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AquaHot Fire

Yahoo Message Number: 35365
Hi all,

Yesterday at the James Island County Park in Charleston, SC we had an AquaHot fire in a 2001 Blue Bird coach. It was being used by a couple that had borrowed it from his father. The wife was taking a shower when she noticed that the water went cold and then hot again. This probably had nothing to do with the fire but rather inexperience in taking showers using the AquaHot. She was about to ask her husband about it when he yelled to get out. There was a lot of smoke and flames under the coach near the AquaHot bay. Fortunately with the help of some fire extinguishers and the Fire Dept we were able to get it out before there was a much damage to the coach.
It will probably take a trip back to Blue Bird to determine exactly what happened but here is my guess looking at it after the fact. It appears that a leak had opened up in the fuel line somewhere between the filter and the pump. They didn't realize that a puddle of diesel had been slowly forming on the ground under the AquaHot bay. The fuel was dripping out of the bay and right onto the AquaHot exhaust pipe. They theorize that when the wife took the shower the AquaHot fired up heating the exhaust pipe to ignite the fuel dripping on it. I am not sure that I go along with that theory as I don't believe that the exhaust would reach the flash point of diesel but I am guessing. In any case the husband claims that he saw some drops of burning diesel drop from the exhaust pipe into the pool forming under the bay and ignite that as well.
The AquaHot is now working on electric but he is not about to try it on diesel until it is serviced by someone. His biggest damage at the moment is that the fire opened up a hole in the airline that feeds his door step, air operated dump valves and the toilet flush. It doesn't look like he can inflate the seals in the slideout although the slide will come in. This appears to be a separate system from the chassis air. There are also some leaks in the water lines and antifreeze lines associated with the system.
On problem that concerned the husband as well as the Fire Dept is that there is no fuel shutoff valve in the line coming from the fuel tank. They were able to get the fire out but fuel continued to drip until the husband found a couple pair of vice grip pliers to pinch off the fuel line. My rig is the same way. I don't understand the reason. To change the fuel filter on mine I have to pinch off the fuel line to avoid a mess. Of course the fuel lines are installed by the coach manufacturer but a fuel shut off seems fundamental.
The more upsetting thing is that this all happened in the middle of the day while they were around as well as campground personnel. Imagine their fate if it had occurred in the middle of the night. Preventive measures? The coach had been on the site for 2 days so checking for diesel when you first arrive is not going to help. Checking the integrity of the fuel lines themselves would be a good idea particularly if they are 4 or 5 years old but it is almost impossible to see all of them. Metal fuel lines? What ever happened to those or did they have a set of problems of their own?
Just a report that I hope is of interest. I never heard of an AquaHot fire before let alone witness one.

Don Seager

2004 Allure 31046

Re: AquaHot Fire

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 35367
Don -

Thanks for a good job of alerting us to a common problem in RV life style Imagine not having vise grips handy..

George & Frances
34ft SOB

Re: AquaHot Fire

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 35736
HELLO MY GOOD FRIEND!

Just checking in and saw your post... thought I would share my experience...

As you know I do not have an Aquahot. But last December I got a nasty surprise when I was having my Webasto serviced. When we opened up the chamber, the combustion chamber ( that has been recalled on other years) was toast... ashes... nothing left but the outer ring of the chamber. This is right under my bedroom. The blood drained... as the tech blinked and said he had never seen one that bad. Interestingly enough, the outer chamber showed NOT a single sign of damage. The inner combustion chambers were under recall a few years ago, but when I contacted the company, they told me my unit was not included, even though it had a hairline crack. So I paid for a replacement. I think the replacement ended up being one of those older recalled chambers sitting on the shelf. The new one looks like stainless steel compared to the old one that looks like a tin can, in comparison. The tech emailed pictures to the company and they agreed to replace it. ( I guess so.) So... on one hand it shows a defective material part and how dangerous it can be... but the outer chamber shows the wonders of German engineering... amazing that no damage occurred. All is well, but I did have to have the innards replaced because the bearings were shot, last spring. Had it rebuilt. I was told to expect to do this every 4-5 years. It has been a pain in the butt, but I do love my furnace and warm floors, when it works and would hate to lose the use of it.

But I still shudder when I think of that incinerator under my bedroom... so close... whew...

Hope all else is well there at James Island!!! Miss you guys! I can just picture all the wonderful lights! Maybe next year... Don't work too hard.

Rosemary

2000 Magna 5798