New owner Build ?

[Caddymv]

Hi All. Paid my deposit. Can’t wait till September  Question 

is Truma instant H20. Worth the extra dough. Thank you. Richard

 

[SeaDawg]

It depends 

In our situation,  with boondocking most of the time, I'd say no. Better to fire up the 6 gallon to warm shower temp, and call it done , 

If you camp with full hookups, its irrelevant. Get the truma.

[Mike and Carol]

2 hours ago, Caddymv said:

Question is Truma instant H20. Worth the extra dough.

Assuming you mean instant HOT H2O.  No, it’s not instant.  The water passes through the Truma at the back of the trailer, gets heated and travels to the faucet.  With the hot water tank, hot water travels the same distance to the faucet.  The difference is if you don’t have the hot water tank on it will take some time to heat up.  So, if you’re going to travel with your hot water tank off and when you arrive at your destination you want hot water right away, you might want the Truma.  If you have 10 or 15 minutes to heat your water either with propane or electricity, then the tank will work.  If you keep the tank on while you are camped the only difference is you can get more than 6 gallons of hot water with the Truma.  The Truma is more complicated mechanically.  The tank is pretty simple.  Whether it is worth the extra dough depends on how you camp, where you camp, do you take long showers, etc.  Hard to say without more information.  Mike

[dewdev]

I prefer the Truma and its capability for endless instant hot water. Do the dishes and then two person taking a shower and you will not run out of hot water with the Truma. It is pretty simple to operate; hook up to water or have water in the fresh water tank, turn on two switches and you are up and running. The only other thing to do is once every couple of years you do need to decalcify the system but that is pretty easy. Put in 2 tablets in the system and then put the control switch to decalcify and the system will do it own thing.

It is no fun when you use up the first 6 gallons in a hot water tank and then have to wait for the water to heat up for the next shower.

I would suggest that you either talk to the Oliver sales people and ask them your questions or go onto the Oliver University forum for each system to check out the owner's manuals.

[John and Debbie]

3 hours ago, Caddymv said:

Hi All. Paid my deposit. Can’t wait till September  Question 

is Truma instant H20. Worth the extra dough. Thank you. Richard

 

I paid my deposit today also.   Estimated 🚚 day of November 7.  When is yours? 

[ScubaRx]

18 minutes ago, dewdev said:

I would suggest that you either talk to the Oliver sales people and ask them your questions or go onto the Oliver University forum for each system to check out the owner's manuals.

I would suggest that you do your own due diligence and research. Think about the type of camping you plan to do and make an informed decision based on it.

18 minutes ago, dewdev said:

I prefer the Truma and its capability for endless instant hot water. Do the dishes and then two person taking a shower and you will not run out of hot water with the Truma.

Unless you plan to ALWAYS be in a campground with full hookups (water, electricity, sewer) this is not necessarily true. If you are boondocking, first you will run out of water, hot or otherwise and then run out of space to put the gray water (this will occur with either water heater).

18 minutes ago, dewdev said:

It is no fun when you use up the first 6 gallons in a hot water tank and then have to wait for the water to heat up for the next shower.

We've never used 6 gallons of water to take TWO showers. You've just got to learn the way to minimize your water usage. For our style of camping (99% boondocking, it would never be worth the extra money). Besides, the regular water heater will have water hot enough to shower in about 10 minutes on gas. Plus, it can run on electricity also which the Truma can not do.

[Steph and Dud B]

The conventional water heater also gives you another 6 gallons of water on board (in the tank).

[John and Debbie]

45 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

The conventional water heater also gives you another 6 gallons of water on board (in the tank).

I haven't thought about that before.   I typically arrive empty and hook up water at the campground and fill,  but I can see more boondocking in the Oliver so it might be useful to carry those six gallons extra. 

[John E Davies]

2 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

The conventional water heater also gives you another 6 gallons of water on board (in the tank).

In theory it does, but that last 6 gallons is not normally usable, because when your fresh tank runs dry, your water pump aerates, and you cannot pump the water heater tank dry. In a true water emergency you could remove the anode and catch the tank contents in a bucket, bypass the water heater (using the winterization ball valve) and then suck the water into the fresh tank, but that extra water volume is normally just dead weight. If I were trapped in the desert, I would be very glad for that extra supply, but only if I had a big breaker bar and the correct socket. Which I normally do NOT carry with me.

Hmmmmm. But I do carry a cordless drill and bits, so I could just drill a hole in the bottom of the tank. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a regular hand operated drain valve at the bottom, beside the anode?

John Davies

Spokane WA

[John and Debbie]

55 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

In theory it does, but that last 6 gallons is not normally usable, because when your fresh tank runs dry, your water pump aerates, and you cannot pump the water heater tank dry. In a true water emergency you could remove the anode and catch the tank contents in a bucket, bypass the water heater (using the winterization ball valve) and then suck the water into the fresh tank, but that extra water volume is normally just dead weight. If I were trapped in the desert, I would be very glad for that extra supply, but only if I had a big breaker bar and the correct socket. Which I normally do NOT carry with me.

