In the water compartment, is a valve to the front heater. It tag that states close valve for more heat. Will opening the valve stop hot water from going to the dash heater core, which should make the front A/C perform better. Am I correct on this.
Thanks
Jimmy,
No. Closing the valve just diverts all engine-heated water from water heater to the dash heater.
Opening it allows water to both.
You can put an in-line ball valve to fully shut off engine-heated water from reaching the dash heater if the original heater valve is not completely shutting off.
Jimmy,
IIRC, the '96 U280 has a temperature control on the dash that goes from blue (cool) to red (heat). When the dash control is in the "full cool" stop, the local dash heater core control valve is fully closed and no hot water supply is being provided to the dash heat exchange radiator.
Conversely, when the valve in the water bay is closed, it stops the engine recirc water from flowing through the propane hot water tank (less heat loss to the water heater) and sends the engine hot recirc water only to the dash (more heat to the dash). When the valve in the water bay is
opened, as you suggest, engine hot water recirc is allowed to go to the dash
and the hot water heater (but will not flow if the dash control valve is in the "full cool" position, because the local control valve is closed, as explained above).
Neal
We do have ball valves on the engine end of both of the dash heater hoses. We put them in when our heater core leaked, so we could wait to get it repaired. We have used them for very hot weather, but not very often.
Neal, thanks for the reply and the explanation