Alde CPR in T@B 400

knoxville1915

With the gift of a couple of warm days here in Maryland, I decided to bring our 400 out of storage and check on how all the systems are working since I self-winterized the camper in late November. Everything checked out A+....except the Alde was not circulating glycol. I had read about air pockets preventing the system from working properly, so I decided to perform CPR on the hoses leading to and from the glycol tank in the closet and the hoses leading to and from the Alde unit under the bed. I squeezed slowly at first until I heard fluid moving, turned on the Alde, then went back to squeezing; this time, a bit more rapidly. Soon, I heard the fluid flowing freely and in 5 minutes, the hoses began to warm up! Huzzah!

atlasb

I tried to start ours the other day also.  Saw a large air gap in the clear tube going into the black rubber plug in the floor next to the Alde.  Tube going into and coming out from it.  Did not get it to heat up.  When it gets above freezing again, will try to remove the air bubble gap and see if it starts. Would like to know what that floor mounted port is and how it works. Noticed the fluid level in the overflow closer to the min. limit than before.  Would really like if we had some idea how many convectors and where they are located.  A schematic of the rough lay out of the Alde system would be great also.  The Alde manual and their web site is light on information.  Also did some searching for Glycol.  Seems that the solar industry and or geothermal industry may have some compatible Glycol.  Looking for local supplier.

Verna

AtlasB, Amazon carries it. There is a post here where I put the photo and the exact name. And, Elsie in parts does have it also, the same as is on Amazon. 

Sharon_is_SAM

atlasb, how about a picture of the port you are looking at.  It sounds like the Alde tank overflow.  Is there green fluid or clear fluid in it?

knoxville1915

Update! I left the heat on 80 while my wife and I went to spend our Camping World gift card

atlasb

atlasb

Sam, Not able to get the exact pic now but if you look at the above pic just above the yellow U there is a fitting that the clear tube goes into and a gray comes out and another clear tube comes out of also.  The fitting appears to be rubber and penetrates the floor. There also is a small rubber plug in the fitting.  The over flow tank is in the closet next to the bath. This pic appears to be from a 320 but the 400 has the same plug/ fitting.  Not sure what it is for.  Would be nice to have some idea of what things are.  The Alde manual is not real strong on describing all the parts, but NU Camp may be using some things not normal to the Alde.

Sharon_is_SAM

atlasb - I believe what you refer to as an "overflow tank" in the closet is your Alde glycol expansion tank.  The black rubber plug holds 3 tubings/hoses that drain under the TaB.  The clear hose that leads to the Alde red pex line is the Alde Hot Water Tank overflow.  The other clear tubing that pokes through the black plug is the Alde expansion tank glycol overflow tubing.   The third tubing in the picture above allows air to automatically bleed off the Alde glycol system to prevent air lock.  

Sharon_is_SAM

@atlasb - how long did you try to heat your TaB?  Clearing the air/water from the clear tubings going through the floor will probably not help.  I know Knoxville thinks his milking the overflow tubings helped clear air, but I am not convinced.  The Alde has an automatic bleeder as noted in the picture above.  It takes time for the Alde to heat up the glycol before you will notice any cabin warmth.  Concerning the "convectors", since the Alde radiator fins require air flow, there are notches in the paneling at floor level that allow cooler air to be drawn in near the fins.  So, if you look for the notches, you will know where the heating fins are located throughout the cabin.

Ratkity

I vaguely remember someone on the road whose heat stopped working and Marvin said it was a big air bubble and all was well after that. My humble opinion is that the tiny-ish bubbles escape through the expansion tank, but a huge one gets stuck (and seem rare).

CPR on the Alde as a title cracked me up!!! "push, push, push - takes pulse"

Sharon_is_SAM

@atlas - if you think you have a large air bubble, drop your tongue as far as it will drop and then turn on the Alde.  The air should move to the highest point in the system which would then be the Alde unit and evacuate via the automatic bleeder.  Also, once the Alde is selected for cabin heat, the thermostat initiates the heating element.  Both the boiler and pump are controlled via the thermostat, so crank up the thermostat and give it a chance to heat up.  I think the glycol needs to reach a certain temp. before it circulates.  Just like our boiler at home, after we increase the thermostat temp., it takes some time before the pump starts running the hot water through our radiators.

atlasb

Hi Sam, thanks for the info.  The Alde system is new to us as our 320 did not have it.  As I said sometime ago, it is a learning curve for us.  I think the issue I had the other day can probably be chalked up to operator error.  Thinking the rather large battery we have in the 400 and that the 400 can operate the Alde heat without shore power that is what I did.  Then some one posted the electric elements need shore power.  When things get a bit warmer this week I will turn on the propane and try it. 
Never too  old to learn something!

knoxville1915

@SAM Perhaps I got lucky, but I think my squeezing the hoses (not the overflow, but the larger system hoses) while the pump was running may have worked the air to the bleeder, thus allowing the air to dissipate out.

cariegrls

@knoxville1915 just wanted to say hi to a fellow Maryland tabber