How To Replace a summer loop pump in a ITR OASIS Hydronic heater

[Neal]

Come and get it...now that my 14 pumps are on order, they are back in stock! US Solar - go!

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

Come and get it...now that my 14 pumps are on order, they are back in stock! US Solar - go!

Since I know you got a huge discount, how much of the discount are you going to pass along to your best friends...buddy? Or, did you buy them on Amazon?

 

[Neal]

Since I know you got a huge discount, how much of the discount are you going to pass along to your best friends...buddy? Or, did you buy them on Amazon?

I bought from the link below. I'll throw in a free pump if you help me install toppers

C1EC Zone 1 & 2 Replacement Pump | US Solar Pumps

The Zone 1 & 2 Replacement Pump is an excellent option for boat owners. It has a seal-less design to prevent leaking.

www.ussolarpumps.com

 

[Rich W.]

I bought from the link below. I'll throw in a free pump if you help me install toppers

C1EC Zone 1 & 2 Replacement Pump | US Solar Pumps

The Zone 1 & 2 Replacement Pump is an excellent option for boat owners. It has a seal-less design to prevent leaking.

www.ussolarpumps.com

off topic a bit, but what’s going on with your toppers?

 

[Neal]

off topic a bit, but what’s going on with your toppers?

Question - Best slide toppers for 2017 Newmar Ventana?

Along the lines of tires, batteries, windows, oh my...it's coming time for new slide toppers, dare I say awning. Toppers have threads coming out or are out, tears, etc. so it's time for replacing in the next year or two and hopefully with something better. What are the suggested replacements...

rvforums.com

 

[Jim]

In another thread, I'm having problems with my Oasis. Unlike the problem in this thread, the problem is not just a lack of hot water, but a lack of the Oasis to produce cabin heat as well. When turning on the manual "Summer Loop" bypass (toggle switch on top of silver zone board external) I get hot water, but I haven't tried the coach heat to confirm that it too is working.

From a conversation with the owner of an Oasis repair shop in Ft. Myers, the cause of my "no cabin heat & no hot water" problem is a bad pump(s). I think I agree with him, but I'm not sure. Although it's not a constant, much of the time there is a blown fuse to indicate which of the pumps is not working. And none of my fuses have blown. Also, from what I've read, the coach heat is provided from pumps 1 & 2, so if I am correct, the "summer loop" has nothing to do with coach heat as it only heats water.

I'm wondering if maybe ALL the pumps are working just fine, and it's a module/sensor/etc. somewhere else that has failed, and it's this module's job to tell the pumps to turn on, and now it's not sending the message. I believe this theory is supported by the pumps coming on when I hit the "summer loop bypass" switch.

Is there a way, other than to test each individual pump to make sure it's working, to test this theory? What is there in the Oasis system that could fail and therefor not send the "start pumping" message to the appropriate pump?

 

[Jim]

From J&JD's previous post:

From page 11 of the ITR troubleshooting manual:

Domestic Hot Water
The call for domestic Hot water is automatic. There is a temperature sensor mounted on the domestic water inlet pipe to the heat exchanger. Once the hot water tap is opened, the domestic water will begin circulating through this heat exchanger. Once the inlet pipe cools below a pre determined temperature range, the distribution module zone board will respond to a call for domestic hot water, as long as it detects that heat is available inside of the Oasis Heating Module. In this situation, the distribution module zone board will turn on the summer pump and will circulate hot coolant through a small loop (summer loop) that goes through the heat exchanger and back to the Oasis. This will allow a constant supply of hot water, whenever the domestic hot water is used.

if I read this correctly, the zone board turns on the summer loop pump only when the domestic water supply temp drops a certain amount thus giving a constant supply of hot water when called for. It does NOT run continuously.

This is what I believe is the problem.

When the water starts moving through the inlet pipe and then the "Distribution Module Zone Board" (that thingy under the silver cover) will make a call for the Summer Loop pump to start running, which sends the water through the heat exchanger to the coach to where we can use it.

In my case, the Summer Loop pump must be working, because I can manually turn it on and sent the water through to the heat exchanger, creating hot water. The pump is working fine, or I wouldn't be getting any hot water when I press the manual switch.

