| . 1 . 2 . >> |
| Author |
Message |
rockies
Member
|
# Posted: 30 Jun 2015 09:39pm
Reply
https://www.eccotemp.com/eccotemp-l5-portable-tankless-water-heater/
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 30 Jun 2015 09:56pm - Edited by: bldginsp
Reply
I just ordered an eccotemp L7, which is a little bigger than the L5 shown above and costs $50 more.
I ordered it from Mayfair, and then looked at reviews of Mayfair after I ordered the water heater. All the reviews of Mayfair were pretty bad, but I guess people only post reviews when they are not happy. Mayfair told me it has shipped and should be here soon.
I tried ordering it through Amazon, and they told me it would come from some independent supplier. Then I get an email saying that that supplier is back ordered and can't supply it so they canceled the order.
All that to avoid paying shipping charges. The prices on the Eccotemp site are competitive with other sites but they charge shipping.
So anyway it should come soon and I'll post on it if there's anything worth saying.
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 12:08am
Reply
Just got my L7. Haven't hooked it up so I can't say how it works. But looking it over I think I got my $169 worth. A lot of the parts are plastic, but the guts appear to be well made. I'll hook it up in September and post again.
They say it only is capable of a 35 degree temperature rise, F. Not sure that's going to be enough- water out of my piping system will be in the 50 range, and shower water should be more than 85 degrees. We'll see.
The L5 is 37000 btus, this one is 41000, not much bigger, but I got it rather than the L5 in the hopes it would be plenty warm.
Who's been using these units, what is your experience?
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 12:10am
Reply
Mayfair is a cheaper alternative for buying these, my experience with them was good.
|
|
Pookie129
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 07:42am
Reply
bought one last year, still in the box, so I will be watching this thread with interest. I was hoping to get it set up over the course of the next month or so, but again, it will depend on priority and help.
Now that someone smart and capable is on the case (yes, I am referring to you bldginsp), it might make my set up and implementation a much easier process 
|
|
Gary O
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 08:37am
Reply
Quoting: bldginsp Just got my L7. Haven't hooked it up so I can't say how it works
Quoting: Pookie129 bought one last year, still in the box
would you guys hurry the #@%*# up? We need to get one...
|
|
cabinbiscuits
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 09:16am - Edited by: cabinbiscuits
Reply
I can't speak on the L7 but I have the L10 and I can tell you it is more than hot enough for a shower. Not sure of the exact temp of the water coming out of my cistern but it is very cold and I've never had to turn the temp on the L10 all the way up.
|
|
skootamattaschmidty
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 09:22am
Reply
I have been using the eco tempt L10 for five seasons now. It has been essentially problem free in that time. The batteries for the ignition last an incredibly long time, I think I have changed them twice. They are two D cells. There is a spring loaded sensor inside that opens prior to ignition that I have had to clean the contacts on a couple times but other than that It has been flawless. My unit is mounted outside and it is equipped with a drain plug for the winter. The water gets plenty warm for showers etc, in fact I have to turn it down a fair bit in the summer when the water temperature is warmer. I have mine hooked up to my 100 lb propane tank system. If the L7 works as well as the L10 has for me, you should be very satisfied. There is nothing better than a hot shower after a hard days work in the bush.
|
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 09:39am - Edited by: bldginsp
Reply
The L10 is 75000 btus, L7 41000, L5 37000. That's a big jump for the L10. I'm sure the L7 will do fine, but I may have to slow the water rate just a bit to get the heat up.
I've been thinking about using air tool connect couplings to connect the water heater on the back of my little shower house. I'll need to remove the heater at the end of each season and store it away, so I figured these would make it easier and would avoid potential problems with re-tightening threaded fittings year after year. Did a little reading and apparently air couplings are rated for liquid use and psi is not an issue. I just wonder if they can handle the heat, but it's not much. I also wonder if it's a good idea to use such a coupling to connect gas. Probably not to code, and if the building inspector sees that....
thanks Biscuits and Schmitty for your input. Schmitty- what is the valve or switch you had to deal with inside? Was it just stuck? Easy to fix?
thank you Pookie for the nice comment.
Gary O- I was afraid someone would point out that I (and Pookie) are really just arm-chair quarterbacks at this point, not having actually set the thing up. I resemble that remark.
