Tankless Water Heater

Our rig had a Precision Temp RV-500 in it and we used it for years, but it did have some issues to keep it going. We now have the new RV-550, which is an amazing improvement. It is a much simpler design and has no circuit board to worry about, and doesn't have the issues we had before with the wind. We absolutely love it. I just got our rig out of storage, turned on the propane, flipped the switch and all the hot water I want (subject to supply, of course)

My truck camper has the old style tank unit and I hate adding that extra 50 pounds and waiting for the warm up, excess propane use, etc. I am spoiled. Love, love, love, the Precision Temp RV-550. It will cost you a bit more than the tank style, but if our experience is typical it will last much longer and save you some money on propane etc.

We have the Precision Tankless system in our Phaeton. Once we got used to it we find it delightful most of the time.

It is not to be used while under way. Not an issue since we seldom get up to use hot water while moving! It must be ON when there are freezing temperatures expected as it has a freeze prevention system. However if you need to travel in freezing temps it must be turned off, drained and bypassed until you are off the road - this is not as big a deal as it sounds. Depressurize your water system, bypass the heater and open the drain valve. done.

In use, Navy showers can be an issue when dry camping. Our shower head has a complete shutoff so there is not the slow dribble of the normal RV shower head when shut off. This prevents water from flowing through the heater without triggering the heater so the only temperature drop is from cooling the in the line while soaping up. The water temperature is affected by the flow rate from the hose bib, slower flow rate, higher temp, and vice versa. We have always been able to counter that with the mix handle, well once I had to add my pressure reducer to the line to slow the flow just a bit. Should have put it in anyhow.

The first RV units were nothing but problems and many people got the RV companies to swap them out with regular tank units on new RV's. I noticed a recent advertisement for the next generation of tankless and they claim to be much improved. I for one will wait until a few folks have them and can provide real feedback before taking the plunge. I really hope they are better because I'd sure like to have one.

Huh?

They seem to be getting better, but I understand they still have a habit of burning up their control panels..literally. When these go on and you are enroute, certain wind conditions allow flames to back into areas of the heaters where they should not be. I also talked to a couple that had a remarkably loud bang each time they turned on the hot water. Seems like it was a small explosion each time the unit came on. No further damage but...???. I'll stick with my tank type for a while until they get ALL the kinks out.

2oldman wrote:
Tankless posts

ha ha that is funny cause I just bought the shower head.
I want more power and read this is what to buy.

did you have to buy a water filter system to protect
the water heater ? Or were there any special considerations
involved ?

Also how much and who did the install ?

We absolutely LOVE :) ours. Due to aches and pains that's one thing I really enjoy is a continual super hot shower. We also have the Oxygenics shower head from Camping World and I can see a difference in propane use by having it. We use much less gas with the shower head.