BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Dan Murphy on January 26, 2017, 04:20:44 PM
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We picked up our Contessa yesterday from Creative Coach in Lakeland. They had the coach for 2 months and 1 week to repair damage we suffered when we hit a deer in Nevada.The damage to the fiberglass was repaired satisfactorily. When we took it there they estimated 3 weeks.
I had asked for a couple small areas to be "touched up" but that was not done . When I checked it in last November it seemed to not be a problem and the manager even said a couple blemishes might buff out when they waxed the coach.They did nothing extra at all and only washed the coach just before I picked it up.It was still wet.
The detailing after 2 months was not up to par but I took delivery and brought it home anyway.They failed to meet two deadlines that they promised and we missed a rally and lost a deposit so I kind of expected a little extra from them but I was disappointed. I was also promised some touch up paint and they forgot this also.
They did tell me they had exercised the jenny and had kept the unit plugged in and checked the batts.
But now my problem:
I'm going thru all the systems and I cannot get the diesel burner on the Aqua Hot to start. I turned on the electric last nite and it is working but the diesel will not fire. There are no lights lit up on the control panel.
Can someone please give me a checklist to follow to find any obvious problems before I call for a tech?? Thanks for any help!
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They may have turned off the main battery switch near the battery. When that happens the Aqua Hot low voltage relay kicks in and needs to be manually reset. This happened to me the last time my rig was serviced.
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Possibly the low voltage needs to be reset. I used a toothpick on the aquahot panel and pushed the reset in in the small hole in the panel.
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Dan, do you mean that your AH does nothing or that it runs but wont fire?
If it tries to start but just wont catch, likely its a plugged nozzle. I have had this happen after sitting for a couple months if the AH was not run. Maybe its time for a new filter and nozzle and a clean out on the burn chamber?
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Dan,
You may want to refer to the Aqua/Hydro Hot Heating Problem write up contained under "Common Problems" in the Technical Section of the BAC web Page.
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How about the fuel tank is at least one third full?
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Tried the reset on the control paneling still no joy!
Plenty of fuel also.
There is nothing when I hit the diesel switch. I usually hear it whine and then the burner fires but it is just dead.
Is there a breaker or a fuse somewhere. Anything else to try??
Checked the "common problems" section also.Did not see an answer there.
Serviced with new nozzle last March---was working fine when I took it to the shop.
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Dan,
Does the light on the switch come on when you engage diesel mode?
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My AquaHot has several of the small-sized auto fuses. I have had to replace one of them when my AquaHot would not fire up. My AquaHot is the AHE-100-02S.
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Dan
To help further the diagnosis, we'll also need the status of lights on the AquaHot control panel down in the bay just after you have turned on the diesel burner switch. That info will start helping to diag any possible electrical issue getting power to the AquaHot controller.
Have you searched at all for this issue of no-motor start problem on http://www.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com, moderated by Roger Berke? Roger specializes in AquaHot systems. Several on the BAC forum use Roger's site for AquaHot specific issues and parts.
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Dan
You mentioned the electric side works fine. On our unit, if the electric side has all fluids up to correct temps, the diesel side will not fire....no need. To test if this is the case, turn off the electric side, turn up your thermostats and let it run for a while. The diesel burner should kick in when it senses the need for heating. If it does not fire up then there are other issues. Check out the "trouble shooting" section of your owners manual for more ideas.
Hope this helps.
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Thanks everybody!! I got it working. It was the reset button on the light panel after all!
Everything fine now! Thanks again for the responses!
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Way to go Dan
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This brings to mind that many of us overwinter our rigs near or at our homes where in order to keep them at the ready we don't winterize them fully. That means for me at least that when freezing weather hits, especially during winters like this one where it's been constantly off and on, I go out and turn on the HydroHot and one interior thermostat to 40 as threats loom, then off as ambient temps warm. I prefer to rely on the electric only so the fuel tank remains topped up, minimizing moisture absorption therein over the often unforeseen, unintended, long storage periods.
Due to one or two similar experiences to Dan's over the decade we've had the coach, I now don't just go in and flip on the Electric element switch. Rather I turn on the Diesel switch first, then the Electric, then switch off the Diesel. This ensures any prior fault is reset since that's one function of the "master" Diesel switch besides winding up the burner motor. I come back later and double-check in the bay that the unit is warm and all lamps are green.
It's a good routine to get into whenever you aren't high-demanding the system with hot water use and need only minimal heating, whether in storage or on the road.
Joel
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" Rather I turn on the Diesel switch first, then the Electric, then switch off the Diesel. This ensures any prior fault is reset since that's one function of the "master" Diesel switch besides winding up the burner motor. I come back later and double-check in the bay that the unit is warm and all lamps are green."
