Much Ado About ALDE

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Antifreeze does nothing good for your faucets and valves other than protect them from freezing. The seal on the toilet has it's own threads around here. Having it dry out is indeed not the best strategy.

Bob

[james.mileur]

Talked to Jackson center last week; about 5 gallons of Alde fluid for those of us coming up on the 2yr recommendation to replace Alde fluid. Qt 360-371-100
5-gal 360-371-200. Anybody found the best deal?

[james.mileur]

Originally Posted by paiceman

No answers so I believe it’s the two valves above the control valve right at the end. I’m going to test it either today or tomorrow. I no longer use RV anti freeze, just blow out and I disconnected the out side water shower

Bud, I know there was a bit of iterative variations, but my bypass was the one between red and white lines.

[Pete B55]

Originally Posted by james.mileur

Talked to Jackson center last week; about 5 gallons of Alde fluid for those of us coming up on the 2yr recommendation to replace Alde fluid. Qt 360-371-100
5-gal 360-371-200. Anybody found the best deal?

Hi James - I have my trailer in the local dealer to have some last minute warranty items taken care of and also have the Alde 2-year fluid replacement.

I saw your picture of the pex routing and wondered if you are concerned about the piping which seems to interfere with the dinette seat. I think our trailers were manufactured close to the same time when the mixing valve was introduced - somewhat as an afterthought. They have since cleaned up the installation but my pex tubes and joints have to be compressed about 4 inches to fit under the seat. Not failures yet but I asked the dealer to look at fixing the routing to prevent a future failure .
Pete

[james.mileur]

Thx, I have the trailer at home and will check that out.

[paiceman]

Thanks James. I have tried that valve, cannot turn it without a lot of force, so I’ve not turned it as I don’t have a back up yet. Actually none of the valves pictured will turn

[paiceman]

Ok, closed it and it shut off all water in the trailer, connected to city water. Makes no sense

[james.mileur]

Originally Posted by paiceman

Ok, closed it and it shut off all water in the trailer, connected to city water. Makes no sense

Wow, I'll email the three alde plumbing drawings I got early on; they might be in the thread earlier.

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by james.mileur

Wow, I'll email the three alde plumbing drawings I got early on; they might be in the thread earlier.

Thanks. Closing it and completely shutting off water makes no sense to me. But neither plumber nor electrician am I.

[ajwbarnard]

Originally Posted by james.mileur

Talked to Jackson center last week; about 5 gallons of Alde fluid for those of us coming up on the 2yr recommendation to replace Alde fluid. Qt 360-371-100
5-gal 360-371-200. Anybody found the best deal?

Are they saying replacing after two years of use or two years of real time? After 24 months of use or 2 years after manufactured?

[james.mileur]

The corrosion inhibitors supposedly have a shelf life. Hard to tell; if you never change it, then you may or may not have corrosion, and may or may not ever see a leak or evidence, until that blue puddle peeks out from under the shower. Alde Fluid(1).pdf

[james.mileur]

BTW, as you winterize and store the '17's, I found my circ pump running again, ALDE panel turned off, but after turning on the panel, discovered the heat setting at 64 with ambient temperature lower. I set it to lowest at 41, then turned off the panel again; pump was stopped.

[james.mileur]

Originally Posted by james.mileur

Talked to Jackson center last week; about 5 gallons of Alde fluid for those of us coming up on the 2yr recommendation to replace Alde fluid. Qt 360-371-100
5-gal 360-371-200. Anybody found the best deal?

Ahoy Stream-mates with ALDE juice squeezing up between your toes. Since the book says we need to change the blue juice every two years because corrosion inhibitors degrade (Potassium Phosphate, Dibasic at 1-3%, from the MSDS), why not,

JUST replenish the additive, (<$20) vice changing the fluid (~$150)??

I CLEP'd Chemistry, so may get the concentration calculations correct, but what's the other questions I don't know to ask?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

My guess is that the "magic stuff" turns into something else over time. ( = it does not evaporate). First step would be to get whatever that decomposition product is out of the juice ....

I got a "you can have breakfast OR I'll look up the answer to your question" from the Chem major in the family. I confess - I picked breakfast ... burp ...

Bob

[rdsyl]

Originally Posted by james.mileur

As an indication our air cushion is too small or almost gone, when on pump water source, the pump should delay starting after opening a faucet. The toilet flush valve is such a large flow, the pump almost always runs concomitantly.

If the pump turns on immediately with opening a faucet, there is little to no air cushion. If the heater runs 24/7 in cold weather, the sanitary water at almost 170 degrees will consume any air left (hot water more air soluable). Weekly restorations should keep you in front of Safety Valve protective functions.

Its not usual to hear the pump run for an instant during downward temp cycles while making up for contraction with a good cushion. If no cushion during those down cycles (thermostat roll back for sleeping), the pump cycles, then heating up a closed sanitary system of water (thermostat roll up for early morning warmup) while not using any hot water, may exercise the Safety Valve.

Any other air cushion experiences?

We just started out on a 6m road trip with our new 2018 Classic 30 with ALDE 3020 heating system. There was an initial issue with a kinked hose and one of the pumps was apparently wired incorrectly which caused for a cool night at 6000' elevation during our first trail night, but the dealer fixed these for us. The system seems to be working well for both domestic hot water and circulating glycol, but I am concerned about the sounds of the system when on the Boost 1 setting. The pump is continually cycling - we hear it ramp up, then dial back immediately, then cycle again. At night we use the boost 2 setting to eliminate the cycling sound, which results in a steady running sound from the boiler. When on no boost, there is no sound from the system. Is the cycling sound normal when on Boost 1 setting, or is this suggesting that the air cushion is not right, air in the system, or another issue? And, do we even need to use the boost settings when plugged in?

[james.mileur]

Gr8 question. You have a variable sanitary water pump?
What's a boost setting?

Did Alde ever publish the 3020 manual?

[rdsyl]

Originally Posted by james.mileur

Gr8 question. You have a variable sanitary water pump?
What's a boost setting?

Did Alde ever publish the 3020 manual?

Yes, there is a 3020 manual. The boost setting is for the glycol heating not the domestic water. It is variable in that there are 3 settings: off, boost 1 and boost 2.

[paiceman]

The “boost” on the 3010 at least ours is for sanitary water heating, when pushed it turns off the Alde heating “side” of the boiler and puts all water the energy to heating sanitary water

[ajwbarnard]

This may be answered somewhere in these almost 800 posts, but I have just a quick question. Is it possible to run your Alde heating while winterized? We have winterized the water system. The water heater has been bypassed. So no more heating the water. In a 2018 Classic, can you have the radiant heat without the water heater coming on?

[kendrick.l.j]

Hey AJ, great question. I know there are at least 2 other owners that are working to come up with a way to do exactly what you want. It seems logical to me that since the water and glycol never meet that just shutting off the water and blowing out the lines would work but I would be wrong. There has to be an easy way to accomplish this task other than installing a bypass valve. Hang in there for a day or so while smarter people than me answer your question.