Air regulator, basement temp

[Bill Laatz]

On my 2006 Marquis I had an air leak, and found the fitting on top of this regulator assembly had broken.  I replaced it, and the system now retains pressure.  What is this regulator for??  It is located in the utility bay on the passenger side by the hydrohot.  Also, is the temperature adjustment shown in the picture for maintaining the temp in the water bay, and is this done with a hydrohot radiator or an electrical heater??  Also, are more basement areas heated??

[David T. Richelderfer]

Since it has a quick connect and a pressure gauge, my guess it's an air hose connection for filling/topping up your tire pressures.

On our coach, the basement has a furnace that gets its heat from the AquaHot, similar to the furnace registers in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.  The basement furnace is there to keep your waste tanks and water bay from freezing.  On our coach, the waste tanks and water bay area is the only basement-place heated.

[Bill Laatz]

The air goes in at the bottom through what I would surmise to be a check valve, and the shutoff and quick connect would be for external hookup and the regulator does not control this.  The regulator has the output line out the top that I cannot follow to what it may control, and this was the fitting I replaced.  Any ideas??

[Gerald Farris]

Bill,
This looks like an aftermarket add-on by a previous owner. Therefore, I would need more information to determine its purpose.

The factory installed basement heating system uses a preset (nonadjustable) small button thermostat that is located above your holding tanks that controls the fan on a heat exchanger located in the same area to heat the basement if the AquaHot is running and the basement temperature drops below 45 degrees. There will be ducts to deliver some of this heat output to other sections of the basement, but the designed purpose of the system is to prevent freeze damage in the holding tank/water manifold area.

Gerald