Getting down to about 25 tonight so I turned on the bathroom thermostat and sure enough the fan kicked on. I turned the 115 AC AQ on, and using the front thermostat turned on heat for both zones 1 &2. I also turned the dial on the homemade switch installed by previous owner in the storage bay and again the fan came on. As far as I can tell all the fans are running but I am getting NO heat. I should add I have the shore power plugged into a 20 A plug. Any ideas?
Make sure your Agua hot has coolant in it, ac element may take a few minutes to heat , it is only 1500 watts I think, will not heat coach in cold weather on ac only if your staying in it.
dc,
You are correct. The 1650 watt, 5000 btu electric element will heat the coach down to 50 degrees F. Below that, one needs the Wabesto burner ON to remain comfortable. In cold weather if plugged in, both heat sources ON.
You are correct on the coolant tank level also. See my post on Michael's other thread.
Not sure about 20 amp plug, may or may not send power to all breakers in panel, need someone to chime in who has done that.
20 amp will supply all breakers. However total load capacity is only 20 amps, I would turn off my electric element on aquahot, as your charger will consume 10 or so amps to keep batteries charged because aquahot pumps and blowers will use quite a bit of 12 volt power.
dc,
The electric input to the coach sends 120 vac power to the whole coach. A 50 amp source provides two legs of 50 amp power each or 100 total amps for the coach. A 30 source provides 30 total amps to both legs in the coach. Any combination of power consumption on both legs as long as the total is less than 30 amps
So the same for a 20 amp source, both legs can not consume more than 20 total amps.
I have been stranded in a shop in the past. I could run one A/C or one coffee pot or one toaster oven or the Aqua Hot electric element or one hair dryer but only one at a time.
Hope this helps.
Rudy,
You wrote "The 1650 watt, 5000 btu electric element will heat the coach down to 50 degrees F." I have inside thermostats set to 52 and the "water" bay thermostat set to 45. Thursday evening I run the Aqua hot first with diesel got it all hot (inside temp to 60-65) and then left it over night with both diesel and electric Aqua hot switches on (connected to shore power) Last night it went down to 22 and tonight will be going down to 15-17. Should i have set the thermostats higher tend 45 & 52 ?
"ac element may take a few minutes to heat , it is only 1500 watts I think, will not heat coach in cold weather on ac only" But since i have set the water bey thermostat to 45 and inside to 52, it should maintain and keep it from freezing correct?
Thank you,
AL
Al,
5000 btus is not a lot to heat the interior and utility basement. But all you need is 32+ degrees for the water to be happy.
15 degrees ambient is 17 degrees below 32. So you are hoping 5000 btus is going to keep that delta through out all of the areas that have a water pipe. Plus you may be below 32 degrees ambient for 24+ hours.
I am not smart enough to guarantee you can maintain the delta on electric only. It will if you have both electric and diesel burner ON.
Rudy,
Yes I have both " electric and diesel " Aqua hot switches turned on. I am going to take temperature readings with my temperature gun again.
Thank you,
AL
Both heating systems are separate from each other.
If the tanks temp drops below its cut in point the electric element comes on.
Drop another ten degrees and the diesel burner comes in in addition to the already on electric.
Electric is 5000 btus. Diesel is 50,000.
both circuits have the same high tank temp cutoff values if memory serves me.
185 cut in for electric. 175 for diesel. 210? High cutoff.
Last night low was around 25 or so. I had previoisly heated AH with diesel, but left it overnight on elec only. This morning i went out to check and the vents were not blowing warm air, seemed pretty cold to me. So now im wonderinf whether the AC AH element works at all? Any thoughts?
Michael,
Read reply #7 above for the answer. It is all explained there.
Newer Aqua hot or Oasis units have double or more btus input from electricity.
My Aqua ( not so ) Hot has both the electric and diesel switch on. The water is not really as hot as we like it to be to take a shower. I looked up past threads on AH, but didn't see anything that might explain possible remedies. I was looking for a T Stat to reset. It is interesting to me that, even in the cool of the morning here in Tuscon, the diesel DOESN'T FIRE UP!!??? Tomorrow, I will try turning the electric OFF, and just trying to fire up the diesel heat. Any ideas as to how to get a hot shower working here?? Thanks.
Gleam,
The diesel burner control thermostat may be opening at a lower temp and not recovering till a lower temp than it did when new.
I replaced one two weeks ago and all heating and hot water was well again. I measure the tank temp to diagnose the issue.
