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Old 03-24-2016, 07:58 PM   #1
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2000 Magna Webasto system

The Magna we are contemplating buying has the Webasto system. I have only seen pictures so far. I see a control for hydronic heat with low medium and high settings. Does the heating/cooling thermostat control the hydronic heaters or is the only control that three position (low medium high) knob above the driver or in the bedroom? What controls the unit heaters in each area of the coach?
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Old 03-25-2016, 06:41 AM   #2
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The thermostat that you use for the a/c regulates the temp. The thermostate has three options for heating and cooling,heat from the heat strip in the a/c units,a/c and furnace for the diesel fired heat. The high,med and low in the bedroom and front panel controls the fan speed for the furnace. When in heat strip or a/c mode you would use the thermostat for fan speed. This is the bedroom panel.

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Old 03-25-2016, 06:06 PM   #3
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The 2000 Magna has a Hurricane hydronic furnace. The unit was manufactured by Oasis and probably uses a Webasto oil fired burner.

To turn the furnace on start at the thermostat up front and set each zone to furnace. Then in the bedroom turn on the Central Heat Control switch and turn on the interior heat exchangers. Another switch sets the desired fan speed for the heat exchangers in the bedroom and bath area. Up front above the windshield are fan speed switches for the galley and front of the coach.

While driving, if you do all of the above except turning on the Central Heat Control switch, engine coolant will flow through the system and heat your interior while driving.

The two zone thermostat controls the A/Cs, Heat Pumps, and furnace. There are no heat strips in the A/C-Heat pump units.

Unlike an Aquahot set up the this furnace does not heat the water in the water heater. It will warm it some but don't count on taking a shower if that's the only heat you are using for the water heater.
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Old 03-26-2016, 12:59 PM   #4
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Thanks guys. I figured it would be tied to that central thermostat on the Heat setting.

Another question while I have you; the Over The Road Air has cooling coils in both the bedroom and up front. Sounds like a big system driven by one compressor on the engine. Have you had maintenance issues with it?

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Old 03-26-2016, 03:59 PM   #5
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I had the receiver replaced and the system recharged last fall. I'll have to wait for travel in warm weather before I know if there is a leak. The system did work after the recharge.

The coil in the back allows the OTA air conditioning to almost keep the coach cool. If you are running into the sun then you will probably need to fire up the generator and run the house air.
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Old 03-26-2016, 05:02 PM   #6
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webasto in 2000 magna

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fredward View Post
Thanks guys. I figured it would be tied to that central thermostat on the Heat setting.

Another question while I have you; the Over The Road Air has cooling coils in both the bedroom and up front. Sounds like a big system driven by one compressor on the engine. Have you had maintenance issues with it?

Frewe d
we have a 36 ft 2000 magna with the stand-alone Webasto. It is GREAT when it works. however, there can be problems getting the Webasto to operate. Be sure you double check that the Webasto reliably ignites when your coach is calling for heat. Normal operation is controlled by two devices: the Dometic control in the front of the coach that controls the a/c is involved. It must be set to "furnace" for each zone. the other devices are the switches beside the bed. there is a switch for "heat" and another for "exchangers".... both should be turned on to get the furnace to work. The "heat" switch provides the on/off signal to the Webasto. The "exchangers" switch enables all the three position heat exchanger switches throughout the coach. One of the heat exchangers is next to the bedside switches. Turn it to your desired fan speed for the bedroom. In the front of the coach there are two more three position switches; they control the fan speeds for the heat exchangers in the kitchen and living room.

