Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE OWNER'S CORNER FORUMS > Entegra Owner's Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 12-11-2017, 06:11 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
voltdoc's Avatar
 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: East Greenwich, RI
Posts: 2,288
Aquahot Hour Meter Mod

I wanted to measure the actual burner run time of the Aquahot so fuel consumption of the Aquahot could be measured and fuel consumption of the engine could be corrected for accuracy. Also it's just the kind of nerdy stuff I like to do.

So I figured out a way to wire in an electro-mechanical hour meter that counts time when the burner is actually consuming fuel. Knowing that and the approximate consumption of 0.41 gallons/hour provides a pretty good estimate of Aquahot fuel usage.

I haven't collected enough data yet to draw detailed conclusions, but I can say in the 75 days the hour meter has been installed, the Aquhot has run an average of 1 hour per day. Note that we leave the burner off except for morning showers in cool weather, evening heating in temps below about 45F, or full time heating when temps fall near or below the freezing point.

The mod is relatively easy and inexpensive. Full mod details are posted here. My Aquahot is a 400D but it appears that this mod should work just fine on the 450D or for that matter any model that uses the Webasto burner.
__________________
Rob & Linda https://MyQuantumDiscovery.com
2017 Entegra Aspire 44B - 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland
2013 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ
voltdoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 12-11-2017, 06:45 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Gary.Jones's Avatar


 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 11,530
Blog Entries: 1
Rob

I had previously published data on the typical cycle and time of each phase of my 450D in 40 degree outside ambient temperatures and again in 30 degree temperatures (I have a feeling we have similar “needs” to know how things work). I’ll try to find it as it’s about 2 years old. I left my AquaHot on all day, but my procedure was to time the blower phase before ignition, then the ignition phase, then the cool down phase and finally the inter-cycle interval. Given that, I calculated the burn percentage and the consumption. I will try to find it.

Appreciate your data....

Gary
__________________
Gary and Dee, Zowie and Bowie (traveling cat sibs)
2019 Cornerstone 45B, X15-605hp, Imperial, Spartan K3,
2013 Honda CR-V toad, Demco Excali-Bar II,
Demco Baseplate, Demco Toad Light system, 73 de W5FI
Gary.Jones is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2017, 08:05 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
deaton's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Newmar Owners Club
Texas Boomers Club
Spartan Chassis
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: New Braunfels, Texas
Posts: 1,308
I pretty dumb when it comes to this type of thing, but if my goal was to measure the fuel consumption of the aqua hot, my instinct would be to look at putting a fuel flow meter in the supply line. Would that be a viable option?
__________________
Dan & Linda
FMCA 399045 NKK 22240
2020 Dutch Star 4081 - Spartan K2
2017 Dutch Star 4018 - Sold - Towing Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk
deaton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2017, 09:35 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
DSL417's Avatar
 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 6,686
Blog Entries: 2
How about...fill the tank up park at your site, run the AH on gas/diesel full time for a month, then go fill it up. If you want the analytics, keep your thermostat settings, and then go to you friendly NWS for the daily high and low, or the daily average. That should give you an idea of how much you would use in a month typical for the type you just experienced.

I did something similar two Winters ago, except that I parked with slightly less than 1/2 tank. Then I used the AH a lot for the next 2.5 months. When it cam time to go to Quartzsite January before last, I had to get several 2..5 gallon cans of diesel and add some fuel...the engine wouldn't start because I was out of fuel. Oh well, so much for analytics!
__________________
Dave and Beth
2015 Cornerstone 45J
2020 Ford F-150 Lariat
DSL417 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-2017, 05:44 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
lowejug's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: st george
Posts: 1,387
Quote:
Originally Posted by voltdoc View Post
I wanted to measure the actual burner run time of the Aquahot so fuel consumption of the Aquahot could be measured and fuel consumption of the engine could be corrected for accuracy. Also it's just the kind of nerdy stuff I like to do.

So I figured out a way to wire in an electro-mechanical hour meter that counts time when the burner is actually consuming fuel. Knowing that and the approximate consumption of 0.41 gallons/hour provides a pretty good estimate of Aquahot fuel usage.

I haven't collected enough data yet to draw detailed conclusions, but I can say in the 75 days the hour meter has been installed, the Aquhot has run an average of 1 hour per day. Note that we leave the burner off except for morning showers in cool weather, evening heating in temps below about 45F, or full time heating when temps fall near or below the freezing point.

