Alde maybe? Not exactly sure

jillenej

We have traded in our tents for a 2014 T@b Little Guy 320 camper!

When going through stuff, I found this container behind the sofa.
It is empty, except for little bit of liquid at the bottom.  Tube at top goes to nowhere.  Tube at the side goes down to somewhere.  What is it for?  What needs to be in it?

pics go from
close up view to far away view,
so you know what Im referring to.

Any help would be much appreciated.  

Passport

I could be wrong but it appears as if your T@B had an Alde at one time that was taken out for some reason.  The 2014 320 T@B did have the Alde heater.  Surely there are other signs like hoses, fins, holes that would give you a clue that something else was there bolted or secured.  It appears as if there is the Alde part in the 4th photo down...  The fins if they were like my 2015 T@B are or were under the rear shelf that lifts up.

dragonsdofly

@jillenej, the bottle you have found is your alde reservoir. It is not supposed to be empty. Your alde is the trailer's heating system, producing both warming air and hot water. As the reservoir is empty, the system is not in working condition. Find someone with a working knowledge of the Alde and have them go over it. Maybe it can easily be restored to working order. This system is used in t@bs and in Airstream trailers. Service departments for both types of trailers should be familiar and be able to test, diagnose and repair. Without the Alde, your trailer is a hard sided tent for only warm weather use. Good luck and welcome to the t@b family. Congratulations on your trailer. Hopefully it will be a full service t@b soon.
-Denise

MuttonChops

My two cents.
Fill the reservoir to between the Min & Max lines (hard to read, shine a flashlight into tank).

Most likely everything works as you report tank/reservoir still has some liquid in bottom.

Short clear hose that "goes no where" is the air in-take vent.
Longer clear hose that disappears continues down and toward the Alde unit then goes down a 'drain pipe'.  That hose is the tank/reservoir overflow.

To fill the tank/reservoir you can purchase Century Fluid on Amazon or
get Sierra Peak at many auto-supply stores.

Century is Pre-Mixed so you just pour it in.

Sierra (see attached PDF) must be diluted before adding.

jillenej

@MuttonChops, super helpful and insightful.  THANK YOU!  When we picked up our T@b, the dealership had the heat on and working (it was a chilly morning).  The funny thing was that back panel to access the tank was screwed shut (weird).  There is extra storage back there!
So the air intake hose is OK as is?  That surprises me, but I'm happy to know.
I'll grab some of your recommended Century Pre-Mix (i like to keep things simple).  
This forum is wonderful and I'm glad to be part of a new forum-family.  Happy Camping!

[Deleted User]

Passport said:

I could be wrong but it appears as if your T@B had an Alde at one time that was taken out for some reason.  The 2014 320 T@B did have the Alde heater.  Surely there are other signs like hoses, fins, holes that would give you a clue that something else was there bolted or secured.  It appears as if there is the Alde part in the 4th photo down...  The fins if they were like my 2015 T@B are or were under the rear shelf that lifts up.

The Alde is visible in the last photo.  With the glycol tank empty like that, it raises great concern about the condition of the Alde. It clearly was not properly maintained. The glycol has to be changed every two years and with tank being empty seems to indicate proper maintenance was not done in this trailer.  I'm afraid it appears as though the dealer didn't put any effort into checking out the systems in this unit. There is no way they world have left that empty if they checked the Alde at all. 

jillenej

@TabbyShack, that is a great question as to why the dealer didn't check the tank.  However, they had the Alde on and working when we picked it up.  Since this tank is close to empty (I can see liquid at the very bottom of the tank but its such a tiny bit that it doesn't register on any of the tank lines), maybe I should take the opportunity to flush it and start with fresh.  I'll look up info/videos on how to do that.  Thanks so much for your input.  This is all very helpful

pthomas745

The Century glycol on Amazon has been the group's go to for a long time, but in the last year the price has doubled over there.

Camping World has a better (normal!) price, but I honestly don't know what their shipping costs are.

https://www.campingworld.com/century-heat-transfer-fluid-gallon-127413.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign={Campaign}&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3-yQBhD3ARIsAHuHT67gb8uNFpd9QwvwYsWCpeKFTkEkZIRKZQ9TOPt04FTmVDBVkzgiElMaAkx_EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&fbclid=IwAR1KgjDJOOc0mZ_MzdUPq8oKMVg5ZqIyibAhHFdiL9Vx62mlTU3_2hXCCx8

[Deleted User]

Just be aware that you can't get all of the glycol out through the gravity drain. It has to be pumped out. I think this applies on the 320 as well.  

