How Does Oasis Heat Water

[mre]

When using the Oasis System, does Oasis heat hot water using heating coolant or does it operate independently without the coolant? I have a coolant leak.

Can't find it in the manual nor the forum though I'm sure it's there.

[C.Martin]

Oasis heats domestic hot water thru a heat exchanger. The Oasis heating module supplies hot Century Heat Transfer Fluid (yellow looking propylene glycol).

The actual heat for the Century Fluid is supplied by...

Diesel Burner
One /or both ac powered electric elements...

The engine heat can also be harnessed while driving. If the engine is running there is another loop with hot radiator solution transferring heat as well. Usually a Purple Ethylene Glycol with supplemental coolant additives or Red Ethylene Glycol with Organic Acid Technology...depends on which the builder chose at the time.

[mre]

Since I'm the LCD here, I can go ahead and heat water with the electric heating elements or diesel without hurting or damaging the rest of the system?

[lwmcguire]

Not if you're antifreeze level is low

As long as you keep antifreeze in the surge tank go fo it

[Old-Biscuit]

Here is a great write-up on How an Oasis System works by Mike Griffin---senior member of IRV2
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/oas...ed-233151.html


Clear, concise and worth the read

[JMWheeler]

I've got the identical coach as the OP, and our last trip out, we weren't getting very much hot water using only the electric elements. Normally we can both shower and still have hot water. This time, we only had hot water for the first couple of minutes. When we turned on the burner, we had unlimited hot water. I remembered seeing that I had a red stain under the coach when parked in our storage building, but it looked like rust and I couldn't see any where on the coach it would have come from, but it was in the area under the Oasis. Then as we departed on our trip, I got a low coolant message on the instrument panel. Added coolant to the engine and the message went away. So, I have a few questions to add to the original poster's.
1. Is the Oasis coolant tied to the engine coolant so that a leak in one affects the other?
2. Assuming the previous answer is no, would low coolant in the Oasis prevent it from adequately heating the water on electric only?
3. Since we returned home, I haven't had a chance to delve into it yet, so when you remove the cap on the coolant reserve tank, is there a dipstick of sorts that shows coolant level or how do you determine how much coolant to add?
4. Is there a specific type of coolant required for an Oasis. Freightliner was pretty specific on what should be used for engine coolant


Sorry mre for hijacking your original post, but hopefully it's something we can both learn from. Thanks in advance.

[Rd1]

JMWheeler;5191455] where on the coach it would have come from, but it was in the area under the Oasis.

Then as we departed on our trip, I got a low coolant message on the



You might want to check the compartment where the oasis heat distribution box is located. make sure there are no engine coolant in that compartment. the distribution box is usually located in the opposite compartment from where the oasis boiler is located. the dist. box pic is enclosed.


1. Is the Oasis coolant tied to the engine coolant so that a leak in one affects the other?




No they are not. engine coolant is toxic, oasis fluid is not. The engine coolant goes thru the heat exchanger, so while driving, the engine coolant can heat the heat exchanger, (oasis fluid), which in turn heats the water.


2. Assuming the previous answer is no, would low coolant in the Oasis prevent it from adequately heating the water on electric only?


depending on how low, the short answer is yes and it will be the same with elec or the burner.




3. Since we returned home, I haven't had a chance to delve into it yet, so when you remove the cap on the coolant reserve tank, is there a dipstick of sorts that shows coolant level or how do you determine how much coolant to add?



the oasis fluid overflow, located in the engine compartment, should have markings on the overflow tank specifying min and max when fluid is cold.




4. Is there a specific type of coolant required for an Oasis. Freightliner was pretty specific on what should be used for engine coolant

yes and is different than engine coolant. it is non toxic.



The heat exchanger is the gold color brick size block located in the lower left side of the distribution box. the first chamber has the engine coolant run thru, second is for the oasis fluid and the right side is the chamber for the fresh water.

[Rd1]

Originally Posted by mre

When using the Oasis System, does Oasis heat hot water using heating coolant or does it operate independently without the coolant? I have a coolant leak.

Can't find it in the manual nor the forum though I'm sure it's there.

do you have an engine coolant leak, or an oasis fluid leak? and do you see where the leak may be?

[mre]

Originally Posted by Rd1

do you have an engine coolant leak, or an oasis fluid leak? and do you see where the leak may be?

Oasis fluid leak. The fluid is yellow.

[mre]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Here is a great write-up on How an Oasis System works by Mike Griffin---senior member of IRV2
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/oas...ed-233151.html


Clear, concise and worth the read

Thanks

[Rd1]

Originally Posted by mre

Oasis fluid leak. The fluid is yellow.

is the leak from the oasis expansion tank?

[C.Martin]

Originally Posted by mre

Since I'm the LCD here, I can go ahead and heat water with the electric heating elements or diesel without hurting or damaging the rest of the system?

The Oasis heating unit will fault for “Low Water” before doing damage. It will save itself. There are a series of lights on the front of the heating module...Low Water is the bottom of the row of lights.

https://www.amazon.com/Century-Chemi...s%2C176&sr=8-1

Here’s the stuff to top it up after you repair the leak.

[JMWheeler]

Originally Posted by Rd1

JMWheeler;5191455]

3. Since we returned home, I haven't had a chance to delve into it yet, so when you remove the cap on the coolant reserve tank, is there a dipstick of sorts that shows coolant level or how do you determine how much coolant to add?

the oasis fluid overflow, located in the engine compartment, should have markings on the overflow tank specifying min and max when fluid is cold

Located in the rear of the coach? Saw one there, but assumed it was the radiator overflow. There is a radiator type cap on top of the Oasis. Is that not where you add Oasis coolant?

[pjgolpher]

The type of fluid used is dependent on the color in the tank. Some are yellow, some are pinkish red and some(mine) is blue. You can't mix the fluids. We have a 2017-#3709 Ventana.