Jenturi while driving

[Alaskajim]

I am planning to go south for the winter (from alaska) and the temperature is expected to be below freezing (lows below 20 deg F) through Tok, AK and Destruction Bay, YT.

Is it safe to run the Jenturi furnace while driving?

I have a 2006 Allegro bus, 40QXP, with Jenturi diesel fired furnace, etc.
Thanks, jim

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by Alaskajim

I am planning to go south for the winter (from alaska) and the temperature is expected to be below freezing (lows below 20 deg F) through Tok, AK and Destruction Bay, YT.



Is it safe to run the Jenturi furnace while driving?



I have a 2006 Allegro bus, 40QXP, with Jenturi diesel fired furnace, etc.

Thanks, jim

Never heard of a "Jenturi".....neither has Google 😃

Do you mean you have a "hydroHot" (AquaHot) diesel fired heating system?

There is an exhaust stack called a "Gen-turi" which is only for use while stationary, and routes exhaust up and over the roof of the RV.


If you have a "HydroHot" on your Allegro bus, which I think you might, It is perfectly okay to use while driving. See if your installation has the "motoraid" loop. If you do, it takes the heat from the engine and uses it while driving to heat your hot water and provide heat essential for "free". If not, then the diesel burner will kick in and provide the heat.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I don't know what a "Jenturi furnace" is either.

You can use either an LP gas furnace or a Hydrohot (Aquahot) heating system while driving.

The typical RV LP furnace may or not not stay lit and heating, but it won't harm anything if it does not. The built-in safety interlocks are all but foolproof.

[Alaskajim]

Your are both correct. It is an Aqua-hot heating system - not a Jenturi (Gen-turi) system. I should have taken a deep breath before sending the post. I had Genturi on my mind because I had just completed a modification to the Gen-turi exhaust pipes. Sorry about that.

While driving up last spring, the short 6 inch heater hose from the engine to the Aqua-hot heater broke and cost $10,000 to fix it. This included expenses from: 1) tow 80 miles to Prince George, 2) damage made by the tow truck, 3) replacing the broken heater hose, 4) replacing the antifreeze, and 5) 5 nights in a motel. The Good Sam roadside service insurance was a big help.

I appreciate your kind comments.
Hang in there. Jim

[Smitty77]

Depending on which model you have, you may have a loop that goes thru the engine? If so, then your engine loop will keep your Aqua Heat which will the feed your registers. If is not an Aqua Hot with the engine loop. Then you have two options, just the normal Diesel mode fired up and running. Or, you could run the generator and turn on the electric element. If you have the generator running for some other reason, the you can do both, and the electric will augment the Diesel.

I suspect the Diesel option would consume the less fuel overall, as it should cycle off and on as needed to keep hot fluids flowing to the in coach heat registers.

When we travel in very cold weather, we close the door from the kitchen back. Then only run the front zone of the coach heater. We have the engine loop with our Aqua (Hydro) Hot, and it does a great job. We also use the Over The Road heater too.

Finally, I know of a few that will travel with their electric heaters on, with the generator running. They prefer to not use the propane furnace while traveling. They have electric heaters that are not top heavy, and have auto tip over safety switches.

Travel safely, and warmly!
Smitty

[Alaskajim]

I have the diesel fueled Aqua-hot heater with a circulating loop from the engine so I will try running the Aqua-hot heater and the dash heater. We don't have a propane heater. Your idea of sectioning off the MH to concentrate the heat is a good one.

I had a problem with the engine heater loop that connects to the Aqua-hot heater and am a little leary about driving in cold weather. The forecast is for lows in the teens through the Yukon Territory. During our trip home last spring a small section of hose attached to the Aqua-Hot heater broke and stranded us on Hwy 16 between McBride and 80 miles from Prince George, BC. This cost a total of $10,000 which I described on the post before. I hope Tiffin made a lot of money on that shortcut.

Thank you very much for the replies.
Hang in there. Jim

[Smitty77]

Jim - We did 6 days at Strawberry Flat along a still frozen over Muncho Lake last year. We hid out to allow Victorias Day to pass away from Liard Host Springs!

We had temps in the teens every night. Usually just used our bigger size Heat Buddy on the low setting for in the early evening. Then cocooned up in the back bedroom overnight. I'd get up in the AM, and fire up both the Heat Buddy Mr Heater (On high, with the fan activated.), and fire up the Hyrdo Hot and turn on both zones of the furnace. Within 30 mins, we went from the mid 30's inside, to warm and toasty! I'd then turn of the HyrdoHot, until we needed hot water again. And set the Mr. Heater to the low setting until we got out of the coach for that day. Worked well.

While driving in the teens and twenties along the Alcan, our OTR Heater worked well with the coach closed off to the back and the engine loop of the furnace feeding the two front registers of our coach.

