 40 psi air. Close all drains. Then turn handles to "Winterize" and pump in the RV anifreeze. Turn Blue,Green and White handles to 45* for 10 seconds and then back to "Winterize".

After doing that, I checked the drain on the water heater and no anitfreeze was in the drain tube. Should I do something different to insure the water heater is protected?

Thanks, Gordon

[Country Campers]

I have a 2021 260RD 5th wheel with Furrion tankless water heater and Nautulis Panel. There is a additional, more detailed, section in my owners manual on winterizing the Nautilus water system. It staes to first turn handles to "Powerfill" and open low point drains and water heater drains. Turn Red, Blue, Green and White handles to a 45* angle and blow out with 40 psi air. Close all drains. Then turn handles to "Winterize" and pump in the RV anifreeze. Turn Blue,Green and White handles to 45* for 10 seconds and then back to "Winterize".

After doing that, I checked the drain on the water heater and no anitfreeze was in the drain tube. Should I do something different to insure the water heater is protected?

Thanks, Gordon

If you turned the red knob on the Nautilus panel to match the winterize settings then you probably bypassed the water heater. I believe that you do not want to bypass the water heater so leave the red knob in the use position not in the winterize position.

Brian

[rschwartz]

Just completed the winterization of our brand new 31MB. Picked it up last week, had 1 trip this past weekend, and time to close it up. 😩 As for the Furrion Tankless Water Heater I pulled BOTH drain plugs located on the lower right hand side of the heater, while also opening both low point drains. I then just followed GD recommendations for winterizing using the Nautilus Panel while keeping BOTH drain plugs off the heater. The panel automatically bypasses the water heater when in the winterization configuration so no further action is required for the heater. Hope this helps!

[Johnnd32]

I have tankless in 260rd… i have 260rd for 5 months.. each time I take out during cold months I drain and winterize. I just replaced tankless with a new tankless as an internal copper pipe burst. Im not sure GD thought this tankless water heater through as there are many restrictions, no circulatoon pump as far as I know of, and 39 degrees is lowest recommended temp. In addition it says blow out water or antifreeze. Per my dealer, there are several conflicting winterization processes for the tankless and GD has not upgraded its manuals enough so that it is clear to the purchaser.

Im not sure why I bought a four season GD and not able to use water heater. Anyway, I am calling GD today to see if they will reimburse the 1000 for replacement tankless..

[Mike & Rebecca]

I can't say my circumstances were identical to others, but after I had my new 2022 260RD out in freezing temps in February (mid 20's,but only 2 nights) I winterized the Furrion per the suggestion from Brian (post #7) - "I believe that you do not want to bypass the water heater so leave the red knob in the use position not in the winterize position."

I believe NOT bypassing the water heater worked as he suggested - I confirmed with pulling the HWH drain (forgot to depresurize first! Oops) and got pink antifreeze running out.

I did not blow air, just pumped RV antifreeze. I think it took less than 2 gallons.

Trailer sat at the dealer in freezing temps (off and on) for the next 3 weeks. Everything worked fine when I used the trailer recently.

[Johnnd32]

Mike and Rebecca, so when you winterized tankless you left the nautilus in city water, and ran antifreeze through entire system? i assume you turned pump on during that procedure or did you use some other method?

thanks
john keely

[ncitro]

Mike & Rebecca I would agree thats the way to go. With the old 6 and 12 gallon heaters you wanted to bypass them because the drain was designed to get most (all?) of the water out and if a bit got left behind it could expand into the tank, and save you 6 or 12 gallons of anti freeze). For the tankless (in particular if the drain does not empty it completely) it only stores what water is in the heat exchanger, so no reason to keep it off of bypass and let it fill. Cheap insurance.

[Tonemeister]

I can't say my circumstances were identical to others, but after I had my new 2022 260RD out in freezing temps in February (mid 20's,but only 2 nights) I winterized the Furrion per the suggestion from Brian (post #7) - "I believe that you do not want to bypass the water heater so leave the red knob in the use position not in the winterize position."

I believe NOT bypassing the water heater worked as he suggested - I confirmed with pulling the HWH drain (forgot to depresurize first! Oops) and got pink antifreeze running out.

I did not blow air, just pumped RV antifreeze. I think it took less than 2 gallons.

Trailer sat at the dealer in freezing temps (off and on) for the next 3 weeks. Everything worked fine when I used the trailer recently.

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Hey Mike/Rebecca..........Regarding winterizing tankless water heater (Furrion)...are you saying to set Nautilus Panel to "Winterize" mode EXCEPT FOR Red knob, leave that at 9 & 6 o'clock position (NORMAL mode)?? Then using city water hose connection syphon antifreeze??
Thanks, Tony M.