I believe the problem is in the Distribution Module Zone Board, and I should be able to test it by turning on the coach heat. Which I will do shortly.

 

[Neal]

The best one to answer that is going to be ITR but I've become all too familiar with this contraption due to issues. If I were you I would replace all three pumps and just new them all up. Get a 5 year service kit and new all that up. Then go from there. You don't know the history of the care of your OASIS I don't believe so this may just save you grief later. If you're attending a rally that ITR is participating in then they may be able to do all of this for you but it's not that hard. The link for the US solar pump vendor is probably in this thread and definitely on this site, order 4-5 pumps if you're going to replace 3.

In two hours you can be done with the above, maybe three. Then we can start looking at other items such as electricity, relays, etc. which I hope are not an issue but not hard to replace either, I had one that was bad, simple bad connector. Cheap and easy but highly doubt you have that problem.

Zone 1 and 2 are furnace/heat providers
Summer loop is hot water (pump with a stupid name)

 

[NWIP]

@Jim not sure I am in agreement with your diagnosis that summer loop pump is working. When you place in bypass you are now using one of the other pumps (not sure which one) to circulate the fluid therefore getting hot water.

Also I have had summer loop pump be intermittent ( no hot water) and not trigger a blown fuse.

You can take off the panel to expose distribution and verify pump operation fairly easily.

 

[Jim]

@Jim not sure I am in agreement with your diagnosis that summer loop pump is working. When you place in bypass you are now using one of the other pumps (not sure which one) to circulate the fluid therefore getting hot water.

Also I have had summer loop pump be intermittent ( no hot water) and not trigger a blown fuse.

You can take off the panel to expose distribution and verify pump operation fairly easily.

Perhaps you are right, I don't know. Confusing at best!

I just turned the Oasis on with the bypass switch and the coach heat is operating as it would normally. There is both domestic hot water and heat blowing through the vents. Given that the summer loop's only purpose is to provide hot water, I don't see how it would provide heat for the rest of the couch. That could only be possible if pumps 1 & 2 are operating.

So is it not reasonable to believe that at least pumps 1 & 2 are operating? And if pumps 1 & 2 are operational, why would they not come on automatically when the Silverleaf calls for coach heat? Unless they were not getting the call, which originates from the Distribution Module. ???

 

[Jim]

The best one to answer that is going to be ITR but I've become all too familiar with this contraption due to issues. If I were you I would replace all three pumps and just new them all up. Get a 5 year service kit and new all that up. Then go from there. You don't know the history of the care of your OASIS I don't believe so this may just save you grief later. If you're attending a rally that ITR is participating in then they may be able to do all of this for you but it's not that hard. The link for the US solar pump vendor is probably in this thread and definitely on this site, order 4-5 pumps if you're going to replace 3.

In two hours you can be done with the above, maybe three. Then we can start looking at other items such as electricity, relays, etc. which I hope are not an issue but not hard to replace either, I had one that was bad, simple bad connector. Cheap and easy but highly doubt you have that problem.

Zone 1 and 2 are furnace/heat providers
Summer loop is hot water (pump with a stupid name)

I had the summer loop (your right, stupid name) replaced at Newmar about 6 months ago. And while I have no problem replacing the 3 pumps, I don't see the reasoning behind it if the pumps are not the problem.

As you mentioned, Zone 1 & 2 pumps are furnace/heat providers, I don't believe they get any assistance from the summer loop normally or in bypass mode. So if I'm getting heat in the coach, these two pumps have to be working.

That leaves the summer loop. It could have failed and is getting assistance from pumps 1 & 2, but if that is the case, then pumps 1 & 2 have to be working.

So the majority of pumps are working otherwise I couldn't get heat in both coach zones as well as hot water from the summer loop. Edit: Also, and I forgot to mention this earlier, but the Silverleaf reports "Zones OK", "Heater OK", and "No AC Input". When the summer loop died last time, the Silverleaf showed "Zone Fault". And while the Silverleaf doesn't tell me which zone is faulted, it does report when one is.