Was it the rear pump that failed on your coach? We had a leaking rear pump that pushes hot engine fluid up to the front OTR heater. Our coach has two of them, and the one in there rear seems to be known to go out due to the years next to he hot engine. We just bypassed ours, and never replaced it, and the front pump has been doing fine on circulation of hot fluids to the front OTR Heater.

Different coaches, so sure could be a different design!

Travel safe, and enjoy the roller coasters of the Ice Heaves North of Whitehorse and along and around Destruction Bay!

Wish we were going with you!
Smitty

[Alaskajim]

Hi Smitty
We also camped at Muncho lake a couple of years ago in April and the rotten ice made a beautiful picture.

While you were driving and camped in the teens were you afraid that your water lines would freeze up. Especially the suction line from the fresh water tank to the pump? We don't have any insulation in that part of the compartment because that is also where the hole for the dump line for the holding tanks is located. Should the Aqua-hot heater keep the fresh water tank and the holding tanks warm?

Our problem with the Aqua-hot system was the failure of a short piece of hose (3/4" x 6" long) located at the Aqua-hot heater. It joins the heater hose from the engine to the Aqua-hot heater. I was told that this short section of hose is inferior on Allegro Bus models prior to 2010 and ours is 2009 model.

Is there a separate switch to circulate the Aqua-hot fluid to the OTR heater?

We have spent a lot of time in a 5th wheel trailer but this is our first experience with a motor home. The MH has more systems to learn.

Thank you for your help. Jim

[Smitty77]

Originally Posted by Alaskajim

Hi Smitty
We also camped at Muncho lake a couple of years ago in April and the rotten ice made a beautiful picture.

While you were driving and camped in the teens were you afraid that your water lines would freeze up. Especially the suction line from the fresh water tank to the pump? We don't have any insulation in that part of the compartment because that is also where the hole for the dump line for the holding tanks is located. Should the Aqua-hot heater keep the fresh water tank and the holding tanks warm?

Our problem with the Aqua-hot system was the failure of a short piece of hose (3/4" x 6" long) located at the Aqua-hot heater. It joins the heater hose from the engine to the Aqua-hot heater. I was told that this short section of hose is inferior on Allegro Bus models prior to 2010 and ours is 2009 model.

Is there a separate switch to circulate the Aqua-hot fluid to the OTR heater?

We have spent a lot of time in a 5th wheel trailer but this is our first experience with a motor home. The MH has more systems to learn.

Thank you for your help. Jim

Hi Jim - The iced lake was a real treat for us San Diego based warm weather people! We had maybe 5-7' of water close to the shores. And in other places, I assume due to wind, the ice was crashed up onto the shore. Making these really need looking ice crystals (Sort of like the Superman, where the showed his home world before he was shot out into space as a baby!)

I'm not up on the Tiffen's, but I would assume you have heated bays, especially the water related bays. You can check that with the Tiffen owner group, but I would be surprised if our coach did not have that. The question then becomes, how much battery power do you have overnight? While boon docking, running the Aqua Hot overnight will consume battery power.

Our Country Coach is well pretty well insulated. But I did keep the underneath cabinets in the kitchen, and bathroom vanity, cracked open about 3" overnight. May not have needed to, but wanted the heat that we did spend the funds to generate, to reach the plumbing that ran along the outside walls. And, since I would warm us up pretty quick with the big Heat Buddy in the AM, even if they had froze, the hour or so of heating probably unfroze them. (Never recall having a frozen pipe, but may have and just did not know it.) And, the HydroHot for sure got the water bay area warmed up. It has it's on temp sensor, and register, so it is automatic once the Hydro Hot is on. One other thing I did, especially if ever running the Generator, like for when the Microwave/Convection oven combo was being used to bake something. I'd fire up the electric element to the HydroHot (My model, only has one elements, higher end models have two elements). Keeping that HydroHot tank heated up off and on, sure gives you a head start on the keeping warm at night. And finally, unit also is used to Pre Heat the engine, for cold starts. Whenever I had the HydroHot on, either diesel or electric, I also pre-heated the engine at that time too. That is a hunk of metal back their, and once it can be warmed up a bit, it provided a good heat sink like area. And that does filter a bit into the bedroom area too.

On the Aqua Hot and the OTR Heater. No loop that I'm aware of to feed the OTR heater from the AquaHot. Sorry if I said that in my earlier post. I just used the, in my case Hydro Hot, to augment the ORT heater. We have a front register in the bottom of the dash, and one in the kitchen area. Those are the two that really helped in cold weather driving, along with he OTR Heater.

Travel safe, stay warm!!! Enjoy! (Are you going to stop in Tok, maybe toss a pancake along with Sourdough Dave!!! ?)
Smitty