Hancoman Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 I have an aqua hot in my 2001 executive, new to me last year. I read post about aqua hots running on electricity.I have a switch in my kitchen that says aqua hot I turn it on and it ignites with diesel. How do you turn it on using electric. Thanks in advance to probably a dumb question Tom C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monacowner Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Hi Tom, There should be a switch next to that lighted switch you flipped on to get the diesel to work that is labelled "electric hot water" or similar. Mine are both in front of the kitchen sink. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vito.a Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 All of ours have had the larger switch for diesel and the small rocker switch next to it is electric. Don't expect much heat output from the electric. It's only good for a small amount of warm water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron L. Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 12 minutes ago, monacowner said: Hi Tom, There should be a switch next to that lighted switch you flipped on to get the diesel to work that is labelled "electric hot water" or similar. Mine are both in front of the kitchen sink. Don Mine too. 2000 Dynasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hancoman Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Yes I have that switch. Thanks for your help. I am sure in 10 years I will figure everything out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Richards Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 1 hour ago, vito.a said: All of ours have had the larger switch for diesel and the small rocker switch next to it is electric. Don't expect much heat output from the electric. It's only good for a small amount of warm water. I found this out over the weekend in our 2001 Patriot after finally getting a 50 amp cord set up, the electric works and takes 1-2 or even 3 hours depending on how big your heat transfer tank is as they can range from 3 to 12 gallons. After 2 hours and a little bit of heat I figured something was up with our Hydro Hot as I can flip on the diesel switch solely and have heat blowing within 20 minutes, after a bit of reading the owners manual and on the web the electric should be flipped on along with the diesel and only relied upon to supplement the diesel so it doesn't have to work as much, or on only after the diesel has done the initial heating. That said it said the electric will not stay up with big water (shower) or heating demands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill C Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 2 hours ago, vito.a said: All of ours have had the larger switch for diesel and the small rocker switch next to it is electric. Don't expect much heat output from the electric. It's only good for a small amount of warm water. For what it's worth, I have a 2001 Dynasty with the AHE-100-02S model and if I leave the electric switch on, my wife and I can both take showers in the morning without losing hot water. I am pleasantly surprised how well it works, especially after reading the owners manual. While the diesel burning is necessary to heat the RV, the electric part of "my" Agua Hot does fine for morning showers, if left on all night. I am especially glad the electric part of the AH works good, as our Diesel part is hit or miss, even after having it "fixed" on many occasions. Based on my experience with the AH system, I wish I had a regular furnace that I can count on to work when I need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vito.a Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 You have to troubleshoot the Aqua hot when it's not working to locate the bad part. There is a good troubleshooting check list in the owners manual. I had the control board rebuilt and it worked for a while. Then figured out the ignition coil was intermittent. It is now very reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Richards Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) When I was doing my research as I noted above this is the website to check out along with the forums on this site. I read that this Roger Berke is the guy to talk to and also has parts. http://rvhydronicheaterrepair.com/ I watched a few video's and the annual service for the fuel nozzle replacement, cleaning of the combustion chamber and fuel filter replacement looks pretty simple, we have owned our Beaver since March and I figure I will do the service soon as it was about a year ago the former owner did the service and had a new Aqua Hot control board installed, The diesel portion works like clock work (knock on wood) and just learning how the electric part works with our particular system. For our system I found the .35 nozzle and filter readily available on Amazon. Edited January 6, 2022 by Keith Richards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dog Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 I also have an AHE-100 and have never had to use the diesel mode for hot water in 4 years. We take regular showers every day back to back even with inlet water temps in the 30's-40's. It takes 2-3 hours to come up to temp. These units when operating properly are very capable. I use the diesel mode so infrequently I forget about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 For those that own coaches with Aqua-Hot or Hydro-Hot systems, the diesel burner (Webasto) is ALWAYS your PRIMARY heating source. The Electric Assist is your secondary heating source providing that you are on shore or generator power. That's why it is called "Electric ASSIST", it is assisting your primary heating source. Turn your diesel switch and your electric assist switches on and leave them on. Then, depending on what power sources you are using will depend on what the Aqua-Hot will use to keep the boiler fluid HOT. Those with Aqua-Hot model 600D are the only ones where you may be able to keep the boiler fluid hot with just the electric assist because that model has TWO electric assist heating elements versus all other models only have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypoxia Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 8 minutes ago, Dr4Film said: Those with Aqua-Hot model 600D are the only ones where you may be able to keep the boiler fluid hot with just the electric assist because that model has TWO electric assist heating elements versus all other models only have one. My first thought when someone has questions or makes statements about Aqua-Hot is "Which Model?" Each Aqua-Hot model is capable of different amounts of heat. The AHE-100 is 50,000 BTU, the 400 series is 56,000 BTU, the 600 Series is 64,000 BTU and the 675 Series is 72,000 BTU. The 100 & 400 models have one 1650 watt electric element. Each of the two electric elements on the 600D are 2000 watts & the 675D has one 2000 watt element and one 4500 watt element. