BAC Forum

General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Tim Manninen on November 10, 2019, 05:56:19 PM

Title: Aqua hot
Post by: Tim Manninen on November 10, 2019, 05:56:19 PM
Hi everyone,
I'm a newbie and even though we have had to coach for two years there is so much I don't know. Finally the house has sold and we are close to being on our way to the southwest from cold Michigan. The Aqua Hot seems to run only when it wants to and not when I want to. It has been serviced and the electric eye has been replaced. The tech tells me the Aqua Hot won't run as we are driving down the road. He says the flame will go out. I find this hard to believe as this is a high end coach. The Aqua Hot is a 450 DE We have a 2005 Monterey. Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm extremely busy so I won't be able to respond until tonight.
Thanks
Tim Manninen
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Steve Huber Co-Admin on November 10, 2019, 06:24:17 PM
Tim
There is no need to run it when driving. The engine coolant is routed through a heat exchanger in the Aqua Hot so you will have all the benefits w/o running it. Leave the electric and diesel switches off when driving. Simply set your thermostat to furnace, set the desired temp and turn on the base board fans as needed and you are good to go. You will also have hot water.
Steve
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: David T. Richelderfer on November 10, 2019, 07:12:00 PM
Your engine coolant pump will push hot coolant from the engine through a couple of hoses to the front dash heater - one hose carrying coolant forward and the other hose carrying the coolant back to the engine.  On the way forward, the hot coolant goes through the Aquahot to heat it and the Aquahot's coolant through a heat exchanger.  Then with the interior floor heaters turned on, you can heat the coach's interior using pumped Aquahot coolant.  Your coach should have floor heaters - actuated by wall thermostats - located in the living room, bathroom, and bedroom.  There is also a basement furnace with a preset thermostat set at 40F or so.  Between the interior floor furnaces and your dash heat, the engine/Aquahot coolants will keep your coach very comfortable.

When you get to the far southwest, you won't need heat; you will want cooling.  We have been in Yuma since Oct 10th.  We have been using the AC almost every day while having used the heat on only a few cooler mornings.  When you desire cooling while traveling, you can/must use your generator to power the ACs.  Unlike the Aquahot, while traveling, the generator can/must be used to supply 120v power to run the ACs.

Have a safe and comfortably heated and cooled trip.
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Tim Manninen on November 10, 2019, 08:53:13 PM
Thanks for the info David it takes a load off my overloaded brain.
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Jerry Emert on November 10, 2019, 09:24:41 PM
Interesting.  I tried this two days ago.  Turned diesel and electric switches off and furnace on.  No heat or fans blowing.  Turned diesel back on and heat came on.  Not sure about electric switch.  HH different from AH?
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Steve Huber Co-Admin on November 10, 2019, 09:58:43 PM
Jerry,
Check your owner's manual, pgs 150-157.
Steve
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Stan Simpson on November 11, 2019, 02:03:55 AM
Interesting.  I tried this two days ago.  Turned diesel and electric switches off and furnace on.  No heat or fans blowing.  Turned diesel back on and heat came on.  Not sure about electric switch.  HH different from AH?

To answer one of your questions, Jerry. There is no difference between a Hydro Hot or Aqua Hot, except the later models have bigger tanks for Aqua Hots. They share the same components, operating system, etc. The only difference is the name. The company was (for my era coach) Hydro Hot by Vehicle Systems. They changed their name, that's all.
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Jerry Emert on November 11, 2019, 05:30:01 AM
Jerry,
Check your owner's manual, pgs 150-157.
Steve
I read it all again Steve, what did I miss?  With diesel burner turned off and thermostat on furnace, while driving, furnace did not appear to operate.  As soon as I turned diesel on it came to life.  I do know the engine does keep the domestic water hot.  After traveling for the day is my favorite shower time because it seems to be endless free hot water, no diesel burner required.  Thanks
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Joel Ashley on November 11, 2019, 05:32:07 AM
My manual indicates as Steve says;  as long as there is hot fluid in the unit, from the unit’s heaters itself or from the circulated engine coolant, and a thermostat senses enough heat to circulate fluid and activate register fans, the system will heat the coach.  Under the Coach Assist section of this forum you should find pertinent information in relevant manuals.

