Hot water when in Florida

nettles

Plugged into shore power at home.  Trying to heat water without heating camper since I'm in Florida.  What settings do I use?  I'm exhausted and can't think after 6 months of dealing with aftermath of Hurricane Ian.  Aldi is on (green light on power, electric set on 2.  Propane off.  Tried with thermostat set at 60, then 80 but water is not hot.  Aldi 3010

nettles

Not connected to city water.  Water flows freely from hot water valve in shower.  Can I conclude that alde boiler is filled?

Grumpy_G

No, the Alde system might be still bypassed from winterizing. Also, the Alde system can be set to hot water only which turns off the thermostat and circulation pump. No need to mess with the thermostat.

pthomas745

The year of your trailer is important, because, as Grumpy says, there may be some valves to check to ensure water is getting to where it needs to go.

The Alde always produces hot water.  The way to prevent the cabin from heating up is to turn the thermostat down to below the ambient temperature.  Just turn the thermostat as low as it can go. 

Then, in the water section of the Alde control panel: push the button until the entire little "triangle" in that section is completely filled in.  This is the "extra hot water" setting.  This setting turns off the circulation pump, and the Alde will simply heat the water.  With the pump not running, no glycol gets sent through the system to heat the trailer.  After 30 minutes, the system returns to "normal".  Since you have the thermostat set lower than the "ambient" temperature, the Alde will not heat the trailer. (Picture from the manual below).

So: let us know what year the trailer is, and if these little tweaks don't work, then lets take a look at your valve settings and see if they are correct.

nettles

Hot water worked when I last used the system.  Settings are as shown except propane set to off because propane is disconnected.  I did not winterize since I am in southwest Florida.  year is 2018.  Fresh water tank is at 65 percent full. I can,'t tell if heat works because Englewood is hotter than the max temp on the heater.  Was planning on sleeping in parking lot last night of trip home and it will be cold.  

I guess after six months of dealing with hurricane aftermath in an area where over 50% of homes are destroyed, and 40% of the rest have severe damage, I can handle a cold night with no shower.  I'll throw in an extra quilt, and a space heater, and look for a campground but they are few  the second night of the trip back to Ohio. 

I had great Florida camping plans for the season with my new to me camper .  But camper ended up being a safe place to sleep for the first month I was in Florida.  And a guest room for  friend who came down to help during the worst of it.

I should have tested hot water sooner but it was a low priority compared the rush to complete hurricane repairs before heading north.  My neighborhood is toxic. 
Moldy, vermin infested homes are finally being demolished.  

My Florida place can be repaired but it will take years.  It is almost impossible to find contractors.  FEMA and county government cause more problems than they resolve at an individual level.  They've done well at debris removal. So many elderly people lost everything and are couch surfing.  FEMA mostly provided very unsuitable campers for elderly people and almost everyone ended up sending them back to FEMA.  Six months after Ian and only a handful of people have habitable dwellings. 

Shocking and mind numbing what a cat 5 hurricane and a multiple tornados do to a vintage mobile home park.  

In 2 hours I lock the door and leave it behind for a while.  I have functional roof, walls, and floor.  My seventies era mobile home is battered but survived Ian.  I know I'm extremely lucky compared to most. 

Maybe I'll get lucky and the Alde will.work on the road.  Otherwise I'll figure it out in a few weeks.  

Thanks for the responses.  It's a relief that I seem to know how it is supposed to work.

pthomas745

My family has lived in the  SE for years ( I left a long time ago) and most of the rest of the country don't realize how long it takes to recover from a big hurricane.  I hope everything works out better for you soon. 

Let us know how when you want more help with your hot water. 

nettles

Thanks for the kind words. As a season resident with a sort of okay place, I feel like I'm in purgatory while my neighbors are in hell.  

Sharon_is_SAM

@nettles - if you are running the pump and getting water at the tap without sputtering, that is a good sign that the Alde water tank is full.  If you are on a 20 amp house circuit, you should be ok with the Alde electric on 2, but be careful running anything else as it may flip the house circuit breaker.  @nettles  - Make sure the Alde is plugged into the 120 outlet under the driver side bench.  If your battery switch is on, you will get the Alde panel to energize, but the Alde will not heat water when electric is chosen as the fuel source.

Grumpy_G

Good point Sharon. Along those lines, check if the breaker for the Alde system isn't tripped.

nettles

Well, that was fun.  The second night on the road, I couldn't find a campground so we ended up in a Cracker Barrell parking lot.  I tried to run the Alde on propane and got gas failure message.  We froze.  Still, better than some of our recent motel stays.  Nice to have your own sheets and standards of cleanliness.  Drained the fresh water when I got home so I won't be troubleshooting the hot water issue just yet.  

