Alde Freight Train (Alde 3010 model)

gbell

here is a new thing that I tried but I don't think it was a good fix or a permanent fix for the Alde freight train. We finally went camping above 7000' since our longer exhaust hose fix last fall. It grumbled a few times at start up then was so quiet I had to go outside and feel the exhaust to make sure it was working, but I did notice that it didn't run very long.  Evening came and I thought there we got it fixed. Well, not so fast, it would only run 1-2 min then turn off and not come on to heat for 1/2 to 1 hr later. No gas failure sign or anything, just off.  I tried something new.  I opened the back wood to expose the glycol container and with a flash light on it, I could see that when it was on it boiled and was very hot, but that's all we got. No heat out of it. (it was also on THERM)  So I thought Vapor lock.  I opened the lid on the glycol container and turned Alde thermostate to CONTINUOUS.  We got heat finally. it came up to temperature in the T@B and it kept running all night as needed. Only on start up did we have the freight train grumble, then very quiet as it heated.  I am not sure if you can always run on Continuous but this night I did.    Didn't get a second day try with this "fix" as we went to lower elevations and hot desert areas .  I am still going to order the 2nd regular though as I still have a start up grumble. What do you think. odd?

gbell

doubled comment, sorry

DurangoTaB

We're having a dealer install the new/second valve tomorrow (6/20), then camping next weekend up near Telluride but we'll have a full hookup.  Hopefully some high country boondocking trips soon to get away from this heat!

Tabaz

Telluride is 8,750 elevation. that would be our highest test to date.

DurangoTaB

Just got our T@B back from the dealer.  What a disaster!  The bad news is they discovered the replacement "high altitude kit" reuglator was faulty...it leaked.  So after trying to install it and leak checke it they had to put all the original equipment back in place.  The badder news is they tried to install it in the wrong place!  They thought it should go up front by the manifold, under the propane tank, mounted to the tongue...complained that the hose was way too short...duh!  I had shown the service manager where it went, gave them 5 pages of pictures from here and from Marvin, gave them NuCamp's phone number and m6 number, and and still the tech thought (?) otherwise.  For all this I get charged $200, waste a LOT of time, and I'm back to square one.  NuCamp is sending another (tested) replacement, which I'll probably just do myself.  If anyone in the Durango area wants to hear the details about this dealer, please contact me directly/off-line.

DurangoTaB

@gbell...that glycol is a new twist...this is a truly multi-variable equation!

dsatwork

DurangoTaB said:

Just got our T@B back from the dealer.  What a disaster!  The bad news is they discovered the replacement "high altitude kit" reuglator was faulty...it leaked.  So after trying to install it and leak checke it they had to put all the original equipment back in place.  The badder news is they tried to install it in the wrong place!  They thought it should go up front by the manifold, under the propane tank, mounted to the tongue...complained that the hose was way too short...duh!  I had shown the service manager where it went, gave them 5 pages of pictures from here and from Marvin, gave them NuCamp's phone number and m6 number, and and still the tech thought (?) otherwise.  For all this I get charged $200, waste a LOT of time, and I'm back to square one.  NuCamp is sending another (tested) replacement, which I'll probably just do myself.  If anyone in the Durango area wants to hear the details about this dealer, please contact me directly/off-line.

Oh my gosh, I was just in your neck of the woods. We should have parked our Tab in front of your house and I could installed it for you. (I'm an expert now that I have done one) except for the part where they sent you a bad regulator. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. What's plan B?

1222tmiller

ColoradoJon said:

Attempting to muffle the hoses have worked for some, but not me.  I tried to block with foam and stabilize the outer hose, but it didn't help.  Mine isn't that loud, though, and is definitely the result of sucking air, not hose smacking against hose.

I wonder if this is a resonance issue.  Is there anything special about the material of hose?  Maybe changing to a different material and length would solve the problem.

ColoradoJon

EDIT - I don't know what I was thinking, but this post is irrelevant.  Please ignore

Well, I ordered and received my regulator kit but haven't had time to attempt the install until this weekend.  Unfortunately my trailer does not have any black pipe near the back of the trailer.  The rubber flex hose runs from the front tub area straight back until it turns up into a hole in the floor at the rear.  The only way to install this regulator is to cut the rubber hose and purchase additional propane fittings, which I am not willing to do.

Anyone want to buy a new, unused low pressure regulator?  

ColoradoJon

So it looks like I'm supposed to disconnect the propane feed line from inside at the Alde and stuff it back down the hole in the floor.  Then thread the supplied rubber flex hose from the regulator up through the floor and to the Alde system.  Then connect the feed line to the regulator, tidy up the routing, and replace the corrugated cover.

Sound about right?  It appears that the supplied hose is too short!  I can't really tell without taking it all apart, though.  For those of you that have already done this, can you confirm?

TIA!

ColoradoJon

Alright, I went ahead and completed this install.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I started this project - but my post above is, indeed, the way this install is supposed to work.

Anyway... I completed the install and am very, very, very, very happy!  It was kind of a pain to do but not that bad.  I live at 9000 ft. altitude and when I fired up the Alde after the install I was shocked.  I couldn't hear the Alde at all except for the relays and the circulation pump!  I thought I had broken it...

But I ran outside and put my hand over the exhaust and it was running!  Holy cow!  I let it run and now I have hot water.  This really does work!  And I can attest that at 9000 ft. altitude the rumble is gone... it is totally silent.  You can hear the circulation pump if you listen closely.

