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Two Aqua Hot Questions
I have two Aqua Hot questions.
1. It seems my Control Box is going out. I have tested it in every way that two experts can think of and it’s bad. I have found it from two sources. The cheapest is $699. Anybody know of a cheaper source?
2. I have two thermostats for my interior heat from the Aqua Hot.
One is in the front behind the drivers seat. It controls the unit under the couch and the unit under the kitchen cabinets.
The second thermostat is by the bed and controls the unit in the bathroom and the one in the bedroom.
There is a heat exchanger in the plumbing bay that is not controlled by either thermostat. I was told that it was probably on a manual switch some where. It has never produced heat until recently. Now it is cooking. That would be great if I was in cold weather but I am not at the moment and it is circulating coolant unnecessarily when the Aqua Hot is on. That makes the burner run more often.
Evidently we found the switch and did not know it. Anybody know where Vantare hid that switch in my vintage of bus? Any ideas?
Thanks,
DKO
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22 Replies
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Hi DKO,
There is someone on eBay selling remanufactured units for $4200
Search for item 251027799828
Cheers,
Ronald
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DKO,
Webasto being a German company (or was, at least), I checked some German sites for
Webasto Steuergeraet 287.962
Steuergeraet being the German word for control unit.
These appear to be quite old. There have been some on eBay Germany on and off for as little as about $125
There are quite a few Webasto Steuergeraete on eBay.de right now but I could not find a model 287.962
Keep searching!
I am presently in Germany until the end of the month. If I can assist, I gladly will.
Cheers,
Ronald
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DKO,
And, finally, there is this place
Which may be able to assist you. They are located in MI
Cheers,
Ronald
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DKO,
I don’t have a Vantare, but my plumbing bay heat exchanger for the Aqua-Hot has a thermostat located on the opposite side of the bus in the opposing plumbing bay. So somewhere you most likely have a thermostat that is calling for heat.
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Thanks, Ronald. It would be super to buy one for $125! It looks like the one on eBay for $420 is a legitimate possibility. I will call them tomorrow. It says they offer a one year warranty and will be me $100 for mine. We will see.
Tom, I have looked every where but I will look again. I have been told that some converters and RV manufacturers operate the bay heater with a switch. I would like to know what Vantare did back then.
DKO
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Is there any way to contact Vantare?
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There may be as many as three thermostats in the plumbing bay.
There will be one for the electric heater on each side of the coach (upper left of the picture) which is like a house thermostat.
The thermostat for the A/H exchanger does not look like a house thermostat (upper right of image)
This is on the panel in the plumbing bay on the driver’s side
Also, check in the flea market section on this forum. I posted an ad for inverters and a Webasto plus extra parts. The contact for that is listed in the post.
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DKO,
Whenever I have a Webasto or Aqua-Hot problem I call John at Bus Service Inc 785 891 3557. He has been a factory authorized repair guy and parts dealer for years. He also discounts parts. I purchased a new controller from him earlier this year, cost was $5180. He will also lead you through a trouble shooting routine that will verify whether the controller is the problem. http://busfixx.tripod.com/busservice/
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Thanks for all of the information, guys.
David, I have contacted the folks that are building Vantare now with another question and they were very willing to help. But since they did not build my vintage there were limited in their knowledge. It might be worth it to send them an email about the switch/thermostat though. They may have hired some guys that worked for Vantare back then. That happens sometimes.
Ed, my plumbing bay looks similar to yours but without the extra thermostat. Thanks for the reminder about the flea market link. Mr. Cannarozzi has 24 volt controls. Mine is 12 volt.
I turned the Aqua Hot on this morning and checked every bay outside for switches and thermostats with no success. My generator is opposite the plumbing bay and nothing in there either. We have checked everything inside repeatedly and found nothing.
Brian, I will check with your reference before I buy.
Incidently, I fired it up this morning and it heated up and turned off perfectly. First time in several days…
DKO
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I found it.
Jim Marsh who worked for Vantare for 15 years and now is at VIP Luxury Coach Consulting gave me a clue. He said the control might be behind the panel.
I had looked before but had not looked high enough. I can not get my head low enough to look up high behind the panel by getting down on my knees. I laid on the ground next to the bay and shined a light up and there it was.
It should be on the outside of the panel with the rest of these things…
At least I found it. I have done quite a bit of work in that bay this year so at some point I must have turned that knob. I am glad I know where it is now. That should save me quite a bit of trouble during cold weather. Thanks for all of your help.
I did not ask Mr. Marsh who told him I needed help with this but I imagine some one from Renaissance Coach in Sanford, FLorida forwared the email I sent to them. He said his LINK should be live soon.
The control box has not failed to turn the blower off since I took I off and reinstalled it the other day. The plugs were very clean and the connections were solid so I kind of doubt that fixed it. My guess it is still in the going bad stage. That gives me a few days to get the best deal on one. Thanks for your help on that too.
DKO
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I bought the control box from Prevost and had it shipped to Ohio (Our home state) since I knew I would be there by today. I opened the package and it looks completely different, is plastic instead of metal, attaches to the blower motor without the bracket and is made in the Ukraine.
It also has none of the same numbers as the old one but is does plug up the same and it seems to work fine. I cycled it through twice and it shut off like clockwork.
I sure am glad it works because I am leaving the bus for two weeks and I will have my Dad stop in and turn the diesel heat on if the temp is going to be in the mid twenties or below.
DKO
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DKO,
I narrowed mine down to the “C” plug, #8 connection that gives voltage to the coil. If I put 12v directly to the coil, the unit would run with no problem. So, no fire to the coil coming out of the controller. I couldn’t stand it, had to take the controller apart and my problem is a sticky relay for the coil. I think I can fix it, we’ll see… If not, it’s a Ukraine replacement like you did. What the hell has happened to “Made in America”.
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Tom,
Thanks for posting pictures of the inside of that thing. My Dad made his living as electrician specializing in machine controls. He can not wait to get his little fingers on the old control box. He hopes to fix it so I will have a spare. How did you get it apart?
DKO
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See the bottom of ths box on the picture, there are 3 little dents on each side the just hold the plastic cover in place. There’s a small lip on the plastic cover that you have to kind of just get under with a real small screw driver or knife and then just pry all the way around and off it comes. It can then be resealed with a little silicone to keep out any moisture on the install. If my problem is the board or the relay needs replaced, I’m out of luck. I’m hoping cleaning up the tiny contact point on the coil will do the trick.
If your Dad wants to tinker some more and I can’t get it to work, I would be glad to pay for a repair job and have a spare like you. I know nothing about circuit boards and all those little parts, other than inspecting for cracked solder.
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We will see how much success he has with mine. I am taking it to him today and then I will be on a mission trip for about two weeks. I am sure he will probably look at it while I am gone. I will let you know.
DKO
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