Community Forums

Amen · 10-10-2017, 10:30 AM

We are trying to figure out our system heat ...Do we use heat pumps in ceiling or Aquahot system? I turned on the Aquahot but how is it supposed to heat? Does it work off the thermostat on the control panel? If I use that controller it turns on the heater in the AC units. How do I only use heat from the Aquahot?

Sorry to be such a newbie at this ..4 weeks since we first got this coach

Pusherpilot · 10-10-2017, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amen

We are trying to figure out our system heat ...Do we use heat pumps in ceiling or Aquahot system? I turned on the Aquahot but how is it supposed to heat? Does it work off the thermostat on the control panel? If I use that controller it turns on the heater in the AC units. How do I only use heat from the Aquahot?

Sorry to be such a newbie at this ..4 weeks since we first got this coach

Aquahot only, set all thermostat zones to furnace, then select a temp for each zone. On the Aquahot panel select electric or diesel or both. Note, selecting electric while not on shore power will run the house batterys down in a hurry. This is how mine works. If you have a manual for the coach it'll be explained there, specific to that coach.
You said "system heat". Is that a switch on a control panel? If so it has nothing to do with comfort heating in the coach, at least not in mine.
Ron

96 Wideglide · 10-10-2017, 10:41 AM

Zone's 1 and 3 on your thermostat will have a 'Furnace' mode. Turn those on. Make sure zone 2 is set to 'off'. Now turn on elec, and or diesel burner switch on your Aqua hot panel. It will take a little while for the boiler fluid to get up to temp before your floor level heat exchangers start up and blow hot air (longer if you just turn on the electric switch).

super_rep · 10-10-2017, 10:42 AM

Your thermostats will operate either the heat pumps or the AquaHot. We use the heat pumps until the outside temps drop below 38 Deg. and then the AH for lower temps. I hope you got the manuals when you got the coach. The instructions are a bit involved, but are easy once you master the operation. We leave the AH electric heating elements on all the time when plugged into external power for hot water.

Just remember you have to service your AH once a year and always have the AH fuel filter changed then. A water softener for campground water is a good idea to minimize the scale build up from hard water and extend the life of your AH.

zmotorsports · 10-10-2017, 10:49 AM

Pusherpilot is correct. Mine states "furnace" for the heating to be provided by the Aqua-Hot and "heat pump" for the heat to be provided by the roof mounted A/C-Heat Pump. We only use our heat pumps on rare occasions and when the temps are not below about 40-degrees ambient temp.

Also, I prefer to keep both the diesel and electric elements functioning so IF the glycol in the boiler tank drops enough in temperature that the electric element cannot keep up, the diesel burner will fire automatically without having to try to remember to turn it on. IF the electric element is adequate to provide the needed heat input to the boiler tank, the diesel burner will not ignite.

Last week in Moab the morning temps were a bit chilly and the electric element easily maintained the 62 degrees inside the coach while we slept. In the morning when I awoke I bumper the temps to 67~ish and within a few minutes the diesel burner would ignite and provide the extra heat for not only the coach comfort heating but also for the shower.

I also like to run the diesel burner to keep fresh fuel in the system and keep everything operating properly. I know several people who don't like to burn diesel any more than absolutely necessary so they run on electric only and then when they need the diesel burner they can have smoking issues or a misfire occur due to not being run on a somewhat regular basis.

Enjoy the new coach. You will love your Aqua-Hot system.

Mike

super_rep · 10-10-2017, 10:59 AM

In reading your original question again, it sounds like your AH unit might not be working and putting out heat. If the power to the AH unit is ever interrupted, there is a low voltage reset button on the AH control panel the must be reset. The main AH control on our coach is mounted in the ceiling of one of our storage bays. You'll have to hunt for it. Use a bent paper clip to poke up in the small hole to press the reset button.

To prevent having to frequently reset the AH, I leave our inverter on all the time so it always is powering the AH unit. This is not a problem for us since we live in the coach full time and are always plugged in or traveling.

96 Wideglide · 10-10-2017, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmotorsports

Also, I prefer to keep both the diesel and electric elements functioning so IF the glycol in the boiler tank drops enough in temperature that the electric element cannot keep up, the diesel burner will fire automatically without having to try to remember to turn it on. IF the electric element is adequate to provide the needed heat input to the boiler tank, the diesel burner will not ignite.

Mike

It would be nice if they still worked that way Mike, but they don't

!
Both diesel burner and elec element share the same set of thermostats now.
If you have both switches turned on, once glycol temp drops to preset temp, both element and burner start up together.

Amen · 10-10-2017, 11:20 AM

Zone 3 is only blowing out cold air? Thermostat set at 68. It’s 56 in the coach. Got down to 38 outside last night. Tile flooring is cold!! Front is heating up nicely with Aquahot. Heat pumps are alright but my fiancé does many Skype calls and the fan noise interferes with the calls. Aquahot is better but still a bit of noise.

Still concerned why zone 3 not heating?

96 Wideglide · 10-10-2017, 11:23 AM

Possibly a stuck valve, or the pump for zone 3 is shot.

Amen · 10-10-2017, 11:33 AM

Here is a pic of the status and the pump hoses coming out. The hose on the left is hot. The one on the right is cold. The left one is for zone 1 and the right one for zone 3. Makes sense that zone 3 is blowing cold air since it’s only getting cold water. I’ll take the cover off and see what is going on....

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Amen · 10-10-2017, 11:41 AM

The valve to the one on the right is not open. The hose behind it is hot but not out of it. I know we had a power outage this morning (see earlier post) ...could that have caused it?

I’m going to shut it down and do a reset of the Aquahot system by pushing in the reset button. Then fire it up again

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96 Wideglide · 10-10-2017, 11:43 AM

Good plan!
That light should'nt be red.

Amen · 10-10-2017, 11:56 AM

I reset (I think.. stuck a pen in the hole that says reset..didn’t hear or feel anything but a solid surface?) and the light on pump 2 still is red. Valve is not open. Going to switch wiring on valves to see if it’s the valves or the pump. Maybe if the pump is bad it won’t open the valve?

Pusherpilot · 10-10-2017, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amen

The valve to the one on the right is not open. The hose behind it is hot but not out of it. I know we had a power outage this morning (see earlier post) ...could that have caused it?

I’m going to shut it down and do a reset of the Aquahot system by pushing in the reset button. Then fire it up again

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On mine there is a check valve that sticks keeping one side of the hose hot and the output cold. I give it a tap with a small hammer and it opens allowing hot to go thru the hoses. Your unit is different than mine so yours may not have the check valve. On my thermostat, the zone number has a dash under its number to indicate that the zone is requesting heat. Yours may do that as well.
Ron