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AquaHot will not restart when water is warm


Patrick

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My AquaHot starts ups immediately when everything is cold. Runs a cycle but rarely restarts once the system is warm. If I’ve run the engine up to temp or if the electric water heater has been running, the AquaHot will not start up. The AquaHot switch light goes off quickly after being turned on and the burner fan does not start up. 
 

I initially thought that the high temperature thermostat was not working, but I checked the continuity on it and that’s fine. I haven’t tried to jumper the low temperature thermostat yet but that’s on my list.  
 

Anyone have any thoughts as to what I should try next next? We are on our way to our final destination in San Diego and the storage bay is packed with gear but once we get to San Diego I’ll be able to access the AquaHot again. 
 

Thanks for your input!

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20 minutes ago, Patrick said:

My AquaHot starts ups immediately when everything is cold. Runs a cycle but rarely restarts once the system is warm. If I’ve run the engine up to temp or if the electric water heater has been running, the AquaHot will not start up. The AquaHot switch light goes off quickly after being turned on and the burner fan does not start up. 
 

I initially thought that the high temperature thermostat was not working, but I checked the continuity on it and that’s fine. I haven’t tried to jumper the low temperature thermostat yet but that’s on my list.  
 

Anyone have any thoughts as to what I should try next next? We are on our way to our final destination in San Diego and the storage bay is packed with gear but once we get to San Diego I’ll be able to access the AquaHot again. 
 

Thanks for your input!

KISS.  NEVER trust Monaco to make a lifetime hard wired connection....

https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f240/aqua-hot-not-restarting-issue-found-195520.html

I would follow the logic of the above.  Past that....call AH.  They do a great job of over the phone trouble shooting.  

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1 hour ago, Old Dog said:

Are you running out of hot water or not heating the coach the way you want at any point?

We can use the heat pumps for heating but not able to use the furnace and not able to heat the bays. Need to use the electric water heat to provide hot water which is only available when we are plugged in

 

1 hour ago, Tom Cherry said:

KISS.  NEVER trust Monaco to make a lifetime hard wired connection....

https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f240/aqua-hot-not-restarting-issue-found-195520.html

I would follow the logic of the above.  Past that....call AH.  They do a great job of over the phone trouble shooting.  

I’ll look at that when I can access the panel. 

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18 minutes ago, Patrick said:

We can use the heat pumps for heating but not able to use the furnace and not able to heat the bays. Need to use the electric water heat to provide hot water which is only available when we are plugged in

 

I’ll look at that when I can access the panel. 

Trying to sort through this.  The electric works fine....  The engine heats fine.  NOW, what I need to understand is that when you say "AquaHot", you are really talking about the DIESEL burner for the AquaHot.  If that is correct, then MY advice would be as follows.

FIRST....DO check the connections on the board....maybe it is there....never hurts to do an Electrical PM.

SECOND..... When you say it starts UP, have you gone to the exhaust pipe and FELT the air.  Are you getting HOT air coming out our just cold air....or any air?  Mine was coming on....but not really "Doing anything".  Everything "sounded great", except there was NOT really any ignition or burner working.  The Diesel light WILL go out when that happens.  When was the LAST time you had the AquaHot burner serviced or did it yourself.  If it has been over 2 years.....ODDS ARE...the burner nozzle has varnished up.  That is a COMMON occurrence.  I actually changed the filter....which is the least likely cause....unless you have really had some crappy diesel or some algae in the tank. Once I had it serviced by a competent tech....it has worked like a champ.  Don't go chasing ghosts when there is a 800 pound monster in the room....LOL.

I can tell you that IF you call AH and say...I ain't got no DIESEL burner....SERVICE the bliniin' thing is their first response.  SO....VERIFY that you are REALLY getting the Diesel ON from COLD and there is HOT air coming out and DIESEL fumes....

If you need service, use the AH site to find a "CERTIFIED" service center.  That is your best bet....assuming you do not do your own servicing...

Keep up posted....

