girard gswh-2 tankless water heater will not ignite

[Cloud 9]

Howdy,
I have a 2021 Thor Omni SV34 with the Girard GSWH-2 Tankless Water Heater.
After de-winterization the water heater will not ignite. There is power to the unit but no icons on the control panel when water is flowing and no activity on the unit itself.
I have checked:
- water pressure
- fuses
- every valve I can find
- propane

I have talked to the Girard tech who says it's probably a plumbing issue.
I feel like its something right in front of me, but cannot find it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Mike C.

[16ACE27]

Is there water actually flowing through the water heater? If so, maybe the flow sensor is stuck?

[Cloud 9]

How would you recommend checking that? I’ve checked but maybe not properly. I really believe water flow is the issue but can’t figure out how.

[Judge]

If you're saying the control panel is powered up but you don't see indication of flow or the flame trying to fire, then it could be a pressure issue. You need at least 45 - 50 PSI for the unit to fire.

Are you using a water pressure regulator (as you should be) and if so, what does it say for pressure?

I'm also assuming that after you de-winterized, you remembered to turn on the propane as well.

[DavidEM]

Sounds like the control panel is not powered up. Go outside and open the hatch for the water heater and you will find a small on/off switch. Turn it on. Then look at the control panel. If it is dead, then do you have DC power to other things. Maybe the battery disconnect switch is off.

If both switches are on and still no power to the control panel, then it sounds like an installation problem. Has it ever worked?

If there is power to the control panel, ie there are lit icons like water temp, then the bypass valves are probably still set for winterization. Pull off the furnace air return panel and look inside for the Girard. Switch the two valves so their handle is pointing toward or away from the water heater, ie not crosswise to the flow.

Thor installs those bypass valves even though they aren't needed for the Girard.

David

[Cloud 9]

David,

Are you referring to the hot and cold lines on the back of the unit? i am not sure I have those valves right.

Is there a propane on/off for the water heater other than the main tank?

Thanks to all!!

Mike C.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Cloud 9

David,

Are you referring to the hot and cold lines on the back of the unit? i am not sure I have those valves right.

Is there a propane on/off for the water heater other than the main tank?

Thanks to all!!

Mike C.

There are no shut off valves in the back of the Girard. There is only a valve thay controls flow through the unit. For example, when the water is very cold, you can slow the flow to give the water more time to heat up.

[DavidEM]

Well, if Thor installed bypass valves, they are three-way valves. The one on the cold side shuts off flow to the water heater and bypasses from the cold to the hot. The hot valve is also a three way and works the same and sends the cold water to the fixtures. When both valves are in bypass mode the water goes to the valve through a bypass pipe to the three way valve on the hot side. When not on bypass the flow goes through the cold bypass valve then through the water heater and out the hot side.

Judge is correct in that there is a flow control valve on the back which is useful if you have really high shorepower pressure. You should use a pressure regulator that shouldn't require messing with that valve on shore power.

The only propane shut off valve on most MHs is on the main propane tank.

David

[Judge]

I’ve had two coaches with the Girard Tankless and Thor did not install bypass valves on either of them.

[Kvrgvr]

I have a 2020 axis 25.6. It does have bypass valves in the plumbing lines on the back of the heater. Camping world winterize it after they bypassed the heater (yes, with plain water left in the heater). Then they wouldn't stand behind their work. That's how I found the valves.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Kvrgvr

I have a 2020 axis 25.6. It does have bypass valves in the plumbing lines on the back of the heater. Camping world winterize it after they bypassed the heater (yes, with plain water left in the heater). Then they wouldn't stand behind their work. That's how I found the valves.

I would contact Thor because they screwed up by adding the Bypass to the tankless, which should never be done.

I would also complain to Camping World Management. They also should have known better.

You also need go read all the owners manualls for yhe variois components. The Girard manual covers winterizing and it might have tipped you off that there might be an issue.

[DavidEM]

My 2021 Thor Axis 24.1 was delivered in late January last year from Albany RV. It wasn't really winterized as there never was any water in it in the first place during the middle of the winter. About this time last year I filled it with water and tried out the Girard water heater and it wouldn't work.

After searching around and a few phone calls to Girard (great help BTW) I finally discovered the three way valves set in the bypass positions by the factory. I turned them 90 degrees and the hot water heater fired right up.

I guess I should remove those three way valves and replace them with plain elbows so a future owner doesn't set them to the bypass winterization position and destroy the water heater.

But one of the key steps in winterizing a tank type heater is to drain the tank. Obviously Camping World didn't try that.

David

[Kvrgvr]

Originally Posted by Judge

I would contact Thor because they screwed up by adding the Bypass to the tankless, which should never be done.

I would also complain to Camping World Management. They also should have known better.

You also need go read all the owners manualls for yhe variois components. The Girard manual covers winterizing and it might have tipped you off that there might be an issue.

