Flooded SOB

[Arcticdude]

Urnie,
Your electric element should be good. I found the service manual and saw that the element is in the antifreeze side of things and not the fresh water side. At least that's one less thing to fix!
I'll be at my rig this weekend, and will take a look at the fittings. I don't remember them being plastic, but will try to confirm. I got an "installation kit" from Roger Berke when I replaced my unit many years ago that had all the fittings I needed to completely swap one out.

In case you don't have it, here's where you'll find all the manuals: http://www.aquahot.com/library.aspx The AHE-100 series cover the 431/12 units we have. The installation manual has some tips for using pex.

[Urnie-Medie]

Just curious
How much did the new AquaHot cost. I heard they are very expensive.
I appreciate your information.
Urnie

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Maybe you can save me some time. I am going to have to replumb the fittings. The drain valves look like they go thru the
bottom of the coach. I would think that they would just drain under the coach. There is a lot of sprayed on foam under the coach in this area. I cannot see the drain line. Did someone just spray the foam or is there a reason for the foam. I am going to have to replace the drain valves but want to make sure I do not create a larger problem when I remove the valves.
Thanks
Urnie

[Arcticdude]

It was about $7800-8000 total for a rebuilt unit and the extra parts I needed to replace the original unit. They are expensive, but when they work right, they are really nice to have. I really liked the functionality of being able to heat the coach without running the diesel burner, as long as it wasn't too cold. It's fairly quiet when you do that. I finally sourced the routine service parts from outside vendors, so it's not that expensive to service.

The drain valves do poke through the spray foam. It's just an insulation and/or noise barrier the factory used. When you pull the old drains, you should be able to drop a wire/screw driver/something down to see actually where they exit the foam. The foam does stick to whatever it's originally sprayed on, so it may take some twisting and pulling to get the original lines free from it, but then the new lines will just drop into place.

[Arcticdude]

Urnie,
I looked at mine yesterday, but didn’t gain any useful info. The drain lines come out the back and they’re already plastic at that point. You may be able to get on Roger Berke’s aquahot forum and get some decent pictures of the junction.

[Urnie-Medie]

Hi
I am putting this back together with a combination of "Sharkbite" fittings and "PEX" fittings. It should be a lot better than what the factory used and easier to install. I will try to send a picture when completed.
My son is a stroke victim and when I go to work on it I usually only have about an hour before I need to get back to him.
About the time I remember where I was it almost time to leave.
Thanks for all your help.

Urnie

[Arcticdude]

Urnie,
That sounds like a decent plan for getting her back together. Since those pipes should not really be subjected to any heat or high pressure, those fittings should work just fine.

I wish you and your son the best. Life has some very strange ways of treating us.

[Urnie-Medie]

Hi
Some good news and bad news - Let me first say that this problem developed when I had a AquaHot Service Dealer come to me while I was in Denver area because of the unit not working properly. Apparently the unit froze while he was servicing it.
Below are a couple of pictures of the repair I did at the bottom of the unit. Seems to be OK but will not know for sure until I fix the broken pipe I found at the top of the unit where the water feeds into the distribution manifold. The distribution manifold is connected by two removable fittings (picture attached) that I am having a problem finding.
Hopefully there are no other breaks.

Thanks for any help

Urnie

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Sorry all of the pictures die not attached.

Sometimes this stuff is too complicated for the older!!!!

[Arcticdude]

Urnie,
Your repairs look pretty good. That’s a clean repair.

Can you find a pex fitting to go into the manifold? You could put a union in the pex and still have the removable functionality of the original. Worst case is to cut the crimp ring and pull the pex off and eliminate the union.

[Urnie-Medie]

Hi

The fitting that connects the water lines to the manifold are available. Just as for a fitting to connect your home hot water heater. The fitting is 3/4 in fip to 3/4" cpvc.

I think I have all the leaks fixed now and will check tomorrow and start putting everything back together

The next time I have someone work on my Aquahot in the winter I will make sure they know that the pipes can freeze and burst in cold weather.

[Arcticdude]

Sad that has to be done. I'm glad to hear you're back up and going. The AquaHots are good units when they're taken care of. It doesn't take that much to care for them, once you understand what they need. All the parts are out there and readily accessible.