Or have I missed something?

 

[Neal]

Well, my first question based on your luck with Newmar etc is "was it really replaced?" and also did they use the old style pump which has known issues with reliability or the newer style (new style is smooth and no cooling fins).

You could crawl in and open the panel to view the pumps, won't hurt to do that and see if you can hear or feel them working and also get a picture and share here if desired and we can tell you if old or new style pumps.

 

[Jim]

Well, my first question based on your luck with Newmar etc is "was it really replaced?" and also did they use the old style pump which has known issues with reliability or the newer style (new style is smooth and no cooling fins).

You could crawl in and open the panel to view the pumps, won't hurt to do that and see if you can hear or feel them working and also get a picture and share here if desired and we can tell you if old or new style pumps.

I'm thinking of having a BBQ today. Why don't you drop by for a burger a little later?

 

[Neal]

I know someone not far from you, well, maybe in the same state and runs a mobile RV tech operation for private clients, cough, @NWIP

 

[Jim]

I know someone not far from you, well, maybe in the same state and runs a mobile RV tech operation for private clients, cough, @NWIP

lol, have you seen that guy? He's so tall, part of him would be hanging out each side of the coach!

 

[J&JD]

I’m pretty sure that turning on the bypass switch does just that, it bypasses the pump control and turns them all on at the same time. That is why, if you have no or intermittent hot water or heat in one zone, everything seems to work. You could have 2 of the 3 pumps be bad and the system would work with just one pump, just not as efficiently. Perhaps @Neal’s advice to replace all 3 pumps might be worth a shot.

 

[Jim]

I’m pretty sure that turning on the bypass switch does just that, it bypasses the pump control and turns them all on at the same time. That is why, if you have no or intermittent hot water or heat in one zone, everything seems to work. You could have 2 of the 3 pumps be bad and the system would work with just one pump, just not as efficiently. Perhaps @Neal’s advice to replace all 3 pumps might be worth a shot.

I'll call Oasis tomorrow and get their opinion.

Assuming NOT in bypass mode, it's hard for me to understand how 1 (or even 2) dead pumps would stop the coach heat from working. I mean, I get it that the summer loop will stop the hot water dead in its tracks, but not the coach heat.

I see that happening if all 3 pumps were dead, but if that were the case, none of them would work in bypass mode. So given not all the pumps are dead, why aren't the remaining pumps coming on when the distribution board calls on them?

I really don't think the distribution board is making the call.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Been following this thread for a while now,
Seems that if the pumps work in bypass mode then it is not a pump failure. Unless as stated above that the bypass is forcing another pump to do the work. If you can get a wiring diagram maybe you can sort out what is happening In bypass.
Putting a hand on each pump during bypass might help see if it is a pump issue Otherwise it might be a thermostat or other component.

My $0.02

 

[Jim]

Been following this thread for a while now,
Seems that if the pumps work in bypass mode then it is not a pump failure. Unless as stated above that the bypass is forcing another pump to do the work. If you can get a wiring diagram maybe you can sort out what is happening In bypass.
Putting a hand on each pump during bypass might help see if it is a pump issue Otherwise it might be a thermostat or other component.

My $0.02

I will check with Oasis support in the morning and I believe we will have an answer shortly afterward.

 

[Neal]

In my opinion, you need to do the troubleshooting if you really want to put an end to this. You need to pull the pump distribution panel off and determine what's going on with the pumps when override is turned back OFF. You probably have one bad pump, the "summer loop". If you don't have spare pump(s) on hand, you should have ordered them yesterday, i.e. you need to have two spare pumps on hand at all times, in my opinion.

Let me help motivate you. The pump box is green, like a John Deere. Now let's get to it and get the job done!

Select the 12V option, set your quantity, and let's get vacation (construction work) in progress. We have land to move, buildings to construct, things to paint, paving, plowing, and all sorts of relaxation already!

C1EC Zone 1 & 2 Replacement Pump | US Solar Pumps

The Zone 1 & 2 Replacement Pump is an excellent option for boat owners. It has a seal-less design to prevent leaking.

www.ussolarpumps.com