SuperBus
Oct 27, 2022Nomad
Aqua-Hot in Cold Weather - Issues with Performance?
I have a 431/12 Aqua-Hot, which for better or worse, is practically new due a "dry-fire" a few years ago which destroyed the original boiler tank. In addition to a new tank, it has a new burner unit and a new computer, and most of the plumbing was redone in the unit itself. For clarity, new means I did all of this about two years ago.
It has run without issue with the exception of an unplanned winter outing last year. We experienced a few days of approximately 0 deg F weather and it worked great. Around the third or fourth day is when the issues started. It began with some hiccups in combustion, then it couldn't maintain combustion, and the unit would "time-out". To get it to start again it needed to be reset. Once restarted, operation would be intermittent at best, then the cycle of restarting would be needed. After some time, it occurred to me it could be water in the diesel fuel, so I added the appropriate amount of Power Service treatment. It did not improve so we headed home. Note the engine started more or less without issue, as did the generator - all using the same fuel.
Long story short, whatever happened destroyed the ~$1,000 computer. The continuous "stalls" and restarts are the suspected reasons (undersized circuitry perhaps). Note, during the regular season this year, no issues!
I still think it was poor fuel as the real root cause, but I am curious if others have had issues in subzero weather keeping their Aqua-Hot running? I did not get as much time camping this year as I would like, and am hoping to extend the season, but not if it means the AH will eat another controller. I am interested to hear if others have had this issue. Thanks!
It has run without issue with the exception of an unplanned winter outing last year. We experienced a few days of approximately 0 deg F weather and it worked great. Around the third or fourth day is when the issues started. It began with some hiccups in combustion, then it couldn't maintain combustion, and the unit would "time-out". To get it to start again it needed to be reset. Once restarted, operation would be intermittent at best, then the cycle of restarting would be needed. After some time, it occurred to me it could be water in the diesel fuel, so I added the appropriate amount of Power Service treatment. It did not improve so we headed home. Note the engine started more or less without issue, as did the generator - all using the same fuel.
Long story short, whatever happened destroyed the ~$1,000 computer. The continuous "stalls" and restarts are the suspected reasons (undersized circuitry perhaps). Note, during the regular season this year, no issues!
I still think it was poor fuel as the real root cause, but I am curious if others have had issues in subzero weather keeping their Aqua-Hot running? I did not get as much time camping this year as I would like, and am hoping to extend the season, but not if it means the AH will eat another controller. I am interested to hear if others have had this issue. Thanks!