Alde temp showing 158 degrees—fixed

loganphotos

Hello, I've been reading the forum for a long time and just now have a question for the group. I have a 2019 320s Boondock. My Alde system works perfectly with the water heater and has worked in the past with the heat. Recently I had the battery run down and gave me a "red warning", I believe it said, and I reset it by pulling the fuse on the Alde. Everything is working fine now except the temperature is showing 158*. Since it is showing the high temp the heat will not kick on when I set it to 70* or whatever. Has anyone ever had this happen or have any suggestions? Thanks.

ScottG

To clarify, are you saying it's displaying the room temperature as 158F?

A water temperature of 158F would be in the expected range when using the HW boost feature.

loganphotos

That's a good question. I'm assuming the temp on the display is for the room temp. When it was working it seemed to mirror room temp. I am getting that from the upper right corner of the Adle control panel display. 

ScottG

Hmmm, I don't have the digital panel so I can't confirm or deny that what you are seeing is room temp as opposed to water temp. Hopefully someone else will chime in here with some insight or clarification.

pthomas745

Is that the 3020 version in your 2019?

Bayliss

@loganphotos, I agree with @ScottG's observation regarding 158 degrees F being what you might expect the hot water temperature to be after using the hot water "boost" function on the Alde 3020 (although it should be closer to around 149 degrees F.)  IF the water temp is showing 158 degrees, you need to adjust your mixing valve downward.  ALSO, the normal hot water temperature, when not using the "boost" function, is around 120-122 degrees F.)

A good way to see what is going on with your system is to do the following:

On the Alde digital display, tap on the “gear” icon located at the lower right hand corner of the screen (if the display is in "stand by" mode, tap on the screen so you see the “Setting” menu.)  Tapping on the "gear" icon will take you to the "Tool" menu.

On the "Tool" menu screen, you will see up and down arrows.  Tap the down arrow 3 times to page through the available screens (see p. 19 of the Alde manual to see what the screens look like.)  Once there, tap the “Service” button and you will see the current glycol temperature, water temperature, fan rotation speed (RPM), etc.  This screen is very helpful if you want to see what the water temperature is, and for determining if the fan is running.

The below photo is similar to what you may see.  (NOTE:  the Alde manual says that the "boost" mode will temporarily heat the hot water temp to about 149 degrees, which is exactly what happened for me, as depicted in the photo, after I adjusted the Alde mixing valve - - it takes about 20-30 minutes to get the temp to that level.):



If you are saying that the temperature at the top of the "Settings" menu is reading 158 degrees (i.e., cabin temperature), then something is wrong.....possibly with the thermostat that is built in to the display housing?

loganphotos

It is the 3020 version in my 320s. Bayliss, thanks for a great description and explanation. I will look at this evening to confirm the water temp. I am fairly sure the reading is the room temp. It is displaying 158 on the main settings screen. I suspect the thermostat is the issue. It is odd that it is showing 158 consistently. Since its a newish trailer (3 months) I wouldn't imagine it could go bad. If it needs to be replaced then it's fine but I wonder why it happened in the first place? It did work previously.  

Bayliss

Fortunately, @loganphotos, it is still under warranty, so if it is incorrectly reading the cabin temperature, Alde should replace the display panel and/or thermostat.  You might want to call/E-mail Alde and see if they can provide some technical assistance, or get you a new digital display.

E-MAIL:  service@alde.us  (Office:  (360)-597-3017 “Mandy”)

pthomas745

On the Alde simulator I play with, there is a setting in the menu that "appears" to have different settings for models with extra thermostats.   (I've never seen these settings discussed here, but people have added aftermarket Alde thermostats.)

I'd have a look at that setting in the menu. Refer to the 3020 manual, page 19 and 20, the "Setting A Room Sensor" is #6 on page 20.  It may be trying to read a sensor that is not installed, and changing the settings may help. 

If this function isn't installed, the menu item may just be grayed out.

Edit:  And, check the Alde "offset" setting.  #15 on page 20.

jameskuzman

pthomas745 said:

On the Alde simulator I play with

@pthomas745 - Alde simultator? Do tell :-) 

TabberJohn

Alde simulator 
See control panel demo links at bottom of this page: https://www.alde.us/why-choose-alde/what-makes-the-alde-system-unique/

pthomas745

I should have linked to it, sorry.  The Knowledge Base on the page TabberJohn linked to is full of good info, too.

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

loganphotos

I contacted Alde and they were very quick to respond. I was given a couple of things to check. The first was to look at the thermostat located just inside the silver casing on the display panel. Apparently, the thermostat can come in contact with a spring near it. That was not the case for me. Also, I tried a hard reset by holding down the power button for a minute. That didn't work either. I now suspect the unit is not heating water or room heat on electric as I had tried to switch from propane priority to electric only in order to rule out a few things. I had no hot water in the morning. When I switched to propane the water was again good to after several minutes. It is possible that the electric just takes longer than I realized to heat up. I really need to open up the seats and check current to see if anything along the system has failed. 

Bayliss

@loganphotos, thanks for the update and additional trouble-shooting ideas.

It probably isn't the issue, but might check to confirm that the electrical plug for the Alde (adjacent to the Alde under the back bench on the driver's side) is plugged in/secure.  It tends to come loose.  I used a couple zip-ties to keep it in place.  If I recall correctly, I criss-crossed them over the plug and ran the ties through holes in the plastic electrical outlet housing.

loganphotos

I finally have an update to my issue. After exhausting all the things I could try myself I had to take the camper into the dealer. It was a bad thermostat and they replaced it under warranty. I now have heat. I’m very impressed after camping this weekend in temps 30-40. It’s 72 degrees day and night inside. 

Bayliss

And the thermostat said, "Let there be heat," and there was heat.  And seeing that the heat was good, the Alde separated the heat from the cold.  Ahhhhh..........

Congratulations on narrowing down the cause of the temperature issue, @loganphotos.  It is always helpful to learn how problems are ultimately resolved, especially with the Alde.