You asked also about the over the road a/c. there are two cooling units, one in the dash area and one over the bed. They work fine if the over the road a/c is in good shape. However, the pipes from the compressor mounted on the engine to the bedroom and front panel are a weak link. vibration from the engine can cause the pipes to have leaks near the engine compressor. if those pipes leak, then neither the front nor the rear a/c units will work. We've given up on our coach and simply don't use the over the road a/c. Here is our logic: the over the road a/c uses an engine mounted compressor. when that compressor is active, your mileage decreases. Instead, we simply turn on the generator. the generator allows us to use the rooftop a/c units which are not only efficient, but very easiy managed througnout all of the coach by using the Dometic control at the front of the coach. Not only are the ac units served by the generator, but the refrigerator no longer needs to consume propane...because if the generator is on, then the refrigerator runs off of 120vac. The generator really doesn't consume much fuel --- probably less than the over the road ac compressor penalty to gas mileage.... so we are happy to just run the generator when we are driving and let the generator provide the energy we need for two roof ac units, refrigerator, and whatever other 120vac devices we want to use while driving.
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Old 03-28-2016, 09:04 PM   #7
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Thanks Healy. We are very accustomed to running the generator and roof airs for OTR cooling. I think the built in system in the Country Coach is neat. But I'm sure it can be a maintenance headache. As all engine driven AC systems can be.

We'll see how long and well it works and go from there. I can service it myself but it's going to be annoying if it requires regular service just to keep it running.
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Old 03-29-2016, 10:38 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fredward View Post
Another question while I have you; the Over The Road Air has cooling coils in both the bedroom and up front. Sounds like a big system driven by one compressor on the engine. Have you had maintenance issues with it?

Fred
Yes. I have replaced the engine compressor at 18 years old because the clutch failed. So both dryers and the 134a were replaced also.

Then I had the new engine mounted dryer fail and blocked the line to the front dash. So both dryers and expansion valves were replaced along with blowing out the lines and replacing the 134a.

So far, the expensive components are fine.
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Old 03-29-2016, 10:10 PM   #9
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According to the manual our generator uses 3/4 of a gallon of fuel per hour. If you are buying your fuel in the benevolent kingdom of eco fools called CA then that costs you about 2 bucks and hour. Less in less benevolent places. In my opinion that is more fuel than used by the OTR air. I really like the OTR air system with front and back cooling units. I did have one of the hoses blow in 105 degree weather crossing UT a few years back. Cost me 440 bucks in Cleveland repair shop to fix it. That was double what it should have cost.

My front dash AC has made a funny noise now for about 1 1/2 years. After it runs a while it starts to make the noise. Sort of like a squirrel cage motor just starting to go out. I figured I would wait till it screams to replace it as I think the cost will be about a grand.

Soooo I learned that driving the Country Coach with windows open can actually be enjoyable if you open the right windows so the air does not hammer. I usually open the drivers side and one or two of the living room windows part way. When you drive with open windows you actually smell the places you travel through. And of course get lots more noise in the cabin. And big trucks with side exhaust are not fun.