Hmmmmm. But I do carry a cordless drill and bits, so I could just drill a hole in the bottom of the tank. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a regular hand operated drain valve at the bottom, beside the anode?

John Davies

Spokane WA

Good clarification.   Thanks. 

[Caddymv]

Thank you everyone. Two of us.traveling. Mostly campgrounds. Looking at Sept 21. Just woke up to the blizzard beginning here on the New England coast

 

[Steph and Dud B]

8 hours ago, John E Davies said:

when your fresh tank runs dry, your water pump aerates, and you cannot pump the water heater tank dry

You're correct, of course. The water's on the wrong side of the pump. The back of my brain was trying to tell me something was wrong with my logic when I was typing that, but I couldn't see it. 

[topgun2]

Seems to me that the extra money being asked for the instant gratification is a bunch given that I'm camping.

Besides, after a long day on the stream or hiking or even driving, it is nice to have a chance to simply sit down, enjoy an adult beverage, contemplate what I'm going to have for dinner and "ease" - "relax" into that nice warm shower.

Bill

[Mike and Carol]

We’ve never run out of hot water.  It depends on your camping style.  Mike

[Caddymv]

Thanks again. Sounds like something you can certainly live without.  1550.00 in my pocket. What should I spend it on?

[Steph and Dud B]

One item we've hemmed and hawed on is the street side awning. We also live in the Northeast, where there's usually lots of shade, but do dry camp a lot in a park that's mostly an open field and plan to revisit the south and southwest after retirement. It helps keep the windows open in rain, but will complicate snow removal in the winter. It's on the build sheet now, in pencil...

[ChrisMI]

20 minutes ago, Caddymv said:

 1550.00 in my pocket. What should I spend it on?

women, Irish whiskey and fast cars…

[topgun2]

20 minutes ago, Caddymv said:

1550.00 in my pocket. What should I spend it on?

I sure could use new batteries and even a set of new tires for the Ollie if you're feeling generous 😁.

On the other hand - that's a bunch of money to be used for gas, camping fees, "special" activities while out exploring - zip lines, romantic dinners, cave tours, snowmobile trips, helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, etc., etc..

Bill

[Rivernerd]

15 hours ago, Caddymv said:

Hi All. Paid my deposit. Can’t wait till September  Question 

is Truma instant H20. Worth the extra dough.

 

Our Elite II is also scheduled to be delivered in September.

We don't plan to pay for the Truma water heater upgrade for the reasons listed by other posters above, and also because Truma is not "DIY friendly."  Truma only makes parts and replacement units available through its 4 U.S. authorized service centers, in Arizona, Texas, Florida and Indiana. 

Suburban water heater parts, or even complete replacement units for under $400, are readily available for online order.

https://www.amazon.com/Suburban-Manufacturing-5238A-Sw6D-Gal/dp/B01NBTVDBC/ref=asc_df_B01NBTVDBC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312111914138&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1905742530739926085&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029558&hvtargid=pla-568368079416&psc=1

We live in rural Idaho.  It will be SO much cheaper and easier for me to order parts online to repair and, if necessary, replace a Suburban water heater in my garage. 

[Mike and Carol]

Grill, griddle, camp chairs, lock, plug adapters, camp table, fire pit, Clam, …..

If your question is serious, tell us a little more about yourself, what you have, what you need, how you’ll camp etc.  

Otherwise -

1 hour ago, ChrisMI said:

women, Irish whiskey and fast cars…

Mike

[Caddymv]

I have all you need to tent camp. No more of that. I have ordered Elite2 twin. Trying hard to figure out what I really should buy and what I can live without or buy later.    

 

 

 

[John E Davies]

22 minutes ago, Rivernerd said:

Truma only makes parts and replacement units available through its 4 U.S. authorized service centers, in Arizona, Texas, Florida and Indiana. 

That is a great point, and even if you could get Truma repair parts, for example from Australia, those prices will make your eyes explode. The standard heater is stone age primitive, and very inefficient in terms of gas usage, but it certainly is user friendly and cheap.

These prices are Australian dollars:

https://www.caravanrvcamping.com.au/search?kw=truma+water+heater#/sort:price:asc

John Davies
Spokane WA

[SeaDawg]

Just curious, but what do you have for options already? 

Do you usually stay in campgrounds with full hookups? If so, adding solar, other than maybe a portable suitcase panel, probably isn't necessary.  

The base Oliver is pretty well equipped.

[Mark and Lorraine]

We'll be getting our Elite ll in May, but have been traveling for years with RV's prior. Our style of camping does not require much hot water regularly, so we chose to order the tankless. Many times we simply need a small amount of hot water, not 6 gallons, so for us we like the idea of only heating the water we need for the moment.

[SeaDawg]

34 minutes ago, Mark and Lorraine said:

Many times we simply need a small amount of hot water, not 6 gallons, so for us we like the idea of only heating the water we need for the moment.

That, and not carrying 6 gallons of water weight that can only be accessed by draining the heater, are probably the best arguments for boondocker use of a tankless. 

Most of the time, if I only need a bit of hot water, I heat it in a tea kettle on the cooktop. Zero cold water down the drain. I think we conserve quite a bit of water that way.