My Truma on demand hot water heater is now installed

funpilot · 04-13-2015, 08:53 PM

Had my Truma installed today. Overall it went pretty smoothly but we had some Trailmanor specific issues that had to be addressed. First, the old hot water heater was suspended about 6 inches off the floor and the Truma ideally should rest on the floor. So the hole in the side of the trailer was higher than normal. The frame that held the old hot water heater up needed to be modified as a result. Second, the propane line on my Suburban hot water heater came in on the left side and the Truma expects it on the right side, so a little engineering needed to be done. Finally the opening/closing issues of the Trailmanor came into play but on first blush the cover (sticks out about 3/4 of an inch more than the old cover) did not stop the "feel" of the opening and closing of the trailer. However, there is a vent for the grey water tank that was right there and the Truma cover came slightly over it, so again, some adjustments had to be made.

Now that all of that was done, off to hook it up to water. Turns out that the water pressure at the place the install was done was pretty weak. Water basically trickled in to the city water connection. We thought about just putting water in the fresh water tank and using the water pump to get more pressure, but decided to test it anyway. HOT WATER !!! So, they really do have something different for lower water pressure situations. We ran it for 15 minutes and continuous hot water. So, tomorrow, I will hook it up to my house water and give it a more vigorous test.

funpilot · 04-13-2015, 09:01 PM

One observation of note. When the installer was removing the Suburban hot water heater, he commented that it did not have a check valve installed where he has often seen them before. He was not sure if this model had its own internal one, but if not, he said that the hot water could leak into the cold water side and cut down the shower time (if I had ever used it). If the hot water heater does not have that check valve, then other TM owners may want to install one if you agree that it could lengthen the time for your hot water showers.

He also noted that my panel says the electric line to the original hot water heater also powered the refrigerator, something that he also felt was odd. He recommended that I get a licensed electrician to properly manage the "live wire" I now have under the sink. Because the wire went back into an area he could not see, he just did not want to disconnect it from the panel as he could not predict what would happen to the refrigerator. He suggested that I just extend it to a new outlet that I could have installed. Any thoughts here?

Redtail Cruiser · 04-13-2015, 10:32 PM

Funpilot, please post some pictures of your install and electrical (live wire) condition, I'd be interested to see what was done.

funpilot · 04-14-2015, 09:21 AM

OK, ran hot water for at least 20 minutes and it never got cold off of city water. Then tested it with water in the fresh water tank. Did not seem to make any difference at all. I should get a thermometer to measure actual temp, but I would not want to use just the hot water coming from the tank as it would burn me in a minute. It takes about 10 seconds for hot water to begin coming out of the shower from a cold start. I can already tell you there is one danger....if you are boondocking you will have to remember to use less water as it will invite you to take long showers. Later today I will switch out the original Trailmanor shower head to my Oxygenics and see if that makes a difference.

Wife left with the ladies and has the camera ....

scrubjaysnest · 04-14-2015, 01:15 PM

The hot water heater and refrig come off the same breaker in ours. With shore power disconnected lift and tape back one black wire from the breaker. Connect shore power with a meter connected to hot water heater black wire and neutral. If no power then you got lucky on the first try. Once the lines are identified they can be marked with a magic marker. Insulate the lifted wire at the breaker that went to the hot water heater.

funpilot · 04-14-2015, 01:23 PM

Thanks

**Bill** · 04-14-2015, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funpilot

One observation of note. When the installer was removing the Suburban hot water heater, he commented that it did not have a check valve installed where he has often seen them before. He was not sure if this model had its own internal one, but if not, he said that the hot water could leak into the cold water side and cut down the shower time (if I had ever used it). If the hot water heater does not have that check valve, then other TM owners may want to install one if you agree that it could lengthen the time for your hot water showers.

I suggest not adding a check valve, also known as a backflow preventer valve. It will interfere with draining the water heater, which drains by flowing backward through the supply line, and out through the drain valve under the TM. See the diagram in my Tech Stuff album for details if you are interested
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...&pictureid=435
Household water heaters, and perhaps larger RV water heaters, have their own drain valve. These small Suburban and Atwood water heaters do not.

Quote:

He also noted that my panel says the electric line to the original hot water heater also powered the refrigerator, something that he also felt was odd. He recommended that I get a licensed electrician to properly manage the "live wire" I now have under the sink. Because the wire went back into an area he could not see, he just did not want to disconnect it from the panel as he could not predict what would happen to the refrigerator. He suggested that I just extend it to a new outlet that I could have installed. Any thoughts here?

I agree with Scrubjaysnest here. There are two black wires leading from the breaker, one to the refrig and one to the water heater. Figure out which one goes to the water heater and simply remove it from the breaker. This is much better than leaving a live wire snaking through the appliance area, and much easier than doing "something" with the other end of that wire.

Bill

TrailManorMan · 04-14-2015, 06:02 PM

Sounds like with hook ups you'll have a long shower!

funpilot · 04-30-2015, 10:01 AM

Just saw this video where they mention that Winnebago is now using Truma's products for hot water and heating. They also noted that this model's refrigerator is electric only (compressor) like a few of us have done here.

http://www.thefitrv.com/rv-reviews/t...ur-new-review/

04-30-2015, 04:17 PM

Funpilot, u seem to be running hot then cold, maybe time to hit the road!
Look forward to hearing how your "appliances" work...