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huffypuff

Our New Holiday Adventures

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Those pictures I took is from me laying on my back with the inverters and bridge mounted upside down middle  ceiling.  I had a hard time getting back out and thought about taking a nap in there.  :lol:

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1 hour ago, wolfe10 said:

Harder to have heat dissipation on an inverter mounted on a ceiling!

With them mounted in the basement on the ceiling, they are out of the way of cargo.  Also it helps the aquahot heat the basement.  :lol:

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Yup, can't have both best longevity of a "heat producing electrical appliance" and most floor space.

We are into marketing philosophy, and suspect they made the correct marketing decision.

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3 hours ago, manholt said:

Eight 6V AGM on a slide, no problem.  One 2812 PSW Magnum, that we can't find...big problem!  It's not where the King Aire Tech said it is!  I need to reset it.

There are 2 big patio awnings, should have a toggle switch for each, does not, we have one and it puts out both awnings at the same time!

Ray, we have solar also and one is for start batteries, the other?  Who knows, it's not listed.  On AC or gen, the house batteries and start are charged.

I need to take pictures of the solar inside LCD panel and and controller in basement so someone can tell me what they do.  

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I took the time to snap a couple of pictures of the solar readout and controller. 

 1754730021_solarpanel.thumb.jpg.4bdf89bb2fa218ddb5bb086bd4d90165.jpg

This appears to show 13.7 charge voltage and have switch buttons that I don't know what it do or mean.

785118698_solarswitch.thumb.jpg.39af4340ca809ae7c98df742d0dedfb9.jpg

This is to show that the controller is mounted upside down.

2001614627_solarcontrolar.thumb.jpg.ee27eee205c050d747f91953088bf3a5.jpg

Looking at the dip switches on the controller

Batt 1 is set for sealed batteries

Batt 2 is set for flooded batteries

Priority is set to 90/10  90 being house and 10 chassis, taking my guess putting 1 and 2 together

Custom settings are off

PWM charging is on, I don't know what that is.  

The green charging light is on and the temperature light is blue which I think is good.   

Can somebody tell me more about this?

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Ray,

Without knowing what phase of charging the controller was in when you read 13.7 VDC, we can only guess.

13.7 is a little low for BULK and  ABSORPTION

13.7  is high for FLOAT unless you are in cold conditions (proper voltages  for each phase ARE temperature dependent).

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21 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

Yup, can't have both best longevity of a "heat producing electrical appliance" and most floor space.

We are into marketing philosophy, and suspect they made the correct marketing decision.

I can't speak to Magnum inverters, however Xantrex invertors installation instructions show how to mount one on the ceiling, they have 2 internal fans for cooling.One runs constantly, the  other is on a temperature switch.

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4 minutes ago, manholt said:

Brett, could it be, it's set for the wrong battery type?

Could it be-- sure.  Always the place to start is to verify that it is programmed for the battery chemistry, battery bank size and temperature (if no battery temperature sensor).

Do NOT assume it was properly programmed at the factory!

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To add to the ledger the connection is as follows

The two larger leads are input and has a picture of the sun.  Must be input from solar panels.  

The left leads are marked Battery 1, they must be the house batteries

The right leads are marked Battery 2, they must be chassis batteries

The two smaller leads are Remote Temperature.  I don't know what set of batteries.  

In all it appears to be charging 6 batteries, 2x 31 chassis flooded batteries and 4x L16 AGM batteries.  

The 13.7 volts are from the solar panels and not anything to do with the inverter/chargers when they are plugged in to shore power or generator running. 

I'm just learning about this so if somebody knows this system let me know.  

 

Was hard to see in picture but the far lower right is the remote connection.  

 

Edited by huffypuff
more info

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28 minutes ago, wolfe10 said:

Ray,

Isn't your solar charge controller also programmable?

I don't know but I have the link to the controller and looks like set by dip switches.  Page 9 shows charge rate.  

https://2n1s7w3qw84d2ysnx3ia2bct-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/MS-ZMAN-SSD01-D1.pdf

 

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On 5/15/2020 at 8:31 AM, wolfe10 said:

Ray,

Isn't your solar charge controller also programmable?

I looked at the manual again and on page 10 they show how to do custom programming.  

DIP Switch 4 – Custom Setpoints

If the standard battery type settings are not suitable, custom charging setpoints can be programmed using a PC and a Morningstar Serial to Meterbus adapter (not included). See Morningstar’s website for more information.

DIP Switch 4 OFF: Factory settings (factory pre-set)

DIP Switch 4 ON: Custom programmed settings

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I have a question about the Aquahot 450D.  If I just want hot water and not run any other zones, do I just turn the diesel burner on or do I also have to switch on engine preheat?  Also after engine preheat does the engine keep the hot water hot?  