Little shower house in the woods.
|  | | |
|
|
Purplerules
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 09:50am
Reply
I can not say enough good things about these. We had the L5 first for the out door shower. But upgraded to the L10 for the inside shower, kitchen sink, and bathroom sink. We are now going to use the L5 to heat up the hillbilly Coleman spa quicker. Love love these, you can not go wrong.
|
|
suburbancowboy
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 11:11am
Reply
Be warned these things do not take below freezing temps. I drain my water system in the fall. There must have been some water in the heater some where, which expanded creating cracks. Now the thing leaks and is useless. I have heard of people unhooking them and taking them home for the winter. FYI
|
|
skootamattaschmidty
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 11:32am
Reply
Bldginsp there are a couple of screws on the outside casing I had to remove after removing the temperature and water control. Once that was off you can easily see the part. It isn't really a valve per se but an electronic flow sensor I'm guessing. When the water flows it opens and makes an electrical contact to tell the unit to spark and fire. I just had to use a screw driver to clean the metal contact off and it was fine. A pretty simple fix.
As far as hooking up, they have a pretty solid brass thread and I use garden hose fittings to screw and unscrew the hoses. I have had no issues with leaks etc after doing so many times.
In the fall, I open the drain plug to allow the water to drain. I also have a fitting I made that attaches to my kitchen tap that I hook my air compressor to. I use that to blow out all the lines in the cabin, including the water heater. I am in north eastern Ontario so it gets cold and so far I have had no issues with freezing.
|
|
skootamattaschmidty
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 11:35am
Reply
I I think you will be very happy with your purchase. One thing I remember when hooking the gas up is to not over tighten it. If you do there is the potential to break the stem off inside causing a gas leak. This was a caution in the manual if I recall correctly.
|
|
hueyjazz
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 12:00pm
Reply
I've got the L10 piped to an indoor shower, outdoor shower and a sink.
One word, great
A tank of propane last forever and we do tend to conserve on water as I bring mine in from 55 gallon drums but nothing beats a hot shower in the morning. really love the outdoor shower. You do want to make sure you have adequate flow to it which isn't that hard. Only problem I had with mine is we take it down and store it for the winter. Mice turn the interior into a mouse condo steal insulation to do it. They were pissed when I evicted them.
|
|
LastOutlaw
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 12:39pm - Edited by: LastOutlaw
Reply
I have an L5 and also had a freeze damage this past winter. My shower was inside the cabin in an unheated room and overnight it dropped to 24 degrees F. My shower was frozen solid. Once it thawed the lines from the heater were blown out and a part of the shower regulator inside the shower unit was cracked.
The shower itself works great. I have ordered a new one and am using it now. I will try to repair the old one and use it in the kitchen if I can fix it.
|
|
Pookie129
Member
|
# Posted: 2 Jul 2015 11:20pm
Reply
This is all very helpful and appreciated and great information. Now I am feeling a little guilty that I have let this project lapse and haven't gotten this set up yet. Up until now, bird baths have been adequate enough (no complaints logged yet..lol), but it might be time for a full on shower...lol...lol.
Come on bldginsp, let's do it for Gary O
|
|
Julie2Oregon
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 02:12am
Reply
Worried about the winter freeze comments. Are these not usable year-round if your weather includes temps in the single digits sometimes?
|
|
rayyy
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 08:21am
Reply
I started out with an L5 to heat water from my outside storage tank however once the water temp got down to near freezing it couldn't heat it up quite enough for a warm shower.So I put that one in my camper and bought an L7.That one does the job of heating ice cold up nicely.It's only problem is you got to turn the knobs up and down once in a while because they tend to seize up if left in one place all the time.And about leaving one out in the freezing cold(my camper),,,turn's it into swiss cheese!lol.(ooops!)
|
|
FishHog
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 08:29am
Reply
Quoting: Julie2Oregon Worried about the winter freeze comments. Are these not usable year-round if your weather includes temps in the single digits sometimes?
like most water systems, they hold some water, and freezing will damage them. If you can keep it above freezing, no problem, if you can drain it, no problem. But let water freeze in it, it will expand and cause damage. The L10 has a drain, the small ones are easy enough to unhook and bring inside.
|
|
creeky
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 09:43am
Reply
Quoting: Julie2Oregon Are these not usable year-round
Julie2O. you're probably best off with an indoor unit. There's the L12. I have one and it's even gotten mildly frozen (ran out of propane on the room heater at -20, ouch) and survived.
I would look at the Marey. It has a modulating valve which allows you to set a temperature and it will automatically adjust the gas to keep the temp at the setting you prefer. It also uses outside air for combustion and vents outside. While the L12 uses inside air and vents outside. (admittedly not a concern for me with my largish washroom).
