Living full time in our motor home allows us to be Ready To Go. . .on to the next adventure!

Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco Skyline as seen from the Marin Headlands - California

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Sometimes in this Wonderful Lifestyle, You Have an Issue

Reading Sherry’s post from yesterday about their issues with their refrigerator, reminded me that I never posted our trauma/drama with our hot water heater. . .we get so caught up in the joy of this lifestyle, that we sometimes haf’ta be reminded. . .into every life, a little rain must fall. . .such was our experience with having the “maintenance” done on our Aqua Hot System back in May.

 

Wilderness Lakes RV Park - Willington CT

When we bought this motorhome “USED – AS IS” 18 months ago. . .

we had no doubt that we would be servicing all systems,

because, there was just no way to know when service had been done last. . .

but, as my brother said, we got such a great deal on it. . .

we could spend another $40 thousand upgrading,

and still be ahead of the game. . .

and with Dave being a “Certified RV Inspector”

we knew “at the moment we bought it” that all systems were working. . .

so, it was a risk we were willing to take. . .


having taken several “RV Maintenance Classes”  from Mobile RV Academy,
and having full timed 12 years now, Dave has a pretty good handle on

servicing and maintaining the different systems on the RV. . .

but the Aqua Hot “Continuous Hot Water System” which runs on either

electric or by firing up the “diesel jets” was a little above his pay grade. . .

and required a professional for servicing. . .

Aqua Hot Repair, Just Trucks, Traverse City MI

 

Finally, when got to the Escapades Rally in Elkhart, there was someone available to git ’r’ done

better him climbing up into the middle of the bay than Dave. . .right?

 

but. . .of course it requires more than just a “tune up”

or just having the diesel jets “cleaned”

 

the rig is 12 years old. . .this may be the original hot water heater. . .

we just don’t know. . .

 

so. . .diesel jets will be replaced. . .

all the rubber gaskets and grommets should be replaced. . .

the igniters should be replaced also. . .and the temperature sensor,

and the burner cone. . .oh yeah. . .it’s cracked. . .that can’t be good,

so it will need to be replaced. . .do you see a trend here?  hmmmm. . .

but, it’s all good. . .and we’ll be glad to know that it’s all in good working order.

Two days later. . .parts ordered, installed. . .fire it up. . .ah. . .lovely,

the jets are roaring. . .sounds great. . .all is well. . .

so. . .off we go to our next destination four hours away. . .but guess what?


When you replace all that “maintenance stuff” with new parts,

and it’s all working to it’s maximum potential. . .

AND. . .

there are still “older” parts further up the line. . .

like couplings in the motor

“which had nothing to do with service”

might fail. . .and there ya are. . .back to square one. . .

 

because it also works on electric,

we don’t fire up the jets every day. . .

maybe only once a week, if we want to take a really, really long shower

which is why we are now four hours away




so, we call the tech in Elkhart. . .he says. . .bring it back, and I’ll fix it. . .

yeah. . .four hours back the way we just came. . .eh. . .

doesn’t really sound too fun. . .had it been something to do with the repair he did,

yeah, we would have gone back. . .but guessing it’s something totally different,

let’s see if there’s an Aqua Hot Specialist closer to where we are. . .

 

Yup. . .Just Trucks in Traverse City specializes in Aqua Hot Repairs,

and they can get us in right away. . .winner!
The tech there says it’s a common failure. . .they have the part. . .

couple hours. . .done. . .away we go!  Happy Campers. . .


So. . .for about $1200 total, we have a completely rebuilt system. . .

can’t find any info on what a new one costs. . .

but I’m thinking way more than what we spent!


sooo. . .there you go. . .just another day in RV’ing paradise. . .

still beats lawn work, and paying property taxes.

We’ll take it!

 

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