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivylog Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 9 hours ago, Old Dog said: I also have an AHE-100 and have never had to use the diesel mode for hot water in 4 years. We take regular showers every day back to back even with inlet water temps in the 30's-40's. It takes 2-3 hours to come up to temp. These units when operating properly are very capable. I use the diesel mode so infrequently I forget about it. Like the above, our 200 in 14 years provided enough hot water for 2 back to back showers. Only time I used the diesel is when dry camping letting me service it every 4-5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Jim, absolutely! AAMOF the AH model 450D has only a 5-gallon boiler fluid tank capacity whereas the 100 and 600 series have 16-gallon tanks. If you have a 450 D model then usually the heat function is bypassed when the demand for hot water for showers etc. exceeds the supply. Try and get by with just the electric assist on that model, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 They took a great system, and whittled it down to just an ok system IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxy1962 Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 7:10 PM, Corkman said: For what it's worth, I have a 2001 Dynasty with the AHE-100-02S model and if I leave the electric switch on, my wife and I can both take showers in the morning without losing hot water. I am pleasantly surprised how well it works, especially after reading the owners manual. While the diesel burning is necessary to heat the RV, the electric part of "my" Agua Hot does fine for morning showers, if left on all night. I am especially glad the electric part of the AH works good, as our Diesel part is hit or miss, even after having it "fixed" on many occasions. Based on my experience with the AH system, I wish I had a regular furnace that I can count on to work when I need it. Same here, no worries having a few showers, dishes etc on electric, diesel only really need for heating, one hint I’ll give you, the engine heats my system possibly not all, but getting the electric element on as soon as possible will eliminate waiting for hot water when coming off the road, have hot water for hours even if I don’t turn on electric element Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 7:10 PM, Corkman said: I am especially glad the electric part of the AH works good, as our Diesel part is hit or miss, even after having it "fixed" on many occasions. Based on my experience with the AH system, I wish I had a regular furnace that I can count on to work when I need it. Bill, After living in CA for my job and having Roger Berke do all of the repairs on my Aqua-Hot I got spoiled having the best AH technician in the country working on my AH. Once we decided to settle down in Flagler Beach it took me a few years to find another person "qualified" to work on my Aqua-Hot system. I had people who thought they were qualified as they had the training, but they were jamokes who had no clue. I finally found a shop in Ocala FL called the Hitching Post of Ocala where there is a technician named Butch who really knows his stuff with Aqua-Hot units. There is also John Carrillo in Colorado who I have used to rebuild the Webasto burners. I ship my Webasto to him, he rebuilds it, bench tests it and ships it back to me. He also has been to many rallies to provide service when there isn't a pandemic running around the world. When fixed properly the Aqua-Hot diesel burner is the best thing going for our coaches. However. I have a friend in Washington State who has replaced his Aqua-Hot with an Espar Diesel System and loves it. Simple to service and works FAR better than the Aqua-Hot system with hot water on demand. If I ever have to replace a leaking Aqua-Hot system again I will have the Espar unit installed instead. As the say'n goes fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 3 hours ago, Dr4Film said: When fixed properly the Aqua-Hot diesel burner is the best thing going for our coaches. However. I have a friend in Washington State who has replaced his Aqua-Hot with an Espar Diesel System and loves it. Simple to service and works FAR better than the Aqua-Hot system with hot water on demand. I remember a few yrs ago we had a member on here, Dr Fisher IIRCC that talked about building his own system using Espar components. Obviously a pretty smart guy who I guess has moved on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypoxia Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 The Espar units I see are very low BTU compared to AquaHot. What was done to cure that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Gene Howe, a member here, can better answer that question as he had one installed in his 03 Diplomat which he lost to an engine fire and now has one installed in his 02 Scepter that replaced his Dip. The installation was done by a company in Oregon I believe and was close to $9000. I was the beneficiary of his Aqua-Hot which was removed. I paid for the shipping from Oregon to Florida then stripped it down and took all of the parts off that were of value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterskier_1 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 You really have to consider the temperature outside when address this. In the summer when it's 90's outside, my one electric element will produce enough for domestic hot water (washing & showering). Of course, I'm not heating the dosh with it. When I have 50 Amp service (a requirement for my second electric element to power up) I've never had to use the diesel except to get things heated up in the first place., but I rarely camp when it gets below 40⁰F overnight and 60's during the day. Occasionally there is that snow storm in Tucson though. At home (my sticks & bricks) in Colorado Springs, I only have 30-Amp service to the coach. That's all that coaches used back in the 70's. I've been doing some work on the coach this past week and decided to see what the single electric element would do by itself. I set the thermostat to 60⁰F for zone 1 (salon, dining & kitchen) only. Of course zone 2 comes on for basement heat at around 40⁰F, whether you have the Aquahot heating or not. The temps got down to single digits at night. When I'd go out around 9:30 AM, the inside was above 40⁰, sometimes 45⁰ with just the single electric element. Of course it was heating the RV antifreeze too, but I didn't turn on any Faucets. This seems pretty good to know me. I can get some things done in 40⁰ - 45⁰ temps much better than in 10⁰ I wasn't doing that much at a time so I didn't bother firing up the diesel burner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Yeah, I would love to have one of the older 600 series units...... but I don't 😢! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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