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Old 03-12-2017, 05:16 PM   #1
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Aqua-Hot power sources?

Hi All,
New "Tour" owner here...

Clearly, the Aqua-Hot uses A.C. Power or diesel fuel to perform its heating function. But what does the Aqua-Hot use for its own electrical power? Do its electronics run on 12VDC from the house battery?
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Old 03-12-2017, 05:19 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Robi.1014 View Post
Hi All,
New "Tour" owner here...

Clearly, the Aqua-Hot uses A.C. Power or diesel fuel to perform its heating function. But what does the Aqua-Hot use for its own electrical power? Do its electronics run on 12VDC from the house battery?

Yes, the AH control circuits run on 12 VDC. Usually from the house battery bank.
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Old 03-13-2017, 12:21 AM   #3
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Yes, the AH control circuits run on 12 VDC. Usually from the house battery bank.
And if your house batteries get below a certain threshold, your Aqua Hot will throw a low voltage fault code and refuse to turn on. You will have to hit the reset to clear the fault code. Been there done that
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Old 03-13-2017, 08:50 AM   #4
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Steve: Thanks. And Todd: Great lead into my next set of questions/circumstances:

1) So the LVCO (low voltage cut off) of the Aqua-Hot is ____?
Is this value adjustable?
2) The generator auto-start for house-battery-low-voltage is ____?
Is this value adjustable?
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Old 03-13-2017, 09:15 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Robi.1014 View Post
Steve: Thanks. And Todd: Great lead into my next set of questions/circumstances:

1) So the LVCO (low voltage cut off) of the Aqua-Hot is ____?
Is this value adjustable?
2) The generator auto-start for house-battery-low-voltage is ____?
Is this value adjustable?

The AH value is not adjustable. The AH is dependent on design voltage and low voltage can lead to serious damage to the unit. If the blower runs too slow then the combustion chamber can overheat.

The genset auto start is adjustable. Someone with specific knowledge of your inverter brand can help with this procedure.
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Old 03-13-2017, 12:47 PM   #6
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For question (2) above, I just confirmed that the auto-gen-start voltage-level (of the house batteries) is adjustable. The factory setting was 10.5 volts; I jacked it up to 11 volts so that I could be assured that the LVCO for the Inverter (10.5 V) would not be reached simultaneously. So that begs the question: Where does the starting-power come from for the Generator?....."house" or "chassis" ?
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Old 03-13-2017, 01:30 PM   #7
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The generator will start off of the coach batteries. You can always use the boost switch on the dash to get the engine batteries to start the genny if coach batteries are too low.

I recommend that you set the auto start at a higher voltage, like maybe 11.5 or 11.8 volts. If you wait until the batteries are down to 11 v they are pretty much dead. Discharging your coach batteries way down will drastically reduce the life and capacity of the batteries. It is recommended not to go below 50% state of charge.

Using volts alone to determine the power left in the batteries is a bit problematic depending on the load current at the time you're measuring the voltage. For example if they are running a light load of say 10 amps, the bat might read 12.2. But then if you run the microwave oven, the amps will jump up to 180 amps and the battery voltage could drop to 11.9 v.

This is all kind of a trial and error learning process. Lots of variables, most notably the age and condition of the batteries. There are battery level monitors that measure amp-hours and that gives a more accurate state of charge of the batteries. If you rarely dry camp, this isn't a big deal. But if you plan to spend 2 or more days off-grid a few times a year, then it needs attention.

I bought this bat monitor to protect my $1100 investment in 4 agm batteries:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Victron-Ener...JWs6km&vxp=mtr
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Old 03-13-2017, 01:42 PM   #8
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On the bright side - the Aquahot's draw of 12v power is minimal. We recently had the misfortune of having our charger fail - followed by an excruciatingly slow draw down of available 12v power. The Aquahot was one of the very last things to stop functioning.
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