Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

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Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

October 13, 2018, 05:46:50 pm

Trying to learn more about the aqua hot system. Can you run the heating part of the Aqua Hot after filling the water lines with the pink stuff so as to have electric and diesel heat while having the aqua hot water lines protected with RV antifreeze?

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #1 – October 13, 2018, 06:22:28 pm

I think the answer is yes. But, I turn the aquahot on burner, set the thermostats on 55, including the bathroom thermostat for the bay heat. Have not had any problem with anything freezing. Just my way of doing it.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #2 – October 13, 2018, 07:28:19 pm

The answer is Yes. With potable RV antifreeze in all of your cold and hot water lines you can run the AH on electric or diesel for coach heat and for heat in the bays or engine preheat.

In your FT (when you get it) the front thermostat sets temperatures for the living room and bed room. You have to turn on the front thermostat for these zones to work. The bathroom thermostat controls the third zone pump and the bathroom heat exchanger. There is a thermostat in the basement bay where the water pump is located (in mine). That thermostat also controls the third zone pump and the heat exchangers in the basement. While both the bathroom and the basement wet bay use the same zone pump the heat exchangers are controlled in the area where the thermostat is located.

Of course you have to have either the electric or diesel (or both) on to get heat. When you are driving the engine also adds heat to the AH system.

When we are getting ready to head south from MN in January the AH electric is on and thermostats in the LR and BR are set to 40 for a few days before we leave. The basement thermostat is off, nothing in the wet bay to freeze. A day or so before we leave the diesel gets turned on, thermostats go up to 65 and the engine preheat is on overnight before we leave. AH electric gets shut off. A very easy start. Wet bay thermostat gets set to high 30s. Theyre may be something in the waste tanks. Thermostats go up to mid 70s, diesel AH stays on. Coach stays warm while we drive, works great.

Our coach is a 2001. Other years might be a bit different.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #3 – October 13, 2018, 08:25:03 pm

Thanks for the information, seems a good idea to fully winterize however having the ability to warm the coach to work inside during the winter would be great, no need for water just heat.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #4 – October 13, 2018, 11:23:54 pm

There are things to do in the coach when it is cold. We put in an electric radiator on high which is enough to keep it above freezing plus the AH on electric will get it up to about 50 or a bit more. Warm enough for me to get most stuff done.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #5 – October 14, 2018, 07:40:59 am

Roger, since I haven't had the opportunity to travel in the winter months, you have answered my thought on whether or not the aqua hot can be running while going down the highway. Wasn't sure. Does the generator need to be running to provide enough 110v for the aqua hot similar to running the AC while driving?

Larry

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #6 – October 14, 2018, 07:45:00 am

You use the A-H on diesel running down the road. A-H electric doesn't work off the inverter. I keep the A-H electric and diesel switches on most of the time.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #7 – October 14, 2018, 07:49:20 am

Quote from: ohsonew – October 14, 2018, 07:40:59 am

. Does the generator need to be running to provide enough 110v for the aqua hot similar to running the AC while driving?

Larry,
You will have to run the generator if you desire to run the A/H on A/C power while driving. The thing is the engine will heat the A/H while it is running under most conditions. Running the A/H on A/C while traveling seems like a waste of $.

Mike

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #8 – October 14, 2018, 08:16:08 am

As I understand it then, the engine will keep the A-H hot enough to use the 12v heat exchanger fans in the coach operated by the thermostats, therefore the diesel burner in the A=H should not ever kick on while driving.

Larry

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #9 – October 14, 2018, 08:56:20 am

Quote from: ohsonew – October 14, 2018, 08:16:08 am

therefore the diesel burner in the A=H should not ever kick on while driving.

Larry,
Unless you are like on the Alcan Hwy during the winter. In that case the engine heat may struggle to keep up with everything thus the diesel side would kick on. We have been force to travel with the temp in the low teens and the diesel side never kicked in while driving and we were nice and warm.

Pamela & Mike

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #10 – October 14, 2018, 09:25:43 am

The engine will heat the AH while driving but at most no more than the engine coolant. If it is 30 degrees that is probably going to provide enough to keep you warm. We have left MN for points warmer when it has been -30° and at the end of a long days drive it has warmed up to -18°. Ran the diesel side all day. Even if it is 10 degrees, why not. I have found that for it to effectively heat the LR set the thermostat to the mid 70s. If you have the dash heat on it can fool the nearby LR thermostat into thinking it is warm enough if it is set in the 60s.

