just getting ready to crank up the Alde heater, need advice please

gkillmaster

We've had out T@B for a year now but just getting around to using hot water and the Alde heater. We've read the Alde manual and the T@B manual but are confused about how the heating system works to heat the trailer. In the Alde manual, it says we may have an additional glycol tank, or we may not, but I can't find the tank or any information on this in our T@B documentation. So, 2 questions:

1) Does the hot water flow through the system and heat the trailer (if we don't have a glycol tank)? How exactly does the heater work?
2) If we do have the glycol tank, I assume the hot water and glycol are 2 different systems and you can run each separately?

Any clarification on this would be most helpful. We've gotten ourselves totally confused on how this all works...

Best,

Greg K.

dhauf

@gkillmaster you don't need to use the hot water tank for the heat to work.  If you have a 320S with the bathroom the glycol tank is located on the driver side rear by the speaker.  You will see a square drive screw you will need to remove in order to open the panel and check the tank.  The heating system circulates the glycol through radiators in the back of the camper and under the passenger side bench seat.  In order to heat the unit you just turn on the ALDE and set your desired temperature and select either propane or electric.  For hot water you need to make sure you have water in the tank and then on the ALDE panel select either 1 or 2 on the shower icon to start heating the water up, you will also need to select to use shore power signified by the lightning bolt icon and select either 1kw or 2kw or tap on the flame icon for using propane to heat it.

dundons

1) You do have glycol, it's in the closet in a plastic expansion chamber similar to a car's radiator expansion chamber. The fluid is moved through the under seat heat exchanger tubes to warm the trailer's interior space. 2) Alde is a boiler that heats water for domestic use AND heats glycol for heating purposes. If you only want hot water to wash dishes, set the room temp below thr ambient temp and the Alde will not heat the room.

gkillmaster

Thanks all! I can't find the tank anywhere in these places you both mention, but our model is: 

T@B Q Maxx Body Type CMP

going to keep looking for it....

dhauf

gkillmaster said:

Thanks all! I can't find the tank anywhere in these places you both mention, but our model is: 

T@B Q Maxx Body Type CMP

going to keep looking for it....

Check this thread here it has pictures of the location: https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/6085/how-to-get-to-glycol-expansion-tank

gkillmaster

Thanks so much @dhauf! Yes, I just didn't get it at first when you said to take the panel off. You were absolutely right! It is there! And in a hard place to see the glycol level. So the hot water and air heat systems are totally separate? How does the heat flow into the trailer?

dhauf

@gkillmaster excellent!  Glad you found it.  Thats correct the system for hot water and heat are separate but contained in the same unit.  The glycol circulates through the radiators found on the back wall and under the passenger side bench.  There are a separate set of rubber hoses that contain the gylcol for the mini radiators in a loop configuration. The ALDE has a circulator pump that circulates the glycol through this system, its sort of like a radiant heat system you find in a home.  Here is a little video to explain it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JjZAayAqS0

Also here is how to use the control screen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJmPeiltGAU

gkillmaster

This is super helpful. Thank you so much for such accurate and clear info!

dhauf

gkillmaster said:

This is super helpful. Thank you so much for such accurate and clear info!

Your very welcome!  Glad to be of some help.

DougH

Best part is it makes no noise, doesn't dump a bunch of humidity into the cabin, and adds a faint smell of warm wood to the camper. I almost wish they'd built the surrounds around the radiators out of cedar or other aromatic wood to give it more of that northern woods dry sauna feeling.

TarBucks

Does anyone know what kind of draw the Alde has on the battery if it is set to use propane?  I will be dry camping and will need the Alde for heat, but don't want it to run the battery down too much.

pthomas745

Not very much.  Here is the @jkjenn famous spreadsheet, and below it a link to the Alde USA FAQ page

The FAQ and the spreadsheet differ slightly, but there still is not very much power draw.

https://www.alde.us/how-can-i-get-help/knowledge-base/

welovenaples

Can anyone let me know if you can travel (drive) with the Alde heating set to propane?

Sharon_is_SAM

Per the Alde 3010 manual:

"Shut OFF gas and the LP tank when vehicle is in motion. This disables all gas appliances and pilot lights. Gas appliances must never be operated while vehicle is in motion."

N7SHG_Ham

@welovenaples official answer NO! The Alde will operate in transit as reported by others. Beware of leaving it on at fuel stations, tunnels and other potentially hazardous environments. I probably never would do it for safety reasons, BUT it will operate while in motion.

ChanW

@welovenaples, we have tried running it while driving. The transfer of air inside the Tab at 55-65mph was too much for it. ie: the Tab leaks too darn much, so it got cold inside really quickly. 

I don't think the Alde system has high enough output for that.

PhilPlanck

I was very frustrated checking glycol in our 2018 320s. You cannot see the minimum mark and max a little easier. Used a black Sharpie to mark max but could only get a dot on min. as hard to get to. Next and worst issue was seeing the yellow glycol. I tried several lights and just could not see the fluid. The solution was a battery powered uv light. Could now see glycol level very easily. I had added glycol assuming it was a little low after 5 years. But I could not see how much I added. With the uv light it was easy to see it was at the max mark so removed until it was about half inch above min