1. Take showers using water tank to make sure supply water isn't too cold.
2. Use Oxygenics shower head to make sure your flow rate isn't too high.
3. Cycle mixing valve to make sure it is working well.
I'm with Brett, cycle the mixing valve/adjust to a hotter setting then go from there.
Rudy....where is the diesel control t stat located? Where would I buy a replacement ?
Brett....we were looking at Oxygenics heads. do you recommend a model ??
I take it you mean the mixing valve in the shower ? There isn't a valve under the MH?
Thanks
The mixing valve is located inside the cover of the Aqua Hot same place as the thermostats. The Mixing valve can be hard to reach. Read your Aqua Hot manual for details.
Gleam, is your water hot enough at the Kitchen sink? It is quite common to have crud build up in valves, faucets and other places that could be limiting hot water flow. Start with the simple stuff. Oxygenics shower heads are popular. There are many 1.5 gal/min shower heads out there. We found a nice Moen that we like better than our Oxygenics.
Gleam,
Above the burner is a removable panel. Inside are 4 thermostats. The top one on the left is the control thermostat that has a white and a orange wire.
Purchase parts at parts.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com. Type thermostat in the search box.
The mixing valve is under the burner. The burner really has to be removed. Mark its current position, then rotate the knob to its limit in both directions, then return to its original position. You can adjust it slightly hotter, but only after checking out all the other reasons for inadequate hot water.
It is difficult but I can turn the mixing valve with the burner hooked up. That is the only way to set the temperatures at the sink for the constant hot water.
This is a great forum! Thank you, all, for your help with this. I have both the electric and the diesel switch on . Haven't heard the AH " fire up" yet. I ran the hot water at the kitchen sink, and it was luke warm.....I never had to move my hand or temper the water, so something is definitely not right. I have to fix this, so Amy can take a HOT shower. Sounds like I am about to get to know my AquaHot REAL WELL. Can't hurt. Hope I can fix this. We are LOVING this FT!!
OK. I just turned off the electric switch and left the diesel on. The AH DID fire up, I put my hand near the tailpipe. Let it run until it turned itself off. The water temperature HAS NOT CHANGED!!?? Still can keep my hand under the kitchen faucet at full hot, and it is lukewarm. Houston....we have a problem.
Hmmm - others smarter than I will chime in - but mixing valve comes to mind. Search the Forum for "mixing Valve" as a first start in this -
Roger Berke also has a forum dedicated to hydronic heaters in RV and boats - free to join, and LOTS of info there.
RV Hydronic Heater Repair - Home (http://www.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com)
please add your coach info to your signature in your Forum user profile so that it is automatically added to every post
if you are not handy, search out an approved Shot service center here - or post your current location and maybe a member can suggest someone.
http://aquahot.com/Service-Help/Service-Locations.aspx (zoom in on map of US to see useable detail of Aquahot service facilities - note - all are not created equal - some work on the units all the time, some occasionally - all on this list have been to school however.)
That is either the tempering (mixing) valve adjustment or thermostat, because both thermostats are not likely to fail at the same time probably the tempering valve. Don't you have an Aqua Hot manual? If not get one, they can be printed online at several sites. Go to reply #10
Tim was quicker than me on the trigger
Aquahot Mixing Valve (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=19794.msg141309#msg141309)
Relays in the unit can and do fail to turn the power to each circuits pump on and off
I called Aqua Hot today. I was instructed to go under the coach and check some items. I believe that the mixing valve is the culprit. I can't turn the knob, but I would have to remove the blower unit to get to it anyway. I have called a repair company, but they are out of the rebuild kit ( of course ) and can't get to me until next Tuesday. I watched a really good video on You Tube, about thirty minutes long, which was very helpful in understanding how to replace the nozzle, set the electrodes and clean the combustion chamber. Aside from needing to be a contortionist, and having to get to a nut you can't even see, I am confident that I could do that type of maintenance myself. I just have to locate the filter next. Welcome to the world of MH repair and maintenance. I have so much to more to learn. Thanks again for your help.
If you want AHot parts, Roger Berke has a great site
RV Hydronic Heater Parts (http://www.parts.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com/)
Glenn,
Without knowing the history of this coach I would add to your cleaning list to acid wash the complete water system with vinegar. You may have calcium build up causing restrictions in your piping. The acid wash may clean out your mixing valve that sounds like it is full of calcium deposits. If the system has been around hard water a long time it may take 24 hrs. or more of soaking to get the system clean.
