Lesson Learned
I don't mind admitting to mistakes. Sharing them with others is also helpful and valuable. Last year I serviced my Aqua Hot and it ran great. Around early March of 2018 we were getting a serious cold front in Florida and I was concerned about the coach freezing so I turned on the Aqua Hot in case it got to freezing. The mistake I made was not checking to see that the coach was not plugged in. Well the Aqua Hot was draining the batteries and with low voltage the blower on the burner is not going to function at the required speed and the burner will get too hot and overheat the chamber. After a couple of days I noticed that the batteries were going down and had to plug in to charge the batteries.
As time went by from March of last year to this year it has been a struggle using the Aqua Hot. It was smoking bad everytime it started. Now that I'm in Florida and done with the generator I looked into the Aqua Hot and found the chamber and tube full soot. When I took the chamber tube apart I noticed the flame swirler warped. After talking with Red Tractor and Rudy it was determined that the burner is getting too hot. It could be the result of a bad blower motor. Rudy gave me the advice on cleaning the unit, replacing the nozzle and where to buy a new swirler. The new aluminum swirler is $120 and the steel one is $180 from Hydronic Heating. When I went to the site in the description of the part was the message "A melted swirler is an indication that the motor in your Webasto is failing or you have experienced low battery voltage that has slowed motor down." When I read this the light bulb came on to when I was loosing battery power.
A lesson learned the hard way. The power loss in March of 2018 caused the unit to over heat. Luckily with the help of Red Tractor who had a spare swirler which was gifted to me and the instruction of both Red Tractor and Rudy I was able to get the unit up and running. The unit is running perfectly. It's just a big PIA to work in the Belly of the Whale.
Thank you Red Tractor and Rudy! John M.
Topic: Lesson Learned