Community Forums

dphaynes · 01-06-2017, 09:17 PM

As usual the Tiffin manuals aren't much help. Sigh.

I've got aquahot and a heated hose connected to park water supply.

It's 10F out.

The heated hose appears to have stopped working and water stopped flowing. I turned on the water pump to take water from inboard and it only ran for a few minutes then stopped pumping water. The pump runs as soon as I turn the switch on but no water comes out of any faucet.

I used a temperature gun to shoot different bits in the wet bay, temps ranged from 38F up to 58F depending on what I was pointing at, so it doesn't seem like it should be frozen.

Is there something about the frozen hose still being connected that could be preventing the water pump from working?

I can't shut the spigot on the park water supply, it's frozen solid but I could disconnect the frozen hose since it's not doing anything.

Also the adjustment knob for the aquahot temperature sensor is hard to read since it's mounted sideways (vertical and upside down when trying to read) it. Should I be turning it all the way up or all the way down? It looks like the one setting was for 16F and I set it to that but it's impossible to read with bifocals.

Guess I'll go out and snap a photo of it and see what it actually says...sigh.

(took photo, it's set to the 19F/-7C position now - it was on the 41F position before though that's where it has always been and I haven't had any freezing issues in the past even when temps were down to 6F)

Any hints appreciated (besides the one about don't go way south expecting warm weather 'cause you can freeze yer nads off amidst the cactus and coyotes

)

Mr_D · 01-06-2017, 09:29 PM

You want the setting to be ABOVE freezing like it was before, not the 19° like you have it now.

dphaynes · 01-06-2017, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

You want the setting to be ABOVE freezing like it was before, not the 19° like you have it now.

So I should set it at the other extreme? (the 63F setting)

Electra 225 · 01-07-2017, 01:05 AM

Dphaynes, it's just my preference, (due to freeze up paranoia).......I run my basement Aquahot temp at the 63F setting. I take no chances with it. I figure if there's any cool spots, there's plenty of warm air flowing around to even it out. Keep 'er good and toasty and worry less I say.

Regards,
W.D.

allegro1x · 01-07-2017, 04:51 AM

I think disconnecting the hose to city water should be done and not use any water. if you can open bathroom and kitchen sink faucets incase you get some thawing so they can drip might be a good idea. sounds like you're going to have some damage.

dphaynes · 01-07-2017, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allegro1x

I think disconnecting the hose to city water should be done and not use any water. if you can open bathroom and kitchen sink faucets incase you get some thawing so they can drip might be a good idea. sounds like you're going to have some damage.

Yeah I'm thinking I'm screwed because apparently the wet compartment heat doesn't work.

I had it on 63F setting all night. I just went out there with a temperature gun and shot about 20 or 30 different places. I got one reading of 50F everything else was in the 12F to 38F range (it was 10F ambient then bug it got down to less than 2F last night). Everything is frozen solid.

The compartment heat not working is just another in a long list of significant things wrong with the coach. To put the exclamation point on that, while I was sitting at the table last night in one of the wobbly Tiffin chairs (both chairs have one leg about 3/16" shorter than the others) the entire back splash fell off the bathroom wall, chipping one of the tiles on the sharp corners of the faucet.

There's nothing tacky on the back side that I can feel, and there don't appear to be any fasteners so I'm guessing the completely non-sticky random patterns on the back were supposed to be some sort of adhesive. It literally has no tack at all to it, it feels like hard plastic, I can slide my finger on it without any dragging.

This thing is Green Acres with wheels

dphaynes · 01-07-2017, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electra 225

Dphaynes, it's just my preference, (due to freeze up paranoia).......I run my basement Aquahot temp at the 63F setting. I take no chances with it. I figure if there's any cool spots, there's plenty of warm air flowing around to even it out. Keep 'er good and toasty and worry less I say.

Regards,
W.D.

I think I'll join you in the freeze up paranoia camp, because it's a real pain in the butt to not have either on board or city water at all.

Once I get someone to fix the heat so that it actually works, I'll do like you and just leave the heat on high.

I've also added an item to my maintenance checklist to verify that the bay is warm on a regular basis.

