Best Of
Rebuild all my convectors, replaced hoses and fluid for just over $200
I have a 2016 Tab 320 with an Alde 3010 that has never had the fluid changed and it started having a small leak from one of the convectors. I noticed a tear in the hose but when I removed it I quickly discovered the aluminum was so corroded it ate holes through it. Turned out all of the connection points were that way.
I found it to be hard to get replacement parts (even hoses with the odd diameter where hard to find) that would ship to the US. At least I couldn't find any, plus I'm cheap so I decided to cut the corroded ends off of every convector and was able to find some hose on amazon that was heat rated and the correct dimension. Between home depot and harbor freight I had everything I needed for cheap. The only thing I needed was transfer fluid and that stuff is expensive. I didn't know how much I would need for the flush and didn't want to spend $70 a gallon for what appears to be the same old style of green/yellow fluid that came out of it. After researching on Alde's website they state alternative fluid that meets their standard. One of those is VW Group G12 coolant. The only difference is the coolant is hazardous if ingested. I was able to pickup Valvoline Zerex HT-12 Pink which is the equivalent but made in the US.
I put two hose clamps per connection. One at the edge to prevent fluid from getting in between the aluminum and the hose and the second one closer to the end of the hose. I also added brass elbows to prevent stress of sharp angles. I flushed the system with about 12 gallons of distilled water before flushing in the coolant. I had to remove the hoses going to the overflow tank to do the flush. Also note there is a check valve in the system so if you try to flush the wrong direction it will not flow and you will essentially be pressure testing your system. Also I combined parts from an electric pump and a hand pump. While I used the hand pump I think you can get away with just using the electric pump.
If I'm totally wrong and destroy my system that would suck but I would rip out the Alde system and convert it to a generic boiler system from ebay where it would be much simpler to maintain. I did realize I did distilled water instead of deionized water. That is important for avoiding metals from getting removed. I might flush again next winter with deionized since the coolant is so cheap.
Tools Needed:
Pipe Cutter
2 Buckets
Hose Clamp Pliers
Ratchet set
Flash flight
Square screwdriver bits
Parts List:
Hoses $80.94 QTY 3: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZDMTVZ2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
Hose Clamps $9.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ4JS2X?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
Valvoline Zerex HT-12 Pink $50.00 QTY 2: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/zerex/zerex-1-gallon-pink-50-50-antifreeze/afza/904683
Clear hose $30.00 QTY 2: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-8-in-I-D-x-7-8-in-O-D-x-10-ft-Clear-Vinyl-Tubing-T10006013/304185175
Hand Pump $8.00: https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-63144.html
Electric Pump $13.50: https://www.harborfreight.com/battery-operated-liquid-transfer-pump-63847.html
14 gallons of distilled water $17.76: (Walmart or anywhere you can get it)
I found it to be hard to get replacement parts (even hoses with the odd diameter where hard to find) that would ship to the US. At least I couldn't find any, plus I'm cheap so I decided to cut the corroded ends off of every convector and was able to find some hose on amazon that was heat rated and the correct dimension. Between home depot and harbor freight I had everything I needed for cheap. The only thing I needed was transfer fluid and that stuff is expensive. I didn't know how much I would need for the flush and didn't want to spend $70 a gallon for what appears to be the same old style of green/yellow fluid that came out of it. After researching on Alde's website they state alternative fluid that meets their standard. One of those is VW Group G12 coolant. The only difference is the coolant is hazardous if ingested. I was able to pickup Valvoline Zerex HT-12 Pink which is the equivalent but made in the US.
I put two hose clamps per connection. One at the edge to prevent fluid from getting in between the aluminum and the hose and the second one closer to the end of the hose. I also added brass elbows to prevent stress of sharp angles. I flushed the system with about 12 gallons of distilled water before flushing in the coolant. I had to remove the hoses going to the overflow tank to do the flush. Also note there is a check valve in the system so if you try to flush the wrong direction it will not flow and you will essentially be pressure testing your system. Also I combined parts from an electric pump and a hand pump. While I used the hand pump I think you can get away with just using the electric pump.
If I'm totally wrong and destroy my system that would suck but I would rip out the Alde system and convert it to a generic boiler system from ebay where it would be much simpler to maintain. I did realize I did distilled water instead of deionized water. That is important for avoiding metals from getting removed. I might flush again next winter with deionized since the coolant is so cheap.