I would have bought the Marey but at the time I couldn't find any reviews. Now Amazon has lots of positive reviews.
Of course the tagaki is the king.
remember most folks here are only using there camps/cabins during the summer months. so if you're full time ...
and if a mfct is reading this. could you please add insulation and antifreeze heating into your system. make it the "off grid" model. thank you.
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 09:55am
Reply
Julie- as Creeky said, you might be best off with an indoor unit. Indoor units can freeze too if the indoors freezes, but if the house is heated all winter you are good. Indoor units differ from outdoor types with the type of flu they use to exhaust the gasses. There are different types. Check out the thread I started (link below) for more details. I'm going to use a Bosch 330 because it requires no electricity and uses an inexpensive vent.
http://www.small-cabin.com/forum/3_4393_0.html
|
|
creeky
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 04:47pm
Reply
what I like about the bosch is it's old school. with the pilot light always on. sure. a tiny bit of maintenance. but that heat should keep bits from freezing.
it also gets, um, not so good reviews in canada. is there an emoticon for understatement?
and to be fair. ecotemp gets terrible reviews. but everyone seems to have one.
still. for that level of moola. the tagaki appears to rule.
oh I'm turning japanese oh yes i'm turning japanese I really think so
|
|
silverwaterlady
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 05:16pm - Edited by: silverwaterlady
Reply
I hope nobody decides to try to save money and use one of the outdoor models inside. Because of the way it is vented the outdoor models vent from the top and get very hot. I'm sure it would be a fire and CO hazard.
We have a EZ Tankless. Using it in a outdoor summer shower,bring home to a heated basement to winter over.
Have a photo of it in the "Share your Shower Pics" thread.
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 3 Jul 2015 10:58pm
Reply
One or two posters in the past said they use the outdoor units inside. From a practical standpoint, what's the difference between that and cooking up a big meal on a propane stove? So long as the water heater is burning the gas correctly it's not much different than that or the 'Little Buddy' ventless propane heaters that I love to hate. Thing about the Little Buddies is that you set it and go to sleep. It then puts gasses in the cabin for 8 hours. The water heater uses more propane while it's on but its on for a limited time. I'm not supporting using outdoor units inside, since you want to limit your exposure to products of combustion. You can't with a stove but you can with heaters
|
|
Julie2Oregon
Member
|
# Posted: 4 Jul 2015 12:48am
Reply
Thank you, guys!!!!
The Tagaki would be magic aside from the energy usage. So I'm looking at other models, too, and weighing the pros and cons. The Bosch model looks like a winner!
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 4 Jul 2015 09:27am
Reply
The Tagakis look like well made units, but I wasn't able to figure out if they have an off-grid model. Do they depend on having 120v AC? Do they have a battery operated model like Eccotemp, or a pilot operated model like Bosch 330, or a turbine igniter?. Their website was so slick it didn't give me the basic information.
|
|
ryan14
Member
|
# Posted: 6 Jul 2015 10:44am - Edited by: ryan14
Reply
I just got my outdoor shower built and am looking to buy one of the eccotemp models. We do not have water at our cabin so we would be using 55 gallon drums. What pumps are you guys using to pump the water into the shower unit? I want it to be an AC voltage pump but don't know what size I need.
*edit to fix iphone/fat finger misspellings
|
|
hueyjazz
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Jul 2015 11:52am
Reply
I too pump from 55 gallon drums. Shurflo and Flojet both make RV pumps that will satisfy your requirements. You just have to match the pump output to the flow requirement of your heater.
The 110 volt pumps are called Park Models. You will really limit your choices of pump if you go this route. I too wanted to use my electric service to power my pump. What I did was got a 110 volt AC to 12 volt DC transformer off of eBay. It works very well.
With the Shurflo you need an accumulator but the Flojet has a pressure sensing circuit that works fairly well.
|
|
Lounsy
Member
|
# Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:47am
Reply
You can buy the Ecco Temp at Camping World. I've had mine for 3 years. Never a problem. Water temp can scald.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/eccotemp-portable-tankless-water-heater/377 86
|
|
creeky
Member
|
# Posted: 22 Oct 2015 10:24am
Reply
shurflo has a 110 volt ac model similar to their 12v dc revolution 3. its often referred to as the "industrial" model.
Model# 2088-594-154
I have both. They both work the same. Look the same. You don't need an accumulator, they both have pressure sensors. What I like is that they run dry no problem. Not that my cistern (55 gallon barrel) ever runs out of water (whistling sound).
|
|
| . 1 . 2 . >> |
