We got our Hydro-Hot Safety Recall Notice today

[Audrey & John]

We were expecting to be one of the ahem "lucky" ones since our motorhome was manufactured before April 1 - just barely.

The recall is for units manufactured Nov 2002 through Feb 2005. Serial numbers HM/E 02-529 through HM/E 05-0374

The problem is if you run your hydro-hot off of diesel, the combustion chamber is made of inferior metal and may fail prematurely. This has to be replaced.

Just a heads up. We haven't made any arrangements to get the recall work done yet.

Audrey

[Audrey & John]

We were expecting to be one of the ahem "lucky" ones since our motorhome was manufactured before April 1 - just barely.

The recall is for units manufactured Nov 2002 through Feb 2005. Serial numbers HM/E 02-529 through HM/E 05-0374

The problem is if you run your hydro-hot off of diesel, the combustion chamber is made of inferior metal and may fail prematurely. This has to be replaced.

Just a heads up. We haven't made any arrangements to get the recall work done yet.

Audrey

[Ted III]

Out of curiousity, what else would you run your Hydro Hot from other than diesel fuel? Our Monaco Signature had Hydro Hot and to my knowledge it only ran from diesel fuel.
Ted

[Audrey & John]

We usually run it off of electricity.

Audrey

[Ted III]

Audrey, that must be included in the newer versions. The only thing we could do was heat our water with electric as an option, but that was really a secondary issue as it was not very efficient, but that was just an electric heater for the hot water. It was not part of the Hydro hot. We could not heat our coach or engine which was the big item with eletcric. That is all new. That is quite convenient.
Ted

[Snuggery]

We got our recall notice yesterday and are concerned! It sounds like it could burn up your coach if the combustion chamber fails!!

It didn't sound like the dealers are even aware of the problem yet, much less prepared to make the upgrade changes.

We are just leaving on a trip so I guess we will just wait on scheduling the Hydro Hot work and pray. We don't use the deisel burner much anyway since we are mostly in campgrounds where you don't want to annoy your neighbors with the noise and diesel smell, and by catching the ground on fire with the exhaust.

The electric side works fine anyway, for heating, dish washing and normal showers - although it does take an hour or two to heat up the heat-transfer fluid after you plug in to shore power before you get "instant" hot water.

[Wayne R]

Anybody had the recall work completed?

[Wil Rathke]

We just picked up our mail and found the recall. I am waiting on Mark at WRV to direct me to someone in our area - Durango, CO. I have used the Hydro-Hot on both electric and diesel.

[Wayne R]

I believe FT Lupton CO is where Vehicle Systems is located.

[Audrey & John]

We're kind of stuck here in TX getting our house ready for sale so we haven't scheduled anything yet or even called WRV about it. I'm also curious as to what arrangements other folks make.

Audrey

[skyguy62]

After receiving my written notice I called WRV, they said they had just been notified and I should call the manufacturer. Now in NH you can imagine the difficulty of getting service for this item. I contacted "Alpine Haus" in Amsterdam NY and made an appointment for 19 Sep (they were a little vague but agreed to take my coach). I would advise anyone with a notice to start digging cold wx will come and appointments may not.

["007"]

Was working on a friends HYDRO HOT sys this weekend he developed a leak in what we thought was a poor spring clip fastener on one of the hoses. Replaced clip with band type hose clip an ran all night for hot water. The leak was where the 12 volt pump curculates the fluid thru the heat coil of heater. Had to remove the burner to gain access to hoses an clamps.
Pressure built up over night an a drip that was stopped now had become a steady stream. Had to pull heater again an found bottom hose completely loose from pump housing. Had to pop two rivets holding pump to frame of housing, the pump has a plastic fitting coming off housing of pump body, it was now completely cracked around the tube. SOMEONE checking hose connection had to have cause a hairline crack on this hose fitting, you would think the housing for this pump would have been made out of brass which could have taken a little strain.
There is nothing wrong with the pump just needs the end housing for the pump. Will let you know what he wound up with. If you have work done on your heater make sure you tell tech Be Careful when moving two hoses off this pump. "007"

[Wayne R]

If you get a recall notice please get it looked at ASAP. I just had mine done last Saturday and the burner assembly had failed. I will post a picture in my gallery. I just thank god I only used the electric side after receiving the recall notice. My coach could have easily gone up in smoke.

[Audrey & John]

Wayne:

Where did you have yours done and what was involved/how long did it take?

We are now getting ready to make arrangements. WRV gave us the name of a nearby place but we will call Hydro Hot themselves to get a recommendation. Our house closes on Thursday, then we will be free to move and get some of these things taken care of.

We have been using electric all summer (especially since receiving the notice!) and actually had only run on diesel a couple of times prior to that.

Audrey