The mod is relatively easy and inexpensive. Full mod details are posted here. My Aquahot is a 400D but it appears that this mod should work just fine on the 450D or for that matter any model that uses the Webasto burner.
so basically you are using almost a half gallon of fuel per day based on this usage pattern?

so if a guys aqua hot was just kept on all day using it, you would look at your house meter in a 24 hour period which might say a total of 3 hours total of actual burner going which would equate
about a 1 and a half gallons of fuel used that day?
lowejug is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-2017, 11:16 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
757driver's Avatar


 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Bayfield, Ontario
Posts: 5,442
Quote:
Originally Posted by voltdoc View Post
I wanted to measure the actual burner run time of the Aquahot so fuel consumption of the Aquahot could be measured and fuel consumption of the engine could be corrected for accuracy. Also it's just the kind of nerdy stuff I like to do.

So I figured out a way to wire in an electro-mechanical hour meter that counts time when the burner is actually consuming fuel. Knowing that and the approximate consumption of 0.41 gallons/hour provides a pretty good estimate of Aquahot fuel usage.

I haven't collected enough data yet to draw detailed conclusions, but I can say in the 75 days the hour meter has been installed, the Aquhot has run an average of 1 hour per day. Note that we leave the burner off except for morning showers in cool weather, evening heating in temps below about 45F, or full time heating when temps fall near or below the freezing point.

The mod is relatively easy and inexpensive. Full mod details are posted here. My Aquahot is a 400D but it appears that this mod should work just fine on the 450D or for that matter any model that uses the Webasto burner.
Rob,

Great detailed post, thanks. This type of mod would also be good for determining maintenance intervals for the burner nozzle and fuel filter.
__________________
Don & Gerri
2014 Entegra Anthem 44B
2014 Honda CRV Touring

1300W Solar, 1200AH LiFePO4 FMCA F443497
757driver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-2017, 11:22 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
96 Wideglide's Avatar
 
Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 9,723
Where did you get the 0.41 gal / hour from? I thought the 400 series AH burned something like 0.31 - 0.35 per hour .
__________________
Ben & Sharon
2008 43' Holiday Rambler Scepter PDQ
96 Wideglide is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-13-2017, 11:55 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Franko Foto's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Wilmington NC
Posts: 157
Quote:
Originally Posted by 757driver View Post
Rob,

Great detailed post, thanks. This type of mod would also be good for determining maintenance intervals for the burner nozzle and fuel filter.
I would have thought so also, Don, but I am having trouble now with the Aquahot just quitting - Vegas Touch light goes off - basement panel is all green as normal, but no burner. When I called Aquahot for help their stand was, "did you do the annual maintenance - if not that's the problem and if you didn't use it a lot, then that's the problem". Still, a Hobbs is a great way to track what's happening.

Frank
__________________
Frank and Ruth
2017 Cornerstone
Franko Foto is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-13-2017, 01:12 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
voltdoc's Avatar
 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: East Greenwich, RI
Posts: 2,288
Quote:
Originally Posted by lowejug View Post
so basically you are using almost a half gallon of fuel per day based on this usage pattern?

so if a guys aqua hot was just kept on all day using it, you would look at your house meter in a 24 hour period which might say a total of 3 hours total of actual burner going which would equate
about a 1 and a half gallons of fuel used that day?
Yes that's the theory. I suppose it all hinges on the fuel consumption spec provided by Aquahot (0.40 gal/hr form my 400D) being accurate. Also depends on the rate of fuel burn being steady - I assume it is consistent as the burner seems to just run at a fixed output.

In any case it still gives me a better sense for how often the burner runs.
__________________
Rob & Linda https://MyQuantumDiscovery.com
2017 Entegra Aspire 44B - 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland
2013 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ
voltdoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-13-2017, 01:14 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
voltdoc's Avatar
 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: East Greenwich, RI
Posts: 2,288
Quote:
Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide View Post
Where did you get the 0.41 gal / hour from? I thought the 400 series AH burned something like 0.31 - 0.35 per hour .
In the specs in the service manual for my 400D. http://www.aquahot.com/files/service...nual_Rev_D.pdf
page 8
__________________
Rob & Linda https://MyQuantumDiscovery.com
2017 Entegra Aspire 44B - 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland
2013 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ
voltdoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-13-2017, 01:22 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
voltdoc's Avatar
 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: East Greenwich, RI
Posts: 2,288
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSL417 View Post
How about...fill the tank up park at your site, run the AH on gas/diesel full time for a month, then go fill it up. If you want the analytics, keep your thermostat settings, and then go to you friendly NWS for the daily high and low, or the daily average. That should give you an idea of how much you would use in a month typical for the type you just experienced.