Tools Needed:
Pipe Cutter
2 Buckets
Hose Clamp Pliers
Ratchet set
Flash flight
Square screwdriver bits
Parts List:
Hoses $80.94 QTY 3: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZDMTVZ2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
Hose Clamps $9.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ4JS2X?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
Valvoline Zerex HT-12 Pink $50.00 QTY 2: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/zerex/zerex-1-gallon-pink-50-50-antifreeze/afza/904683
Clear hose $30.00 QTY 2: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-8-in-I-D-x-7-8-in-O-D-x-10-ft-Clear-Vinyl-Tubing-T10006013/304185175
Hand Pump $8.00: https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-63144.html
Electric Pump $13.50: https://www.harborfreight.com/battery-operated-liquid-transfer-pump-63847.html
14 gallons of distilled water $17.76: (Walmart or anywhere you can get it)
Re: Is Plug-in Solar Feasible for a T@B?
I live in Utah and bought an Ecoflow microinverter. Utah's law calls for the "balcony solar" equipment to be UL (or equivalent} approved. "(b) has been designed, tested, and certified to UL1741 and installed and operated inaccordance with the latest revision of IEEE1547, as amended." The only rating on the microinverter is a CSA c/us rating with the number 608420. CSA doesn't make looking up a certification easy so I haven't been able to verify that the device is legal.
What all the hype videos show is you can hook up four solar panels up to 1200 total Watts. What they don't tell you is that Ecoflow's instructions tell you that 1200 Watts requires a dedicated 50 amp circuit with 6 AWG wiring...something that almost no home is going to have available. At 360 Watts, Ecoflow tells you you can plug into a dedicated 15A circuit. At 480 Watts, it needs a 20A dedicated circuit. At 720W it's a 30A dedicated circuit. At 900W it's a dedicated 40A circuit. Dedicated means the circuit can't have any other power being drawn. Circuit breakers can't sense incoming current so you could easily overload a circuit by injecting power into a line that's also carrying current for another device. Our house has zero circuits that I can dedicate to plug-in solar, so if I don't sell the Ecoflow inverter first, I'll have to install a circuit with suitable capacity. Since I imagined putting rigid panels on the roof of our separate garage, that would entail running a new 50A circuit to that building using buried conduit. Hardly "plug and play".
The anti-islanding feature would turn off the inverter when a trailer isn't connected to shore power, so this kind of microinverter makes no sense for RVs. If you're on shore power, why do you need solar?
I have a second Victron solar controller on our trailer that is far lighter and less expensive than the Ecoflow balcony solar device. The Victron 15A solar controller works great with our 200W solar suitcase. I can also plug in DC from our Bluetti Charger 1 device in our tow vehicle (with the Charger 1 set within our Victron's 75v voltage limit).
What all the hype videos show is you can hook up four solar panels up to 1200 total Watts. What they don't tell you is that Ecoflow's instructions tell you that 1200 Watts requires a dedicated 50 amp circuit with 6 AWG wiring...something that almost no home is going to have available. At 360 Watts, Ecoflow tells you you can plug into a dedicated 15A circuit. At 480 Watts, it needs a 20A dedicated circuit. At 720W it's a 30A dedicated circuit. At 900W it's a dedicated 40A circuit. Dedicated means the circuit can't have any other power being drawn. Circuit breakers can't sense incoming current so you could easily overload a circuit by injecting power into a line that's also carrying current for another device. Our house has zero circuits that I can dedicate to plug-in solar, so if I don't sell the Ecoflow inverter first, I'll have to install a circuit with suitable capacity. Since I imagined putting rigid panels on the roof of our separate garage, that would entail running a new 50A circuit to that building using buried conduit. Hardly "plug and play".
The anti-islanding feature would turn off the inverter when a trailer isn't connected to shore power, so this kind of microinverter makes no sense for RVs. If you're on shore power, why do you need solar?
I have a second Victron solar controller on our trailer that is far lighter and less expensive than the Ecoflow balcony solar device. The Victron 15A solar controller works great with our 200W solar suitcase. I can also plug in DC from our Bluetti Charger 1 device in our tow vehicle (with the Charger 1 set within our Victron's 75v voltage limit).