Our system takes about 2 1/2 gal of vinegar to fill our water system, both hot and cold side.
Pamela & Mike
This is the valve you need.
If you are a do it yourself person.
Google, Watts tempering valve, you will find the complete valve and repair kits, the 1/2 INCH AND 3/4 INCH take the same repair kit, I will not quote price's here as I have been called out about it before.
I bought the complete valve and used the needed parts. See post above, it was cheaper than the parts themselves.
also, you do not need to replace the valve body - if you buy a valve, you can leave the valve body in place and just "rebuild" the valve from parts that you take out of the new valve, greatly simplifying the job
I like the idea of acid wash. How do I go about doing it? Pamela and Mike, I need a little more info. Thanks!
Glenn,
What we do is: We take an old RV water pump and use it to pump in the vinegar through the water fill port. We rigged up a short hose on the suction side of the pump that will fit down in a vinegar jug. On the discharge side we have a short hose that has a male garden hose fitting on the end so you can hook it up to the RV. If you have a hose real you can hook up your pump discharge to that and fill the hose also. Now you don't have to drain the H2O tank to fill your lines just don't open your fill valve. Once you have this set up you will need to get power to run the pump, so we have a jumper wire that will reach the coach batteries. You could get fancy with a dedicated bucket/tank but they take up room to carry around. We use white vinegar from your preferred wholesale club. Our coach takes about 2 1/2 gal.
OK once this is set up you will need a second person to help out. While person 1 is outside watching the pump and vinegar jug person 2 will work the spigots inside. When you turn on the pump person 2 will open 1 spigot (like the sink hot) when they smell vinegar close off the hot and open the cold side. This first spigot will take the most vinegar cause you are fill all the piping. Now that the first spigot is full of vinegar move to the bathroom vanity, then the shower, then the throne.
Now that your system is full it is a waiting game. We let ours set at least 24 hrs. if not longer (several times we have let is set for 3 or 4 days). What this will do is dissolve the calcium build up that is in your system. Some people will argue that this may cause a leak. Where the truth of the matter is that you had a leak that needed to be addressed but it was stopped up with calcium. We don't fire our A/H unit while the domestic water side is full of vinegar but some do to speed up the process. Others feel it is better to rig up there pump so they can circulate the vinegar through the system and out a drain line into a catch bucket then recirculate the vinegar with the pump you have rigged up. After you have let the vinegar do it's thing you need to flush the system with fresh water and clean out the crud that will be clogging up your kitchen and vanity spigot screen. We travel in areas that have real hard water so we do ours at least every other year even though we always use a water softener for all the water that goes on our coach.
You need to check for leaks after you pressure up your system and fix them if found. Better to find it at this time rather than who knows when.
I think this is everything that we do to accomplish this task.
Pamela & Mike
If you search for vinegar you'll find lots of input. I use a hand pump kit sold in RV stores for adding winterizing. It fits a gallon vinegar bottle just fine.
We had a tankless water heater for the house which needed to have vinegar run through it every year. I bought a pump from Harbor Freight and put it into a bucket with 2 gal. of vinegar. I used two short hoses (washing machine type) to connect to the heater and pump with return going back to the bucket. Instead of letting it sit, the instructions called for circulating it for 45 minutes. It didn't take long for the vinegar to turn black. After I was finished, I dropped the pump into the pool and ran it for a few minutes in order to flush out all the vinegar.
My reason for bringing this up is that the following year when I pulled out the pump, I found that the impeller was completely rusted and useless. I would be afraid to try this on the Aqua Hot.
There would be no pumps on the Aqua Hot getting the vinegar. Only coolant runs through the pumps. Is there another part of the Aqua Hot you are worried about?
It was probably the chlorine in the pool water rather than the vinegar that damaged the pump.
Vinegar has long been used to dissolve the build up of calcium and other minerals in coils that
are heated.
Carter-
Where is the fresh water pump located on my 2001 U320 ?
It was easy to find in my travel trailer. The procedure to run vinegar through the system sounds a lot like running antifreeze for winterization. I could install a winterizing kit from Camco !
Glenn,
1. The pump should be hid in the compartment just in front of the right rear wheel. Said another way last basement door in front of the passengers side rear wheels. You will most likely have to dissemble the shelf unit that has it encapsulated to be able to get to it.
2. Same basic thing.
Pamela & Mike