I’ve been having a lot of trouble with the latest upgrade to our main trailer. I installed a Girard on-demand water heater to allow all of us to shower quickly and comfortably, but our trailer seems to strongly dislike the electrical side of it.
After much confusion, I’ve been able to pick out these issues so far:
when the battery is unplugged and the water heater is on, the fridge freaks out, and all lights blink
when the battery is plugged in, the fridge works, but blinks the AC and Battery lights. The water heater control panel flashes off and on over and over
If I turn on the bathroom fan, the panel stays on and detects water flow but the water heater wont fire
If the trailer is unplugged from shore power and running on 12 volt only, the water heater functions perfectly
When the old water heater was in, there was no problem with the fridge or heater even if the battery was off and the fridge never flashed.
I’ve had a couple people suggest the converter in our RV might be bad, but we never had trouble with it before this new installation. The technical manual for this water heater notes that older trailers may need to bypass the converter and wire through the battery to use it as a capacitor, but gives no instructions regarding how to do this.
I didn’t think that would be necessary as this trailer is a 1997 Dutchmen. I was wondering if, since the trailer seems OK as long as the water heater isn’t conn acted to the trailers power system, if I could connect the water heater directly to a 12 volt battery and connect the battery to a solar trickle charger so it has its own power system. Or, is rewiring the water heater through the battery would be best, or if our converter is in fact bad. It seems as if the 110 volt and 12 volt systems are crossing, since at times even the air conditioner will make the water heater control panel respond for a few seconds when its turned on.
My specialty is carpentry, and the only thing I know even less about than plumbing is electrical.
Any of you here who know more about power in RVs and their systems, I would really appreciate any thoughts you have. I haven't heard any reports of things this weird happening over the many videos I've seen regarding installing this unit.
Thanks again!