I note this, however, in Jerry’s manual:   “ NOTE: The Aqua-Hot must be turned ON before using any heat feature.“

   and further:   “ Engine Heat Exchange System:
When traveling, the water pump on the engine circulates heated engine coolant through the Aqua-Hot. Through convection, the heat transfers to the Aqua-Hot coolant, providing hot water and interior heating. Use the Comfort Control to operate the heat exchangers.
To Use the System:
• Turn on the COACH POWER switch at the entry door. • Set the Comfort Controls to Furnace.
• Select the desired Zone and Temperature.
NOTE: All zones must be in the same mode for the HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) system to function cor- rectly. DO NOT set furnace mode in one zone and cool mode in another zone.
To Operate the Furnace:
• Select either diesel burner or electric element operation. Select both functions if desired.
• Turn living room and bedroom comfort controls to ON.
• Set the desired zone using the ZONE button.
• Press the MODE button repeatedly until furnace displays.
• Select desired temperature setting using the UP or DOWN buttons.”

Vehicle Systems made AquaHot for larger RV’s, and HydroHot for smaller ones.  Eventually they came under different sizes of the same product, AquaHot.  The company, like many other RV product mfrs. are now under the roof of Airxcel.

Joel
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Jerry Emert on November 11, 2019, 01:20:15 PM
My manual indicates as Steve says;  as long as there is hot fluid in the unit, from the unit’s heaters itself or from the circulated engine coolant, and a thermostat senses enough heat to circulate fluid and activate register fans, the system will heat the coach.  Under the Coach Assist section of this forum you should find pertinent information in relevant manuals.

I note this, however, in Jerry’s manual:   “ NOTE: The Aqua-Hot must be turned ON before using any heat feature.“

   and further:   “ Engine Heat Exchange System:
When traveling, the water pump on the engine circulates heated engine coolant through the Aqua-Hot. Through convection, the heat transfers to the Aqua-Hot coolant, providing hot water and interior heating. Use the Comfort Control to operate the heat exchangers.
To Use the System:
• Turn on the COACH POWER switch at the entry door. • Set the Comfort Controls to Furnace.
• Select the desired Zone and Temperature.
NOTE: All zones must be in the same mode for the HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) system to function cor- rectly. DO NOT set furnace mode in one zone and cool mode in another zone.
To Operate the Furnace:
• Select either diesel burner or electric element operation. Select both functions if desired.
• Turn living room and bedroom comfort controls to ON.
• Set the desired zone using the ZONE button.
• Press the MODE button repeatedly until furnace displays.
• Select desired temperature setting using the UP or DOWN buttons.”

Vehicle Systems made AquaHot for larger RV’s, and HydroHot for smaller ones.  Eventually they came under different sizes of the same product, AquaHot.  The company, like many other RV product mfrs. are now under the roof of Airxcel.

Joel
OK!  Got it, turn it on first!  LOL.  So I'm assuming it was using engine heat when it did come on.  Thanks for the help Steve and Joel.
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Mike Shumack on November 11, 2019, 01:41:37 PM
On my last trip, I did not turn on the AquaHot or the Engine Preheat switch, but the engine coolant still circulated through the AquaHot and heated the water. When I got to my destination, the kitchen and shower water were nice and hot.
So on my coach it appears the engine will heat the water in the AquaHot, but if you want the AquaHot to heat the engine then you have to turn it on (makes sense).
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Jerry Emert on November 11, 2019, 04:19:41 PM
I don't have the engine pre-heat.  Mine also heats the water using engine heat.  I saw one of the posts talking about using engine heat to heat the coach (using the HH furnace.)  It did not work when thermostat was set to furnace with diesel and elec. switches off.  It did work when I turned the diesel switch on.  I can only assume that it was still using the engine to heat the water and the diesel burner in the HH did not need to come on.  It was just an experiment and I learned what I was wanting to.  That is that, at least, the diesel switch still has to be on for the furnace to work to have the furnace come on, at least in my coach.  Not the case with heating the water for showers.  That has always worked without any switches on.
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: David T. Richelderfer on November 11, 2019, 05:46:54 PM
Our coach has the AHE-100-02S model Aquahot with a diesel burner, engine preheat, and hydronic heater (electric element) toggle switches.  The diesel burner and engine preheat toggle switches are found over the kitchen sink built into the cupboard.  The hydronic heater (electric element) toggle switch is one of several breaker switches included in the main 120v panel found in the bedroom.  The AHE-100-02S does not have a panel or remotely connected status box.  The diesel burner and engine preheat toggle switches have a green light built into the toggle switches which are bright green when the respective switch is turned ON.  All three toggle switches turn on and off independent functions... meaning any combination of switches can be ON or OFF.  If the diesel burner toggle switch and its green light are ON but the diesel burner is not burning, then either the coolant has reached the heat setpoint and the diesel burner has shut off, OR if the coolant is cold, then the diesel burner has malfunctioned and needs to be reset.  To reset the diesel burner, simply move the diesel burner toggle switch to its OFF position and back to its ON position and the green light will come on and the diesel burner will restart and again start burning to make heat.  When the diesel burner needs maintenance, then it will not burn at all or for only a few minutes, and will show its fault condition by turning the green light OFF on its toggle switch.

