Community Forums

RobRoy · 01-20-2016, 03:22 PM

Aquahot intermittent start up Chapter3.

Wednesday January 3 Tried to fire up the Aquahot multiple times this morning and would would not fire up .

So off to General RV to have them diagnose the system. I would try to do so myself but the weather will not allow me. I will keep you posted.

I would be remiss to not tell you that half way to the RV dealer the Aquahot then fired up. WTH

Also I do have the original window sticker and no Aquahot model # on the window sticker.

And I do not understand those of you who say they never shut their Aquahot off ?
Either that's a hell of a lot of diesel fuel or a high electric bill or maybe maybe I simply do not understand what you mean when you say that you never shut you system down.

Thanks again and I will give you a follow up once I hear from them as far as the the cause of the failure

Dr4Film · 01-20-2016, 04:03 PM

RobRoy,

I would suggest reading your owners manual to learn what an owner should know about their Aqua-Hot and its different operating systems.

Plus you should join Roger Berke's Hydronic Heating Forum.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

luckyd · 01-20-2016, 08:42 PM

We live fulltime in the MH.
We leave the AH on 24/7.
When we are plugged in to shore power,
the electric does most of the work.
The diesel burner only kicks in for washer, long showers,
or cold mornings.
We also leave the diesel burner on while driving, even though
it is heated from the engine.

As stated...... check your model.

bobcovey · 01-20-2016, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobRoy

Aquahot intermittent start up Chapter3.

I would be remiss to not tell you that half way to the RV dealer the Aquahot then fired up. WTH

And I do not understand those of you who say they never shut their Aquahot off ?

Sounds just like a loose wire connction. I would check all the connections to the controller. There aren't many and they are all accessible.

Either that's a hell of a lot of diesel fuel or a high electric bill or maybe maybe I simply do not understand what you mean when you say that you never shut you system down.

We are full timers. Ours has been on for 19 months straight. The AH is our only source of hot water and our only source of heat when temps fall below about 50 degrees where the heat pumps become marginally efficient. So, yes, it is on 24/7. When we are plugged into AC, it brings on the diesel burner when the electric element can't keep up with the demand for heat or hot water. When we boondock the diesel handles everything. That's the way it is designed to work, so why not let it?
As others have said, download the manual and read up on how it operates.
And, another vote for joining Roger Berke's forum: RV Hydronic Heater Repair - Home He has been a great help as I have worked on ours.

Cheers,

Bob

Dr4Film · 01-21-2016, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckyd

We live full-time in the MH.

We leave the AH on 24/7.

When we are plugged in to shore power, the electric does most of the work.

The diesel burner only kicks in for washer, long showers, or cold mornings.

We also leave the diesel burner on while driving, even though it is heated from the engine.

EXACTLY !!!

Dr4Film ----- Richard

RobRoy · 01-21-2016, 08:29 AM

Thanks for all your input and Just to be clear.

When on the road and my aquahot is functioning normally I leave it ON all the time and works as you all have described that it heats from the electric element most of the time and under heavy demand like a long showers or washing the coach, because of that large demand the diesel webasto kicks in to keep up with the demand and life is good.

When in storage in my garage here at my home I Do Not leave the aquahot turned on at all for obvious reasons. ( electric and diesel costs)

I am currently NOT in a position to go diving into the depths of the aquahot system myself at 15f deg outside temps.

At this time I DO NOT have my aquahot model # and have scoured the inside of the coach thoroughly and found nothing. I have also checked the window sticker which only shows aquahot as an option on the coach and nothing else about it . Therefore without the model # at the present time I cannot join Rogers aquahot group.

A side note:

To those that keep repeating that the only time to use engine heat function of the aquahot is to start the coach in cold weather to warm up the engine? …..that is not how I read this at all.

Yes you use it to preheat the engine and also by leaving "engine heat" switch to the ON position it will also also help cut the run times of the heating element and the webasto by using the engine heat to help heat the aquahot.

Quote from my owners manual:

“Engine Preheat:

The Aqua Hot system has an engine preheat feature to aid in starting in cold or
frigid weather. Inside the Aqua Hot are an engine coolant loop and an engine
coolant pump. The Aqua Hot will heat the engine coolant and the internal engine
pump will circulate the heated coolant through the engine.

To Use the System:

• Turn the Aqua-Hot switch to the ON position.
• Turn the Engine Heat switch to the ON position. This activates the
engine pump inside the Aqua Hot. The time required to preheat the
engine varies with ambient temperature. Allow at least three hours of
engine pre-heat time.

Engine Heat Exchange System:

When traveling, the water pump on the engine circulates heated engine coolant through the Aqua Hot. Through convection, the heat transfers to the Aqua Hot coolant, providing hot water and interior heating. Use the Comfort Control to operate the heat exchangers"

Thank you again for your input

and waiting to hear from the RV dealer

96 Wideglide · 01-21-2016, 02:25 PM

No need to leave the engine pre- heat switch on to get heat from the heat exchangers while traveling down the road. Simply set your thermostat to 'furnace' mode, and set desired temp. The engine will circulate the heated coolant thru your AH.

Dr4Film · 01-21-2016, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

No need to leave the engine preheat switch on to get heat from the heat ex-changer's while traveling down the road. Simply set your thermostat to 'furnace' mode, and set desired temp. The engine will circulate the heated coolant thru your AH.

Unfortunately one size does not fit all in this case. I tried that with my older Aqua-Hot model 431/12 while traveling BUT found that the Webasto still fired up at times. I discovered one day when we pulled into a rest area after a couple or hours on the road. I got out to check the tires and voila the Aqua-Hot turned on.

Since then I always travel now with the preheat switch on and I have never found the Aqua-Hot Webasto running once we stop at a rest area or for the night.

