Just bought a 2020 T@b 400 and the hot water works fine but the heat does not. The white Alde bathroom heater is cold to the touch. My Room Sensor indicator is gray, not blue. Could that be the problem? All other settings appear to be correct (not on Delay, propane lights green). Some of the red plastic water lines near the Alde unit feel cold. Could there be a valve closed somewhere? Thanks!
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2020 nuCamp T@B 320S * Jeep Wrangler
(47,171 towing miles through the end of 2024)
Alde System uses City Water Pressure (or the Water Pump) to move hot water from the Alde tank to the sink/shower. For Cabin heat the Alde has a stand-alone Circulation Pump to move the hot glycol.
1] Confirm the Glycol Expansion Tank is at the correct level.
2] Can you hear the Circulation Pump running (or feel it vibrating)
3] Consider resetting the Alde System to factory default conditions.
Control Panel Service Page, RESET button,
Now confirm Cabin Heat is set to a temperature above actual cabin temperature,
Check the Setting - Circulation Pump Screen; confirm it is set to Therm
Therm: The pump is controlled by the room sensor.
This is the normal mode for heat and hot water.
Reference:
TV: '17 Colorado V6 Z71 4x4, Tow Package, GM Brake Controller
Adventures: 56 Nights: 379 Towing Miles 47,220
To the best of my knowledge nüCamp does not install extra cabin temperature sensors.
The only sensor is in the Control Panel.
So make sure your "Setting a room sensor" is not active or set to Auto.
It being grayed out suggests that feature is not available/active.
Let us know when you have had a chance to experiment with the Alde System again.
TV: '17 Colorado V6 Z71 4x4, Tow Package, GM Brake Controller
Adventures: 56 Nights: 379 Towing Miles 47,220
I tried the tilt down, tilt up exercise two times, ran the alde circ pump all the way up high.
I have a flow unit and the rubber tube that comes out of the flow unit to the flo pump and also on to the heat loop, was HOT to the touch and very hard. The rubber hose that goes to the suction of the alde pump was cold to the touch, and squishy... i could pinch it closed and let it spring back open. I vented the kitched heat exchanger (under the sink) and the bathroom heat exchanger (glycol right away, no air).
It seems like there is a blockage in the heat exchanger loop. Has anyone experience a failed check valve (that is the only component downstream of the Alde/Flow unit before the under bed heat exchanger).
Any ideas??
1. I have a 2020 NuCamp Tab 400, with the Alde Flow installed.
2. I operate the Alde with the hot water boost OFF, and the glycol heats up to 172 degrees F, and i do have hotwater. Both glycol rubber hoses from the Alde Unit to the Flow, and the recirc back from the Flow to the Alde Unit are hot - 140 F. The recirc pump from the Flow unit is OFF (wires disconnected), yet there is significant flow back to the Alde unit bypassing the pump, indicating that the "return to Alde" flow resistance is less than the heater loop flow resistance.
3. the Hose from the Flow unit that goes to the heater loop heats up to 90 F, but no higher (suggests to me there is flow blockage in the heater loop). I am pretty sure there is no air in the system. I have done so many tilt up/tilt down cycles and so much venting of heaters that any air has been vented.
4. The Alde recirc pump does appear to run. If i raise the setting to 5 on the pump i can hear it "whirring" and when i turn power to the unit off, the whirring noise stops.
5. From the thread on "Changing out Alde fluid" @BrianZ and @Denny16, there should be a "non-return valve" on the "suction side" of the Flow Circulation pump, but there is not one installed on my system.
6. When i insert the special tool (bent pipe with stopper) into the Vent tank outlet, and Pump glycol into the system, i get a significant pressure buildup in the pump discharge, indicating there is some blockage in the heater loop somewhere.
My planned Next steps:
a. drain glycol from the drain fitting under the trailer.
b. disconnect the hose from the outlet of the flow unit (that also goes to the suction side of the flow circ pump), and visually inspect the hoses to the inlet of the rear heater for crud/foreign material/blockage.
c. if no blockage is noted, then try to pump glycol thru the heater loop from this location (pumping into the rubber hose connected to the inlet side of the rear heater.
d. swap out the Flow Circ pump for the Circ pump for the central heating system that feeds glycol from the heat loop (suction side) into the Alde 3020 unit. (rationale - IF there is a problem with the 3020 unit pump (because it has the most run time), the Flow unit circ pump should fix the issue and i'll know whether i have a bad pump.
@ScottG , @Denny16 and any others... any additional insights or suggestions?
The Alde literature indicates that a valve is on the discharge side of the pump, not the suction side as you noted.
Consider plugging/blocking the Flow Pump to Boiler Line for troubleshooting; force glycol to flow into heater loop to see if problem is the Flow Pump or non-return valve.
TV: '17 Colorado V6 Z71 4x4, Tow Package, GM Brake Controller
Adventures: 56 Nights: 379 Towing Miles 47,220
SUMMARY: the entire heat loop was clogged with crystallized glycol chunks.
the crystals were blocking the glycol flow thru the heat loop so that when I ran the Alde system it just recirced the glycol from the Alde unit to the Alde Flow unit and back, so I had plenty of hot water while freezing my butt off in Northern Idaho.
i disassembled the heat loop, joint by joint, reamed out the piping, and convectors with a flexible “spring wound” cable guide, flushed the rubber connectors in a sink with a wire brush and then dragged a wire brush thru each convector and section of piping I could not physically remove. Pic below shows the tools I used to clear the pipes/convectors.
special thanks to @MuttonChops @ScottG @Sharon_is_SAM and @Bergger for their help during this 10 month journey