Aqua Hot Water Heater

[dale farley]

How effective is the 110 V water supposed to be in the Aqua Hot system? Is this a continuous 110v heater in a reservoir that provides ample hot/warm water for showers, etc. while parked or is it just intended to be a supplement?

[Gil_J]

Dale,

It really comes down to the size of the hot water holding tank and the wattage of the heating element. My last coach, a 2008, had an AH and it was great on just AC power. It's my understanding that newer AHs produce more hot water on AC power than some of the older models. I don't have any of the details.

Gil

[lbriant]

Mine works OK for showers you may only get 1 unless you conserve water, good for running heat into the low 40s or high 30s but after that nothing replaces the diesel heat,
I only use the diesel heat down south it's fast and they meter the electric so it's cheaper on the wallet,

[dale farley]

I may need to check mine. The last time we used it, the water was only luke warm on the third day.

[lbriant]

Mine seems to be harder to get real hot water to the kitchen sink which is part of our slide out and probably the farthest run,
The bathroom and shower is warmer I belive,

[BenC]

If you have the original unit that was produced in the 1990's, the electric element is 1650 watts. The circuit is simple, it goes to an overtemp t-stat, then a control t-stat, then to the element. The elements do corrode away over time, so if all connections look good and test out with no resistances under load, consider changing the element. We did one last week that was about to corrode through and break off...

[dale farley]

Is the tank an integral part of the Aqua Hot unit, or is it a separate tank? Although, I have not specifically looked for a tank, I don't recall seeing one.

[Joe Camper]

I have the habit of leaving the electric off and turning the burner on when I get in the morning shower. That gives me plenty hot water till I turn the burner back on again long enough for the evening shower.

Imo the electric element is expensive to run continuously and for just enough hot water for dirty dishes or a real short shower.

[dale farley]

So Joe, is the reservoir part of the Aqua Hot or is it a separate tank?

[Joe Camper]

Well its a boiler tank that a webasto burner head is attached to. Around the boiler tank is a 1/2in copper water line wrapped as tight as possible. The burner heats the boiler water that exchanges heat to the external copper line wrapped around.

It's all in about an 18 by 18 by 18 square enclosure with pumps and electronics.

Gotta hold at least 5 gal that's a guess.