First time set up with Alde heating water.

MadCityJack

The previous owners of our 2017 320 U never used the Alde boiler for heating water and approaching 2 years of ownership today was the first time I tried.  Beth Cannestra provided very appreciated guidance via text/phone.   Well, I (we) got all the valves set correctly, but I was initially startled by a “closed” cold water valve that flowed water from the back underside of the trailer.   Moving the cold water drain valve open and closed a few times seemed to work in finally closing off that water flow, but I can’t be absolutely certain that I didn’t touch something else.  

Once satisfied that the system was working,  I found the faucet water to cycle between warm and cool so I adjusted the mixing valve upward significantly and that helped a lot, although I could still detect some cycling of water temperature.  When hot enough to require mixing the hot with cold at the faucet to a greater degree (more cold water), this cycling became nearly imperceptible.   I am curious about what causes this cycling?  

Second question, opening up the control panel to Service, I initially saw the Heater temperature at 144 F, and Sanitary temperature at 122.   Over the course of 15–20 min, both of these two temperature measures declined to 117 and 111, respectively.  Yet, at the faucet, the perceived temperature remained the same as when the Alde displayed the higher values.   Unfortunately, I did not measure with a thermostat, but clearly, the faucet provided very hot water.   At one point the Heater temp read 117.0 and the Sanitary temp was 122.0.   Can any one help me to understand why the temperature readings dropped in value (although perceived faucet temp did not) and the relationship of these two measures to one another?  A curious mind wants to know.  

pthomas745

The water temp may depend, partially, on what you were asking the Alde to do.  If you had the Alde set for "Extra Hot" water, (page 11 of the manual) note that it will let you get the "extra" hot for 30 minutes before going back to "normal" hot water.  When on "extra", the glycol circulation pump turns off, allowing the glycol near the boiler to reach higher temps (my guess).  Glycol pump starts back up, the water temps should drop as the "hotter" glycol travels around the heating system. (Again, a guess).

I wonder what your results would be if not asking the Alde for "extra" hot water.

Or, if you weren't set to "Extra", would selecting that setting mean more consistent temps?

Sharon_is_SAM

Can you take a photo of your valves?

How long did you allow the water to heat?  Using 2kw electric, LPG?  

Sharon_is_SAM

Water temperature and ambient temperature will also impact rate of heating the water.  The default temperature that the Alde achieves when the thermostat is turned below ambient (not heating the cabin) is about 130 F and the boost temperature is almost 150 F.  These are readings that you should see in the Service Menu on the Alde control panel.  The temp at the faucet is I believe is limited to around 120 F due to the mixing valve.  

Not sure what you mean about cycling.  Leave the heater on for a good 30 minutes, then boost it and then check the Service Menu temps.

MadCityJack

Sharon_is_SAM said:

Can you take a photo of your valves?

How long did you allow the water to heat?  Using 2kw electric, LPG?  

To PThomas745 as well, I did not have it on extra hot.  I heated for 30-45 min with 1kw electric and LPG.

Sharon_is_SAM

OK, valves look good.  The fastest way to heat water alone is via LPG.  Fastest to heat the cabin is use both 2 kw electric and LPG (5 kw) - if the cabin temp is lower than the thermostat, the LPG takes over and brings it up to thermostat temp and then the electric maintains it.  If the cabin temp drops, the LPG kicks in again.

Turn on 2 kw electric and wait, then check water temp again, then boost and check water temp after 20 minutes.

pthomas745

Interesting valves!  The only valve I can't see is the bypass valve. It should be closed. (it probably is).

And, great handwriting!

MadCityJack

By cycling, I meant that the temperature of the water at the faucet had an approximate 8-10 sec interval of warm/hot followed by drop in temperature for about the same interval.  This seemed to sync with the water pump going on and off.  Curious.   Being totally new to heating water with the Alde, I really hadno clear expectation.  However, I have read there is often a lot of sputtering as air exited the plumbing and consistent with that water initially came through the faucet with force sufficient to blow the aerator off the tip of the faucet into the sink; this happened several times until the sputtering stopped.  Kept me on edge for awhile.  Overall, I am pleased with the outcome.  

MadCityJack

Just to be sure, Heater temp is the glycol and Sanitation temp is the water temperature?   If that is accurate, I wouldn’t have expected the glycol to ever be cooler than the water temp, but I did take a picture of the Alde Service panel just to make sure of that.  

Sharon_is_SAM

Correct.  On the 3010 they list Heater (glycol) and Sanitary (water).  The Alde 3020 lists Glycol and Water.  Somebody must have done a better job of translating Swedish😂

Denny16

And, water temp is never going to be greater than Glycol (Heater) temp, as the water is heated by the Glycol, which is heated by the Alde electric heaters or gas system.  Just returned from a 4-day camping trip and our hot water worked fine, with temps at the same as Sharon mentioned, glycol st around 130F and water at 105-110F.  Boost (shower) setting did result in hotter water.  We had cabin heater temp set above ambient temp, so glycol was not circulating to convectors.
 Cheers 

Sharon_is_SAM

@Denny16 - was that water temp from the Service Menu or did you measure it at the tap?

Denny16

I checked the service menu, the temp was around 105 to 110F.  The tap,had hot water, and I had turned up the mix valve to max on factory setting (did not remove screw to readjust max mix level).  The hot water was hot enough to use.  We found a menu setting for hot water time of use, which at first prevented the hot water from coming on, until we reset it, which had grayed out the hotheaded menu icon.  Once reset the max hot water setting give more than enough hot water for a shower also, in Shower max hot water setting.
 Cheers