Community Forums

worleybyrd · 08-29-2013, 09:53 PM

Hello to all........
Ok i have a 98 safari with the hurricane system in it, the system seems to be fine when i turn it on it will heat up the water ( for the seaward water tank ) really fine and it then turns off as it should. now when i use the hot water itnever relights ( there is no fault codes ) now i turn the remote switch off then back on and it lights fine and heats the water back up and again when i use the hot water no relight. so where do i began to look to fix the problem ? i was thinking it could be the AQUASTATS on the water heater it self that then goes to the control panel for the hurricane. if anyone could help and give there opinion i would be great full thanks

Stealth01 · 08-30-2013, 07:10 AM

I would suspect that one of the thermo switches has failed. Here is a link to their home page, under "Support" you will find manuals for the systems.

Hurricane Heating Systems | International Thermal Research

Hope this helps...

worleybyrd · 08-30-2013, 10:06 AM

Ok ken thanks for the link and i called them a few mins ago and it is the AQUASTATS right at the elbow for where the hot water leaves the tank. thanks for the link and it is now bookmarked

docj · 08-30-2013, 10:29 AM

I assume you still are getting electrically heated hot water from the Seaward tank? I have the same system and the Hurricane is a backup to the Seaward's electric heater.

Another Aquatstat that can go bad is one inside the Hurricane that turns the burner on when the circulating heating fluid cools to a certain temperature. Last year my Hurricane would seem to work fine and but occasionally wouldn't come back on when it was needed. Replacing the "operating Aquastat" did the trick.

Kevin Lambert at ITR in Vancouver WA is a great guy and is used to working with owners "long distance" to diagnose their problems.

worleybyrd · 08-30-2013, 10:38 AM

Thats who i talked to today and as soon as i told him the unit works and i have hot water but the water runs out and the hurricane will not come on when needed and he right away said look at the tank and at the elbow there is a AQUASTATS that is probable no good and thats what i was kinda thinking as well but now that you mention the one in the hurricane itself i may just replace the easy one ( at the elbow ) first and if that dont work then the one in the hurricane unit. i will repost when i get the time to work on it thanks for advice and help.

docj · 08-30-2013, 05:44 PM

The internal Aquastat is not easy to access through the top panel. On my MH there are only a couple of inches of clearance between the top of the Hurricane and the shelf above it. Kevin replaced my Aquastats last year but I'm not sure I could have done it without disconnecting the exhaust and pulling the Hurricane forward out of the bay.

worleybyrd · 08-30-2013, 06:22 PM

Well the problem was the Aquastat at the water tank elbow I put a elec water tank stat on the hot line and it worked fine other than the water pump would not stop running ( yes I know it's not the right part but its what I had to check the system ) so I called hurricane and ordered a new Aquastat

docj · 08-30-2013, 06:57 PM

I'm not sure why that Aquastat would affect how long the water pump runs. I've always assumed that was a timed function.

worleybyrd · 08-30-2013, 07:25 PM

Was told from hurricane that the water pump will turn on when ( hot water is called for ) so the system was thinking I needed hot water remember I was using a different temp control and was on the phone with hurricane as we were messing with it so I need the right and real part Lol

docj · 08-30-2013, 09:22 PM

Oh, I get it now; the stat you were using was "never satisfied" so it kept calling for hot water which kept the pump running. The burner was cycling because it would turn off when the max temp Aquastate was satisfied but the pump wouldn't stop.

I had a similar sort of thing happen when Kevin gave me a stat to replace that same one you are having problems with. In this case the stat wouldn't satisfy at the temperature to which the Seaward would heat the water. So it kept turning the Hurricane on to "superheat" the already hot water. In this case the stat did eventually get satisfied but it resulted in a lot of fuel use and very hot water. Needless to say I swapped it out for a slightly lower temp one.

One of the weaknesses of how this stat is placed results from the fact that it is not in the tank but, rather, on the exit elbow. You could mount the stat in a much better location if you replaced the drain plug on the Seaward with an Aquastat tube and then inserted an appropriately calibrated stat into the tube. This would permit the Hurricane to monitor the actual temp of the water in the Seaward. Now that I've thought of it, maybe I'll try it.

worleybyrd · 08-31-2013, 07:41 AM

that is a good ideal when i get back from our trip i will fave to run to a pluming store and see if they have something i could use thanks for the ideal. i know kevin said they don't make the one that goes to the elbow anymore so the one he's giving me is a disk one that i have to zip tie on the elbow so i will try your way first .

docj · 08-31-2013, 04:21 PM

The "thing" that I was thinking of screwing into the drainport of the Seaward is called an Aquastat well. It's a water tight tube that is used for insertion of Aquastats, since the Aquastat itself is not water-proof. Here's a link to some wells: Honeywell Aquastat Wells , Honeywell Aquastats , Aquastats , Honeywell Aquastats - PexSupply.com All we have to do is find a well with the same thread as the drain plug on the Seaward (or use adapters to create one) and then purchase an appropriately rated Aquastat.

The problem is that the disk-type stats just don't read the temps properly. The one I already discussed made the water too hot; the one Kevin swapped it for is set for too low a temperature and comes on after the water has already started getting cold. I've actually gone back to my original one (in the elbow) since it works better than the replacements. My old one isn't totally inoperative (like yours); it simply "short-cycles" if we turn the Seaward off and try running just with the Hurricane (which is what we often do when connected to 30A.) The short-cycling (on for a minute, off for a minute) can be annoying, but it only happens in that circumstance.