WFCO control panel fan ran continuously when I plugged into shore power until I disconnected the battery.  From what I see on the forum, that's normal while the battery is charging.   

I'm a bit thrown by Sharon's comment:

If your battery switch is on, you will get the Alde panel to energize, but the Alde will not heat water when electric is chosen as the fuel source.

(Specifically, does that also apply to Alde heat when electric is chosen as the fuel source?)

I'm so happy to have a break from the Hurricane Ian mess.  Hopefully I'll be ready to figure out the TAB in a week or two.

Thanks again, everyone.  

Sharon_is_SAM

@nettles - the control panel is wired for 12 V.  If your battery switch is turned on, you select “electric” only for heat and/or water and your Alde is not plugged in under the bench, the control panel will light up, but the Alde will not heat.

Close the LPG tank, then very, very slowly open the tank.  If opened too quickly there is a valve that stops gas flow. Check for leaks around the LPG feed line.  You may have air in the gas line since your propane was disconnected.  Light the stove and let it run for a couple minutes to clear any air.  To clear the “gas failure” message, turn off the Alde, disconnect from shorepower, then turn the battery switch off for a few minutes, then turn the battery on, then turn on the Alde.  

Per nuCamp technicians:  “Gas failure will either be a low battery, a bad combustion fan, low propane or a circuit board. It happens too if they’re at high altitudes, usually a low battery or high altitude is the culprit.”

Bayliss

@nettles, basically, what @Sharon_is_SAM is correctly pointing out is that if your 12V battery is connected ("on"), the Alde control panel will turn on, because it relies on a 12V connection to operate.

BUT, in the event that the Alde 120V electrical plug is not plugged in for some reason (e.g., it can sometimes come loose if not secured in place - - - I use zip ties to prevent that - - - see photo below), the fact that the control panel lights up can mislead you into thinking that you have 120V AC power to the Alde, when in fact you don't.  Thus, under that scenario, when you select "electric" for heating (the trailer cabin and/or water) you "think" you have turned on the electric heating element(s) in the boiler, when in reality all you have is 12V power going to the control panel.

If you select propane as the heating source, you don't need a 120V electrical connection, but you still need the 12V battery connection to power the control panel and to ignite the propane burner.  This is how you are able to heat your trailer while boondocking without 120V electrical power.

Finally, if you have both 120V AC electric and propane available as sources of heating energy, the Alde control board will select the power source from what is available with priority given to electrical power by default.  If there is an electrical power failure at the campground, and you have previously selected both electric and propane as the energy source, then the Alde will automatically switch to propane.  A nice feature to have when electric power goes out in the middle of the night while you are asleep.

NOTE:  If you prefer, there is a "Prio" (i.e., "priority") setting on the control panel (refer to the Alde manual for specifics) that will allow you to change the priority to propane.

nettles

Heat works on shore power.  My 

GregChris

 I know my 2021 320s is newer, but the Aldi screen is always on with 12v. When it get 110v is actually has an icon appear that says "plugged in".

Bayliss

Very good point, @GregChris.

Here's an image of the display screen from the Alde manual.  The screen displays an electrical plug icon ("E") when 120V is connected to the furnace.

The standby screen lighting can be adjusted, if desired, so that the display is not always visible.  For example, you may want it to be dark while in standby (e.g., when visualizing the display is not necessary, you are not using the display to adjust the  settings, or at night while sleeping.  See "Background lighting" in the manual for directions on how to adjust the three available modes: Dark, Bright and Invert.  I have mine set to "Dark" so that when I press the screen or menu button, the screen comes on, but then turns off after 30 seconds if the display is not touched.

nettles

I have heat and hot water on shore power.  Continue to get gas failure warning.  Battery voltage at 12.6.  Stove burners light.

nettles

I have tried gas only, shore power and gas only, battery power and get the same result.

pthomas745

The other things to work on would be: the propane gas pigtail, and the propane regulator.  They are the weakest link in the propane "chain" and sometimes replacing just the pigtail can solve the problem.

Here is one thread about what to look for when buying, with a couple of links to products.  They are readily available on Amazon.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8089/help-propane-pigtail-replacement-type#latest

If you want to replace your regulator, you need a "two stage propane regulator."

Droid

I know this post is nearly a year old, but I suspect you may have the 220 amp hour agm battery. I have a 2018 400 and just replaced the battery with lithium. I read that this should solve that problem of the gas failure when heating with propane and not on shore power. ( most likely this is too late to help you.)

Sharon_is_SAM

@Droid - Nettles has a 320.