[Deleted User]

One more thing, once you add the glycol, you are going to need to get the air out of the lines. You need to find the glycol pump and set it on a high setting for a few minutes to get all the air out and then return it to a lower setting. I assume a 2014 Little Guy has such a pump? I had a 2015 but I wasn't as inclined to learn every element of that trailer like I am now so I can't remember what I had in the Alde compartment. 

jillenej

This new T@B Forum Family rocks!  @pthomas745 you are correct, Camping World's prices are so much better and FREE SHIPPING on orders over $69!  Looks like my husband and I have a bit of work to do with the Alde once the right juice shows up.  Happy Camping Y'All 

Denny16

You should drain and refill the Century TF-1 fluid.  It would also be a good time to have a TaB dealer to go through the Alde system, and do a drain/flush/clean of the glycol and replace it with the new Rhomar fluid, now being used in the Alde system.  Whilst this can be done DYI, it is not an easy or quick procedure and requires a pump to do it right, and three to four gallons of fluid.  There are several previous discussions on this here.
 Cheers 

MuttonChops

jillenej said:
@MuttonChops, super helpful and insightful.  THANK YOU!
. . . This forum is wonderful and I'm glad to be part of a new forum-family.

I'm glad my reply was helpful and Yes this is an amazing forum & T@B Trailer resource.

Side Note:
   While all the other comments on fluids and changing fluid are helpful and correct . . .
   I would encourage you to start by doing the minimum needed to ensure correct initial
   operation of the Alde (and other trailer systems for that matter) by adding some fluid.

   The age old " Keep It Simple " approach!
    Once you understand how all your new trailer systems operate & we all hope they will
    operate correctly . . . than you can think about maintenance items to improve operation
    or extend the systems useful life.

    Using the trailer {doing some camping} early/before starting bigger maintenance projects
    will educate you and identify any possible items needing attention.   Just stay close to your
    home base for those initial adventures . . . that makes any Oh No situation far less stressful.

fstop32

@jillenej welcome to the T@b family and the forum!  
I agree with @MuttonChops (and the others) start simple by topping off the reservoir tank and be on the lookout for leaking glycol at hose connections as that could be why the tank is low.  If they had the heat running when you picked it up then my guess is the main components are ok but you definitely don't want to keep running it if glycol is leaking out of the system somewhere.  You'll have heat convectors (aluminum tubing with fins) as in photo below.  There will be 2 long ones in the rear near the reservoir tank, 2 shorter ones under the passenger bench (shown below) and possibly 2 more under the driver side bench.  You can follow the hoses around the camper to look for any leaks in the system.

jillenej

that makes sense to top it off and run the system with everything exposed first.  We will tackle this project as soon as we get the magic juice (Glycol is a tough word for me to remember :0)  Happy Camping Y'All

BridgerSunset

@jillenej,
Not sure if your model has an air conditioner with a heat pump feature.....but can you say the dealer truly had the Alde running....or was it instead the heat pump that heated the camper?
I ask just to make sure you avoid any mishaps with an Alde system that may or may not be intact.

Sharon_is_SAM

The 320s in 2014 had the window A/C units plus the Alde for heat.

jillenej

Yes, our 2014 has the A/C window unit and the Alde heating system.  We will be adding the Glycol to the Alde system and running the system to check all the lines and make sure it's all working.

Slackers

At Camping World you can ship the fluid to your local store for free. It saved us $9.95 on shipping.

fstop32

@jillenej, I feel I would be remise if it didn't mention this...as you are inspecting your glycol hose/convector system for possible leaks also be on the lookout for this...bulges in the rubber hoses at connections to aluminum tubing.  It's an indication of corrosion of the aluminum at that connection.  When the swelling gets large enough it will cause the hose to split where it meets the clamp and you'll have a slow leak that only gets worse in a short amount of time.

jillenej

Finally received the magic juice (glycol) and filled my tank.  My heat controller looks like this and the red light is blinking (above the flame symbol, 2nd switch from the left).
I think I turned on the heat only, but nothing is happening.  I am plugged in at home, parked in my driveway.  All other electrical is working.

JP2558

I have the 3010 also, but with the digital panel. I think the red light is the power indicator, and to me it looks like the slider on the right should be up a notch…

jillenej

A facebook post listed my exact Alde panel.  I now know what it all means

Sharon_is_SAM

Yes and the blinking red light indicates a low battery.  

Here is a more legible copy in this thread:  https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/14430/troubleshooting-the-alde-3010-with-analog-control-panel

[Deleted User]

Also the three lightening bolts is too much power draw for a house outlet. It likely tripped the breaker in your house. Check your circuit breaker panel in your house then put it on just one lightening bolt on far left and put lever in second position on far right. 

ScottG

@jillenej, something is peculiar here. The settings you show in your May 2 post would not result in the Alde being on. Although you have selected electrical as your heat source, as others have noted it is the third slider that actually turns the system on.

That said, @TabbyShack is probably on to something. If your house power was interrupted, the T@B would start drawing off the battery. If the battery were not charged, you would get the blinking red light on the Alde analog panel.

Note that even if your house power is fine, other problems can have the same effect. These include a faulty power cable to the camper, a loose connection between the camper receptacle and the power center, a tripped breaker in the power center, or a faulty converter.