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I would suggest calling William Borie at Louisville Engineering. I just went through a through trouble shooting process and found the trouble with my green board. They test and rebuild Aqua hot motors, burner controller, and green board controllers. I bought parts from heat my rv and Aqua hot and could not get anyone to call me back or answer my questions. Aqua hot would put me in a queue and never call back and I never heard from John Carrillo once. This Bill Borie called me back and spent hours on the phone Saturday and Sunday walking me through the checklist. He even called about 10 at night to make sure everything was working. He showed me how to bypass the controller to get temporary heat. Just went up from -8 to 20 today. Probably saved my coach for me.

(Moderator's EDIT for EMPHASIS.....GREAT INFORMATION)   I can’t say enough good stuff about these guys. William Borie 502 553 8210

good luck paulb

Edited by Tom Cherry
Emphasized comment and contact information
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Tom thanks! I really can’t say enough good about William. I was without hot water for 2week for no reason that I could find. I had bought all new guts last fall from John Carrillo and every thing was working fine then NOT. Every time I tried to figure it out it would start working again. I rewired all my connections , changer relays, and stretched my head. I had electric again for some reason but with cold coming I installed a new filter and nozzle and everything quit working. I was throwing parts at it from aquahot and John Carrillo. Every time I tried to contact some one for help they said call back or they would call me and it never happened. Cold was coming to southern WI and I was desperate. I was heating freezing weather with 6 small electric heaters and learning to think 62 was livable with enough cloths.😜 I found Lexington Engineering web page where they will test controller boxes, control panels and Webasco burners. I emailed them and they responded with GIVE US A CALL WITH THEIR NUMBER AT 11pm at night. I did call the next day and left a message. Same O Same O right. Bill called me an hour later and spent an hour on the phone on a Saturday  helping me trouble shoot. We determined it was the controller box on the webasco diesel burner and I ordered and paid for a rebuilt one. Turns out my old box was good and I needed the control board. He sent me a rebuilt board and my old box back and didn’t charge me for anything and will take his box back and settle up when it gets warm enough to make the changes. Meantime I have the electric hot wired and diesel burner working when I need it to get more heat through this last couple weeks of sub zero weather with 30mph winds. I couldn’t use any more heaters was blowing my 50amp hookup. For sure I would have lost my wet bay and had frozen Aqua hot. You can see why I love these guys and can’t say enough good about them. WHO TALKS YOU THROUGH TROUBLE SHOOTING FOR 3 HOURS ON A SUNDAY? WILLIAM BORIE THATS WHO.

Sorry for the long post but you see why I love these guys😃 paulb

 

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2 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

Trying to sort through this.  The electric works fine....  The engine heats fine.  NOW, what I need to understand is that when you say "AquaHot", you are really talking about the DIESEL burner for the AquaHot.  If that is correct, then MY advice would be as follows.

FIRST....DO check the connections on the board....maybe it is there....never hurts to do an Electrical PM.

SECOND..... When you say it starts UP, have you gone to the exhaust pipe and FELT the air.  Are you getting HOT air coming out our just cold air....or any air?  Mine was coming on....but not really "Doing anything".  Everything "sounded great", except there was NOT really any ignition or burner working.  The Diesel light WILL go out when that happens.  When was the LAST time you had the AquaHot burner serviced or did it yourself.  If it has been over 2 years.....ODDS ARE...the burner nozzle has varnished up.  That is a COMMON occurrence.  I actually changed the filter....which is the least likely cause....unless you have really had some crappy diesel or some algae in the tank. Once I had it serviced by a competent tech....it has worked like a champ.  Don't go chasing ghosts when there is a 800 pound monster in the room....LOL.

I can tell you that IF you call AH and say...I ain't got no DIESEL burner....SERVICE the bliniin' thing is their first response.  SO....VERIFY that you are REALLY getting the Diesel ON from COLD and there is HOT air coming out and DIESEL fumes....

If you need service, use the AH site to find a "CERTIFIED" service center.  That is your best bet....assuming you do not do your own servicing...

Keep up posted....

I will check the connections when I can get into the bay. 
 