Re: Towing a 400
Tow with a 2024 T@b 400 with a 2022 Nissan Pathfinder. Got an SUV to make carrying family and commuting more comfortable. Max towing capacity is 6000 lb. Added airbags myself (from etrailer.com) in rear to reduce rear sag as it's a softer suspension for comfort. Also use Andersen WDH and love the hitch's ease of use. Vehicle is very stable when towing. I camp about once every two months (I'm not retired yet but if I was that number would triple). Longest travel trip so far was about 3 hours to the mountains. Pathfinder has done great.
Not towing, I get about 21 mpg average (it's my commuter to work), but as high as 28 mpg with long highway trips. Towing mpg is 9-14 depending on grade and headwinds. Pathfinder handles it all really well. I keep in under 65 mph when towing.
A friend has a slightly heavier 20' trailer and he tows with a Porsche Cayenne. He got it used, but they still aren't cheap nor is Porsche maintenance cheap. However, that vehicle is amazing for towing with up to 7700 lbs. His Cayenne auto-levels and he doesn't use a WDH (watching it automatically adjust the suspension after he hooks up his camper is a sight-to-behold.) Lots of variants of the Cayenne including hybrids. The Cayenne is smaller than the Pathfinder, however heavier.
Consider your budget, what you'll be doing most with the tow vehicle, and how often you'll be towing. Modern trucks come with a lot of nice towing assist features. On a light trailer like the 400 a truck will likely not to need a WDH and that's one less thing you have to mess with when going to/from a campsite. But, if you mostly commute and carry people and stuff that needs protected from the weather, an SUV might serve you better. My Pathfinder has a fold down 3rd row seat. Mpg is probably better day-to-day with the SUV. There are plenty of SUVs and small Trucks that will be great for towing the T@b 400. That's the beauty of its size and weight. To be honest, we're a few years away from empty-nesting and I'm very heavily considering a truck when it comes time to replace the Pathfinder.
Here's the kind of mind-numbing consideration that is the challenge of picking a tow vehicle. Let's say I pick a truck, now my day-to-day mpg is less and I'm spending more on gas for everyday driving. Towing mpg is probably the same-ish as the SUV (folks may disagree, but my own experience meshes with reports on this forum that towing mpg tend to be about the same, which is lousy.) The driving experience of towing with the truck is much likely more comfortable (a subjective word) as trucks are designed for it. The truck makes carrying the dirty camping stuff easy (if you like to keep the inside of your vehicle clean). But, what if I want to keep stuff dry? Do I get a tonneau cover or truck topper or will the back seat of the crew cab suffice? Maybe I get one of those ramp-shaped toppers to add lots of space and improves airflow over camper for better mpg. But, now I've spent thousands on covers and have to deal with taking it on/off and storing it if I ever want to take advantage of the truck bed for throwing in dirt and messy stuff.
Let's say I pick an SUV. Can I find one that has plenty of tow capacity? I will likely need a weight distribution hitch and maybe airbags to combat sag. Again, towing mpg is not that big of a variance with a truck, but vehicle likely won't be as good on steep grades. But, maybe I just choose to drive slower and that's good-enough. I'll need to buy and install a brake controller or you can choose to trust a wireless one (I bought a special cable and separate brake controller as I didn't feel comfortable with a wireless one.) SUV likely won't have towing profiles and towing niceties of a truck. I can easily carry my camping stuff and keep it dry, but likely won't desire carrying a generator or fuel in the back of the SUV because of the gas smell. So, do I carry it on the T@b 400 hitch platform? Well, that adds tongue weight, which adds to possible sag. Also, some SUV's come with continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) and some folks on this forum recommend against them so that narrows vehicle field. But, I've also read folks on this forum who've seemingly done fine with them.
