Aquahot cabin heating

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 01:22 PM

We have a 2017 DX3 with Aquahot. It was down in the low 30's last night so I turned on the Aquagot for heating and noticed something that might be "as designed" but wanted to check with the forum. After some testing I figured out that I HAVE to have the bedroom thermostat on (with furnace enabled of course) for the cabin to get aquahot heat as well as bedroom. So:

Just cabin on bed room off - cabin cosy turns on, but the air in the floor vents stays cold.

Just bedroom on, cabin off - cosy kicks on and the bedroom get nice and toasty hot warm out of the floor vents.

Both Bedroom and Cabin on - Nice hot air out of all vents.

It seems you have to have the bedroom furnace on as well as the cabin one to get heat in cabin. Is that as designed?

**bclemens** · 11-13-2018, 04:29 PM

As designed? sort of. There was some confusion I think before my time on what Aquahot was calling for (for install) and how they audited. I consider "zones" to be bedroom and living room. Aquahot calls zones, Zone 1 pump and Zone 2 pump. They don't want coolant lines running back and forth, so Aquahot wanted Zone 1, down one side and Zone 2 down the other side. But that is really for the pump...so I think they ran Zone 1 pump down one side and wired the T-stat that way as well. So early in life I think it was running side to side instead of LR-BR.

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 04:41 PM

OK, so if I am understanding and that is usually a big if, zone 1 (bedroom) T-stat is the one that actually controls the pump as wellas the zone 1 cosy. I guess the Zone 2 (living room) T-stat must be wired to something in the Aquahot system because it does kick on the cozy, but not the pump and so no heat reaches the cosy? If you wanted to heat just LR, then the T-stat would also need to be wired to control the pump?

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 04:43 PM

Oh, also I am assuming there is a single pump for everything. Is that correct?

**bclemens** · 11-13-2018, 04:52 PM

Sort of. I'm not sure which zone is which...but Let's assume Zone 1 Pump is connected to the Bedroom Thermostat, but it might actually be wired to the bedroom zone, not the living room, but the pump run goes up one whole side (not just the bedroom).

Zone 2 (Living room) controls the other zone pump, but is only wired to the LR cozy.

Also, make sure you are not on just electric. It does take time for the boiler fluid to heat up and electric is really poor at doing that.

This goes through all the installation side of things.

**bclemens** · 11-13-2018, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mitchmedford

Oh, also I am assuming there is a single pump for everything. Is that correct?

Not sure on pumps...I just know there are two zone outlets for the boiler lines.

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 05:01 PM

Yes, I am not on electric only. It sounds like something I am going to have to get a professional to sort out. I assume I should be able to just heat the living room without having to heat the bedroom as well. I wonder if this might explain why I have to use the electric fireplace to get the living room up to 70 when it is 40 outside, but the bedroom is toasty. Sounds like one pump is heating everything and since I can't "not" heat the bedroom, the living room isn't getting all the heat it normally could??

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 05:04 PM

If there are two outlets, there would have to be two pumps I should think.

**bclemens** · 11-13-2018, 05:10 PM

If you are on electric that is part of the issue. Please note page 9 of the owners manual

"Electric– The electric element is the Aqua-Hot’s secondary heat source and can be used when plugged into shore power. The electric element provides heat when moderate temperatures exist (50°F or higher) and/or when there is a low demand for hot water. It can be activated by turning the electric switch in the ON posi- tion. Reference Figure 1 on following page.

You can turn the T-stat in the bedroom low and still probably be ok. But, it is designed to have both T-stats operating. There are water lines etc all through the coach so we do not plan on leaving any areas un-heated.

**bclemens** · 11-13-2018, 05:11 PM

Page 6 of the installation manual. looks like there are (2)

Zone Heat Circulation Pump specifications .................................................. .................................................. (2) 12 Volt-DC/21 watts each

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 05:13 PM

I answered confusingly. I am NOT on electric only. I just re-read my answer and it confused me. I was trying to say, "yes, I checked and I am not on electric"

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 05:45 PM

After studying the diagrams in the manual, I am betting that a mistake was made during installation and all of the living space, bedroom and living room, is on a single loop instead of two. The diagram shows the bedroom and living room/kitchen on a separate loops. If one of the pumps was not working then I wouldn't get any heat to that zone, but when I turn on the bedroom, I start getting warm air to the living room so they almost have to be on the same loop. However, each T-stat is turning on the correct cozy. That would also explain why the bedroom heat exchangers are generating much warmer air. By the time the circulation reaches the living room, a fair amount of heat has already been pulled from the fluid since they are on the same loop. Tricky...

CSWVK · 11-13-2018, 05:52 PM

Others had similar issue on 2017 & 2018 DX3 Aquahot. Tstat wires were wired to the wrong spot on the aquahot controler. see thread http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ue-160196.html
Not sure if this is your problem but worth a read i think

Mitchmedford · 11-13-2018, 06:59 PM

Great link, thanks. I'm gonna check everything tomorrow, but I just did a temp test on the output vents and the ones in the bedroom at at 133 which sounds right, but the vent in the living room are at 85-98.

CSWVK · 11-13-2018, 07:14 PM

Our thermostat wires were wired to the wrong zones, I swapped them & every thing worked as it should. Good luck, PM me if you would like more detailed details info

RV Randy · 11-13-2018, 08:08 PM

I had the same exact symptoms you are describing. My write up is the link you were referred to. There is a quick check you can do. Take out the bolts on the metal lid of the AH boiler unit. There are 2 zone pumps and they are labeled zone 1 or zone 2. The power leads to the pumps are plug on connectors, disconnect them and swap them so that the plug that was attached to zone 1 is now attached to the zone 2 pump, etc. Then go turn on the thermostat for the living room with the bedroom turned off, if the system then starts blowing really warm air in the living room (which you say it wasn't doing unless the bedroom heater was also on) then your thermostats are wired to the wrong points on the AH controller. Those wires are the red-black wires, one set for each thermostat, that need to be swapped with each other. If you swap those, be sure to put the pump plugs back on the pumps they were on originally.

**bclemens** · 11-14-2018, 09:12 AM

I think there are still two loops, but they are looped right versus left side instead of Bedroom, living room. So the living room cozy is likely wired to the pump that the bedroom t-stat controllers.

Mitchmedford · 11-14-2018, 11:25 AM

If that's the case, wouldn't I still trying to heat both the bedroom and living room on one heating loop? Also why do the cozys for the living room come on (and not the bedroom) when I turn just the living room t-stat, but no heat. I think I'll at least take a look at the wiring on the control panel based on the document you sent. The fact that the document is for a 400LP not a 400D won't effect the wiring diagrams would it?

**bclemens** · 11-14-2018, 11:43 AM

I don't think so...but here is theLP just in case.

Mitchmedford · 11-14-2018, 11:59 AM

Just pulled the panel cover and noticed something odd. The status lights are not very bright so it is hard to see them in daylight, but with the cover off I can clearly see that both zones and pumps are active, but there is a "low battery voltage fault" light also green. Does green mean no fault or does it being lite at all mean fault? The house batteries according to the Xantrek panel show 14.7 volts.

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