Problem Oasis water heater

[Rich W.]

my question would be where did the fluid go?

 

[Steve4059]

Well… my first answer would be evaporation. When I first found the tank I also noticed that this is an open system. The coolant tank has a line at the bottom for the system to draw upon and it also has another tube at the top in case the coolant gets overheated and needs to drain away to prevent over pressurizing the heat system . I assumed the heated coolant would slowly evaporate over time. Probably dependent on how you use the heat system.

 

[JRS]

Hate to say this but I'm guessing you have a hydronic fluid leak. You should very rarely have to add fluid to your system. We had a slow leak that Newmar techs couldn't find at first. When they changed our black tank sensor system to a pressure type, they went behind the pegboard bay to the tank and noticed damp insulation in the area. They found the leak....
Unfortunately I don't know where your fluid reserve tank is... Ours is in the engine bay.
Here's the fluid that's used in my rig.

Century Chemical Aqua Hot heating systems Transfer Fluid RV

Aqua Hot boiler anti freeze RV heating systems

www.flemingsalesoem.com

A DS friend said not to mix colored fluid. He reported he added red fluid to his and it jelled his fluid. But I've also read that mixing isn't an issue..... All I know is I carry the exact fluid in the link above.

 

[Steve4059]

Funny you should mention the black tank sensors.
We’re having the same problem with ours!! We’re full timing in our superstar and have yet to get our sensors replaced. My wife has been turning on the hydronic heat for about a year before we had the ‘low water’ light come on. Our feeder tank is located next to our passenger side fuel tank. I filled the tank, then turned on the furnace for a day and watched the tank slowly burp down.
Filled it again and watched it burp a little more.
Filled once more and…… so far so good!
We will eventually get our black tank sensors replaced and I WILL have them check those hoses at that time! Thanks so much for the heads up! Unfortunately after looking at the hydronic hoses coming out of the unit I personally think that they’re not right for the application. It seems to me that the reason the fluid becomes dark is because the hoses are degrading on the inside making the fluid turn black. I know that it would be difficult but I think that the red type heater hose( the kind that’s used when you get the heater core replaced in your car) would be more resistant to degradation from cycling on and off.

 

[Roadglide117]

Hi all! I took a chance and filled the empty tank about 3/4 full. After listening to the pump cycle on and off about 10 times I saw the level in the tank I just filled go down to about >1/3. Now the unit is working!!even when I turn on both zones of floor heat and the water heater!(AC) don’t know if there’s a way to prime the system or an easy way to flush it out but this Newman newbie will definitely study the ins and outs of diesel/AC water heaters a whole lot more!

That switch on top is a way to run your system for 3-5 minutes and get any air pockets out

 

[Roadglide117]

Hate to say this but I'm guessing you have a hydronic fluid leak. You should very rarely have to add fluid to your system. We had a slow leak that Newmar techs couldn't find at first. When they changed our black tank sensor system to a pressure type, they went behind the pegboard bay to the tank and noticed damp insulation in the area. They found the leak....
Unfortunately I don't know where your fluid reserve tank is... Ours is in the engine bay.
Here's the fluid that's used in my rig.

Century Chemical Aqua Hot heating systems Transfer Fluid RV

Aqua Hot boiler anti freeze RV heating systems

www.flemingsalesoem.com

A DS friend said not to mix colored fluid. He reported he added red fluid to his and it jelled his fluid. But I've also read that mixing isn't an issue..... All I know is I carry the exact fluid in the link above.

ITR told me it didn't matter, but it will change color more like brown that alarms people

 

[SteveMA]

Check the fittings on the top of the Oasis boiler for boiler fluid (wet or crusted). There is a known problem with these being loose and they leak. We had fluid around the fittings that I would wipe up - after a few times did some research and found that these may not have been installed correctly at factory. Pinching off the hoses and cleaning/redoing the connections seems to have stopped our 'slow' leak. (Prior to this I was adding fluid every few months, but could not find a leak anywhere else)

 

[Roadglide117]

Check the fittings on the top of the Oasis boiler for boiler fluid (wet or crusted). There is a known problem with these being loose and they leak. We had fluid around the fittings that I would wipe up - after a few times did some research and found that these may not have been installed correctly at factory. Pinching off the hoses and cleaning/redoing the connections seems to have stopped our 'slow' leak. (Prior to this I was adding fluid every few months, but could not find a leak anywhere else)

Thanks Steve.....my leak was right at the circulating pump after I changed out pump. Think I was to paranoid how tight to tighten since pump is plastic and it has a brass adapter that screws on. Not leaking at moment.

 

[Steve4059]

Check the fittings on the top of the Oasis boiler for boiler fluid (wet or crusted). There is a known problem with these being loose and they leak. We had fluid around the fittings that I would wipe up - after a few times did some research and found that these may not have been installed correctly at factory. Pinching off the hoses and cleaning/redoing the connections seems to have stopped our 'slow' leak. (Prior to this I was adding fluid every few months, but could not find a leak anywhere else)

Thanks so much for your suggestions!
Since I re filled the system I have been monitoring it as much as I can. Keeping an eye on the bottle fluid level (it burped twice) as well as looking for evidence of leaking along the system.
So far, so good! Kinda wish that the fluid would flow through some sort of changeable filter