We are not living in the coach while in Yuma.  It is a 21-ton anchor sitting in the driveway hooked up to 30 amp power, water, and sewer with the ignition key in its OFF position.  The Aquahot is fully turned off... meaning all three toggle switches (diesel burner, engine preheat, and hydronic heater (electric element)) are OFF.  The only power being consumed is the battery charging function of the inverter. I just went out to the coach and turned the wall thermostats to FURNACE for all three living zones (living room, bathroom, and bedroom) and turned the thermostats up to 80 for all three zones.  The floor furnaces (3 living room, 1 bathroom, 1 bedroom) all immediately turned on trying to heat the coach's interior.  Obviously, with no heat in the Aquahot, the furnaces stayed cold.  My point is that none of the three toggle switches need to be ON for the floor furnaces to run... even though there is no heat in the Aquahot.

Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Steve Huber Co-Admin on November 11, 2019, 07:05:50 PM
Jerry,
If you had the HH diesel switch on, the HH was using the diesel burner to heat any time the engine coolant couldn't supply enough heat. As David noted, you should not have to have either the Diesel or Electric HH switches on for the HH to heat the interior of the coach when traveling (engine running). Be sure all the zones are set to Furnace with the desired temps and the selected floor heat exchangers turned on either high or low fan. It may take a few minutes for units to get up to temp and the fans to start. Also, use of hot water has priority so if there is a continuous demand for hot water the heat exchangers will shut down..
Steve
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Jerry Emert on November 11, 2019, 10:00:29 PM
Jerry,
If you had the HH diesel switch on, the HH was using the diesel burner to heat any time the engine coolant couldn't supply enough heat. As David noted, you should not have to have either the Diesel or Electric HH switches on for the HH to heat the interior of the coach when traveling (engine running). Be sure all the zones are set to Furnace with the desired temps and the selected floor heat exchangers turned on either high or low fan. It may take a few minutes for units to get up to temp and the fans to start. Also, use of hot water has priority so if there is a continuous demand for hot water the heat exchangers will shut down..
Steve
I left the furnace on with diesel and elec switch off for over an hour while we drove with the thermostat set on furnace and the furnace never started blowing hot air.  The fan switches were on and we have been using the furnace for heat for a few days.  I do not think the other thermostat was on furnace so I guess it could be an issue but as soon as I turned on the diesel switch the heat came on as it normally does almost immediately and I know the other thermostat was not changed.  So the next trip in the cold I guess I will make sure both thermostats are set to furnace to see what happens. Thanks again.
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Fred Brooks on November 11, 2019, 11:21:39 PM
   Pretty sure those switches have to be ON so the AH unit knows you are calling for heat no matter what the source of heat is. How will it turn on a particular zone which gets its 12volt power from the AH. You do have to have all the T-stats calling for heat at the same time. Fred
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Steve Huber Co-Admin on November 11, 2019, 11:55:40 PM
Fred,
The HH/AH is wired directly to battery voltage.
Steve
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Stan Simpson on November 12, 2019, 01:04:34 AM
Jerry,
Whenever it gets cold here up north, and I'm turning the furnace on for the first time since last winter, I have to set the furnace to 80 for blowers fans to start. After the initial startup, it runs by just setting the furnace to any temp that is above the ambient temperature. May just be a quirk in my unit, I don't know.
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Fred Brooks on November 12, 2019, 01:09:28 AM
   Steve, Thank you, now that I think about what you just said, there are the 2 -8ga wires powering up the AM/HH. Do these coaches have the 3-way summer/winter valve back by the engine cover at the closet? Perhaps Tim is not getting hot coolant up to the AH? Fred
Title: Re: Aqua hot
Post by: Steve Huber Co-Admin on November 12, 2019, 01:43:11 AM
Fred,
Nope, just the Hurricane has the valves to my knowledge.
Steve