How to get the most heat !!!!!!!

[boaterok]

I have a 05 Monaco Ex. 45' 4 slide. It has 3 heat pumps, 3 zones, 3 furnaces etc along with diesel aqua hot and base board heat in the kitchen. The weather temp was 30 degrees and we could only manage to get 60 inside. No I didn't run the heat pumps since they (in the house) are pretty much useless so I assumed the same in the RV. We turned on the baseboard heat and that is adjustable with its on thermostat. The manual said not to set the furnaces to high as it would cycle on and off and thats the only thing I could find in all the paperwork. So should you only use the zone that you are in at the time (front, bathroom, bedroom) or what. I would prefer to have at least 67 degrees where ever I am. I did purchase a ceramic heater after a couple of days. So any input would be appreciated. I may be asking for the impossible. But I KNOW YOU FOLKS WILL KNOW !!! Thanks Roger

[Barlow46]

Furnace mode should be Aqua Hot. You should be able to turn on"diesel aqua-hot" switch, let it run for a while and then set your "furnace" setting at the temperature you want. I believe this will also keep your basement warm but you may need to check the basement controller to see what temp it is set at. You can also go to the Aqua-Hot website and download the owners manual. And...go ahead and set both controllers (bedroom and hallway/kitchen) to the temperature (67deg. in your case) . This should keep most areas close to what you want.

[Mike Canter]

Roger, the roof AC heat pumps are only good down to the mid 30's then they just don't work. The electric part of the Aqua-Hot is only to take the chill off. The major heat source in your case is the diesel fuel furnace of the Aqua-Hot. Have you checked that all your registers are blowing hot air in all your zones? Mine really puts out. I set it at 70* and it will keep the MH at 70*. Is the diesel furnace part of the Aqua-Hot igniting? Does the little red light stay on on the diesel switch after you ignite it and can you go outside to the Aqua-Hot exhaust and is it hot?

[Bugzme]

What is aqua hot?

[Mike Canter]

Jeff, Aqua-Hot is a unique hot water baseboard heat system. It supplies both the heat and unlimited hot water for the faucets. While driving down the road it uses a heat exchanger and gets its hot water from the radiator and it heats the whole MH and not just the front. The system also has a electric heater element so when plugged in at a campground it can supply hot water and heat using the campground's power. If you are dry camping or need a lot of heat then it has a diesel fuel furnace that can be turned on and uses the fuel out of the MH's main tank. It also has a engine heat so you can flip on a switch and preheat the motor before a start.

[boaterok]

Mike, I was hoping you would reply since you have the 04 Sig. I set the thermos on all zones (3) to furnace and to 67 degrees and already had the aqua hot diesel on and had hot water. The light was on on the switch but I think the red light your talking about is under the coach in one of the compartments. I didn't check to see if the diesel was burning outside (exhaust pipe) but I was pretty sure it was. I am going to fire it up again tomorrow at my warehouse and see what happens. But according to ya'll I should be able to run all 3 furnaces at the same time? (I know it just turns on the fans in the appropriate area. I know the elctric part of the aqua hot doesn't work very well if at all. Oh by the way thanks again for the info on the 55 psi hiflow on the water regulator as that part works great now. One other question Mike, I have some switches that don't light up but the switch does what it is suppose to so can you buy the little bulbs somewhere or do you have to replace the switch? Thanks Roger

[Mike Canter]

Roger, there is only one central Aqua-Hot furnace. Each thermostat controls a zone water circulation pump and the fans in the registers in that zone. When heat is required in a zone then the zone water circulation pump comes on and so do that zones fans. I run all three of mine at the same temp so I have even heat throughout the MH. The little diesel burner switch in my Sig has a red light built into it that comes on when the diesel furnace is turned on. After approx 2-3 minutes if the burner does not light then the red light will go out and the fuel pump and burner blower will turn off. I don't know what they changed in 2005 but they should be close to the same system. When I turn that diesel switch on (mine is located in the kitchen on the top of the cabinets under the sink) I can hear the fuel pump and blower in the furnace turn on even when inside. So the first thing is to check that it turns on. If the unit shuts down in 2-3 minutes is usually an indication that the fuel nozzle in the furnace needs changing (routine yearly chore). If it stays on then in about 6-10 minutes the water is hot enough that you can feel heat out of the registers. So if all the theromstats are turned to a high temp such as 80 (for testing) then all the zones should be blowing hot air. If just cold air coming out of the registers then the furnace went out so check and see if hot air coming out the exhaust. If not then you probably need a new nozzle. If any of the registers are blowing hot air then the furnace is on. If just one zone blows cold air then a circulating pump maybe not have turned on for that zone. You can check that by looking at the main system control board in the basement. My is located on the ceiling in the basement bay just forward of the furnace. It has LEDs to tell you if all the pumps are on or at fault. If the pumps are running then you can actually grab the plastic hoses for each zone coming out of the top of the furnace to see if they are hot or not. If some are hot and some are cold and the pumps are running then it is possible that one of the zone one way check valves has stuck closed and needs to be tapped lightly with a hammer to open it. Lets wait and see what you find out before we go on further. The other thing that you should check is the Aqua-Hot anti-freeze tank and make sure it is at the prescribed level mark. Mine is located on the curb side in the same compartment as my fuel tank. Let me know what you find out then we can go from there.