Joel, thanks for this info, I didn't know that before.
Leah Draper
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...Rather I turn on the Diesel switch first, then the Electric, then switch off the Diesel. This ensures any prior fault is reset since that's one function of the "master" Diesel switch besides winding up the burner motor. I come back later and double-check in the bay that the unit is warm and all lamps are green.....
Joel
Are you saying that by turning on the diesel switch first that it will reset a low voltage fault?
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...Rather I turn on the Diesel switch first, then the Electric, then switch off the Diesel. This ensures any prior fault is reset since that's one function of the "master" Diesel switch besides winding up the burner motor. I come back later and double-check in the bay that the unit is warm and all lamps are green.....
Joel
Are you saying that by turning on the diesel switch first that it will reset a low voltage fault?
Mine does not! Every time I take it to be repaired they turn off the switch. When I need the HH I have to crawl into that little bay and bend myself crossways to stick a tooth pick that I usually forget and end up getting out and doing it all over gain with a home carved tooth pick to reset the low voltage switch! Whooo! Long winded but you get the idea!
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Jerry,
Open a paper clip and use it, then leave it on the floor by your HH.
Roy
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Yes, Larry. I've done it before, both ways, and at least one model's manual says you can do it either way. It was only after reading it in the book I realized I could just use the diesel on/off switch. I'm not sure why Jerry's does not except that models change over the years. That said, some manuals, reviewable in the Coach Assist section of the Forum, indeed only indicate to depress the recessed button in the controller panel. You are supposed to wait 30 secs. after switching the diesel burner off before kicking it on again if you can reset that way. But make sure of course the voltage problem has been corrected or you are on park power.
With a Monterey you have a HydroHot, perhaps an HHE 200 or HHE 500 series the below manual paragraph refers to:
"The Hydro-Hot’s Electronic Controller must be manually reset whenever the Low Battery Voltage fault indicator light has been activated. The Electronic Controller can be manually reset either by depressing the “Low Voltage Reset” button located on the Electronic Controller (use a thin, straight, nonmetallic object to access the reset button through the small hole in the faceplate) or by turning OFF the “Diesel” switch on the Heater’s Interior Switch Panel for approximately 30 seconds, then turning the switch back ON."
Roy, note the "non-metallic" reference, but I think I may have used the paper clip method myself, as I commonly do for any small, recessed reset on a device.
Joel
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My coach is in the shop for it's spring maint. session. I went out to exercise the genny and everything so I tried the switch as mentioned above. It was off so I turned it on with no activation. So I turned it off for a minute or so and tried again. Still nothing. The elect. does not come on either. So I'm sure I'll have to crawl under to reset it.
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Jerry, I am not sure why Aqua-hot sets the 12volt threshold so high. I do know that PC boards do not handle low voltage well but it does not take much to trigger the "low voltage" on hydro-hot or aqua-hot boards. I tell my customers just leave some tooth picks on the floor near the control box and reset when necessary. Fred
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Jerry, I am not sure why Aqua-hot sets the 12volt threshold so high. I do know that PC boards do not handle low voltage well but it does not take much to trigger the "low voltage" on hydro-hot or aqua-hot boards. I tell my customers just leave some tooth picks on the floor near the control box and reset when necessary. Fred
I have tried leaving the tooth picks in there but they must blow around or something when I'm driving. I never find any in there. At least it doesn't take me 3 hours to get the HH running anymore when it quits. The first time I needed it I think it took 2 days to get hot water.
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Jerry, Try taping 2 or 3 long toothpicks down with some duct tape, they will stay there!! Henry
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You can always wrap a tooth pick with some Velcro then install right on the face panel next to the access hole. Fred
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I agree with taping the toothpicks to the box as the option had also occurred to me, but I think Jerry shouldn't be needing them so often in the first place. He needs to resolve why the unit is sensing low voltage so often. In over 10 years I've used the reset button once, and the diesel switch reset probably 2 times, after discovering I didn't need to use the control box recessed button afterall. It's not often I've allowed the battery bank to slip much. In fact I'm still on the original factory-installed batteries.
Joel
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Guys
Do it like most Farmers, carry a toothpick behind your Ear, Always.
Larry D
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I agree with taping the toothpicks to the box as the option had also occurred to me, but I think Jerry shouldn't be needing them so often in the first place. He needs to resolve why the unit is sensing low voltage so often. In over 10 years I've used the reset button once, and the diesel switch reset probably 2 times, after discovering I didn't need to use the control box recessed button afterall. It's not often I've allowed the battery bank to slip much. In fact I'm still on the original factory-installed batteries.
Joel
Joel, It's not often. When the coach is with me it never happens. If I take it for to get any work done it seems they all must turn off the main power. Thats when I have to reset it.
Jerry