Took the coach into a local shop (they do minor maint on coaches) to check a water leak at the wet bay. They noticed water dripping from the exhaust/drain area underneath the aquahot bay. Not good at all. They could see ripples from a drip into the AH pan, The pan is full of clear water, So obviously part of the hot water circuit. Which I understand is most likely a terminal condition for the aquahot unit. :headwall: I will have to schedule an appointment with a qualified AH tech when we return from a 10 day trip to Leavenworth and the Foretravel NW rally. Of course any suggestions as to whether it might be something else that's a non-terminal condition would be appreciated. My AH is an AHE-100-02S
Also found a leaking PEX line at the coach fresh water pump (which explains the wet floor in the wet bay) which was repaired.
We rebuilt our aquahot in the garage over the 4 days. Getting it in and out was the worst, the rest was relatively easy. The most technical was photos and labels for the wiring connections and basic plumbing soldering skills. Our unit was frozen and bust the fresh water coils on the top. The boiler unit will out live me. We also increased the insulation in the unit. Cost us. About $500. 1/4 inch copper tubing to re-wrap the unit and new "cement" to bond the pipe to the boiler.
I have photos if your interested.
Best of luck.
Matthew
Is yours centrally located under the floor or did you have access from a bay door?
Check in with. Rudy
Yours isn't accessible behind panel in bay?
It's accessible but just barely. No way I could drag that 200 lb thing out whilst laying on my belly between two Joey beds.
I will admit, it was tough to get out. I removed the Joey Bed and placed down 2x4's to slide it out onto a dolly. Mine tucked up in between the batteries and propane tank. I had to use a mirror and long socket to remove the holdings bolts. I also used a wet vac as I disconnected the lines to keep everything tidy. It was worth the work to save $10,000. Seemed scary, but once I broke it down into pieces, was not so bad. I was also fascinated when up I was able to see how it all works. Very efficient, trouble free design.
Matthew
Bigdog -
Had similar issue with mine that turned out to be a leaking water line connection - my unit is 600D but easy repair.
Bigdog, I found the fittings connecting the Aqua Hot to the house system were leaking. If yours is plumbed like mine, you'll see two lines going into the unit on the lower left side. The leaking fittings are just inside the cover, close enough to the left so as not to have to remove the burner. Tightening them required less than 1/8 turn. So little, in fact, that I couldn't image it could be the source of the leak.
Getting the cover off was a challenge, as was finding a comfortable working position. During this task I developed a huge amount of respect for those who do this work all the time. HUGE.
Once the lid is off, might as well service it if it's due. Get parts here: http://www.parts.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com/main.sc Excellent customer service and information.
Is 1/4 inch tubing what we have flowing our hot water? The tubing going into the riveted box is bigger on my coach.
As always, when an AQ problem comes up I offer mine to anyone who wants to take it out. It has a fresh water leak and I'm tired of trying to keep it working. I'm in southern Wisconsin for the summer if anyone's interested. ::)
I certainly hope it's just a loose connection and not the coils.
I will make an appointment with a qualified AH shop to positively identify the issue.
Bigdog, contact Rudy, or Roger Burk, both are forum members and see what they have to say. Good luck and see you I Idaho.
Hi Big Dog,
John Carrillo at jcarillo@aqua-hotservices.com is in Colorado and a good man who will try and help. Hopefully it is just a leaking connection?? Still good fun crawling around down in the bay looking for it. The stainless cover comes off with a few screws so you can look inside. To remove the thing there is a steel upright that has to come out and then you need to support the roof while it is out.
Speedbird 1.
We have used John's expert services three times. 100% satisfied. Recommended by Rudy. He has rebuilt systems and major components. He is just north of Denver in Frederick, CO. St. Vrain State Park is nearby.
Speedbird, Roger. I did talk to John today. John said if there were no drips from the lines and drips were coming from above that is a sure indication of coil failure. John is booked up till the first week of July.
First week in July, that is not far off. About the same distance for you as for us. Hope it goes well.
Where is Roger Berkes shop at?
The tubing around your boiler is 1/4 inch copper. There is a reducer after your mixing valve. You should have 1\2 standard PEX connections bringing water in and out of the unit. I was having trouble with my mixing valve so I put a reducer on hot line out so the piping after the mixing valve matched the actual copper tubing around the boiler. I like the older units with tubing around Ted boiler versus inside. Allows us run with standard antifreeze.
I understand Roger Burke is mobile. He spent last summer in Oregon. He is mainly a parts supplier but you will have to call and ask.
RV Hydronic Heater Repair - Home (http://www.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com)
Roger is based in Sacramento. He is far more than a parts supplier-he's an excellent service tech.
I am agree, he is one of the best roving aqua hot repair people you could find.
Jim
I hear from one who knows that Roger Burke summers in Bandon, OR and winters in Canyon Lake, TX.
I would imagine that a total AH R&R would be a bit much for a mobile tech with no shop (no matter how good he is) Perhaps the folks at RnR in Spokane might be an option as the cost of the new AH is the same no matter where it's swapped out at and they know the Foretravel brand. Plus It's only a three hour drive to Spokane from wally world and I have an old military comrade I can stay with as well.
I just hope that my coach appreciates that I just sold my Caterham super 7 (the car in my avatar) to buy a new Aqua Hot unit. 8 months of ownership and $15K in repairs (so far)
Talk to Roger Burke about the AH as he gave us a good price on anew unit couple years ago when I replaced my friends in his C Coach while visiting us here at home.
JohnH
http://rvappliances.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/md/M320075/s1.pl
AQUA HOT HEATING SYSTEM MODEL AHE-100-02S For Sale Used (http://colawrvsalvage.com/product/aqua-hot-heating-system-model-ahe-100-for-sale-used/)
thanks for the heads up on the used AH's. I will freely admit that buying a used "as is" AH for $4K scares the heck out of me. I would trust it as far as I could throw my coach (zero feet) As with my luck on coaches so far, I'm 100% sure it would fail in short order and cost yet another $6,800 for a rebuild plus the 4K for the used unit.
You would be surprised what he can do without a shop. John Carrillo had a new unit shipped to my house from AquaHot and replaced it in my drive way in about 8 hours. I did help a little with the lifting but that was it. ^.^d
Every two weeks had an issue leaks mostly. 2600 miles round trip to Rudy. After two trips & needing a 3rd, was time to replace with the 600D had FOT install like a new coach. Happy with results. Nearly 16 CB
Patching is temporary at best if your lucky, I was not lucky.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I agree with this sentiment. My price point on a used unit would have to be $1500-$2000.
Visonerv has very high prices. They are a junk yard for RVs. Do have a lot of stuff
They are very high, but do have a lot of parts, we bought a cabinet for our coach out of one that had a refrigerator fire
Called RnR in Spokane for an estimate. They were slightly higher priced than the fellow in Frederick Co. But then Spokane is 180 miles away and Frederick is 1,100. With the cost of fuel it's a wash. Spokane also puts far less non-holiday miles on the coach and I can just leave it there as well.