If you are plugged in at a campground and the Aqua-hot electric switch is on and you get hot water out of the faucet then the electric heater is working just fine.

[Twomed]

Good reply Mike. When we go to Yellowstone early May the Aquahot is on 24/7 for several weeks. At lower temps 0-20 or so it is important to run at least front and rear zones to keep heat balanced evenly. It actually runs less that way than trying to heat front and close off the rear. Ours stays very comfy set at about 68 on diesel. The electric as mentioned above, is pretty much worthless unless you lucked out and got the two heating element option.

[Stretch]

Mike:
You seem very knowledgeable on the subject: so let me ask you a question. My Aquahot while running and producing hot water, seemed to be missing and popping. So I had it serviced and they replaced the nozzle and the burner lining or tube, (looked like a piece of exhaust pipe). Now it runs very well but smokes on startup and continues to run rich. I see soot inside the exhaust pipe.

I wonder if there is air intake vent that is set with the wrong opening. Perhaps the serviceman adjusted it wrong. What do you think?

Stretch

[Barlow46]

Mike,
My 05 dynasty is setup just as you described. Aqua-Hot is new to me also....coming from the 5th wheel world. I understand the concept on how AquaHot works but don't know what triggers the fans. Does pump circulation have to occur for fan to come on? If fan does not come on, does that mean pump is not circulating or is a valve stuck. I took a look at my led board tonight and turned everything on and set the temp to 80 on both wall controllers. I got lights on "diesel burner", all light on 5 heating zones and lights on pump 2 and 3. I can feel fans running in front outlet under dash, kitchen, bathroom w/shower/ toilet room (when fan switch is turned on) but no fan in bedroom under closet. I'm guessing this is pump 1 that is not operating properly. Does this pump #1 also control the basement? I do have the manual and have read it but not digested it yet. Will read more tonight. Thanks for any input.

[JFC]

I have an 07 Scepter with a two zone Aqua-Hot. It nearly made me crazy for a few weeks last year. We had never needed the diesel furnace for heat the first two years we had trhe coach, but I had it serviced yearly anyway. Last winter, we needed the diesel furnace and it decided not to work, only the electric. Found a great mobile service tech in Texas that made repairs and the diesel worked great, but we could not regulate the temperature in the coach, one zone was either too cold or too hot. The tech and I went over the system when we were passing through Texas a few weeks later. It turns out Monaco had crossed the pump wires. When the rear needed heat, the front pump came on but the rear fans, same when the front needed heat. Reversed the pump wiring and it's worked fine since, and keeps the coach toasty.

[Mike Canter]

Ross, mine runs a little rich also and I have soot around the end of the exhaust pipe. There are all kinds of warnings on NOT adjusting that air vent that you are taking about because they are factory set. Does it only smoke when it is cold outside and what color is the smoke. Does it clear up once it warms up?

Barlow46, my fans come on when the thermostat calls for heat. I am sure I don't even have a fan selection when I am in "Furnace" mode but my memory might be fooling me here. I will check it tomorrow. Just to make sure here.....you have three main heating zones in the main living area not counting the engine heat and you have two wall mounted thermostats and the one in the bedroom area you have BOTH zones 1 & 2 selected to furnace and the temperature in both those zones set at 80 (for testing)? The bedroom is Zone 1 on the back wall thermostat.
There are a total of four circulation pumps. Three are used for the three zones inside and the motor heat uses the fourth pump.
Yes the bedroom is on circulating pump loop number one. The basement heater is on pump #2 which is also your bathroom loop. Circulating pump # 2 will run anytime the Aqua-Hot is turned on just to keep the water circulating. The heat can be off and the Aqua Hot on for just hot water and pump #2 will still be running. Maybe you should unscrew the register grill in the bedroom and see if the heater is hot.

I would double check the back thermostat Zone 1 (flashing) and make sure the furnace is selected and the temp set is high enough to call for heat. Even if the circulating pump is for some reason not running because it has failed then the fan in the bedroom will still come on if the thermostat is set up correctly but it will blow cold air without the pump running. Since you say there is no fault showing on the Electronic Controller LED board for pump one then I would say that the fan is either bad, or unplugged or a bad wire connection. The wiring diagram does NOT show a separate fuse for each fan.

[Stretch]

Mike:

It blow black smoke when it first starts cold. Then it is relatively clear. But the exhaust pipe is black and sooty. It did not do this before the service.

[Mike Canter]

Ross, I am pretty sure that is normal because there are no fancy pollution devices on the exhaust so you will get that initial black smoke as it starts. My exhaust is black and sooty inside and around the lip. I will refresh myself on my system startup today and to let you know. My guess is that prior to the service the nozzle was partly blocked so it was running too lean so no black smoke on startup and now it is normal.