Hot Water Heater? - Page 3

Greggd · 10-24-2008, 10:02 PM

deminimis ,
Yes you will have to cut out an opening for the Suburban Hot Water Heater , I have never made the cutout myself as I feel that I didn't have the proper tools or even the proper grey matter to undertake this very basic installation . Although as capable as you seem to be , you could probably do a good job on this install .
Pull up the Suburban web site an review their information , this is the most widely used heating system in the RV industry because of it's ease of use and maintenance . I have never considered or had one of the Flat Plate types so I am unable to comment on their use .
Greggde

surfgeek33 · 10-25-2008, 03:11 PM

Just used the hot water this morning after surfing!

Greggd · 10-25-2008, 09:34 PM

Surfgeek ,
Me too , and it will only get better as the North Pacific awakens .
Greggde

Deminis ,
My Suburban Heater is side mounted on the rear passenger side behind the Aluminess Ladder , EB-50 configuration and I would be happy to take photograph's of that type of install for you if you like
if you like .
Greggde

Greg In Austin · 10-26-2008, 07:49 PM

We had our first opportunity to use our water heater a few weeks ago outside Boulder. It had cooled of to around 30 overnight, and after being on the road the previous day and hiking around in the morning we decided we needed to clean up. We turned on the water heater and then tried to use it about 3 or 4 minutes later. The water was already hotter that we could stand, and we had three folks showered with plenty of hot water in no time.

jage · 10-26-2008, 07:52 PM

One of the nice things about the Suburban is that you can leave it on when camping and when you shut it down to drive for the day the water stays hot for a few hours on the road. Nothing like being able to sneer at cold only rest stop sinks and head back to the van to wash up.

Greggd · 10-26-2008, 08:25 PM

And it would appear to be more trouble free than those utilizing the plate exchanger . We have had probably a dozen or more of the Suburban Water Heaters in various Motor Homes , Travel Trailers and Vans and the only thing that I can remember fooling with is the yearly preventative changing of the Annode and Pressure Relief valve and in most cases they were in pretty good shape.
Greggde

skrivan · 11-07-2008, 09:10 PM

i put the suburban water heater in myself. Cutting the van body was bit tricky, just because on my van i had tight tolerance with the wheel well. I think it took about 6 hours to fully install and plumb it; add another 2 hours to figure out how to use it. We love having hot water in the truck. The kids liked it so much that I later added a rear shower and made an inside shower that we can set up in the raised penthouse with the shower connected to the galley sink. One daughter adjusts the temp and flow while the other one showers. The shower pan is something i made from some fiberglass sheet and I sewed the shower curtain from some tent-floor fabric and a long sleeping bag zipper. Totally watertight. i personally dont care about showering outside, but the privacy for the kids lets us go to new places.....teen girls feel the need to wash up more often and if it helps I'm all for it. The shower is one of the best additons we put into our SMB.

Our suburban heater is 110 volt or propane. With 110, it's nice to be able to have hot water at a campsite by just plugging in, or to get the tank preheated before we hit the road. It adds a needed 6 gallons of water capacity. If anyone wants to see the shower rig, i'll post a pic next week. It's pretty sweet.

Off topic slightly----before i put in the Suburban, i put in an "instant water heater" that runs on 12 or 110. Cost was 300 bucks or more. It's small and nice for early coffee, but not really what we needed and i wish i had my 3 bucks back. cheers.....

Greggd · 11-08-2008, 08:26 AM

Joe ,
What is the name and source of the RAPID RECOVERY HEATER that you first tried . I am always looking for new idea for our product line .

skrivan · 11-10-2008, 08:54 AM

i'll have to look at the unit itself---cant remember the brand. It works pretty well, but on 12-volts it really draws some high current. I'll try to remember to look at it tonight. I've barely used this thing and thought of listing it for sale in the classifieds.

Scalf77 · 11-14-2008, 11:12 PM

Joe,
Did you take pictures of your install? I have been looking at doing the same thing.

I currently have the 2and 1/2 gallon electric water heater and would not mind replacing it. I have been looking at the Electric/Gas model also, if you are paying for a site that has hook ups, you are already paying for the electricity so yo might as well use it. I noticed that they also have a unit that has a heat exchanger on it to run to the engine, This would also give you free hot water as you were driving. I have also thought of using the exchanger as part of a close loop hydronic heating system. see http://www.solarhaven.org/HPArticle.htm. It seems like this would a quieter and space saving solution to having both the water heater and separate furnace. Has anybody tried a hydronic heating system?

Greg