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Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Yahoo Message Number: 26102
I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting out "hot" water in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the warmer seasons but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower in cooler weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the fresh water tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer. Anyone know of an adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter months?

I find if we turn off the furnace while taking a shower we get a little more hot water transfer - even then I don't stay in shower long!! Guess that is one way to save on water consumption, but I would prefer to be able to take a long HOT shower when staying at a facility with full hook ups.

Any input would be warmly received!!!!

M. Peterson

03 Allure #30916

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26117
It could be that your burner never works, and the unit is running off of electric only. Turn off the electric portion and see if you still get hot water. If not, you have a burner problem. The unit is not as efficient in electric-only mode.

Larry 03 Allure #30856

Quote from: 03 Allure #30916
>

I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting out "hot"

water

Quote
in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the warmer

seasons

Quote
but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower in cooler > weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the fresh

water

Quote
tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer. Anyone know of

an

Quote
adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter months? >

I find if we turn off the furnace while taking a shower we get a > little more hot water transfer - even then I don't stay in shower > long!! Guess that is one way to save on water consumption, but I

would

Quote
prefer to be able to take a long HOT shower when staying at a

facility

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26131
Thanks Don - been very pleased with unit other than this issue. We normally do that just to get through the shower but you see a drop in press. as well with the valve partly closed off. I wonder if a small holding tank would help the situation at all. I think there just needs to be more coils within the burn chamber to heat up for the cooler days.

When you are dry camping does your unit run full time on diesel during a shower? Mine does - perhaps it needs cleaning?

M. Peterson

03 Allure #30916

Quote from: Don Seager
Do you run the shower at full flow (valve open wide)? If so try
reducing the amount of water by only partly opening the valve. The water pressure at many parks can sometimes outrun a demand hot water heater. This can happen even in homes that use a similar system. At any given moment there is less that a quart of water being heated in the pipe coil submersed in the boiler jacket. Yes if the water is cooler coming in it has to absorb more heat on the way through the coil and if the flow is faster it will not be able to reach your desired temp. Shutting down the furnace is also a good idea and the Aqua Hot does that automatically if the jacket temp drops below a certain point. I guess they decided it is better to step out of a hot shower into a cold room rather than vice versa. Also make sure that both the diesel and the electric are on. The aquastat that shuts off the electric heater is set close to boiling while the aquastat for the oil burner shuts down around 180 at least for the Aqua Hot. If the jacket is hotter to start with the hot water will last longer.

Quote
>

I experienced an interesting effect last winter and this summer
when we were at altitudes over 5000 ft. My wife complained that she was running out of hot water near the end of the shower using the electric only. She tends to run the shower wide open. I didn't have the problem because tend to run it pertly open. So when she was going to take a shower I would start the diesel. However once we returned to Charleston, SC for the fall we noticed right away that the water was much hotter on electric and we no longer need the diesel for her shower. So altitude can effect the jacket temps and I have been using the potable antifreeze to keep the levels up. I will have to check the boiling point to see if that was keeping the jacket from reaching close to 212.

Quote
>

The hurricane, while sometimes plagued by flame out problems
usually associated with a bad pump, is a more efficient burner and quieter unit than the Aqua Hot. No complaining neighbors and it has two electric elements so it is more effective on electric.

Quote
>

Just some things to think about.

Don Seager

2004 Allure 31046

I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting out "hot"

water

Quote
in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the warmer

seasons

Quote
but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower in

cooler

Quote
weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the fresh

water

Quote
tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer. Anyone know

of an

Quote
adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter

months?

Quote
>

I find if we turn off the furnace while taking a shower we get a > little more hot water transfer - even then I don't stay in shower > long!! Guess that is one way to save on water consumption, but I

would

Quote
prefer to be able to take a long HOT shower when staying at a

facility

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26132
Thanks Larry but we normally dry camp so the electrical isn't in play - it is as if the water coming in is so cold and going through so fast it doesn't get up to 185 degrees. I can't find anything in the manual on adjusting the thermostat setting and was hoping someone out here knows something or someway to increase the hot water temp.
The unit runs continually when using the shower or running any hot water at full open.

M. Peterson

03 Allure #30916

Quote from: Larry Feather
It could be that your burner never works, and the unit is running

off

Quote
of electric only. Turn off the electric portion and see if you

still

Quote
get hot water. If not, you have a burner problem. The unit is not > as efficient in electric-only mode.