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Ray, to my knowledge the engine pre-heat has nothing to do with the hot water.

If it is like mine you have two choices for hot water, Burner or Electric. Both will provide hot water. You can save diesel if you run just electric when you are plugged into shore power.  Now, if you want to be nice to the wife, switch the burner on and leave the electric on. She will have continuous hot water while washing hair.  You can leave them both on but it is not necessary.  Occasions to have them both on. Washing dishes in the sink, washing dishes in the dishwasher, and showering.  We use electric all the time except for those occasions I mentioned.

Some information. Run the Aquahot burner once a month, even when in storage. Just turn it on and let it cycle one time to off. You can hear it buzzing. You can also put your hand by the exhaust and it should be a nice clean exhaust. If you smell diesel there could be a problem.  Firing it up once a month keeps the nozzle clean.  Since you are firing it up, turn the thermostat to gas heat and turn the thermostat up to a high setting and allow the heat exchangers to do their job for a minute or so, then turn the thermostat off.  The burner will still be running. When the actual fire in the burner stops the fan will continue to run for a cool down period.

The Aquahot should be serviced once a year. Service will include checking the fluid, replacing the nozzle, cleaning the combustion chamber.  I have a gentleman that will do a house call, provide all the parts and service for $350. He would also allow me to do the work and he would supervise me and I would be able to do it myself. Unfortunately with my MH I'd have to be a contortionist. I'll let him do it.

p.s., checking the fluid is done with a refractometer.

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The biggest difference we have found between Aqua Hot & Oasis...with the Oasis, we both take showers and have plenty of continuous hot water.  That, I was never able to do with any, AH.

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Ray for hot water without using diesel. Turn off the diesel burner and turn on AC-1 and AC-2 and make shure the LED light comes on next to the switch. You don't need to switch on engine preheat. All your heating functions are controlled by the thermostat. If you don't want heat either set it low enough heat doesn't come on or shut it off. 

Let me know if this helps.

Bill

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Thanks for the tips, what I gather from it is I can run engine preheat 1 hour before start and have hot water to wash hands while traveling.  When I get to campground and on shore power it will be good to switch to electric.  If we all want long showers run both diesel and electric. 

We are going to use for first time this Friday through Monday to Ocean City, WA beach 4 hour drive each way.   

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1 hour ago, huffypuff said:

what I gather from it is I can run engine preheat 1 hour before start and have hot water to wash hands while traveling. 

No, engine preheat is about using the hot water from the unit to warm the engine when it is cold out. I don't know if you have the circuit that heats the water using the waste engine heat. But if you did you would need to run the engine to heat the water.

You have it plugged in just turn on AC-1 and AC-2 a couple hours before you leave.

1 hour ago, huffypuff said:

If we all want long showers run both diesel and electric. 

I would try it just using the AC setting, you might be surprised.

Bill

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-  I normally use the electric preheat that came with the coach and do not use the AH for engine preheat.

-  Normal driving will heat the coach water, none of the AH items need to be turned on.  Driving will also provide coach heat by just activating the coach thermostat and call for heat. 

-  Most of us have AH 450 or 400 models.  If the coach heat is running, and hot water is turned on, the coach heat will stop until the demand for hot water has stopped.  These two AHs have single heating elements.  The AH 650, has two elements and you can have both coach heat and hot water at the same time.  

-  Wayne,  $350 seems a bit high.  Lloyd DeGerald, one of the AH gurus, goes to our AC rallies and does the full service, with parts, for $200.

 

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Lloyd and his son, does ours also at Area or National Rally's...I checked with him and he does AH, Oasis and Vabasco.  As FIVE said!  I have only used pre heat once.  When on the road to next campground, the engine heats all the water we need for about 2 hours of use upon arrival, had that in both AH 400 and 450.  I now have a double coil Oasis and found it to be the same!

 

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6 hours ago, FIVE said:

-  I normally use the electric preheat that came with the coach and do not use the AH for engine preheat.

-  Normal driving will heat the coach water, none of the AH items need to be turned on.  Driving will also provide coach heat by just activating the coach thermostat and call for heat. 

-  Most of us have AH 450 or 400 models.  If the coach heat is running, and hot water is turned on, the coach heat will stop until the demand for hot water has stopped.  These two AHs have single heating elements.  The AH 650, has two elements and you can have both coach heat and hot water at the same time.  

-  Wayne,  $350 seems a bit high.  Lloyd DeGerald, one of the AH gurus, goes to our AC rallies and does the full service, with parts, for $200.

 

Let me be sure I got this right.  While the engine is running and you are driving the coolant circulates through the Aquahot and give you heat and hot water.  All I have to do is turn on the thermostat if I want heat.  I have to check those setting tomorrow.  

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