Front HydroHot fan noise??

[footdoc]

How loud is your front fan...bottom of dash...on high speed? Mine has always been ALOT louder than the other 3..almost a gear type sound when starting and in general...alot more than just air moving...is this normal? It's been that way since new....just curious if I have a problem or not...

[Joe-K]

Is it possible that something got stuck into the fan during the assembly or installation proces?

On one of ours, the powerwiring is tie wrapped to the hot water tubing as a form of stress relief and the end of the tie wrap was not clipped off and had curled around and was almost rubbing the fan blade. I'm sure eventually it would have slid in there and made some noise

[TheJazzMan]

The service manager at North Trail said the loud fan in mine was typical, but that I could request that it be replaced under warranty to see if a newer one would be quieter. Unfortunately they didn't have one in stock and I was not going to stay there a week waiting for one to arrive. This winter, I think I'll make time.

[RVDude]

The front dash AH fan/exchanger is completely different than the mid coach AH registers. The front is most likely an AH branded "Komfort" model and the mid units are the AH branded "Cozy" models with the bath probably having a AH branded "Whisper" model. The front setup is a full tilt dual squirrel cage blower arrangement with about 3x the BTUs of the Cozy exchangers. It makes a heck of a lot more noise than the nearly silent dual 3inch PC cooling fans used in Cozy exchangers. You could possibly replace the front Komfort unit with a pair of Cozy units installed in place of the glove box or something like that to reduce noise. On another thought, I think the MA has the same floor level dash grille as the EX, and if you are looking to increase heat flow from the Komfort (same sound level but a lot more heat), consider cutting out the highly restrictive 90degree floor louvers at each of the four Komfort ducts and install a standard type nozzle. As the resident winter at -20F dude, this simple nozzle mod made a whopping world of difference.

Here's the AH exchanger specs
Aqua-Hot Heating Systems Inc.

[Skipper 05MA]

Another possibility...on our 08 Essex we get a lot more noise out of the low speed front heater than on high. CoachLight thought maybe the fan had loosened up and was sitting on the floor and creating the extra noise. Not the case, and we listened to another Essex and a King Aire and discovered their's were louder than ours on both speeds. CoachLight had another in stock and was willing to put it on but after listening to the other rigs I opted to keep the one I have and just leave it on high.

[RVDude]

skipper, your 08 EX most likely has an Oasis furnace and may or may not use the AquaHot branded heat exchangers. Looking at the AH Komfort exchanger specs, it is 77dB on high speed. That's just plain loud. And if it's further resonating off the mounting board or floor or otherwise, argh...

Increased noise is the price we pay for increased airflow due to bigger fans. Komfort draws 157 watts on high, the Cozy only 6w. I'll kill the front fan completely if I am boondocking.

[Skipper 05MA]

Another thoughtful, fact filled contribution from RV Dude. Wish we had more like you. At least now I understand why I should accept the noise to be warm...good idea to turn it off when boondocking. DW loves the front of the coach warm and the Oasis does just that...but need to turn the TV up! Thanks.

[footdoc]

thanks for the reply...it makes sense...my fan is low or high, and with all the heat loss from the glass, I guess that is as good as it will get...at least Im not alone!!