Larry 03 Allure #30856

[quote author=03 Allure #30916"

>

> I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting out "hot" > water

> in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the warmer > seasons

> but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower in

cooler

Quote
weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the fresh > water

> tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer. Anyone know

of

Quote
an

> adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter

months?

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26182
Mr. Peterson,

When you are dry camping without any shore power or generator input, you still need to have the "hot water switch" in the "ON" position when running your Hurrican for hot water.

Thanks, Mike - Allure 03, #30898

Quote from: 03 Allure #30916
>

Thanks Larry but we normally dry camp so the electrical isn't in > play - it is as if the water coming in is so cold and going

through

Quote
so fast it doesn't get up to 185 degrees. I can't find anything in > the manual on adjusting the thermostat setting and was hoping

someone

Quote
out here knows something or someway to increase the hot water

temp.

Quote
The unit runs continually when using the shower or running any hot > water at full open.

M. Peterson

03 Allure #30916

[quote author=Larry Feather"

>

> It could be that your burner never works, and the unit is

running

Quote
off

> of electric only. Turn off the electric portion and see if you > still

> get hot water. If not, you have a burner problem. The unit is

not

Quote
as efficient in electric-only mode.
>

> Larry 03 Allure #30856
>
>
>

[quote author=03 Allure #30916"
>]
> >

> > I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting

out "hot"

Quote
water

> > in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the warmer > > seasons

> > but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower in > cooler

> > weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the

fresh

Quote
water

> > tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer. Anyone

know

Quote
of
> an

> > adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter > months?
> >

> > I find if we turn off the furnace while taking a shower we get

a

Quote
> little more hot water transfer - even then I don't stay in

shower

Quote
> long!! Guess that is one way to save on water consumption, but

I

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26197
Thanks Mike - we do have the system in the "on" position and the diesel burner is working full time, but you need to have the shower valve turned all the way over to maximum hot - and even there the water is only warm to the touch (and cold if the furnace starts to cycle) so I'm thinking that I need to adjust the internal thermostat at the unit. It is supposed to put hot water out at 185 degrees and that is not what we are getting in cooler climates. I just can't find anything in the manual for adjusting the thermostat - maybe I'm not able to do so. I am hoping someone has done it and can enlighten me.
I may need to contact Hurricane to see if it possible.

Mike your SN is close to mine - if you have the Hurricane you have not had this happen to you??

Thanks

M. Peterson

03 Allure #30916

Quote from: allure012000
Mr. Peterson,

When you are dry camping without any shore power or generator

input,

Quote
you still need to have the "hot water switch" in the "ON" position > when running your Hurrican for hot water.

Thanks, Mike - Allure 03, #30898 >

[quote author=03 Allure #30916"

>

> Thanks Larry but we normally dry camp so the electrical isn't in > > play - it is as if the water coming in is so cold and going > through

> so fast it doesn't get up to 185 degrees. I can't find anything

in

Quote
the manual on adjusting the thermostat setting and was hoping > someone

> out here knows something or someway to increase the hot water > temp.

> The unit runs continually when using the shower or running any

hot

Quote
water at full open.
>

> M. Peterson

> 03 Allure #30916
>
>

[quote author=Larry Feather"
>]
> >

> > It could be that your burner never works, and the unit is > running
> off

> > of electric only. Turn off the electric portion and see if you > > still

> > get hot water. If not, you have a burner problem. The unit is > not

> > as efficient in electric-only mode.
> >

> > Larry 03 Allure #30856
> >
> >
> >

[quote author=03 Allure #30916"
> >]
> > >

> > > I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting > out "hot"
> > water

> > > in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the warmer > > > seasons

> > > but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower in > > cooler

> > > weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the > fresh
> > water

> > > tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer. Anyone > know
> of
> > an

> > > adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter > > months?
> > >

> > > I find if we turn off the furnace while taking a shower we

get

Quote
a

> > > little more hot water transfer - even then I don't stay in > shower

> > > long!! Guess that is one way to save on water consumption,

but

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26205
All I can say is, our Hurricane heater will provide endless hot water (very hot) when taking a shower with the burner-only running.

Larry, 03 Allure #30856

Quote from: Don Seager
> A holding tank would not work by itself. To work there would have
to be some circulating loop to keep the water in the holding tank hot. You would have to take the colder water at the bottom of the tank back to the Hurricane and let hot water return back to the top.
Although some circulation would take place by gravity you more than likely would also need some sort of circulating pump. The whole thing would have to be insulated to prevent a lot of heat loss and within the confines of a motor home it is just not a practical idea. Without the circulation if you used say a 5 gallon holding tank it would fill with hot water initially and then once there was no usage it would go cold and now you would have to go through 5 gallons of cold water to get to the hot stuff.

