UPDATE Aquahot. Why is it so difficult to understand and operate?

[Steve Misemer]

Hi all,

As you can see from my topic I am having difficulty with my aquahot for hot water and the furnace.

Yesterday we had hot water and the furnace working no problem.  I did see that both the electric and diesel buttons were lit-up. Eventually the diesel one went off.

Now today we do not have any hot water even though the Aquahot electric button is on. I have tried to turn on the diesel Aquahot via the push button and the light will go on for a few seconds then shut off.

I have checked for any faults on the electronic control panel and nothing shows.

I checked the shore power and interior breakers.

I'm at a loss.

We are in Yellowstone and the temp supposed to get down to the mid 20's tonight and tomorrow.  Kinda want to figure this out asap.

Any ideas.

Thank you
Steve

[Fred Brooks]

   Steve,
What is the Model number for your aqua hot and do you have the owner's manual? Fred

[Steve Misemer]

AHE-100-04
Reviewing the manual.
We can hear some noise like it trying. And when I go to the aqua hot exhaust it's just blowing clod air. No heat then after a minute or so no air comes out

[Fred Brooks]

   Do you have any portable electric heaters on board? Things are not going to freeze if in the mid 20s for one night. When was the diesel nozzle cleaned last? and the fuel filter for the Wabasto unit. It also sounds like the 120 volt thermostat safety limit switch may need to be reset. Do you have the owners and service manual? You can go to "Coach Assist" and then scroll down to Heating & AC then select Aqua hot to open available manuals. After downloading AHE-100-04 it has a great trouble shooting guide. Fred

[Joel Ashley]

Steve, is your expansion tank fluid level showing anything?

[Steve Misemer]

I looked hoping this would fix my issue . But the fluid levels checked out ok.

[Steve Misemer]

   Do you have any portable electric heaters on board? Things are not going to freeze if in the mid 20s for one night. When was the diesel nozzle cleaned last? and the fuel filter for the Wabasto unit. It also sounds like the 120 volt thermostat safety limit switch may need to be reset. Do you have the owners and service manual? You can go to "Coach Assist" and then scroll down to Heating & AC then select Aqua hot to open available manuals. After downloading AHE-100-04 it has a great trouble shooting guide. Fred

Fred thank you. I went through the manual and did as much as I could with the tools I have on me. We can't even get the electric side of the aquahot tonwork.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Steve,
Just checking since I didn't see you mentioning it; Did you press the Reset button on the control panel of the AH?
Steve

[Steve Misemer]

Sure did.

The only thing that showed up and we couldn't clear " low temp vutoff status" but the manual said this wasn't used in my model of aquahot.

The aquahot electric light stays on in the coach. But it's not working

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Steve,
Suggest you give Roger Berke a call at http://www.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com/
He's an expert on these units and very helpful. I'll take another look at your symptoms when time permits also.
Steve

[Bryan Beamon]

Steve, try to by pass your float switch simply by disconnecting  the the two wires that protrude from the back of the switch and run a jumper wire between the 2 wires that were connected to the switch. You must insure that your fluid  level is maintained.

[Gene Obie]

Also, did you try the 2 resets that Fred mentioned. Location not obvious, but behind the cover shown in attached.

[Dwight Wilson]

I recently had a similar issue and finally figured out it was a faulty optical flame sensor in the burner. The unit would try to fire but when the controller board could not detect a "Flame on" signal from the optical sensor it would shut down the diesel burner. I replaced the sensor and the nozzle at the same time and all was fine. The system will continue to cycle , blowing cold air for a minute or three after it shuts down .The electrical should eventually heat the fluid but when you are running the furnace the electrical element just can't keep up.
Hope this helps.
Dwight

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Steve,
Your stated symptoms indicate the system is detecting a low fluid condition. Paragraph 4.5 in the AHE-100-04 service manual states that the Low Temp Cutoff Error lamp will illuminate when a low antifreeze / water condition is detected. Neither diesel or electric will function when this condition exists. Since you indicated the tank level was OK I'd focus on the float switch and jumper it per Byran's suggestion to verify that the system functions. See pg 17 of the service manual for float switch troubleshooting.
IMHO focus on getting the electric portion of the system working as it is much simpler with fewer components than the diesel portion and I suspect you have a single issue that is preventing both systems from working.
Steve

[Fred Brooks]

    Steve,
I believe Steve is giving some solid guidance. It is really to jump wire 15 & 16 using a paper clip to prove the issue. It is not a fix just a confirmation that the issue is a defective float switch or low coolant. Fred