Why We Upgraded
My wife, Sabrina, and I travel in a Class A motorhome, and a little over six months ago, we started having an issue with our water heater. Unfortunately, the back of the unit developed a leak. Well, “leak” might be an understatement. . . We had just pulled into a gas station when a young man came up to my window to say we were leaking water from the rear of our RV. I told him it was probably fine, as I might have overfilled our freshwater tank. But I jumped out to take a look just to be safe. I found what could only be described as Niagara Falls flowing from the rear of our RV.
Luckily, the rear of the water heater was easy to access, and I was able to fix the leak temporarily. I say temporary because a few days later, it started leaking again. We felt it was time to replace the water heater. We have several friends who have a Truma AquaGo in their RVs, and they rave about how wonderful it is. We didn’t think it was something we could add to our older RV as a retrofit. Honestly, we thought the AquaGo was a unit reserved for newer, high-end models. But we spoke to a Truma representative at the Winnebago Rally, and they said it was absolutely possible to replace our standard six-gallon water heater with a Truma AquaGo water heater. With that information, our decision was made!
Install at Elkhart
We scheduled our installation appointment with Truma at their service center in Elkhart, Indiana. It was a short one-day drive from Forest City, Iowa, where the Winnebago Rally was held. I arrived the night before the install and stayed in Truma’s parking lot, which has two RV campsites with Electric and Water hookups. If you are scheduling an AquaGo installation, it is important to note that Truma wants you to bring the RV with a full tank of water, a full tank of propane, and an empty grey water tank. They will perform a thorough test of the system after the installation. This was explained to me in a welcome email Truma sent out days before I arrived.
The next morning, I went in for the install, which only took half a day. During the installation, the service techs would bring me into the service bay to show me what they were doing. They also asked where I would like the control panel installed inside the RV. Everyone was extremely professional and courteous. After the installation and testing of the plumbing, a tech went over the system and showed me how it all worked. Then, I was back on the road and headed to my next destination.
Check Out Kenny's Visit to Truma's Elkhart Headquarters
Our Experience with the Truma AquaGo
We have had the Truma AquaGo in our RV for over six months and have done a variety of camping trips with it, from summer heat to the cold of winter. We have also done a fair mix of off-grid camping, otherwise known as boondocking and campground stays. We love how quickly the water gets hot and how it stays at a consistent temperature with no scalding temperatures or cold spots.
It has also been very convenient to have the system. We recently took our niece on a trip to Mexico. Because the Truma system doesn’t limit us to 6-or-10 gallons, we have an endless hot water supply. This allowed all three of us to take showers and get ready for the day faster than ever before because we did not have to wait 15 to 20 minutes in between each shower for a tank to reheat. This was a great feature to have while in Mexico because we were there for a limited amount of time and had a busy schedule to keep.
The Truma AquaGo has also been very easy to maintain, and the different modes on the main control panel make it very simple to use.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where Kenny tells us about his day-to-day AquaGo usage, winter camping tips, and more! You can also follow his adventures on Instagram and YouTube.