Quote
>

The temperature of the incoming cold water has very little effect
on the systems ability to heat it. It turns out that the rate that heat energy transfers from one medium to another is a factor of the temperature difference between the two mediums. The bigger the difference the faster the heat transfers so it should pretty much equal out. There are a several places where the transfer of heat is happening and several different mediums involved. Surface contamination with dirt, soot, scale etc as well as the type of anti freeze in the boiler jacket are the most obvious culprits for decreased efficiency. There are a number of others such as nozzle and fuel pump condition. The last thing to suspect would be the engineering design of the system.

Quote
>

I honestly can't remember noticing if our Aqua Hot runs all the
time on diesel only with the shower running. I had a 2003 Allure with a Hurricane and I can't remember with that either. Guess that I just never noticed. The only time that I can remember running out of hot water was when using the electric only. I never have had it happen once I start the diesel.

Quote
>

Just as a point and not trying to be picky but the coils are not
in the burn chamber but are inside the boiler jack submersed in the system antifreeze.

Quote
>

It sounds like you might have something not quite right with the
system. The biggest problem that I have with Hydroic Systems in general is it is very hard to find someone that will work on them other than high end large volume coach dealers. Often hundreds of if not thousands of miles are involved. The one thing that I haven't tried is local oil burner service outfits that normally service household installations. They work the same way in principle.

Quote
>

Don Seager

2004 Allure 31046

Thanks Don - been very pleased with unit other than this issue.

We

Quote
normally do that just to get through the shower but you see a

drop in

Quote
press. as well with the valve partly closed off. I wonder if a

small

Quote
holding tank would help the situation at all. I think there just > needs to be more coils within the burn chamber to heat up for the > cooler days.

When you are dry camping does your unit run full time on diesel > during a shower? Mine does - perhaps it needs cleaning? >

M. Peterson

03 Allure #30916

[quote author=Don Seager"

>
 >

> Do you run the shower at full flow (valve open wide)? If so try > reducing the amount of water by only partly opening the valve.

The

Quote
water pressure at many parks can sometimes outrun a demand hot

water

Quote
heater. This can happen even in homes that use a similar system.

At

Quote
any given moment there is less that a quart of water being heated

in

Quote
the pipe coil submersed in the boiler jacket. Yes if the water is > cooler coming in it has to absorb more heat on the way through

the

Quote
coil and if the flow is faster it will not be able to reach your > desired temp. Shutting down the furnace is also a good idea and

the

Quote
Aqua Hot does that automatically if the jacket temp drops below a > certain point. I guess they decided it is better to step out of a

hot

Quote
shower into a cold room rather than vice versa. Also make sure

that

Quote
both the diesel and the electric are on. The aquastat that shuts

off

Quote
the electric heater is set close to boiling while the aquastat

for

Quote
the oil burner shuts down around 180 at least for the Aqua Hot.

If

Quote
the jacket is hotter to start with the hot water will last

longer.

Quote

> I experienced an interesting effect last winter and this summer > when we were at altitudes over 5000 ft. My wife complained that

she

Quote
was running out of hot water near the end of the shower using the > electric only. She tends to run the shower wide open. I didn't

have

Quote
the problem because tend to run it pertly open. So when she was

going

Quote
to take a shower I would start the diesel. However once we

returned

Quote
to Charleston, SC for the fall we noticed right away that the

water

Quote
was much hotter on electric and we no longer need the diesel for

her

Quote
shower. So altitude can effect the jacket temps and I have been

using

Quote
the potable antifreeze to keep the levels up. I will have to

check

Quote
the boiling point to see if that was keeping the jacket from

reaching

Quote
close to 212.
 >

> The hurricane, while sometimes plagued by flame out problems > usually associated with a bad pump, is a more efficient burner

