winterizing with Aqua Hot

[Stan Simpson]

I've searched, but can't find instructions on winterizing with Aqua Hot. With our Endeavor we blew out the water lines at 45 psi and put some pink stuff in the drains, after draining and bypassing the water heater. I've read that not winterizing the Aqua Hot properly can lead to severe damage. Is there a previous thread on this, or can someone who does it themselves post a step by step for winterizing the coach with Aqua Hot?

Thank you,

Stan

[Sean Donohue]

Well what I do...

1. On the trip home, open the water tank, low drain ports and all water faceuts. The drive slushs the water out.
2. When I get home I blow the lines at about 45-50 PSI, Close all facuets and run the washer icemaker, and water dispenser on fridge.
3. Disconnect the water lines from the fridge and blow again.
4. run the washer on spin only
5. remove the panel in the bay by the Aquahot unit and disconnect the in and out lines and blow them out.
6. I bought a hand pump for the antifreeze and while it is difficult, I pump the fluid into the Aquahot unit in flow to the unit connector until pink starts to come out the outflow on the aquahot connection. Then I pump the fluid into the same outflow connector until I see Pink coming out the inflow connector Aquahot

Right or wrong it has worked lasted winter.

But then depending on your location you might not need to worry about it. We get temps into the low 20s that can last a few days. But we also lack the ability to keep electric connect on the coach. If you can keep it plugged in, then the electric side of the aquahot should be enough to keep the system from freezing even at 20 for an extend period. If your area rarely sees freezing I would think it would not be a worry.

[Stan Simpson]

I live in extreme northern IL and we will have temps down to -20 or so, and our average for January and February is a low of 13 and a high of 34. If I have it stored inside, I'm thinking it will be okay even at those temps.

Thanks, Sean. I appreciate the help.

Stan

[Gerald Farris]

Stan,
The problem with no winterizing the AquaHot properly is that the the fresh water loop inside the unit can not be blown out to remove all of the water. So if fresh water is allowed to freeze in the fresh water loop inside the unit it can cause a crack in the fresh water loop that can not be repaired without replacing the AquaHot itself.  

Leaving the AquaHot electric element turned on if the coach is plugged in will stop this problem. However if the power goes off where the coach is stored, or the electric element malfunctions at the temperatures that you described, sever damage will occur if fresh water is left in the unit.

A few gallons of RV antifreeze is cheap insurance against the type of damage that can be done to an AquaHot by freezing temperatures. But you can always take my approach to winterizing and just keep the coach south of Interstate 10 and avoid the problem by staying warm.

Gerald      

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Stan,
This may help.
Steve
http://www.ocalahitch.com/Aqua-Hot-Hydro-Hot.aspx

[barbhalsell]

The October 2012 edition of the Family Motor Coaching magazine is highlighting this very subject. Page 43.

[Joel Ashley]

You should have a winterizing bypass with your water pump configuration, as set up at the factory;  I'm not sure why Sean is using a manual pump.  It isn't hard to stick the plastic tube in a jug of pink, shut off the line coming from the water tank, and turn on a hot water tap til pink comes out.  If you don't know where your water pump and valves are, it's probably behind a carpeted removable panel like ours is, in the wall below the cable TV and a couple 120v outlets in the passenger side storage bay.  The casing for all this extrudes into the adjoining tank bay, where it can benefit from the heating unit there.

That at least covers your rear regarding the spendy AquaHot.  But as long as I was at it, I'd likely do the whole job, get several gallons and pump through all the other plumbing fixtures, including any icemaker.  A cup of pink in the drum and cycled once will do a washer/dryer unit.  I usually blow out the system first, including cycling the icemaker even though it has heat tape protection.  But if you are confident in your building's temperature maintenance (it wouldn't fail in a power outage, say), at least doing the AquaHot would offer fail-safe peace of mind re. super-expensive repairs.

The links mentioned by others should help with details.

Joel

[Stan Simpson]

Thanks all. I got the new issue of FMCA magazine yesterday, and hadn't looked at it yet.

Stan

[Sean Donohue]

Hey Joel, I personally do not like putting anything other than water in my likes. So I just make the extra effort to just do the Aquahot. My last Rig survived 5 years in Alaska with just opening the low drain points, flipping the Drain on the hotwater tank and opening the water drain valve. I never even blew out the lines.

My underlining fear of the Pink stuff is that I feel that if I can't drink it, leaving it in the lines for upto six months will contaminate the Plasctic lines... not that plastic is really good for you. And pumping Jamesons into the line, while expensive, tends to annoy the DW when I am laying on the ground drinking in the flush water from previous mentioned lines during the spring RV prep.

[Joel Ashley]

Yes, I've found that quite time-consuming myself.  But if you ever opt to do it again, try Evan Williams.  It's not quite as hard on the plumbing, the pocketbook, or the DW.

Joel  

[Sean Donohue]

Evan WIlliams... Will do.

[Stan Simpson]

I started the winterizing today. I open the low point drains as suggested above. About 2 gallons of water came out, yet the Aladdin says I have 37 gallons in the fresh water tank. Should I raise one side of the level coach to get it to drain more? Or is the water remaining in the Aqua Hot tank?

Stan

[Edward Buker]

Stan,

The low point drains will clear some of the water from the hot and cold pressure water lines. They will not drain the water tank by gravity or the Aqua Hot coil. The main tank of the Aqua Hot should have a solution of antifreeze in it. The 37 gallons in your tank will require either running the pump until the tank empties or in some coaches there is a pull lever that opens a gate valve to drain the tank. Mine is located forward in the main storage bay. Don't be surprised if the Alladin indicates that you have water in the tank when it is empty. Its accuracy is based on its current calibration.

Later Ed

[Joel Ashley]

If your '05 Monterey is like mine, there should be a switch in your utilities bay that opens the water tank's drain valve, which is under the tank on the curb side.  My switch is right next to the bay's water pump switch and both are to the left of the bay's Alladin monitor.

As Ed indicated, the 2 gallons you got out of the manifold drains were only what was in the water lines, not the tank.

Joel

[Stan Simpson]

Thank you for this information!

Stan