Anyway, as you can see there are trade-offs. Sorry for digressing as your question was specifically about a Pilot. I've read more than a few people on this forum who tow with Pilots. Be sure to get them to specify the year of their Pilot as there are model changes (including transmission.) When I was shopping in 2022 I chose not to go with the Pilot as I felt the Pathfinder would be a better towing vehicle long-term. But, we owned an Odyssey for 15 years and that vehicle was fantastic. If I could have towed a 400 with it, I'd have kept it
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Anyway, as you can see there are trade-offs. Sorry for digressing as your question was specifically about a Pilot. I've read more than a few people on this forum who tow with Pilots. Be sure to get them to specify the year of their Pilot as there are model changes (including transmission.) When I was shopping in 2022 I chose not to go with the Pilot as I felt the Pathfinder would be a better towing vehicle long-term. But, we owned an Odyssey for 15 years and that vehicle was fantastic. If I could have towed a 400 with it, I'd have kept it
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Re: Air8 Reprogram for Continuous Fan
EasternJL said:Thanks for that. What I'm looking for the admin manual for settings that require the special password (8699). There are numerous settings there that aren't accessible to normal users, but without some instructions, it's kind of a mine field.
@EasternJL : I contacted Josh Elwell at Elwell Corp yesterday and asked him if he could send me a list of the codes for the functions that can be accessed through the programming interface on the Air8. Here's his response:
Hi Charlie,
Attached is an image that has the other settings that are changeable in the air8 menu.
We typically recommend not changing the other settings, but there are obvious use cases if you have something specific in mind.
Thank you,
Josh Elwell
Attached is an image that has the other settings that are changeable in the air8 menu.
We typically recommend not changing the other settings, but there are obvious use cases if you have something specific in mind.
Thank you,
Josh Elwell
I will include the image he sent below.
I also asked Josh if it was OK to share his response with this forum and he said "Absolutely! Feel free to share!"
I hope this is helpful
Re: Potential Battle Born Battery Issue
I can't tell any difference, the older battery also has the bolt going through plastic so likely it has the same plastic washer too. The number of Battleborn batteries in use has increased significantly since then so it just happens more people experienced failures. Funny enough, a couple of months before the issue exploded all over the Internet the local Facebook Marketplace had a repaired battery where the seller stated that this was a common problem.qhumberd said:And there is this 6 year old review with no mention of the plastic/ busbar loose connection issue. Was the battery from 6 years ago different??
https://youtu.be/G5E30u-66VI?si=BMwTYCsvmZtyYTAt
One thing I noted is that the early batteries had "Nevada made" and "Designed and assembled in USA" on them, this has disappeared since so possibly the change of manufacturing plant has something to do with the now more frequent failures.
Re: Potential Battle Born Battery Issue
Let’s be clear, will does not have a verifiable degree in any field. Will has shown business acumen by using self taught experiences with solar/ batteries. However,while I find his work interesting, his testing is not up to laboratory standards. Personally, l have not found Battleborn battery failure on any rv site that has reported a failure related to Prowse video. Also, the testing on lithium batteries is sporadic and all meet broad guidelines. Until there are documented failures, one should not over react. Putting your faith in a DIY guru without verifiable credibility is foolhardy.
Re: Potential Battle Born Battery Issue
My two BB batteries are not affected, confirmed using a thermal camera. I checked a bunch of my buddies’ RVs as well.Okpete said:Let’s be clear, will does not have a verifiable degree in any field. Will has shown business acumen by using self taught experiences with solar/ batteries. However,while I find his work interesting, his testing is not up to laboratory standards. Personally, l have not found Battleborn battery failure on any rv site that has reported a failure related to Prowse video. Also, the testing on lithium batteries is sporadic and all meet broad guidelines. Until there are documented failures, one should not over react. Putting your faith in a DIY guru without verifiable credibility is foolhardy.
I don’t doubt this has happened, but their parent company stock plummeting into a penny stock is an even bigger reason to avoid their batteries.
Re: Is Plug-in Solar Feasible for a T@B?
It just occurred to me that this isn't going to work. For safety reasons these microinverters do not turn on their output unless they detect AC voltage present in the socket. Otherwise voltage wold be present at the exposed blades of the plug, and the system would backfeed in case of a power outage or a tripped breaker. The trailer wouldn't have AC present unless running off a built-in inverter or connected to shore power.
Re: Alde Fluid
So when you flush the old with the new does it actually do anything to the trapped fluid? Just a thought.
Re: HELP please Maxx fan won’t turn off— draining the battery
Had this same issue; in fact twice. What we ended up doing is a minor disassembly of the fan. Removed the screen, then I think four screws, that allows you to lower the fan. Reach up and disconnect the fan from the wiring harness. I waited a few minutes then reconnected and everything worked great. I say this happened twice over a period spanning 2020 to 2025 or so.