I did something similar two Winters ago, except that I parked with slightly less than 1/2 tank. Then I used the AH a lot for the next 2.5 months. When it cam time to go to Quartzsite January before last, I had to get several 2..5 gallon cans of diesel and add some fuel...the engine wouldn't start because I was out of fuel. Oh well, so much for analytics!
So does that prove there is no short pickup tube for the Aquahot like there is [supposed to be] for the generator?

We were at Quartzsite last year too. Filled up at arrival, drove to the same station in Quartzsite and filled up again when we left. Used 35 gallons in 7 days, but most of that was probably for the generator. Now, I'll be better able to estimate what was generator burn and what was Aquahot burn.

Good idea on the analytics, I haven't been tracking temps but will take your suggestion and see if I can backfill some of that info. We currently take the hour meter reading when breaking camp, but I think I will start taking it daily and recording the daily temps as well.
__________________
Rob & Linda https://MyQuantumDiscovery.com
2017 Entegra Aspire 44B - 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland
2013 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ
voltdoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-13-2017, 01:26 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
voltdoc's Avatar
 
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: East Greenwich, RI
Posts: 2,288
Quote:
Originally Posted by deaton View Post
I pretty dumb when it comes to this type of thing, but if my goal was to measure the fuel consumption of the aqua hot, my instinct would be to look at putting a fuel flow meter in the supply line. Would that be a viable option?
Yeah for sure that would be the most accurate way. I just didn't want to get into that for potential warranty reasons and because I didn't know if it would affect the burner operation in any way. My electrical approach is 100% reversible, very simple and cheap to implement and should be close enough for my purposes. Good suggestion tho!
__________________
Rob & Linda https://MyQuantumDiscovery.com
2017 Entegra Aspire 44B - 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland
2013 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ
voltdoc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-13-2017, 03:06 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
deaton's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Newmar Owners Club
Texas Boomers Club
Spartan Chassis
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: New Braunfels, Texas
Posts: 1,308
Yeah, that makes sense. I did see a pretty good looking flow meter on line for $45. And you can pay a lot more than that if you want.

Of course the generator has a Hobbs, so you can use that to back into a fuel consumption number if you can land in an average factor.

Cheers!
__________________
Dan & Linda
FMCA 399045 NKK 22240
2020 Dutch Star 4081 - Spartan K2
2017 Dutch Star 4018 - Sold - Towing Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk
deaton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-17-2017, 06:43 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Montgomery, TX (Home Sweet Home)
Posts: 2,501
Rob, nice mod. I’m interested in it because of the maintenance potential.

We bought our coach in Aug. ‘16 and used it approximately 3 months out of the 10 months before it quit in June of ‘17. We didn’t quite make the “annual” interval.

I just serviced it at the 6 month mark from that first service in June, and we’ve used it quite a bit. The burner looked almost as bad as it did in June.

I suspect we put about as many hours on it in the 6 months as we did in the first 10. Your hour meter will help to determine that.

Franko Foto, our AH would simply quit, or not start at all. The burner switch would be ON, then extinguish after a few seconds. The AH tech I spoke to stated this was “lockout” mode, and we needed to service the unit. I did, and it has operated flawlessly since.

AH service is something anyone with even a small amount of mechanical aptitude can do. Aquahot has published a very good go-by on their website.

You can get the fuel filter at any NAPA, and you will need a fuel nozzle and burner gasket. Roger Berke runs a good business and he supplies parts as well..

RV Hydronic Heater Repair - Home

This is about a 30 minute job once you know what you’re doing.

-Matt
__________________
Currently Motorhomeless
2017 Entegra Aspire 44R (bunks) towing 2019 F-350 LB (Sold)
2012 Tiffin Phaeton 40QKH (Our Phaeton was so nice, we bought it twice)
2016 Open Range RF376FBH (Sold)
Matt D is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Amps per hour? Horsepower per hour? BatteryPro Going Green 5 02-23-2015 06:04 PM
AquaHot Hour Meter? MandG-Fun RV Systems & Appliances 2 04-28-2014 01:22 PM
remote contrl panel with hour meter onan bge Furman RV Systems & Appliances 0 04-10-2011 03:33 PM
Remote hour meter for onan generator David K Winnebago Industries Owner's Forum 3 07-24-2010 05:32 PM
Added Hour Meter Champion Gen Set RoryTek Boondocking 7 03-29-2008 02:37 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:21 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.