This is a good thread. I never could figure out how to set our furnace to run when driving. So now I know you don't turn on the central air control. So thanks for telling me how to do that.
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Old 03-31-2016, 08:26 AM   #10
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Just to clarify. B.Bob seems to have the math correct (or at least very close). The cost to run the generator is probably between 1 and 2 dollars per hour. (On our generator 3/4 gal per hour is pretty much the max.... at the loads for a both rooftop generator I think it is more like 1/2 gal per hour, but as they say YMMV...and regardless, the price of fuel varies quite a bit ... so B. Bob's number appears correct.) My logic (perhaps flawed) was that the cost to use the OTR a/c was not just the fuel costs. I should have mentioned it, but the reason I "gave up" on using the OTR a/c was also influenced by the $440 here, $1000 there, etc. additional costs associated with trying to keep the OTR a/c operational. When maintenance and repair costs are included in my deliberations I thought it best to just spend the $2/hr vice hope for more than 700 hours driving between "a/c incidents". We only drive around 10,000 miles in the coach per year (perhaps 3000 miles when a/c is needed). At 50 mph, that means only around 60 hours of generator usage; so my costs run around $120/yr.
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Old 03-31-2016, 08:42 AM   #11
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One more comment on the "furnace" controls. I think different coaches might operate differently. In previous comments it appears that some people are able to get hydronic heat from the engine to work without turning on the central heat switch (they just need the heat exchanger switch turned on.) This isn't true for our coach. On our 2000 Magna, the bedroom switch needs to have both the central heat and the heat exchanger switches in the "on" position for us to get useful engine heat in the cabin. This is true regardless of whether the Engine, or the Webasto is actually generating the heat. It turns out (on our coach at least) the Webasto will recognize that the water being circulated is already hot (from the engine) and will not turn on when driving. But, if the central heat switch is not turned on, then the Webasto will not activate its circulators. Consequently, not all the circulator motors (there are 4 in our coach) will be moving the water through the system to feed the various heat exchangers in the bedroom, bath, kitchen and front. However, if the central heat switch is "on" ....then we get very nice heat in the coach provided by just the engine heat. (I hope my missives, poorly worded as they may be, help explain some of the oddities of furnace operations for those who are interested..... If I ever meet any of you in person, please ask about the crazy set up for freeze protection in the bays that I discovered in my coach. Unravelling THAT mess was a real exercise in sleuthing.)
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Old 04-04-2016, 09:32 AM   #12
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Yes our 2000 Magna is set up the same way. Both switches need to turned on and apparently the engine makes the water hot enough that the Webasto sees that it doesn't need to fire up. I think the circulating pumps only come on when the Central Heat Control and Interior Heat Exchangers switches are turned on. Ours does not have the "Webasto Preheat" switch.

Driving home from Salt Lake city to Minnesota, we found the system to be absolutely delightful. Comfortable all day and all night both. Just set it and forget it. Driving or sleeping. Living Room and Galley is Zone 1; Bedroom/bath is Zone 2.

I see why you guys love your Magnas. This is a very nice coach. Skillfully assembled.
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Old 11-16-2018, 04:15 PM   #13
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2000 Magna and a Webasto

I have 2 issues/Questions. First going from FL to TN today in colder weather I tried to use Webasto an engine coolant to add heat to coach. I started genset, turned on heat exchangers and set the thermostat to furnace. Only tried to use zone 1 since that is front of coach. No heat!!! Fan was on medium.


Second issue is probably not related to first or at least my logic says no. Recently had a leak at the water heater in closet and didn't discover until water ran under carpet in BR next to toilet. Absorbed water and put a fan in the area under closet to dry up. It worked. Last night used the furnace due to temps. The zone in front worked. The bedroom and shower fans did not come on (zone2). This morning there was heat in that area an I noticed some wiring and connections on the floor ( like small buss ). Did I short something or blow a fuse somewhere? The drawer under the closet doesn't seem to want to come out and I could not see where the wiring started and where it goes. Is this the reason the fan did not work. Also does this effect the heat exchanger in the wet bay?

I realize the thread is old but covers a portion of my issues. I'm paranoid about freezing water lines and damage. Had hot water heater burst in S&B while on vacation once. Big mess.
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Old 11-16-2018, 06:28 PM   #14
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The drawer under the closet in my coach will come out but is very close to the end ot the bed. Pull the drawer out as far as it will go and then lift up, from the sides, to disengage the slides and drawer can be removed.

The only wiring under the drawer, as I remember it, is a terminal strip of wires that are extra wires that run from the front run bay to the bedroom area, and power to the furnace heat exchanger. Beside the drawer are the 110 volt wires going to the water heater.

When traveling in colder weather I set both zones (no reason not the heat the entire coach) on the thermostat to furnace and turn on the Interior Heat Exchangers switch in the bedroom and leave the Central Heat Control off. I set each zones fan control to the desired speed and let the engine coolant heat the coach.

I'm a bit confused with your zone 2 problems about when or if it worked. It seems that it was not working during and shortly after the water leak but works now. Is this correct.

The heat exchanger in the wet bay has its own thermostat and will be activated when the wet bay reaches that thermostat's set point.
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