I took some pictures and documented the install if anyone is interested.  I'll put it together into a PDF later.

ericnliz

@ColoradoJon, Thanks for sharing the info. Nice to hear from someone who is, and will be affected, especially at 9000 ft!

Verna

Thank you, @ColoradoJon. It seems that all of the high altitude campers must be out camping!  They will appreciate any info you have for them. If you get a PDF file together, we can put it in the videos/resources etc., category for quick access for others. 

dsatwork

I had a feeling it would work at the higher altitudes....it's great to hear.

gbell

My fixing regulator etc are in on the UPS truck to me, should be arriving this week. Sure would like a video/pdf for this. I'll keep watching for it. thanks. g

DurangoTaB

@ColoradoJon...nice!  We coulda used it this past weekend dry camping at Matterhorn cg, 7mi south of Telluride, just over Lizard Head Pass (cg at 9500ft).  Although the nights got down to the 30's-40's, we didn't use the Alde for heat, but did crank it up for hot water...rumble rumble.  Our replacement is "in the mail" and now I look forward to installing it!  Thanks so much for the timely feedback...

Michigan_Mike

ColoradoJon said:

Alright, I went ahead and completed this install.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I started this project - but my post above is, indeed, the way this install is supposed to work.

Anyway... I completed the install and am very, very, very, very happy!  It was kind of a pain to do but not that bad.  I live at 9000 ft. altitude and when I fired up the Alde after the install I was shocked.  I couldn't hear the Alde at all except for the relays and the circulation pump!  I thought I had broken it...

But I ran outside and put my hand over the exhaust and it was running!  Holy cow!  I let it run and now I have hot water.  This really does work!  And I can attest that at 9000 ft. altitude the rumble is gone... it is totally silent.  You can hear the circulation pump if you listen closely.

I took some pictures and documented the install if anyone is interested.  I'll put it together into a PDF later.

Well done!  We would appreciate it if you could create a document and post it up to the forum as it will benefit others down the road....  Thanks and am glad this did the job for you!  

DurangoTaB

This probably doesn't belong in this thread, but I had a helluva time getting the Norcold to light and stay lit at 9500ft...finally, after almost a day of trying, I tried lighting it with the control knob set very low (below "2"), thinking "start" was too rich for the thin air...and voila...it stayed on.  After a while I could turn it cooler.  As Verna suggested, it'd be good for locals and visitors to have a separate thread on high country camping. 

ColoradoJon

I've almost finished the PDF but need to re-write some of it for clarity.  I won't be able to get to it until tomorrow, though.  I'm not sure how to post a document but will try to figure it out

dsatwork

On the new 2017 Norcold model N180.3 I found this in the manual about high altitude.

Effects of High Altitude on Propane Gas Operation

When you operate the refrigerator on propane gas at altitudes higher than 5500 feet above sea level:

- You may experience reduced cooling performance of the refrigerator.

- You may experience burner outages.

To avoid these possible problems, Norcold recommends that you operate the refrigerator on AC when at altitudes higher than 5500 feet above sea level.

DurangoTaB

@dsatwork ... same info on our 2014/15 Norcold.  Shortly thereafter though is a comment to the effect "...a high altitude kit is available for use up to 10,000ft".

Librarydragon

I just got off the phone with nucamp, they told me there is no high altitude kit for the norcold. So glad for this forum.

ColoradoJon

Alright, I was able to get to finishing this now rather than tomorrow.  I'm attempting to attach this PDF file to this post.  I hope it works

Thanks @dsatwork - I used his bracket mounting method as it seemed to be the easiest.

Librarydragon

Thanks for posting directions, I will be ordering the kit.

dsatwork

ColoradoJon said:

Alright, I was able to get to finishing this now rather than tomorrow.  I'm attempting to attach this PDF file to this post.  I hope it works

Thanks @dsatwork - I used his bracket mounting method as it seemed to be the easiest.

@ColoradoJon Wow, nice job on the install manual. You just made it real easy, for all who want to follow.

Tabaz

Was boondocking at 7,650 foot elevation this weekend.  The Norcold started right up on propane (knob at 6 O'clock position, held the starter button in for a full minute, then slowly released it).  However, I noticed the food was not being kept as cold as usual.  This even after having the Norcold on shore power for several days before the trip.

Tabaz

For the high altitude boondocking thread . . . Bought a new Honda 2000 generator last week.  Fired up and ran fine in Phoenix.  Camped at 7,650 elevation, tried to start it using the instructions, but it wouldn't fire up after many pulls.  A friend recommended moving the choke to the "warm" setting.  It fired right up and ran fine the duration of the trip.

ColoradoJon

Thanks @dsatwork, and everyone else .  I hope many others can benefit!

atlasb

What do you think?  Our 400 is at NU Camp for some items, have asked about the High altitude kit.  $55.  from looking at the above articles, it appears to be a lower rated lp regulator.  The 400 uses the lp for the Alde and the cook stove.  We will normally be well below 5000 feet in our normal usage and don't use the stove much.  So,  Do we think that the high altitude regulator is worth messing with?

Verna

@ColoradoJon, thank you for your time, effort, patience and wonderful down-to-earth easy to understand PDF for installing the high altitude regulator. Now, I just need @Michigan_Mike to put it in the PDF category of the files for everyone