If you have a residential refrigerator and your roof top vent is still open, it is a good thing to close it for the winter. The refrigerator space is not sealed like it is for an LP gas refrig and you will get cold air in from outside while driving. Use the sliver aluminium tape for HVAC stuff or no residue duct tape. I put in a closable vent, just slightly easier.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #11 – October 14, 2018, 09:48:26 am

Thanks Roger, those temps are the reason you will never see me in Minnesota in the winter. Kansas is bad enough, but not that bad. I have no problem using the diesel for the AH. I just was uncertain on its wisdom. We still use the original fridge. Not propane bu all electric, so I assume that it would be sealed up as if it had propane. When we were full timing, we saw temps as low as -4 F. but I don't recall having any cold air drafting in. We were snug as bugs at 70 inside.

Larry

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #12 – October 15, 2018, 11:24:19 pm

How much diesel does the Aqua hot use per hour / per day?

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #13 – October 15, 2018, 11:43:14 pm

As I recall the AH uses about 0.4 gal per hour. Depending on outdoor temp the diesel might run 1/3 of the time. Maybe 3 gal per day. If it is 40 degrees maybe 1-2 gal per day.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #14 – October 16, 2018, 07:17:57 am

I think Roger means 3 gallons/day.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #15 – October 16, 2018, 07:37:14 am

Thank, Brett for catching that.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #16 – October 19, 2018, 07:14:06 am

I have yet to use the aqua hot in diesel mode. Used it in 120v mode and it worked great. Since talking to Rudy, found that you need to run it monthly to keep it healthy. I put in a new fuel nozzle with the new fuel hoses, but have yet to prime them, don't have enough fuel in the tank to do so yet.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #17 – October 19, 2018, 09:25:53 am

AH on diesel will come up to temperature in about 20 min compared to a couple hours with electric. It will get you a bit hotter water and endless supply although we have not run out using just electric even with heating the coach.

When we are home and the coach is in the barn I hook up my rubber service station exhaust hose to the exhaust pipe and run it out through a a port hole in the side door. Turn on the diesel and let it run through one cycle. Then hook the hose to the generator and run that with a load for a half hour. Once a month. If you run your AH on deisel once a month the "annual" maintenance can easily be 2 or 3 years.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #18 – October 19, 2018, 09:30:09 am

Roger, the tempering valve should keep the water at the same temperature, diesel or electric. The electric cut off thermostat is higher than the diesel to keep the diesel off until needed when they both are on.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #19 – October 19, 2018, 05:49:45 pm

The point is not when electric comes on and off and when diesel comes on and off, it has more to do with recovery time. Say you are heating the coach and it is 35-40° out and using domestic hot water on electric. After a while the coolant temp drops, heat is still required and there is less of it available as the coolant loses heat. Electric comes on and has a long way to go to catch up. Now showers. Maybe the AH mixing valve keeps domestic hot water at 120° but only if there is enough hot water in excess of 120° to mix.

Add diesel as a heat source and the available heat goes way up. Water heats faster, heat exchangers add heat faster it all works better.

At 35-40° electric is just barely able to heat the coach to 60ish. You probably aren't getting 120° water either for a couple showers.

Our range of AH experiene starts at -30°. Below zero for a couple days. Probably different from most. Of course if it is 60° and you are in California, all bets are off.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #20 – October 19, 2018, 06:19:06 pm

I have never used the electric, probably should test it but we always dry camp and it would be useless there. I was only mentioning what I learned while servicing the AH accidently started to switch the thermostats before looking at the pictures I took when I removed the burner and found out the electric was higher than the diesel.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #21 – October 19, 2018, 07:35:27 pm

Well, now that you are retired there might be a time where you are somewhere where electricity is available. And water. Did you get you National Park Senior Pass? Corp of Engineering campgrounds usually have 50 amps and water for around $10 per night.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #22 – October 19, 2018, 07:42:47 pm

Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 – October 19, 2018, 07:35:27 pm

Well, now that you are retired there might be a time where you are somewhere where electricity is available. And water. Did you get you National Park Senior Pass? Corp of Engineering campgrounds usually have 50 amps and water for around $10 per night.

Got the geezer pass 4 yrs. ago. The campgrounds give me 1/2 off that we go to but still haven't stayed at a hook-up campground. After the NASCAR race at Phoenix, we will go see the Grand Canyon and The campground has 50 amp but $41.00 it will initiate our first hookup stay.

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #23 – October 19, 2018, 08:41:52 pm

The RV campground in the Grand Canyon NP is pretty nice, one of the better ones we have seen and stayed in. The bus stops right there and takes you to all of the places you want to see. It is a 1/4 mile walk to the canyon edge. Grocery store, post office, laundry and more in the village, even closer. Have fun!

Re: Aqua Hot Winterzation Question

Reply #24 – October 20, 2018, 07:33:05 am

Bob, when I replaced the nozzle in my aqua hot 2 months ago, it had stamped on the nozzle that it used .35 gal/hr. When we fulltimed 2 yrs ago, it didn't run 2-3 hrs a day except when the temps got down into the teens and below.

Larry

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