400 and Long Showers with Hot Water

manyman297

The Alde is a gradual learning curve. This past trip we had full hookups using the electricity to heat the hot water. We had it on 2kw and highest setting on the temperature (icon of showerhead) but we were only able to get maybe 5 minutes of hot water for showers. Is that normal? I’ve yet to fuss with the mixing valve so maybe that’s it but how long of showers are people able to take? I thought the Alde Flow tank allowed for continuous hot water.

Dutch061

On our 2020 400 BDL, there is a setting that puts all of the Alde's efforts into showers, which may be what you are referring to with your comment of "highest setting on the temperature (icon of showerhead)" but I would submit to you that Propane works the best for ALL heating functions. I would caution you that the water temperatures can easily reach into the 170's when you do this. The mixing valve "limits the maximum temperature" of the hot water by blending cold water with the hot. It has been my experience that when the cold water temperature varies, it causes more of a variance in the temperature of the hot water. I had thought about bypassing the mixing valve but when you set the Alde for maximum hot water, it becomes very dangerous quickly. You can easily scald or burn your skin. You notice the effects of the mixing valve if you pause the water flow while showering and restart it. 

With all of that being said, we can take virtually an unlimited length of showers if we are connected and don't need to conserve water, which rarely happens. We take "Navy showers" IE get wet, pause the water, soap up, then rinse. 

Not sure if this helps you or not but maybe it explains a little of the Alde better. Yes, there is a bit of a curve but it is by far the most efficient heating system I have had in any RV I have owned. In fact, it was one of the primary factors of buying a 400 when we upgraded from our 2017 320-S. When you boondock and do it in cooler weather, it is an amazing system that works great and is very efficient!

Brad

Syd

Yes, there is a learning curve. But sometimes the issue is mechanical. We could not get any more than a few seconds of hot water at first. It took a lot of reading through this forum to get the eventual answers. 

In our case, and for many others, it was more than just the mixing valve adjustment (the official 'hack' of turning the valve above its factory preset). It was also making sure the Alde pumps (both of them) were set to the same level. Once I set them both at 2, we get nonstop hot water. 

We have not showered in our 400 yet, but have seemingly unlimited hot water like we do at home with our tankless hot water system. 

manyman297

@Dutch061
Sounds like yours is working as intended. We always have plenty of hot water for washing dishes but that's due to the lower flow of the kitchen faucet. I did notice those high temps in the panel settings (under "service"). I think we were at 170 degrees at one point for the water and glycol. 

@Syd
Can you point me to a discussion about those pumps? Is that something you can set on the panel?

Horigan

The pumps are the glycol circulation pumps.  There is typically just one pump right in front of the Alde when accessed from the drivers side access panel.  There is a dial on the pump with settings 1-5 that sets the pump speed.  Setting 2 is appropriate for efficient quiet operation.  On T@bs that have the Alde Flow option (red oblong cylinder aft of the main Alde unit), there is a second pump.  The Adle Flow is effectively a tankless water heater, so folks that have that option have continuous hot water, like @Syd.  

@manyman297, If you don't have the Alde Flow option, you will have limited hot water.  Changing the pump(s) speed really won't affect that.  You're best bet is to vary the mixing valve, but again, you're still stuck with a two gallon hot water tank to shower with.

webers3

Wow, five minute showers, what luxury!! 

manyman297

@Horigan
I have the alde flow unit. I've made sure it is selected as an option in the panel. I'll have to look at the pump setting.

@webers3
Haha, I have luxurious demands 

AirBoss

Uh...5 minute showers? 

Nope. Get wet..turn off shower. Lather. Rinse. Done. 

This ain't the Ritz! 

manyman297

Quick update. I think I was letting the “more hot water” setting sit too long before taking a shower. It only stays in that mode for 30 minutes.

Tried it again today. Using propane I set it to 2kwh (manual says to do this regardless of if you are using electricity or propane), turned the hot water setting all the way up (“more hot water” setting) and I was getting 117+ degrees of hot water continuously for a little over 10 minutes. Plenty of time for my needs and that’s too hot for a shower so I’m sure you could stretch that out even longer if you wanted to.

Looks like this is the Ritz after all.

AirBoss

Ding!!!! Winner! 

N7SHG_Ham

Gas has ability to provide about 3x the BTU's of the electric even on the 2kw setting, plus recovers much faster. So I use gas, turn boost on and watch the service menu temp until around 180f. Then turn boost off and then back on. Now your Alde tank is at max temp and boost is going to be adding to that as you use the supply for next 30 minutes. Assuming your mixing valve is adjusted properly, that procedure will give you more than enough hot water.

manyman297

@N7SHG_Ham Excellent! Thank you.