Community Forums

hogdriver · 11-05-2015, 10:55 PM

Al

What is the name of the Certified Aqua Hot shop in Florida? I might need it!

DSL417 · 11-06-2015, 07:44 AM

Go to the AH home page and there is a button for Certified Servicing companies. I think one is Independence West of Orlando.

AlKat · 11-06-2015, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hogdriver

Al

What is the name of the Certified Aqua Hot shop in Florida? I might need it!

I used the "Hitching Post" located in Ocala, Fl since I live in Ocala. But the info Dave (DSL417) posted is a great way of finding a certified AH company. After I found a couple that was convenient for me to use I then call AH and asked for their recommendations.

Lisablue85 · 11-06-2015, 10:00 AM

We're looking at a '99 American Heritage which has a (working) Aqua Hot ... Well be driving down to check out the coach next weekend, obviously we'll test to see if it's running the way it should, but is there anything we should check/look for?

Gary.Jones · 11-06-2015, 03:37 PM

Not to be smart, but that it works....

Older AquaHots in my experience worked much better than the new ones as they tended to have better manufactured pump motors.

The issues I would look into are things like: Ask the owner / seller for the paperwork on when it was serviced and what it was serviced for. A lot of individual owners will have the complete service records for their coach. Not always, but that always is a good sign. Older AquaHots (as well as newer ones) have two forms of heat. Heat through an electrode element just like an electric hot water tank in your house, and heat through a diesel fired burner (I am assuming yours is diesel fired, but that is not a certainty.... some are propane fired (like the Entegra Aspire)). The diesel fired burners have several main issues. One is the nozzle that mists the diesel. Those get clogged and spray rather than mist. They should mist. You should see a very brief, small puff of dark smoke when the AquaHot diesel burner ignites. A brief pull of smoke is OK.... a lot of smoke is a sign of problems. The blower on the AquaHot will start first and you will feel air coming out the AquaHot exhaust and then after about 10 seconds, the igniters will ignite the diesel mist and you get the puff. A good working AquaHot should have only a small puff and it should be brief. Lots of soot is not good and suggests that the nozzle or burner may be a problem. The Igniter should ignite the diesel the first time it tries, and not need to retry and retry to get ignition. Some people say to hold a sheet of white paper close to the AquaHot exhaust pipe when it is turned on so you can see if any "raw" diesel comes out the pipe. If you get no raw diesel, that is good. If you get specks or blobs of diesel, that suggest a bad nozzle.

The nozzles are inexpensive things. The igniters are two metal rods that produce a spark to ignite the diesel. If the igniters are spaced correctly, you should get ignition on the first try. If spaced too far apart or not correctly, that may lead to more tries.

The 120 VAC heater type element will do a reasonable job of heating up a few gallons of water fairly slowly. You should be able to take a pretty long shower but only if the diesel or propane burners are fired. From a dead cold start, you should have lots of nice hot water in ~ 15 minutes with the diesel burner active.... if only the 120 VAC element, things are much slower and you will run out of hot water pretty quickly.

Hope that gives you a quick idea of operation. Many people have their AH's serviced every year to 2 years.... change nozzle, replace diesel filter, adjust igniters, and clean out the combustion chamber. Had it done at a rally not long ago on my Monaco and it cost me about $250 for the complete service.

Good luck. Keep us advised

Gary

Lisablue85 · 11-06-2015, 04:24 PM

Thanks so much Gary! Lol! Yes, we were told it works. This info will be a huge help!

hawgguy · 11-06-2015, 06:30 PM

It will probably work forever. That vintage probably has pumps made in the USA.

Lisablue85 · 11-07-2015, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hawgguy

It will probably work forever. That vintage probably has pumps made in the USA.

Thanks so much Hawgguy!

Pops90gt · 11-15-2015, 09:01 AM

Hey, Texas this is Bob with the Tiffen and the kitty cats we met at Lazy L. So what is being done to solve your problem. I know the temp has dropped a bit. We just got back from a trip visiting our daughter, an our furnace and wall thermostat was giving us problems. gonna call Colton tomorrow. Our deal on the Anthem went belly up, we'll keep looking. It seems that your not the only ones with that problem, too bad that you find it when it gets cold. Good luck hope to see you again. Say hi to Smokey and the Bandit
Bob

Diesel Diva · 11-17-2015, 07:56 AM

Nice to hear from you. Sorry the Anthem did not come through for you. Aqua Hot is sending a new kit to me and I have an appointment with Buffalo RV for November 23rd to have the new kit installed. I asked them to send the kit to me in case the weather got so bad that we had to leave. Still shooting for Thanksgiving with the family here in Lockport. Sent you an email about the Anthem, check to see if you got it so you have our email address.

Smokey and the Bandit are doing quite well. Still growing daily.

Mike

Pops90gt · 11-18-2015, 06:57 AM

Good to hear from you, I might have deleted your e-mail by mistake. Are you using washy44@yahoo. That's mine. When your at Buffalo Rv I know that they have a 16 Aspire 44B and a 15 Anthem 44B. If you do any shopping be on your A game. They are slippery when it comes to dealing.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Bob

johnnyreno · 12-01-2015, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunsetranch

So, because of my concern over so many Aqua Hot problems and just leaving on a 4 month trip. I called Aqua Hot gave them all our information and they said all was well with our serial #. We turned the floor heat on yesterday afternoon because it finally got cold enough in Vegas to try it. Lasted about 8 hours...woke up this am and no floor heat...checked zone 1 REDLIGHT! Called Aqua Hot right away and guess who else needs all 4 pumps replaced! My biggest disappointment is I really believe they knew, last week when I called, should recall many more but are just waiting for the call of the failure!! Sad that is the way business is done these days!

Don't bother calling around vegas for any aquahot specialist. dave dsl 417 may know a guy though;

johnnyreno · 12-01-2015, 07:48 PM

Get plug in heaters especially 4 below

Sunsetranch · 12-05-2015, 01:06 PM

Had all 4 pumps replaced November 10th unit works fine now but...
First pic is what the fluid looked like that went in, second pic is what it looks like today???
Can't be ok?? Sending this to Aqua Hot too, any thoughts, anyone else have this, seen this? Don't want to add anymore fluid until question is resolved.