Bay Thermostat for Aqua-Hot

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

In cool weather, my bays are maintained at about 75 degrees F.  In hot weather on the road, the bays exceed 100 degrees.  I suspect the Aqua-Hot bay thermostat may be set too high or be malfunctioning altogether.  Where is the thermostat located in the bay?

Larry

[Gerald Farris]

The thermostat for the bay heater on my 2000 Marquis is clipped to a water line above the holding tanks. You can see it after you remove the inspection panel at the end of the holding tanks on the passenger's side of the coach.

Gerald

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

Thank you Gerald, I will look for it there.  Was yours adjustable or set to a specific temperature?

Larry

[Gerald Farris]

Mine is not adjustable, but I have talked to a 2001 Marquis owner who said that his basement thermostat was adjustable.

Gerald

[Bruce Benson]

The heat in the bays is probably a combination of many factors but I suspect the big cause is the inverter.  The second would be the heat through the wall from the Aqua hot unit.  I no longer have a basement air but that could add some heat as well I would think.  The numbers you are seeing would not be far from what I see on my coach.  

The bay heater is on top of the waste water holding tanks and is fairly isolated from the main bay.  I have no idea where the temp sensor that you see on the read out is located but I suspect it is on the rear wall area of the main bay.  Try disabling the heater and see what you get.  I suspect there will be no change.  

Someone talked about a list of screw-ups in the construction of our coaches and the location and lack of venting to the inverter would have to rank in there pretty high on my coach.  

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

One of the reasons for concern over the elevated temperature is the charger sets a fault code and flashes and beeps and stops charging after charging at 90 - 100 amps for 20 minutes.  It is a high temp fault that resets itself after cooling about 10 minutes.  This condition repeats several times until the charge rate reduces to about 60 amps.  Then it works OK.  I was trying to locate the source of the heat to reduce the frequency of the fault.  I put a fan below the inverter/charger, but did not notice much change.  It was probably just recirculating the hot air and adding more with heat created by the fan motor.
We have been parked for 2 days in 50-60 degree weather with 50 amp service and the bays are 77 degrees.  No fault codes, no basement air, no generator and the Aqua-Hot on electric heat.  That must be one hot inverter/charger (ProSine 2500).
I will look for the bay thermostat in the next few days.  This Wooden Boat Rally is keeping me busy having fun.

Larry

[Bruce Benson]

OAT here 58.0  Basement 76.8.  Seems about normal on my coach.  Yes, the inverter/converter (ProSine 2500) runs quite hot.  Don't get me started on my Xantec rant.  Yes, there might be some heat from the exhaust running under the coach for the Aqua Hot but probably more from the lines running through the top of the bay. Heat through the bulk head should be about the same with either heat source.  

I try to leave a little room around the inverter for it to breathe.  I would also check to see that the cooling fans on the inverter are working properly.  

I have threatened to install some sort of vent system in the bay near the inverter.  Talk is cheap.  

If you can figure out which pump circuit goes to the bay heating, you could disable it in the Aqua Hot cabinet.  Three easy screws, loosen two, remove one (with a phillips stubby) vs 4  for the water bay along with carpet wrapping around your screw bit.  If in doubt, turn on the furnace front and back and feel which pumps are running.  The engine heat is the fourth one and the lines for it run out the bottom of the cabinet so the other one is the bay heat.  

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

Well I finally got some time to look further into the hot bay problem.  The bay temp is 74 degrees, outside is 61 degrees, we were unplugged for 3 hours with the inverter on.  After plugging in to land power for 20 minutes, when the over temp alarm went off for the inverter.  I got out my laser temperature reader and searched around the bay for the source.  No AC, no gen, no Aqua-Hot.  the front of the bay was 68, the middle was 71 and the Aqua-Hot bay vent was 72.  Then I flashed the inverter.  It was 128 degrees.  That is why the alarm went off and the charger shut off.  Is the inverter supposed to get that hot?  Is there a problem internal to it, or is it a lack of ventilation.  I am considering a computer fan vent near the top of the inverter to push hot air into the holding tank bay behind the inverter.  Has anyone tried that solution?  Any other ideas?

Larry

[Orman Claxton]

Very Interesting conversation
Aqua-Hot has nothing to do with that problem. the heat will be coming from the Inverter. As I have the same problem,I have been thing about some type of external cooling.
Orman Claxton
Aqua-Hot tech

[Bill Sprague]

...After plugging in to land power for 20 minutes....the over temp alarm went off for the inverter.

Larry,

Could it be that the charger is working too hard?  Does the charger think the batteries are so low that it has to charge at the highest rate?  Are the batteries in good condition?

On my rig, I can program the Xantrex charger to charge at far less than 100%.  The Prosine may be programable too.  When new, the Beaver Boys suggested no more than 90%. I think Xantrex may have put high charge rate capabilities into the unit for applications like ambulances.  100% may not be necessary on a motorhome.

It might make sense for all of us to set charging at around 50%.  Once we are plugged in, we tend to stay plugged in for awhile so the batteries would charge more gently and with less heat in the charger.  Maybe the charger would last longer too.

Bill

[Orman Claxton]

I am going to set mine at 50%
.....But, I'm not sure that will control charging while on engine operation.
Any ideas?
Orman

[Bill Sprague]

I am going to set mine at 50%
.....But, I'm not sure that will control charging while on engine operation.
Any ideas?
Orman

The inverter/charger shouldn't be doing much at all when unplugged and on the Cat or Cummins (for a few of us).  

[Orman Claxton]

I know but my overheating/shutdown is usually while on the road.
Is mine defferent from yours.

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

I have read the ProSine owner's manual and the Beaver Marquis owner's manual, and I can not locate any information on programming the ProSine to charge at a lower rate.  This sounds like a good solution, since the fault is not set after the charge rate is below about 70 amps.  The adjustment is either not available or contained in another manual, like installation manual, which I do not have.  Has anyone with a ProSine knowledge of how to program these things?

Larry

[Bill Sprague]

I have read the ProSine owner's manual and the Beaver Marquis owner's manual, and I can not locate any information on programming the ProSine to charge at a lower rate.  

With the Xantrex it could have different controllers so there are two manuals.  There is one for the actual inverter and another for the controller (keypad) that is installed inside the coach.  My controller is a Trace RC7 GS.  If there is any chance you have the same, I can get on the phone with you and tell you what to do.  Bill