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Small Cabin Forum / General Forum / Tank less water heater... Please help!
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Ejm
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2017 14:53
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I bought and installed Eccotemp FVI-12-LP and so far it has been a nightmare. It is either really hot or ice cold. It kicks on and off and does not stay on. I played with the knobs to adjust it, but no matter what I did I could not get it to work steady.

Worst case I will buy a different unit, just please let me know your experiences on how to fix it or let me know what thankless heater works best. I don’t mind overspending and getting a good unit. I just want it to work well with no headaches. Please recommend a good tank less heater or info on how to fix the problem.

tverga
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2017 15:46 - Edited by: tverga
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I have a Titan at my cabin, we are on the grid so electric is no issue. Works like a champ and they always have replacement parts.

http://www.thetankless.com/home.html

FishHog
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2017 19:55
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the eccotemp is a good unit. Sounds more like your having a water flow issue that is dropping low enough that the burner shuts off and you get cold water. What pump are you using? What flow rating is it, and can you describe your plumbing setup. My L10 works perfectly once I get the temp set depending on the temp of the feed water. Typically a once per trip adjustment.

creeky
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2017 20:32
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I have the 12-LP. I love it.

Facing the unit: Turn the right hand knob to almost max. That controls the gas flow or something. Not sure. But for the heater to run it needs to be on almost all the way.

then run the water. Adjust the left hand knob according to the temp. It will vary depending on the temp of the incoming water.

Note: It doesn't like big changes. Just tweak it in as small an amount as your fingers allow. A quarter inch (1mm) of turn radius can mean quite a few degrees of heat.

In that sense its pretty fussy.

I prefer my showers around 105 on the temp gauge. That's very little gas on the left hand knob in the summer to well past 1/2 in the winter.

And like FishHog says. You need a pretty good flow of water. So if you have a "water saver" shower head. Forget that. I can get it to turn on with the sink tap only. But also hot only. So I set it for a comfortable temp and just run pure hot. Tempering the water by increasing or decreasing the amount of hot water flow.

good luck.

jjlrrw
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2017 22:12
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I have also had very good luck with this heater, if it is shutting off what is the temp on the display? Over temp is somewhere around 165 it will get there with low flow of water, it will also shut down if too low of flow. See if your faucets have a water restriction small plastic washer with three holes, if so remove it and see if that helps. Do you have good water pressure?

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 20 Jun 2017 00:18
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Eccotemps won't work with less than, I think, 20 lbs pressure. From my water tank I get 15 or 16 or so. I tried an eccotemp but it would not stay lit. So I sold it and got a Marey portable type. It will work down to a much lower pressure. Had no problems with it, except that the cheap plastic hand-held shower head they give you with the unit broke after not much use.

razmichael
Member
# Posted: 20 Jun 2017 07:23 - Edited by: razmichael
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Took me a while to find this in my electronic pile of stuff but here is a document on how to adjust the L5. L10 and FVI12 low pressure setting It's been a while but I think I did this with my L5 and have no issues with the pressure unless I turn both cold and hot all the way on (single pump).
Adjustment

For background, this link is also available from the eccotemp website at Technical Issues

Ejm
Member
# Posted: 20 Jun 2017 09:02
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Thanks guys. I called tech support and they sent me info on how to adjust it. I will try it this weekend, fingers crossed it will work.

I am going to start a new thread, but do any of you know anything about adding a water storage tank next to the pressure tank? I want to add this extra tank to hold 50 gallons of water on reserve. Sometimes my well pumps slow so I thought this may help to have extra water at the cabin on reserve.

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