Yes, I am talking about the diesel burner. When everything has sat cold overnight, ie. Electric heater off, rv motor off, I turn on the Aquahot switch and the diesel burner fires up right away. Exhaust is hot, very minor puff of smoke on startup, AquaHot fluid heats up, creates hot domestic water and furnace heater warms up the rv. It seems the AquaHot heats up until the high temp set point is reached and then the burner shuts off, AquaHot switch light stays on. Once the AquaHot fluid cools off, the diesel burner attempts to restart but burner fan does not come on and the AquaHot turns itself off after several seconds and the AquaHot switch light turns off. 
 

I have recently serviced the diesel burner with a new nozzle, fuel filter, cleaned combustion chamber, cleaned photocell, polished reflector ring, re-gapped ignition tips. I have the service manual and have tested the continuity across the high temp thermostat which is good   

 

There hasn’t been anyone who works on AquaHots anywhere near me but we are headed to San Diego. I like to fix things myself because then I can learn for next time. 
 

Appreciate your help. 

35 minutes ago, Paul Busch said:

Tom thanks! I really can’t say enough good about William. I was without hot water for 2week for no reason that I could find. I had bought all new guts last fall from John Carrillo and every thing was working fine then NOT. Every time I tried to figure it out it would start working again. I rewired all my connections , changer relays, and stretched my head. I had electric again for some reason but with cold coming I installed a new filter and nozzle and everything quit working. I was throwing parts at it from aquahot and John Carrillo. Every time I tried to contact some one for help they said call back or they would call me and it never happened. Cold was coming to southern WI and I was desperate. I was heating freezing weather with 6 small electric heaters and learning to think 62 was livable with enough cloths.😜 I found Lexington Engineering web page where they will test controller boxes, control panels and Webasco burners. I emailed them and they responded with GIVE US A CALL WITH THEIR NUMBER AT 11pm at night. I did call the next day and left a message. Same O Same O right. Bill called me an hour later and spent an hour on the phone on a Saturday  helping me trouble shoot. We determined it was the controller box on the webasco diesel burner and I ordered and paid for a rebuilt one. Turns out my old box was good and I needed the control board. He sent me a rebuilt board and my old box back and didn’t charge me for anything and will take his box back and settle up when it gets warm enough to make the changes. Meantime I have the electric hot wired and diesel burner working when I need it to get more heat through this last couple weeks of sub zero weather with 30mph winds. I couldn’t use any more heaters was blowing my 50amp hookup. For sure I would have lost my wet bay and had frozen Aqua hot. You can see why I love these guys and can’t say enough good about them. WHO TALKS YOU THROUGH TROUBLE SHOOTING FOR 3 HOURS ON A SUNDAY? WILLIAM BORIE THATS WHO.

Sorry for the long post but you see why I love these guys😃 paulb

 

Thanks for tip. I will contact them. 

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Thanks for the update.  MUCH clearer now.  Lots of different issues....but here is another forum that might be of interest....

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/aqua-hot-diesel-burner-fails-to-re-ignite-372327.html

HMMMM.  Low cost test here.  Remove the COVER and see if it works OK.  That is in the following link. Spark coil was going bad and heated up (a natural occurrence) and broke down. Another had a similar problem with a board.  

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/hydro-hot-wont-start-on-diesel-278521.html

ONE OTHER OFF THE WALL comment.  Try leaving the bay door open....with the cover on.  Do you SUPPOSE that you have a PINHOLE leak in the fuel line.  If it is cool, then the thermal expansion could open it up and allow air to enter and the pump would not function properly.  Just a thought.....again....some folks have had to replace a defective fuel line as it would NOT start....but it COULD BE????

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33 minutes ago, Patrick said:

I will check the connections when I can get into the bay. 
 

Yes, I am talking about the diesel burner. When everything has sat cold overnight, ie. Electric heater off, rv motor off, I turn on the Aquahot switch and the diesel burner fires up right away. Exhaust is hot, very minor puff of smoke on startup, AquaHot fluid heats up, creates hot domestic water and furnace heater warms up the rv. It seems the AquaHot heats up until the high temp set point is reached and then the burner shuts off, AquaHot switch light stays on. Once the AquaHot fluid cools off, the diesel burner attempts to restart but burner fan does not come on and the AquaHot turns itself off after several seconds and the AquaHot switch light turns off. 
 

