Water heater repair

[MEDEL514]

There's an Edge M22 that I'm looking at buying but it has a inoperable water heater. I'm debating weather or not to have the previous owner replace it, or take it as is for $500 off. This is the message I got from him:

"The heater has a leak in it internals. Residual water must have been in there when I winterized, it expanded, and blew out small line in heater. All of the lines outside the heater are Pex Plastic and a little PVC and there is no leak from any of those, and from what I'm told, it cannot be repaired."

This is the original heater that he will replace if requested: http://www.amazon.com/ATWOOD-GALLON...UTF8&qid=1462809016&sr=8-4&keywords=gc6aa-10e

My question is do any of you know if attempting to repair this is feasible? I'm pretty handy and can fix **** near anything, but I'm also at the age where I'd rather pay for convenience too. But I still don't like paying for something I can repair myself. What do you guys think? Should I attempt a repair, or just do the replacement?

 

[danemayer]

If the tank is leaking, I don't think it can be repaired.

 

[Bgthomas]

Take the 500 and replace it.

 

[hboy1]

How's the camper priced? If they want top dollar, yes I would definitely want a discount. If it's a steal and you can do the work- would you rather loose the deal by someone else buying it out from under you?

While the price of the water heater is $450. What's the install price if you choose to have someone else install? You could be closer to $1000 by the end of it.

If he doesn't want to drop the price, maybe he wants to replace it. Then you can check it out to make sure it works properly before buying. If he is selling the camper with a broken water heater, that tells me there is a problem on the sellers end (possibly no money).

If you want the discount, I would ask for at least $1000 which is closer to what this could cost you. Good luck!

 

[danemayer]

Water heaters are usually not very difficult to replace, although it can vary depending on floor plan. One thing to consider is that the unit is sitting on OSB. If it's been leaking over a period of time, the wood may be swollen. That can make removal more difficult.

Also, I'm not sure about the "residual water" comment. It seems more likely to me that the water wasn't drained, or perhaps the unit wasn't winterized properly. You could find other problems. You'll want to ensure the water pump is working, the toilet has no leaks, the faucets have no leaks, etc.

 

[MEDEL514]

He has been very open and honest about the trailer in the past couple weeks of conversations. He said he wanted to leave the decision up to the buyer about what to do with the water heater because he would sell it with the broken water heater as is, with an exact replacement water heater, or upgraded tankless water heater.

I was even looking that the I could buy only the tank for the water heater and save a couple hundred bucks, but is it worth the hassle of trying to rebuild? I've rebuilt a ton of different things before, but never messed with an RV water heater.

http://www.amazon.com/Atwood-91059-...1655&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=gc6aa-10e+tankless

 

[MEDEL514]

So what tankless water heater would be the ideal replacement for the factory installed Atwood? I emailed Girard about their tankless unit 1GWHAF, but they were of no help to determine if that unit would fit into the Edge M22. They said I would have to contact Heartland for technical info.

Does anyone else havb any tankless recommendations?

 

[Rhyph]

Check out Precision Temp, should I ever want to take the tankless plunge, that's probably the way we would go to get the 55k BTU performance. http://www.precisiontemp.com/rv-and...ted-tankless-water-heater-for-rv-and-trailer/

From what I understand there's several SKU's for the Girard tankless door kits for various install situations. There's only one water heater sku (gen 3) and they say it's designed to fit in "any tank water heater cut-out opening". On the door kits, some are designated new install, some replacement. It has to do with the flanges and adapting to the cut-out for the current water heater. You will want a Gen 3 unit, the old ones were disliked by many due to performance issues.

All of Girard's documentation is here at the bottom of this page, including door kit info: http://www.greenrvproducts.com/girard-water-heater/generation-3-gswh-2/

From what I can tell the WH part number GSWH-2 and the door kit for 6gal Atwood is 2GWHDA6 (in white).

We have a tankless at home and love it, but that's a whole different beast.

 

[travelin2]

So what tankless water heater would be the ideal replacement for the factory installed Atwood? I emailed Girard about their tankless unit 1GWHAF, but they were of no help to determine if that unit would fit into the Edge M22. They said I would have to contact Heartland for technical info.

Does anyone else havb any tankless recommendations?

IMO if you anticipate dry camping without any water hookups or sewage dumps I'd stick with the conventional HW heater. Why? In a household, while they are definitely energy efficient, they are a water hog. They operate by sensing water flow, in other words, when you want hot water the flow has to adequate enough to "tell" the unit to ignite. A trickle from the HW side of the faucet will only get you cold water otherwise. Hot water then needs tempered with a high flow of cold since you need to maintain the high HW flow.
I helped my son install one in his house a couple years ago, new pex plumbing, fixtures, etc when he was remodeling and had a NG pipeline run to his home. They appreciate the lower energy bills but there is a definite learning curve.
So all that said unless you're parked at a seasonal site with water & sewer ! Also, consider your propane usage vs electric with the conventional either/or energy source.

 

[MEDEL514]

I see what you're saying travlin2 about the learning curve of the tankless unit, but I don't know how much off site camping we'd be doing that it would be a problem. As for the propane useage, I thought the Atwood WH's were LP gas, are they also electric hot water as well?

I like the price of the Gen-3 Girard tankless unit much better! Its about the same price as the 6-gallon Atwood OEM replacement. I think the biggest thing I like about the tankless unit is that they're advertised at all season units. I'm moving to Columbia, SC, and from what I was told is that there's some ski resorts up in the smokey mountains. If that's the case, I might be taking the trailer with me up to the mountains in the winter time too!

 

[danemayer]

If you're thinking about winter usage, you should find out exactly what the tankless vendor means by "all season". Winter in South Texas or Florida is quite different from winter in Montana. Both climates could be referred to as 4 season.

The direct spark ignition Propane/Electric water heaters in most RVs are thermostatically controlled so the water inside is hot regardless of outdoor temps.

I'm not familiar with exactly how tankless heaters are designed, but I assume there's an internal water line leading to a valve that opens when you open the faucet, and perhaps a small water storage area next to the heat source. If that water is not kept warm, at some outdoor temp, you'll have a problem. The question is: how cold can it get before that problem occurs.

 

[MEDEL514]

Well here's one thing I just noticed about the Girard GSWH-2 and the RV-550 tankless units, they are gas only.

The Atwood unit that's in the camper is LP gas AND electric :/ https://recreationpro.com/products/atwood-gc6aa-10e-6-rv-gallon-water-heater-gas-elec-dsi-96160

I may just stick with the OEM WH for dual gas/electric water heating.