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brobox · 01-31-2014, 07:30 AM

After reading this post again this morning...another thought came to mind. After treating the fuel for storage here in hot humid FL is to be sure to run some of the treated fuel to the AH. Without the information on this post, I think I would have spaced that.

CampDaven · 01-31-2014, 07:51 AM

Great thread. I learned a lot.

A thought: I had fuel oil furnaces in some of my S&Bs. I ran the burner for a minute or two monthly to keep the fuel orifice clean. Many neighbors required service on theirs at the start of heating season.

Dr4Film · 01-31-2014, 08:39 AM

Dave,

You have brought up a very good point regarding home heating fuel oil burners.

The AH Webasto burner is basically the same except built to be used in a boat, RV, truck or automobile.

Diesel vs Home Heating Fuel

In our upstate NY home in Rochester, I remember shoveling coal into our furnace at home. Then my dad converted the same furnace to a fuel oil fired burner. He would make sure it was cleaned and serviced well before the winter season was upon us. Later he removed the old huge forced air furnace and installed a compact gas fired hot water baseboard furnace. He was an amazing father with lots of abilities.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

CampDaven · 01-31-2014, 09:16 AM

I hear you Richard! Our dads taught us a fortune worth of skills.

Had and S&B with a coal furnace that was converted to fuel oil simply by jamming a fuel oil burner into the coal cleanout door. I replaced that and all of the ductwork. Went to NG. Most of those skills came from working with dad.

ShadowBolt · 02-05-2014, 11:23 AM

Thanks for all the good info on the Aquahot. I have been in Telluride skiing for a week. I left the electric and LP burner on while we were gone. My LP supply went from 36% to 8%! This is with our temps running around the mid to upper twenties for lows and mid to upper forties for highs (with a few days in the 70's over the weekend). I have zone one and three set on gas at 48 degrees. Zone two is off. I'm shocked I am using this much LP. I have an e-mail where Joyce (who has never steered me wrong) said for me to set Zone two to gas and turn on the electric burner only (and to only run zone two). Also she told me to turn on the basement heater at it's lowest setting. I did not trust this for the washing machine. I can heat the wet bay with a 100 watt light bulb (maybe less) and I guess I should have done as Chuck told me to and blown out the water in the washer. This winter has been one for the record books. I brought my father in law a half cord of wood in 2010 and it lasted him three winters. In Sept. I brought him another half cord and he may not have enough to make the weekend. In a normal winter in central Texas I'm sure just the electric burner would be enough. My floor heat in the bedroom does not work well enough to protect the washing machine. I'm very grateful to have this forum and all the smart people to help me figure all this out. This is the first year that I have not just drained the coach and did not worry about how cold it was going to be. Damn global warming I guess.
I'm going to turn up the temp on zone one and three this afternoon and see if it works (if the fans come on and blow how air). I only have the electric burner on since I was afraid of running out of LP. It did not even freeze last night but tonight is supposed to be 25 so either way I will turn on the LP burner for the next two days. 8% should last two days.

JJ

brobox · 02-05-2014, 12:10 PM

JJ, you are not alone on going through propane. I filled up the gas bottles for my fireplace the other day and LP is up to $4.00 a gallon here. They said there is an LP shortage because of the heavy use this winter.

Dr4Film · 02-06-2014, 09:09 AM

Again, it pays to look up your specific model and download the manuals for that model. Then read through them to become familiar with their operation.

When looking at the downsized Aqua-Hot Model 400LP, it has a burn rate of .7 - .8 gallons of LPG per hour of continuous burning which it will never do as it cycles on and off similar to a diesel fired AH.

Also, being a downsized version, it will shut down the coach heating system when you are using the hot water system. It gives priority to the fresh water delivery system.

The diesel fired units typically burn .40 - .50 gallons of diesel per hour of continuous burning operation.

Most coaches usually have a much larger diesel tank to draw on than they do LPG tanks. If you own a LPG Aqua-Hot, I would suggest carrying extra capacity to supplement your on-board tanks.

Unfortunately, manufacturers have found ways to save money, space and weight by offering smaller downsized units. Sometimes it is at the expense of the owner and this is one case where the owner ends up suffering the consequences.

Dr4Film ----- Richard