I have recently serviced the diesel burner with a new nozzle, fuel filter, cleaned combustion chamber, cleaned photocell, polished reflector ring, re-gapped ignition tips. I have the service manual and have tested the continuity across the high temp thermostat which is good   

 

There hasn’t been anyone who works on AquaHots anywhere near me but we are headed to San Diego. I like to fix things myself because then I can learn for next time. 
 

Appreciate your help. 

Thanks for tip. I will contact them. 

Could be your high limit thermostat/switch is bad. Does the reset button pop? How wiring my diesel burner I can only run it for a few minutes with all the furnace blowers going or it pops the high limit and it should reset when the switch goes off but not with the problem board I have. Better days coming huh😜

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With my 100 series AH and your symptoms, I would have a good look at the controller connectors and then the controller itself. That part can get very hot and relays inside the box have a tendency to unsolder themselves and cause temperature dependent unpredictable connection issues. One of them controls the motor. If the motor does not start at all when it should, nothing else happens and the diesel system shuts down within a short time when it does not detect flame at the end of start up sequence. Note that the fuel delivery, spark and flame detection happens way after the motor first clears the chamber and pressurize fuel. Spark may be there but no fuel if the motor never started.The fact that the light goes out makes me believe that sequence has started, meaning the low temp thermostat worked. I had that happen myself. I don't have a reset button or the external control board so it could be different with yours.

 

 

2019-02-02_15-23-20_494.jpeg

Ah 2019-02-02_15-23-04_830.jpeg

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Ivan this is why I took my control box off of the latch connected to the motor and wrapped it in bubble pack and just lay it in beside the motor. I figured if it didn’t get all the vibration and heat from the motor it would last longer and both ends of the control box are not wrapped so it can dissipate heat.

Tim

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8 minutes ago, Tim-AZ said:

Ivan this is why I took my control box off of the latch connected to the motor and wrapped it in bubble pack and just lay it in beside the motor. I figured if it didn’t get all the vibration and heat from the motor it would last longer and both ends of the control box are not wrapped so it can dissipate heat.

Tim

Right, I considered extending the harness outside of the box but did not get to it yet. At least I have a spare controller on board.

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When I took the cover off of my aqua hot in 2018 to service it it was such a pain in the butt that I decided not to put it back on because it is in an enclosed compartment and in my view it keeps the relays from heat soaking along with my control box.

Tim

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16 hours ago, Ivan K said:

With my 100 series AH and your symptoms, I would have a good look at the controller connectors and then the controller itself. That part can get very hot and relays inside the box have a tendency to unsolder themselves and cause temperature dependent unpredictable connection issues. One of them controls the motor. If the motor does not start at all when it should, nothing else happens and the diesel system shuts down within a short time when it does not detect flame at the end of start up sequence. Note that the fuel delivery, spark and flame detection happens way after the motor first clears the chamber and pressurize fuel. Spark may be there but no fuel if the motor never started.The fact that the light goes out makes me believe that sequence has started, meaning the low temp thermostat worked. I had that happen myself. I don't have a reset button or the external control board so it could be different with yours.

 

 

2019-02-02_15-23-20_494.jpeg

Ah 2019-02-02_15-23-04_830.jpeg

Thank you for your response. Did you resolder the connections yourself?

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12 minutes ago, Ivan K said:

Yes, of course, that is too easy with any basic soldering kit.

Thanks for letting me know! I can handle that.
 

One question, how is the control box secured to the diesel burner? I’ve tried to pull mine off but haven’t been successful. Does it just slide off?

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2 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Thanks for letting me know! I can handle that.
 

One question, how is the control box secured to the diesel burner? I’ve tried to pull mine off but haven’t been successful. Does it just slide off?

I use a flat screwdriver to pry one side of the metal bracket a little to the side and pull that controller side out. You'll see how they have it secured from just sliding out that way.

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