Alde 3020 Tank Draining

4ncar

ScottG said:

Maybe. Maybe not. Problem is with no visual way to confirm that your Alde is truly empty, come spring you risk having a very expensive paperweight under your bed.

Either way, but one should properly winterize the lines(and coil) thus the avoiding the inadvertent acquisition of said paper weight...draining is only step #1. 

Sharon_is_SAM

What coil?

4ncar

Sharon_is_SAM said:

What coil?

The domestic hot water coil within the Alde.

Sharon_is_SAM

Oh, got it.  The hot water tank.

ScottG

One might also argue that this is a matter of semantics--but I wouldn't...  ;-)

Sharon_is_SAM

Oh @ScottG!  I think we can agree that the Alde instructions suffer when it comes to using different names for various parts and operations.  In a quick review they refer to a “hot water tank”, “hot water boiler”, and “boiler”.  They also use “boiler” for the glycol part of the Alde.  Semantics matters😊

ScottG

I maintain proper terminology matters-which is not quite the same as semantics.

And now I'm being semantic and pedantic!  :-)

Sharon_is_SAM

I need a dictionary😂

Denny16

Also, the only winter treatment for the Alde is to drain the Water tank, the outer area shown above in blue, this is where the water is.  The inner area is filled with glycol, will not freeze, and the copper looking coils shown are the electric heating elements, which are surrounded by the glycol, which is heated, and in turn transfers heat to the hot water jacket.  So their are no coils to Winterize.
Alde does not recommend putting glycol in the hot water part of the unit, which is made of stainless steel.  So any small amounts of water remaining in the tank, will not damage the tank if it freezes, as there will be lots of room for the water to expand in the most empty tank.  Also I would leave the yellow drain valve up,in the open position for additional insurance.
cheers

ScottG

ScottG said:

Thanks for the update @JabGopher. I'm still going to test mine using your method as I am not always trustworthy of what I am told--particularly where model configurations have changed a bit over the years. I'll report back what I find.

Here's a photo of a typical plastic check valve, and a photo of pre-Nautilus T@B plumbing with the suspected check valve on the Alde CW inlet circled.



 

So I did a quick test on this after returning from a recent tip while the Alde was still full of warm water. To cut to the chase, my observations are consistent with @JabGopher's and it appears the Alde can drain from the CW (blue) low point drain.

After returning home, I opened the yellow flapper valve and got a modest but steady trickle of hot water. I then opened the CW drain and got a larger flow of hot water from it. So, it appears the Alde HW tank was actually emptying from both drains.

Of course, this now begs the question of what that device is that looks like a check valve (see above) but does not seem to function as one...

Pintoplumber

I think that’s just the way they reduce from 1/2” to 3/8”. I had similar fittings under the sink on our 320 CS S.  Dennis 

JabGopher

@ScottG Thanks for the test and good to see another confirmation.

ScottG

I shot off a quick inquiry to Creed at nuCamp regarding the mystery fitting. I just got his response and it echoes what @Pintoplumber said:

While that may appear as a check valve it is only a reducer / adapter.

The right side of that connection is the ½” pex tubing and the other side towards the alde is the flexible water line, I don’t know the measurement of that line off the top of my head but it is a different size.

So yes, technically you could drain the Alde from the low point drain valve. I usually go for the Relief valve if I am draining a unit, but either should work.

I confess for all the time I've spent poking around that compartment I have never noticed if the lines were different sizes. In the photo above, they do kinda' sorta' maybe look like they could be. I'm going to have a look at mine first thing when I get home!

JabGopher

Time to break out the calipers!

Bayliss

@ScottG and @JabGopher, I found an old post (link below), which may be of interest. 

The comment by @Capt_KLR near the end of the discussion mentions information provided by Alde USA regarding a check valve below the hot-cold water mixing valve.  The connector below the mixing valve appears to be identical to the inline valve on the cold water line in @ScottG's photograph.  Regardless, based on @ScottG's test, it would appear that the inline connector leading to the cold water line drain is not a check valve.  Also, I did a quick check of Alde parts and they sell water line couplers (i.e., "union coupling"), so that may very well be what is being used between the water lines being discussed.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/5490/alde-system-leaking-coupler-cold-water-line

ScottG

Well golly. Once I had it on my radar, it didn't take but a passing glance to confirm that the lines to and from the Alde are smaller than the 1/2" PEX used elsewhere. 

Why such a fancy coupler is needed to make the reduction is unclear, but my guess is that Aldes are shipped with plumbing "pigtails" and the couplers (which appear to be quick connectors) facilitate easy installation (as well as removal) of the Alde.

It never was quite clear to me why a check valve would be required in those location, However, @Bayless, I can see why a check valve would be important below the mixing valve. Without one, hot water could be potentially be forced back into the cold water supply rather than out the intended hot water side of the valve.

I will make an effort to updated my plumbing schematic in the near future. In the meantime I've added a clarifying note to the resource description.   

MarkAl

As LView Pro (2006) is still available http://www.lview.com/  - for free, having the original would make it easier to update. As a Nautilus user and new T@B owner, I have very much appreciated the effort you people put into these diagrams and reference material.

ScottG

IIRC, the original is nothing more than a .jpeg. LView Pro is/was a pretty decent program, but any modest painting/drawing application could work just as well. If anyone wants the original to tinker with, PM me.