Hydrohot Questions

[SloPoke]

Our 2007 Allure 470 37 ft is new to us and I need a little help. Living in the San Francisco Bay area, we will get a dozen or more nights that will be below 32 deg between now and April. Preparing the Coach for this, does any one know how to drain the water from the HydroHot system? Does one of the low point drains drain the system?
Also, when I was draining the fresh water system today, I looked under the coach and noticed something dangling under the propane tank. It seems to be a fill gauge (and I am guessing) for the propane tank. I do not know where it goes. Can someone enlighten me on this?
Thank You for any information you can give me.

[Dennis4809]

You really can't drain the HydoHot. It contains boiler fluid that's circulated to provide heat. That part won't freeze. Within the boiler fluid is a coil of copper tubing. Water comes in cold and goes out hot to provide an endless shower. You can winterize with RV antifreeze if you're not planning to use the mh. In my case I blow the lines with compressed air but that's not sufficient for the HydoHot. On those few days where I'm concerned about freezing, I just turn on the HydoHot electric element.

Best to read Roger Burke's AquaHot forum. He knows all and shares.

[IASM]

Im in Seattle and I turn on both elements and set the heat to 60 inside when the forecast is dropping below 30. The bays are kept warm also. Surprisingly It happens infrequently. It surprises me you could get that low a temp so far south. I have friends that blow there systems but I just don't want to take a chance exposing the whole rig to low temps.

[Dave 430]

Slo and Dennis,
I have to somewhat disagree with Dennis. I recently had service done on my hydro-hot and they did drain the coolant from the system. On mine they removed the right hand side cover to do the service. There is a drain plug/valve that you can attach a hose and drain the coolant. They removed the coolant recovery tank, cleaned it and all is good to go. It took a little over 4 gallons of the 50% coolant to refill the Hydro-Hot and recovery tank.
My propane fill gauge is attached to the propane tank on the left side. but it gets filled on the right side. Seems strange, but that is the way mine is set up. I second the suggestion to look at Roger Berke's web site. Lots of great info, it free to join so you can read his forums. Once you join you can ask question and get an answer from Roger.

[deandec]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Our 2007 Allure 470 37 ft is new to us and I need a little help. Living in the San Francisco Bay area, we will get a dozen or more nights that will be below 32 deg between now and April. Preparing the Coach for this, does any one know how to drain the water from the HydroHot system?

We just experienced temps to 25 degrees overnight in Sacto during the past 6 nights with no winterizing steps. It got back to 49 to 53 degrees during the day. I checked the coach yesterday and had no issues.

I have not winterized in this area for the past 13 years and have had no problems from freezing temps overnight.

[Dennis4809]

Originally Posted by Dave 430

Slo and Dennis,
I have to somewhat disagree with Dennis. I recently had service done on my hydro-hot and they did drain the coolant from the system. On mine they removed the right hand side cover to do the service. There is a drain plug/valve that you can attach a hose and drain the coolant. They removed the coolant recovery tank, cleaned it and all is good to go. It took a little over 4 gallons of the 50% coolant to refill the Hydro-Hot and recovery tank.
My propane fill gauge is attached to the propane tank on the left side. but it gets filled on the right side. Seems strange, but that is the way mine is set up. I second the suggestion to look at Roger Berke's web site. Lots of great info, it free to join so you can read his forums. Once you join you can ask question and get an answer from Roger.

Guess I was technically incorrect about draining the hydro-hot. Yes you can drain the boiler fluid/antifreeze as part of a service but that part won't freeze anyway. I was talking about the fresh water in the heating coil. Roger Burke says that blowing them will still leave enough water that could settle to a low point, freeze, and ruin the Hydro-hot.

[SloPoke]

Thanks everyone for your replies;
What I was trying to do was drain the water out of the water lines in the coach; including the hydro-hot. We will be putting the coach into storage for 2 months before we go to Tucson, AZ in March. There is no power at our space in the storage yard. Since this is our first RV, I thought that I needed to “Winterize it” before we use it again. Deandec, thanks for your thoughts, we are in Livermore (East Bay). Our plans are to full time in it starting next July, this maybe the only time we need to think of winterizing it. I think I will put some RV antifreeze down each drain and call it done.
Thanks again for your replies.

[gbburgess]

I live in Iowa and drain mine in the fall and again if we head south for a couple of months. When we return I again drain the potable water system. My Plan - Open all of the faucets, then, open the drain valves in the wet bay beside the water pump - I have 2 valves - one water system, one holding tank. Then turn the potable water pump on and let it push the water either into the sinks or out the drain valves. It helps to have the potable water holding tank as empty as possible. Make sure to empty the house water filter - separate space accessed in the bay in front of the wet bay. When empty - Remove the inlet hose to the potable water pump and make a separate hose long enough to reach into a gallon jug of pink potable antifreeze. It takes about 10 gallons. Close all faucets and pump until the system has pressure. Open each faucet until you see pure pink. Don't forget the refrigerator ice maker or the washer dryer if you have them. It takes a couple of hours. You cannot get the HydroHot empty of water by using compressed air. Check your manual.