Tankless Water Heater

[Cathy and Paula]

We just bought a 2016 Lifestyle LS37CKLS that came with the Atwood Tankless water heater and so far I think it sucks. The water pressure in the shower is so low that the hot water takes forever to come on or we get no hot water. How can I improve the shower pressure and what is the trick on this hot water heater to make it work? I have read several post about the water heater and I think there are mixed reviews. The 2 sinks so far have been working ok but you have to use a lot of water before the hot starts coming out. Help, can't stand taking cold showers.

[GlennWest]

I would change it out for the Truma unit. Heard all good reports om it.

[Kirk W]

Are you sure that it is the fault of the water heater? How is the water supply volume? What type of water pressure regulator are you using? If you don't have one of the "whole house" type pressure regulators it may not be supplying enough water to keep the pressure at a usable level.

[Yarome]

I've never played with an Atwood tankless.. and don't know if it's germaine to your particular unit, but it's "possible" you might have a 2015 unit installed in a 2016 rig that was under recall by Atwood. I know there were several folks that were having a problem with the water/gas regulating valve. There was also another recall that I didn't readily find in a general search, but know of some folks that received a replacement spring for something or other.

 

Anyway.. if all else fails it might be something to look into.

[wildmandmc]

On the shower head or inside of it is there a Restrictor in it.

[Cathy and Paula]

I have replaced the shower head and removed the restrictor so the I am getting hot water now, its keeping hot that is the problem now. I talked with Atwood and they stated that these water heaters work best with the 2 handle faucet system. You need to keep the hot on full and then add cold to bring the temp down. All our faucets are one handle as are most in rv's. Atwood stated that they have told the manufacturers not to use the one handle system. So I have the hot water now I just have to fine tune the temp adjustment in order to keep it hot while I shower. There is alot of water waste. I did'nt choose this option it came with the 5th wheel but if you are thinking of getting one DON"T DO IT

 

Thanks

[Jack Mayer]

The Truma unit I reviewed (and have been using for 20 months now) does not exhibit the "typical" behaviour of these units. Of course, the distance from the heater WILL cause water to be run before the hot appears at the fixture. But on an OEM install there is the ability with the Truma to "loop" the fixture so that hot water is always circulated (and heated as needed) and thus water is always hot at that fixture.

 

My test report is HERE.

[LindaH]

So I have the hot water now I just have to fine tune the temp adjustment in order to keep it hot while I shower.

 

We also have a tankless water heater (which I would NEVER have again), although a different brand. We do have two handles in the shower, but what we do is turn the heat on the water heater either up (cold weather) or down (hot weather), so that we only need to turn on the hot water faucet when showering. Assuming that your tankless water heater has a thermostat to control the water temperature, you might try that...saves a lot of water trying to get the temperature *just right* by adding cold water.