I bought this MH from a private seller in NM in February. Was unable to check water and heater because of the winterizing. Previous owner had CW winterize it so it was covered with documentation. We got home in NC and found a burst heater line. Even with documentation from Avondale CW, corporate would not stand behind it. Needless to say, neither previous owner nor I will ever deal with CW again. I'll do with out first.
While repairing the water heater, I found the stick built shelves holding the water heater and also the furnace had failed. Staples in 3/4 stick don't really work with rough roads. Reinforced with wood, glue and screws make a great repair.
Still can't keep me from loving my MH. 10 days to hit the road.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Kvrgvr

I bought this MH from a private seller in NM in February. Was unable to check water and heater because of the winterizing. Previous owner had CW winterize it so it was covered with documentation. We got home in NC and found a burst heater line. Even with documentation from Avondale CW, corporate would not stand behind it. Needless to say, neither previous owner nor I will ever deal with CW again. I'll do with out first.
While repairing the water heater, I found the stick built shelves holding the water heater and also the furnace had failed. Staples in 3/4 stick don't really work with rough roads. Reinforced with wood, glue and screws make a great repair.
Still can't keep me from loving my MH. 10 days to hit the road.

Personally, I would still contact Thor. They will many times offer Goodwill out of warranty when the issue was clearly their issue. It is a big no-no to install a bypass kit on a Tankless Water Heater.

[Kvrgvr]

I thought is was strange when I found it. Had to call previous owner on how to turn on hot water. Either still plumbed for a tank heater or wrong person on the assembly line that day.
Gave me some stories to compare to all the long term RVers out there.

[Snooker_ML]

Originally Posted by Cloud 9

Howdy,
I have a 2021 Thor Omni SV34 with the Girard GSWH-2 Tankless Water Heater.
After de-winterization the water heater will not ignite. There is power to the unit but no icons on the control panel when water is flowing and no activity on the unit itself.
I have checked:
- water pressure
- fuses
- every valve I can find
- propane

I have talked to the Girard tech who says it's probably a plumbing issue.
I feel like its something right in front of me, but cannot find it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Mike C.

Back to your original question. WHERE did you check the propane? Unless you pulled off the propane fitting right at the Girard box itself (what you call the unit), and measure it there - then don't assume the coach propane is working at the Girard unit. Also pull the white plastic cover off of the control board in the unit and check the led(s), refer to manual..... If the control board is working and you think water is flowing thru the Girard then the blower should come on at least.

... In my case the furnace and stove both worked and their flames did not change when I requested hot water from the Girard. The reason will be explained in gory detail below.. Another thing I was going to have a tech try is to connect a separate source (like from a 20# bottle with a regulator), and see if it worked ok.

Here's my situation, mystery solved but not repaired yet (under Thor warranty)...

I have a 2022 Thor Tiburon 24RW with the exact same Girard GSWH-2. I bought it winterized slightly used and the first time I de-winterized it a month ago it too had issues. Girard techs are priceless mainly because they are always answering and helping. They may jump to the wrong answer but they understand their product. This is my understanding, but they have awesome User and Service manuals online which helped me a LOT! American made detailed documentation!

What you're calling the control panel (in the bathroom) and icons on the LCD display I will elaborate on to be clear. Across the bottom there are the 3 icons across the bottom that only appear when each item is successful:
1) Blower fan on 2) Gas flame on 3) Water flow adequate (on)

Usually the order they turn on is: 1 and 3, then 2. When it senses water flow, it then tries to turn on the blower and makes sure it is on. Then the flame ignites to warms the water.

I assume you are saying that inside the unit itself the little toggle on/off switch (1/0) is turned on, but the control panel LCD screen only shows the desired temperature - if it is just blank then that seems like a different problem.

In my case, the initial problem was that my blow motor shaft had frozen and would not turn and I would not get Icon 1 and then it showed E05. None of the 3 icons were on. However this only occurred because I turned on a shower faucet so the Girard until control board did indeed sense water flow. I think the blower motor shaft was just a little stuck, perhaps from below zero weather this winter (I was in PHX when I first tried it out). I just wiggled the motor shaft and it started spinning.

Next problem - request 106 degrees and it would warm up from 70 to 85 or so on the display. In my case I only had icons 1) Blower and 3) Water flow. The 2) Gas flame icon would only come on sporadically and then sometimes give E01 or E02 error, all indicating poor gas flow / i.e. low gas pressure and shut down.

My problem was that the Girard is in the slider and both the propane and water lines (water in and out) were all kinked when the slider is out but not when the slider is in. This restricted the propane flow enough that the flame was barely on at all and might shut off. The furnace and stove worked fine with the Girard on or off, didn't matter because the Girard had a separate tee line running out to it. Also outdoor quick connect propane worked. All of This was showing that the RV propane pressure was fine, just not at the Girard.

The routing of the lines is a ridiculous design (or build quality?) the lines fold like a pyramid smashing until it is a telephone pole. Currently being evaluated by CW sending photos to Thor.

For manuals, google: Girard GSWH-2 manual