Vexing Aquahot issue.

[Mike Canter]

I see on the jumpers where you can change the stir pump from 3 to 2. Mine is set up for pump 2 I guess because of the wet bay heat has to be on the stir pump so it not being dependent on having a thermostat set inside the mh plus it would make my living room area too hot if the stir pump was number 3.

[Mike Canter]

Ron, if you changed the stir pump to another loop that does not heat your wet bay then you are in danger of freezing your pipes. The wet bay has a independent thermostat and needs flowing hot water all the time.

[Pusherpilot]

Originally Posted by Mike Canter

Ron, if you changed the stir pump to another loop that does not heat your wet bay then you are in danger of freezing your pipes. The wet bay has a independent thermostat and needs flowing hot water all the time.

Yeah I know!!! I wasn't suggesting that anybody change the function of their pumps but simply pointing out that the Zone 3 pump may be repurposed to be the stir pump. The plumbing in the coach, which is determined by the coach mfgr will determine which pump to use as stir.
I just did the "annual" on my burner and changed the zone 3 pump last week. Really do wisne they had made that bottom pump a bit more accessable!!
Ron

[Mike Canter]

Ron, do you know about the after market fuel nozzles that are available at $10 each. I use them and would not be surprised that AH sells the same one. There is only one company named Hago that makes them.

Patriot Supply - 030G4332

I buy three at a time which saves on shipping. They are made in the USA

[distaff]

Mike, are you hijacking my thread? Well go ahead, I finally go this fixed.

This has been vexing me since I bought the coach. First there was a problem with the LR/kitchen, and there was a crack on the board. It didn't help that Monaco installed the board on the inside of the bay door that housed the unit, so it was exposed to the environment and any leaks in the door seals (we moved it to the side wall of the next bay over so it at least is not in direct line with drips and rain when the door is open).

I did post the problem on Roger Berke's site - thanks to a couple of you because I had lost track of it. I got a document (posted earlier) from Roger showing the correct jumper positions, and some advice from Mark Quintana, a former AHS tech support person.

When I had the board replaced a couple of years ago, I am guessing the RV tech, who is trained in the system but does not claim to be an expert, just matched how the previous board was set up and wired. I suspect that the previous owners had some work done and this was a work around by another RV tech, because the AHSTIR jumper position was different than the diagram Roger sent, and zone 3 was wired but zone 5 was not. Mark told me to move the wires from zone 3 to zone 5.

First, I moved the jumper and now pump 2 acts as the stir pump and comes on when the burner lights (pump 3 was coming on with the burner). But this left me with the LR/kitchen thermostat not activating the pump - the fans would turn but not the pump. Next I moved all four wires up to zone 5 and now she works as intended.

Many thanks to everyone on this thread, but especially to Roger and Mark over at Roger's site.

[Mike Canter]

No, sorry didn't intend to hijack it. Just adding some info since Ron was talking about doing his yearly checkup and we probably had the attention of several RVers that have AHs

Wow, should glad you got that fixed. No wonder it was vexing. Can't understand why somebody moved those wires. Why would anyone move the wires to fix a problem. Wires just don't suddenly move and cause a problem. You are lucky you didn't freeze your wet bay. Have you found the little black dial thermostat for your wet bay?

[Barlow46]

Paul,
Good you are fixed as designed. I think we all learned a lot from this post, especially not taking for granted that the last guy working on something knew what he/she was doing. Thanks for posting the info on your fix also as I know others will benefit from that information.

[Dr4Film]

You would be very surprised at the number of used RV's that have "strange" configurations that are assumed correct but were Jerry-rigged for whatever reasons.

And it is now left up to the new owner to figure it out.

That's why both Roger Berke and John Carrillo are both excellent resources for information to straighten out Aqua-Hot problems.

Rogers web site - RV Hydronic Heater Parts

John's web site - Aqua-Hot Parts & Authorized Service Center

I personally go to Roger first for all of my Aqua-Hot advice and parts. Unfortunately, he is no longer providing his yearly service but focusing more on repairs and parts.

Glad you got it all figured out.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[distaff]

Mike, that was just a giggle. And no, never found the thermostat in the wet bay. My next problem is that I just noticed that the power cord reel stopped working. I'll add that to to the fact that the switch to fill the tank from the city connection doesn't' work, you can't start the water pump from the wet bay panel, the low point drains on the water manifold are below the access panel (so you need to reach inside with pliers to open and close them), and none of the tank sensors are remotely close to reality. Having heat was important, the rest will wait (well, I guess power might come in handy too).

These things are made up of complicated parts, and each coach maker assembled them with their own little unique ideas, they didn't make very many, and the documentation is deplorable, so you can't blame the poorly trained RV techs who have to work on all these different machines. But having said that, this was a lesson.

If I hadn't been kneeling beside the bay with my eyes on the pump when the burner started, I wouldn't have had my first clue. Prior to that it just plain seemed random. At one point it appeared that if you turned off the thermostat and turned it back on, it would start up the pump, but that was a false positive.