EdInArk · 01-07-2017, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allegro1x

I think disconnecting the hose to city water should be done and not use any water. if you can open bathroom and kitchen sink faucets incase you get some thawing so they can drip might be a good idea. sounds like you're going to have some damage.

If, of course, you still haven't managed to shut the water off at the park water supply you'll need something on it to avoid the excitement when / if it does thaw.

Maybe you've got an unused hose nozzle or something that's screw on it temporarily.

allegro1x · 01-07-2017, 01:34 PM

Dp - if you haven't abandoned the mh yet, I think it might be time to find a warm place to live till spring. the more i've thought about where i think you're at and everything else that may have to be repaired - holding tanks and valves and some water lines. be safe - Dave

dphaynes · 01-07-2017, 01:40 PM

Went to town and bought a heat gun and a clamp-on meter for measuring current flow.

By the time I got back, the sun @ 26F had thawed park water connection, that works fine now.

Average temperature of sensor for brand new Pirit heated hose: 26F (shot from many angles, readings ranged from 22F to 32F)

Current flow, 0.00A It's supposed to draw 1.5A when on. Hose is cold and stiff in the shade, warm and semi-pliable in the sun.

Double checked the outlets with a tester, outlets on coach are fine, 120V outlet on pedestal is fine. It's got power it's just not heating.

Water pump still does nothing but run. I warmed it up with the heat gun but I think that either the fresh water tank froze (which seems likely given temps inside there last night) and it can't draw, or else freezing the pump killed it.

I think I'm going to put the Killawatt on the heated hose plug and see if it ever draws any power while I'm not looking.

Nothing much else I can do for now, tomorrow will play the "Let's see if we can find someone who does warranty work on a Tiffin and can get me in with less than a 3 week wait" game.

They can look at the black tank flush that appears to be completely blocked from the factory. No water flows through the connection, the hose just pressurizes and then nothing happens even after 15 minutes of waiting.

Gotta find a Freightliner shop too, there's a recall on the power steering hose/connection. Maybe they'll be able to fix the windshield wipers properly, they just keep getting more and more erratic over time. The intermittent stopped working completely and now parking the wipers is purely random, it can take up to 8 tries starting/stopping the wipers before they finally park reasonably close to where they're supposed to. I hadn't used the wipers for nearly 2 hours when I pulled in last night. I parked the rig and turned off the key...and off to the races go the windshield wipers. They ran 9 wipes before they finally shut themselves off (I was standing back away from the dash and holding the key in my hand when they finally stopped moving)

Maybe that's what my license plate should be, GAWW as in "Green Acres with Wheels"

Electra 225 · 01-07-2017, 11:08 PM

Jeez, that's incredible. Sorry to hear of all of your issues, I would be upset with all that going on. Hope you get everything fixed soon.

I thought I would pass along something I did. Now, in my case, heat gets to all bays except a couple which are isolated. The wet bay gets heat even though it's the weakest bay being un-insolated. I purchased a indoor/outdoor thermometer (wireless) from Lowes. I attached the outside sensor in the wet bay with velcro.
I just monitor the temp from indoors, and I figure if its above freezing in the wet bay.....then all other bays are bound to be fine. Works pretty well.

Regards,
W.D.

wa8yxm · 01-08-2017, 12:20 PM

The Frozen city water hose will not affect operation of on-board water supply.. however please do not DISCONNECT it till you can turn off hte park water..

Sound like your fresh tank also froze or ran dry.

Woodchopper · 01-08-2017, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dphaynes

It's 10F out.
I turned on the water pump to take water from inboard and it only ran for a few minutes then stopped pumping water. The pump runs as soon as I turn the switch on but no water comes out of any faucet.

dphaynes
Is your water tank empty?

garykk · 01-08-2017, 12:45 PM

Regarding your 12 volt water pump.first make sure you have water getting to the pump. Shut off the intake with the valve leading to the pump. Remove the line to the pump and open the valve for a second, water should flow from the tank, if not, the line may be frozen or the tank is empty...doubt if the water froze if full. If you have water, reconnect the line. Check the small clear plastic filter on the pump to make sure it's not cracked from freezing or plugged.
Lastly, if air got into the system, the pump will loose its prime and will just run. Usually this can be cured by opening a faucet closest to the pump..
Also check for cracks on the pump housing if it was frozen, it could have cracked.