and

Quote
quieter unit than the Aqua Hot. No complaining neighbors and it

has

Quote
two electric elements so it is more effective on electric.
 >

> Just some things to think about.
 >

> Don Seager

> 2004 Allure 31046
 >

> I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting out "hot" > water

> in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the warmer > seasons

> but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower in > cooler

> weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the

fresh

Quote
water

> tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer. Anyone

know

Quote
of an

> adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter > months?
 >

> I find if we turn off the furnace while taking a shower we get

a

Quote
little more hot water transfer - even then I don't stay in

shower

Quote
long!! Guess that is one way to save on water consumption, but

I

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26218
M, my coach is pretty close to yours in mfg date so we probably have the same model Hurricane. First of all, I learned early on to just turn off the electric water heater at the breaker box in the bedroom for two reasons, namely 1)you can only get enough hot water on electricity to wash dishes, and 2) even with the hot water switch off the unit will continue to pull amps if the breakers are not off. I learned the latter when my genset wouldn't carry two A/C 's at a CCI rally in Florida. Doug Rutherford and Jim Cooley discovered the continued drag by the Hurricane and were going to find a fix, but I never heard further from them.
Back to the original question--On diesel my unit provides plenty of HW. There have been some recalls on the Hurricanes and my board has been replaced twice. I did it myself with guidance from Steve at Hurricane. Also there was a recall which involved a replacement fuel pump and some other alterations, all of which I was able to do, myself.
If you haven't done so already, I suggest you contact Hurricane and see if they can determine if the modifications have been done. I have found them to be very helpful

Walt Rothermel

03Allure30811 ( still for sale at negotiable price )

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26225
I had the same problem, your mixing valve needs to be cleaned or turned to the max postion. It is easy and you will have all the hot water you need, the factory set it in the wrong position.
[quote author=allure012000"

>

> Mr. Peterson,
>

> When you are dry camping without any shore power or generator > input,

> you still need to have the "hot water switch" in the "ON" [/quote]
position

Quote
when running your Hurrican for hot water.
>

> Thanks, Mike - Allure 03, #30898 > >
>

[quote author=03 Allure #30916"
>]
> >

> > Thanks Larry but we normally dry camp so the electrical isn't

in

Quote
> play - it is as if the water coming in is so cold and going > > through

> > so fast it doesn't get up to 185 degrees. I can't find

anything

Quote
in

> > the manual on adjusting the thermostat setting and was hoping > > someone

> > out here knows something or someway to increase the hot water > > temp.

> > The unit runs continually when using the shower or running any > hot

> > water at full open.
> >

> > M. Peterson

> > 03 Allure #30916
> >
> >

[quote author=Larry Feather"
> >]
> > >

> > > It could be that your burner never works, and the unit is > > running
> > off

> > > of electric only. Turn off the electric portion and see if

you

Quote
> still

> > > get hot water. If not, you have a burner problem. The unit

is

Quote
not

> > > as efficient in electric-only mode.
> > >

> > > Larry 03 Allure #30856
> > >
> > >
> > >

Quote from: 03 Allure[/quote

#30916"

Quote
> >]
> > > >

> > > > I experience the "on demand" water heater not putting > > out "hot"
> > > water

> > > > in colder weather - it seems to work very well in the

warmer

Quote
> > seasons

> > > > but hot water temp (out of the shower head) is much lower

in

Quote
> cooler

> > > > weather. I suspect that is simply because the water in the > > fresh
> > > water

> > > > tank is cooler this time of the year than in summer.

Anyone

Quote
know
> > of
> > > an

> > > > adjustment that can turn up the temp a bit over the winter > > > months?
> > > >

> > > > I find if we turn off the furnace while taking a shower we > get
> a

> > > > little more hot water transfer - even then I don't stay in > > shower

> > > > long!! Guess that is one way to save on water consumption, > but
> I

> > > would

> > > > prefer to be able to take a long HOT shower when staying

at a

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26268
Thanks guys - I spoke to CC tech rep to verify that I don't have any outstanding recalls on the unit - he said it is not the first time he has heard of this issue and the first thing I should do is to service the unit and check antifreeze level. I'm going to look everything over this week and service the unit. I'm also checking to see if anyone locally is familiar with Hurricane - and then after it is serviced - if I still have the problem I'm going to contact Hurricane for assistance. Like I stated in my earlier post I have had very good service from it for heating and HW except in late season/colder weather. I'll let you know what I find (or find out).

Mark P

03 Allure #30916

Re: Hurricane Furnace re. Hot H2O

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 26269
Walt - turning off the electrical water heaters may help me with my breakers on the genset popping off when I run both AC units - I'll try flipping the HW heat breaker off next time to see if I can run both units without tripping the genset breaker. Often wondered why it pops off, thought I had a bad breaker on the genset. Thanks for the input.

Mark P

03 Allure #30916