It really depends on the amount of coolant that is flowing through the engine preheat loop while the engine is running.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

96 Wideglide · 01-21-2016, 04:54 PM

Yeah, remember having this disscussion before, Richard.
Think you were the only one leaving the Webasto switch, and engine pre-heat switch turned on while traveling. I think just using the engine loop alone heating the AH tank provides less heat coming from each exchanger, meaning they keep running longer, I find driving in hi 40's, to 60's weather, it heats the coach just fine.

RobRoy · 01-22-2016, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Yeah, remember having this disscussion before, Richard.
Think you were the only one leaving the Webasto switch, and engine pre-heat switch turned on while traveling. I think just using the engine loop alone heating the AH tank provides less heat coming from each exchanger, meaning they keep running longer, I find driving in hi 40's, to 60's weather, it heats the coach just fine.

I concur with both you and yes, while traveling and or full timing I see no reason that I can think of ( at least on my unit) not to leave the electric heating element and also the diesel webasto on.

When the diesel webasto fires up depends on multiple things.
That the diesel webasto is switched on / furnace demand for heating the coach / Ambient air temps / hot water volume demand / engine coolant temperature and also engine coolant flow.

I do not full time and my coach is stored here at my home inside when not in use and the diesel aquahot ststem is turned off as is the electric portion of the heating system.

As always

Thanks for your input.

RobRoy · 01-22-2016, 03:56 PM

Aquahot Chapter 4

( I don’t dare call this The Final Chapter ...Im sure that would be the Kiss of Death )

Soooo I took the coach local RV dealer and this is a brand new multimillion dollar facility, so my knees are shaking a bit because somebody has to pay for this place and I’m chasing an intermittent problem with my aquahot that does not light off at times.

The service advisor was kind and courteous however he really didn’t know what an aquahot system was ( his words) but said the service techs would. So again I’m getting nervous with the $$ meter running @ $150.00 hour and having an intermittent problem.

I droped it off at 10.a.m Wednesday they called me 10 am next morning and the service advisor said that the service tech found the problem it was a loose connection . He also said that the service tech suggested an aquahot tune up. He did also say that the tune up was not related to the intermittent not firing issue and done only as preventative maintenance.

Diagnose and wiring repair $160.00

Aquahot tune up $600-650.00

So I told the service advisor I wanted to forgo the tune up for now as it was done across the state @ 14 months ago and had little to no hours on it. He said no problem I can pick it up in an hour it will be ready to go.

The wifey runs me down there and talk to the service advisor he tells the porter to fetch my coach. About 20 min goes by and no coach yet then and someone yells “hey you getting that coach?” and some young kid with a battery jumper in his hand responds “I working out it” so about 10 later the kid pulls up in the coach and the S.A. walks out there with me to make sure the aquahot fires off o.k. ……..and all is well pay my bill and good bye.

So I’m on my way home and the coach doesn’t seem really to be getting warm but it’s pretty cold outside 15 - 20 deg and this thing is 40ft so I don’t think to much about it …then I look in the mirror and see the house battery door flapping in the wind going down the e-way rush hour traffic and I’m like WTH? I’m thinking why the hell did Jr. have to jump start the coach anyway? the batteries are a year old and I maintain them constantly with distilled water and the maintainer ….. it doesn’t make sense?

I pull into my garage check out the house battery door that was flapping in the wind and also the coach for damage and all is well. ( got lucky)

So I jump back inside the coach and zone one is blowing cold air, the rear zone and bath are hot and running fine and I’m like WTH Is this now ?.... and just about that time everything in the coach shuts off ......another WTH? Moment ….I never had that problem before.

So I open the house battery door and take a peek and all looks well but before I grab my VAT 40 and volt meter to do some testing I grab the main shut off switch and it was turned in the middle ..between off & on…. Turned it on and Walla! everything comes back on line and still not sure what the hell that was all about? ( Jr. and the jumper box I’m quite sure)

So after being repaired at the RV dealer the aquahot now fires up first time every time…..However I now have no heat zone 1 and again I never had that issue before. So I remember reading here at iRV2 about this issue how to fix it and here I go diving into the depths of aquahot hell and that was something I didn’t want to do in this ass kicking cold weather @ 64 years old (and fat in the can ta boot ) and the very reason I went to the RV dealer in the first place.

I get the cover off the aquahot unit and per Mike Canters post I grabbed the zone pipes and one was cold. So I bang on the suspect check valve pretty good a few times to free up low and behold now everything seems to work fine….. for now.

So I now in servicing it myself I have the aquahot Model # and Serial # of my unit and have also joined Rogers group and downloaded the owner’s manual for my unit and been doing some reading.

So as my Grandma would say: “If it aint june bugs ….it’s piss ants”

Thank you all again for your sage advice and helping keep my sanity

Happy Trails

srh · 01-22-2016, 04:42 PM

It is good that you got it working. I had issues like this and Roger Berke, as suggested in Pots #32 above, is the Go TO person when it comes to Aqua Hot problems. He will walk you through the different diagnostic steps and suggest solution. Here is the link to his website: RV Hydronic Heater Repair - Home
Good Luck!

Duoglide1 · 01-22-2016, 07:48 PM

If you order any parts from Roger (who is QUICK) you automatically get two years access to the paid side of his site as well.

2007 Monaco Executive 45' 525 ISX

Bob&AnnaMari · 01-23-2016, 11:12 AM

I am very glad to hear it is working. Have a warm and wonderful remainder of your trip.

And Roger has been my go-to guy for Aqua-Hot knowledge and parts as well. I had an opportunity to meet him in person at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival a few years back. He really knows his stuff. I think he still attends a number of events a year. Be sure to look him up if your paths cross.