Need some help

[dave&ginny]

Ok....we spent the first night in the Aspire and trying to figure everything out. Now I need help figuring out the hot water heater. I have the LP on (all night)but the hot water isn't there for the shower. The water starts out hot but after a few minutes the water starts cooling.

What am I doing wrong?

[hawgguy]

Is the furnace firing up the propane side? I know you said the LP was on (and I assume the electric element as well). You should be able to hear the exhaust of the LP burner when triggered. Turn on the hot water and go outside and listen.

[Marcosdad]

Hawgguy is probably right. Sounds like the water heated with electric is running out and the propane is not firing. Does stove top work? If so, Aqua Hot problem. If not, check propane quantity and ensure that the valve at the tank is open.

[Ourrvtrip]

Another item I've experienced is if I'm staying at a campsite with strong water pressure and flow, then I need to install my inline water pressure regulator to keep flow at a decent rate but not too much for Aqua Hot to not be able to heat. Tommy

[gripper]

If you have an outside shower, you might check to see if both valves are closed, not just the valve at the end of the hose. If they are open, the cold water will intrude into the hot water line. That happened to me once.

[1mainiac]

Also check the bypass valves at the AH unit I have seen some where the bypass was not fully closed and it would mix water.

[1mainiac]

Also sounds like you bought from the wrong dealer since you pointed out the delivery only took 3 hours it means you got rushed thru the show thru there is no way a decent delivery can be done in 3 hours. I can run you thru nearly all of the unit in a hour or more but to make sure you understand and answer your questions takes several hours. Feel free to PM me I will try and help as much as I can.

[DebbieMH]

I doubt if this will be the problem, sounds like your Aqua hot isn't firing up like others here have said. But you might want to run the hot water in the sink for about a minute or two before getting in the shower. That tells the Aqua hot to fire up - at least it works well on ours - but we have an Anthem and not LP. On an Anthem, there are two Aqua hot switches, one for electric and one for diesel. Not sure if an Aspire has the same, if so, make sure your gas switch is on. Good luck, I sure hope you get it figured out soon, have to have hot water!

[Spk64]

Check to see if your unit has a stir pump. Seems to be a common failure point for hot water with aqahot or hydro hot units. I have the same problem with a diesel fire unit right now.

[voltdoc]

Originally Posted by dave&ginny

Ok....we spent the first night in the Aspire and trying to figure everything out. Now I need help figuring out the hot water heater. I have the LP on (all night)but the hot water isn't there for the shower. The water starts out hot but after a few minutes the water starts cooling.

What am I doing wrong?

If the propane burner is firing (do you feel heat coming out the AH exhaust?), then what you are experiencing might just be the nature of the beast. You probably have the newer 400LP AH, but on our 350LP AH what you described is more or less normal - after about 5 minutes of shower the water starts to cool and will eventually go lukewarm, but if you keep running it for several more minutes (and the propane burner has kicked in) it will gradually get warm again and at that point you will have unlimited hot water. Is this what you are experiencing?

The root cause of this IMO is the lack of a stir pump on the 350LP and/or excessive water flow rates, but I would have thought your newer model AH would have improvements to resolve that problem. In any case, we have made a few changes to our setup that have mostly made it a non-issue for us:

1) adjusted the mixing valve on the AH so the max water temp can exceed the safe limit (120F I believe). Now you can do the mixing at the shower valve but need to be careful not to scald yourself. This should extend the amount of hot water you get initially.

2) reduced the flow rate. We have a pressure regulator on the incoming water supply and limit that to 45-50 PSI. More importantly, move the spray pattern selection lever on the showerhead towards the off position so the flow rate reduces - in our experience this greatly increases the amount of hot water time and in warm climates we can get unlimited hot water on just the electric element. I would try this easy fix first and see what results you get.

3) had Entegra add the "relay kit" to the AH. From what I read at the AH website the 400LP does not have a separate stir pump, just like the 350LP. I don't know if Entegra puts the "relay kit" in by default, or if they just handle it on a case by case basis, or have some other solution. What the relay kit does is force the zone 3 (bed/bath) heat loop circulator pump to run whenever you turn on the AH "burner" switch - in effect it creates a stir pump. This works and makes for a more consistent shower. It is an OK solution if the weather is cold and/or if you make sure to only leave the burner switch on when using the shower. It has a downside though - if you leave the "burner" switch on for long periods it causes the floor (and cabinet) in the bed/bath to heat up and wastes fuel. I have some ideas on how to rewire ours to work a little differently - perhaps just adding an auto shutoff timer to the relay would do the trick.

Rob

[C310]

Also if your dealer didn't tell you you can reach Entegra after hours @ 574-361-0034. Steve

[brobox]

Taking the easy step first, have your dealer check to see if the new AH motors/pumps have been installed. The old stir pumps have been a problem. http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/aqua...ps-241795.html

I had two pumps that did not work on my AH the second time it was used. What others have said about running some hot water before taking a shower to fire off the burner is the same thing Entegra told me. I brush my teeth with hot water before taking a shower and it did solve the problem for me.

[dave&ginny]

Thanks everybody......just sat down at home after driving all day with a tall glass of "Jack". Tomorrow, I'll go out and play with it.

One more question from you smart folks.....how do I turnn off the back up alarm?

[brobox]

Originally Posted by dave&ginny

One more question from you smart folks.....how do I turn off the back up alarm?

Unplug it at the alarm horn. It is just a single 2 wire plug. The horn is right in the middle as you open the engine cowl.