Hurricane Question

[jacksharp]

OK... most likely dumb question, but for the life of me I can not figure out why, after running water (cold or hot) long enough to wash hands, I hear the Hurricane fire up, along with the green light on the panel in the kitchen for just a few seconds and then go off. Never noticed this before BAC replaced our dump valves a few weeks ago. I have looked over the manual and it seems to me that the only time the Hurricane would fire up would be upon hot water demand... what am I missing here? I am sure you experts have this all figured out already 

[Gerald Farris]

Jack,
I am the one who feels dumb here because I can not answer your question. The only thing that I can figure is that you are getting a back flow of cold water in your hot water system, and it is causing the water temperature sensor for the Hurricane to demand heat. This back feed is usually caused by a outside shower (vegetable sprayer type) being left on but your coach does not have that type of outside shower. Does it matter which faucet you run the cold water at? Are all of the valves in the sewer bay set to the proper location?

Gerald   

[David T. Richelderfer]

If you run the hot water at a faucet, then do you get hot water after 30 seconds or so?  If you run the cold water at a faucet, then do you get hot water after 30 seconds or so?  (Piping hooked up wrong at one faucet?)

Does your issue happen when running water from any/all faucets, shower, and/or toilet? (piping hooked up wrong at Hurricane?)

Does your issue happen when on city water, onboard water pump, and/or both?  (A water pressure or power related issue?)

Does your issue happen when on shore/generator power and/or not using shore/generator power?  (A marginal Hurricane temperature sensor issue caused by a battery charge-status or an inverter charging issue?)

What is the charge-status of your coach batteries?  (A charging issue?)

[jacksharp]

Thank you David and Gerald for your comments. This is a lot to think about but great information. We are not in the coach today because we are out running around while the weather is nice, but I will definitely check all of this information out this evening when we get back and we can go from there. Thank you guys again so much for all your help.

[Ron Johnson]

My Hurricane used to come on for a few seconds whenever the toilet flushed. I recently removed the Hurricane connection to the hot water tank thermostat and it has not happened again. In addition I did not hook it back up and enjoy not having the  Hurricane coming on at night to heat up the hot water - as the water gets heated whenever the Hurricane comes on to provide heat ... we just don't miss having it connected.

[Joel Weiss]

The Hurricane doesn't actually sense hot water demand.  On mine the hot water aquastat is attached to the hot water output from the water heater.  If the temperature of the water coming out of the tank is below the set temperature of the aquastat it will trigger the Hurricane to start up.  When the temperature comes back to normal (like when the water stops running) the Hurricane will turn off.

It sounds as if the aquastat has gotten a bit overly sensitive; you should be able to easily replace it.  One caution is that ITR may not have an exact replacement so some plumbing changes may be needed.

[jacksharp]

Thanks so much to Gerald, David, Ron, and Joel for all your input. You have been a GREAT help. I tried every suggestion, and it seems the aquastat may be the problem. The problem comes and goes. Sometimes when you flush the toilet the Hurricane will fire for just a few seconds, sometimes when you run the water in the bathroom sink the same thing happens, and on occasion when you run the cold water in the kitchen the same thing happens. The hot water demand seems to be working fine, and we have no problem with hot water, so I will play around a bit more and report back on what I find after the aquastat replacement.

[David T. Richelderfer]

With all things checked out that seem to be involved, the problem would seem to be a sensor, the aqua-stat.  Let us know.  I hope it's that simple to fix.

[Greg Kamper]

You might check the spray nozzle in the water manifold compartment. If both the hot and cold valves are not shut all the way the hot water will circulate when one ore the other is used elsewhere in the coach.