Oasis Heating System

[Doc C]

Need some advice. I currently have the Precision Temp Hydronic Heater in my 09 Dutchstar. When it works, it works great. However I have had one problem after another. Gary at PT has been great to work with, but I am always worried when I go out if this unit is going to malfunction again. Last month it quit while dry camping with night time temperatures of 15 degrees. I am afraid this unit has left me in the cold for the last time. Choice are to replace it $$ or trade the coach in, Much more $$$$. Therefore I called Newmar and I am thinking about putting in the Oasis Heating system.

I have several questions for those of you that have this heating system.

1. Oasis does not seem popular among the other major RV companies. I do not want the same mistake twice as PT was not popular either in retrospect probably for a good reason. Given that it is not popular, have any of you ran into problems having the Oasis unit repaired. Aquahot is very popular and most RV repair shops are familiar with that brand.

2. Have you had problems any issues with the Oasis system?

3. How do you like it?

4. How does it compare to Aquahot?

5. Any pros or cons in which you wish to share?

[jtovo]

Doc,
I owned a Monaco Windsor with an Aqua Hot & I had several problems with it, I did learn how to work on it by calling Aqua Hot tech & him walking me thru it.
I now own an Oasis & so far it seems to be a little better quality than the Aqua Hot, I am curious to see what others say about the Oais but my vote would be replace your unit with the Oasis.

[Mr_D]

Newmar may have found out that there were too many problems with the Precision Temp unit and changed to the Oasis because of it.

["007"]

Doc C, if you go into QT's# 3 and to Dutch Star Don's Mod Section you will find info on the Oasis that everyone is happy with.
Here is one of them and he has more on the Oasis.

[spinn]

We are really happy with the oasis system in our coach. I cannot compare to aqua hot since i haven't owned one. Your observation is correct inn that oasis is not as popular in the mh industry but that can be for many reasons other than reliability. I think you will see the oasis unit being used in the yachting industry quite a bit

[millerj]

I have an Oasis system in my 2012 Ventana and am having an issue with an aquastat or a limit switch. The system is great when everything is working. When not working it's exponentially more complicated for a simple guy like me than the old water heater and furnace.

[osok]

I like our Oasis but it has not been without fault. First failure I called Newmar and they did a conference call with ITR(Oasis). ITR Tech support was excellent and walked me through the trouble shooting. We found the Domestic Aquastat had failed. Simple part that takes longer to gain access too than to replace. ITR instructed me on a work around so I could still get hot water until replacement part could be shipped. The same day after repair the 25A fuse blew. Never found a cause. One week later everything had to be reset to get it going. These failures were all on Friday's and each one a week apart. Guess the Friday Bug finally died since it has not failed since.

Yes, I'm a little gun shy of it but nothing serious has failed. Since coach purchase last March, I have used the Oasis for about 10 weeks and have exercised it every 2-3 weeks for at least one burn cycle. It is somewhat more technical than typical RV water heater. I feel more comfortable with it since ITR has such good Tech support.

[PDR John]

We never had a problem with ours. Got over 500 hours on the burner and who knows how many just on electric (how we mostly use it).


I have no fear of using our coach in well below freezing temps, because of the Oasis. We've been in the coach at 0 with the basement at 45 and the inside at 72.

[Terry43]

Originally Posted by Doc C

Need some advice. I currently have the Precision Temp Hydronic Heater in my 09 Dutchstar. When it works, it works great. However I have had one problem after another. Gary at PT has been great to work with, but I am always worried when I go out if this unit is going to malfunction again. Last month it quit while dry camping with night time temperatures of 15 degrees. I am afraid this unit has left me in the cold for the last time. Choice are to replace it $$ or trade the coach in, Much more $$$$. Therefore I called Newmar and I am thinking about putting in the Oasis Heating system.

I have several questions for those of you that have this heating system.

1. Oasis does not seem popular among the other major RV companies. I do not want the same mistake twice as PT was not popular either in retrospect probably for a good reason. Given that it is not popular, have any of you ran into problems having the Oasis unit repaired. Aquahot is very popular and most RV repair shops are familiar with that brand.

2. Have you had problems any issues with the Oasis system?

3. How do you like it?

4. How does it compare to Aquahot?

5. Any pros or cons in which you wish to share?

I had a an oasis unit in our 2008 DSDP and was happy with it no problems only noisy and smelly. Our 2011 DSDP had the PT JR in it when purchased and I was not happy with it from the git-go. NewMar wanted $18000 to replace with oasis unit, finally got NewMar to contribute to the replacement of the PT JR with the PT ll and we have been satisfied with the PT ll. The larger unit has two electric elements and a separate zone for heating the coach. Still not as good as oasis unit but much better than the original PT JR. I agree that Gary is very helpful on trouble shooting and helping you solve problems with PT unit.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by Doc C

Need some advice.
2. Have you had problems any issues with the Oasis system?
Yes. The system goes in to Heating Module Fault. Sometimes just resetting at the interior control board will allow it to work just fine. I've had the 5 year maintenence kit installed this summer and the issue was resolved. The previous owner had the same kit installed two years before I did. Since there may be months between uses, I believe that the small fuel filter built inside the unit gets clogged. So I carry a spare. And yes I add Stabil and micro - something to keep the algae down.

3. How do you like it?
Absolutely!!!!!!!!

4. How does it compare to Aquahot?
I've never owned one.

5. Any pros or cons in which you wish to share?

Yes we like it.

[mbisson]

I have subscribed to this thread because I have a PT jr also. What type of cost have you come up with to replace it? I have had this coach(2009 DSDP) for a little over 1-1/2 years and had problems 3 times. Please keep us updated.

[Stealth01]

We've owned both, Aqua Hot and Oasis. Our personal experience says Oasis is hands down a better unit. It's more efficient, as PDR John points out you can run on just electrical most of the time. Oasis has two electric heating elements (1K and 1.5K) as well as diesel burner mode. As for the comment by another poster that it's smelly, if your Oasis is smelly it needs a tune up; Oasis units are pretty much odor free! In addition, and perhaps most important, the Oasis unit can be completely rebuilt - all components... the Aqua Hot requires a MAJOR investment to rebuild.

[JoeP]

Well, when it works, it is Great! We have not had it working consistently since new.

We have a 2011 DSDP bought new. The first year was taken up with problems with the unit not starting. After many many calls to ITR and even a visit to their factory we still were having problems. They even replaced the compressor. No joy.

Finally, after traveling about 5,000 miles and fighting with the unit all the way, a Tech happened to notice that when the unit was installed, the straw in the overflow bottle that allowed the coolant to be sucked back, was not present. This caused many air blocks.

Well, I was glad that it had been sorted.

Then, the pump for zone 2 froze. Unfortunately, this was in a really cold snap so some water lines in the coach also froze. No problem, they replaced the pump. All was well for several trips, then the pump for zone 1 froze. At the same time the red light below the boiler light came on. This time, fortunately we were close to our dealer, they replace both zone 1 and the compressor (again).

Now all is well ???? Undaunted, we will be heading south after Christmas confident that we will have heat and hot water. Well, fingers are crossed anyway.

Thank goodness for the extended warranty! -- two compressors and two pumps and labour ... whbo knows what that was worth.

Joe

["007"]

JoeP not sure why you should have a pump freeze up from cold must systems have a heat sensor in wet bay to operate a heater from Oasis unit to heat all the lower tank bays and plumbing.