Heeellllpppp New RV owner with a water problem

[Al in West Virginia]

Hi everybody! Grand Design Reflection 150
I just got my RV last year and I winterized it as directed. So today I was flushing my lines with city water. Then...when I went to open all the faucets etc., water came gushing out of my Furrion in-line heater OUTSIDE. It looked like the water was coming from above and behind the unit. I"m talking gusher.

Can anyone tell me what has happened and what I can do to fix it?

Thanks in advance, Al

[NB Canada]

Hi everybody! Grand Design Reflection 150
I just got my RV last year and I winterized it as directed. So today I was flushing my lines with city water. Then...when I went to open all the faucets etc., water came gushing out of my Furrion in-line heater OUTSIDE. It looked like the water was coming from above and behind the unit. I"m talking gusher.

Can anyone tell me what has happened and what I can do to fix it?

Thanks in advance, Al

Likely froze and is cracked needing a replacement

[Second Chance]

As @NB Canada suggests, it likely froze and cracked over the winter. "As directed" can mean several things when it comes to the tankless water heaters: 1) what the dealer tells you, 2) what's in the GD manual, and 3) what Furrion tells you. Only the Furrion method is correct (unless the dealer is going by that).

Rob

[ardvark16]

I would say it sounds like it broke. You should fix it where it broke.

[retired_engineer]

Hi everybody! Grand Design Reflection 150
I just got my RV last year and I winterized it as directed. So today I was flushing my lines with city water. Then...when I went to open all the faucets etc., water came gushing out of my Furrion in-line heater OUTSIDE. It looked like the water was coming from above and behind the unit. I"m talking gusher.

Can anyone tell me what has happened and what I can do to fix it?

Thanks in advance, Al

The Furrion tankless water heater uses a mixing bowl on the back side that cannot be drained. It relies upon getting enough antifreeze into it to prevent freezing. If it does freeze and crack the part is not replaceable and you will need a new water heater. You might be able to find someone to repair it. If you search Youtube there is a video where a gentleman explains how we had one repaired for his daughter's trailer and also fixed it so it could be drained as part of winterizing.

[BoredWeasel]

If memory serves, furrion tells you to blow it out with compressed air then fill with antifreeze.

[retired_engineer]

If memory serves, furrion tells you to blow it out with compressed air then fill with antifreeze.

Furrion does state this.

A common problem that occurs is the owner/servicer didn't use antifreeze or use enough antifreeze to dilute the residual water in the mixing bowl enough to prevent hard freezing. This can result in the bowl or its plumbing cracking and those parts aren't orderable. I suspect that Furrion's position is if one part of the water heater has freeze damage other areas likely have damage too making it unsafe to operate the water heater. With the potential safety issue the only sure way to guarantee the repair is to require a full replacement of the heater.

[jostby]

I believe that the on-demand hot water heater is bypassed when you turn the dials to "winterize" mode. Stupid. Same thing happened to my brother-in-law. There are actually 2 fittings that can be removed to drain it IIRC.

[Al in West Virginia]

Thank you so much, gentlepeople! I gave up and took it to the dealer. They suspect (of course $$) that it was damage due to incomplete winterization (or too late in the season, after a freeze). I went ahead with my camping trip to Stonewall, just did it without water. It really didn't slow us down and we had a great time (until wind damaged both my canopy and door lol). Auto level still almost worthless. I'll keep you all filled in on the diagnostics and repairs. Thanks again so much, and I'm glad I found this forum! Al

[Al in West Virginia]

I did this! I was careful to watch the pressure. All pink liquid drained when I was "unwinterizing" it, so I thought I had good coverage. It sucked in the projected amount, etc. Furrion gave an "E1" error. Thank you!