Our Espar heating system suddenly started acting strangely, and when we checked the error codes, we found that it was overheating (error code 14). After diagnosing the problem with Jim Rixen, we found that the upgraded glycol pump from 2020 (with the rotating speed dial on the back) was failing. Rixen said that they've been seeing a fair number of these units fail, and they sent me a new one under warranty. The job in front of me was to drain the glycol out of the system and change the pump.
The Revel's heating system requires Dexcool in a 60/40 ratio, but Jim Rixen said that 50/50 is fine, so I bought a 50/50 solution from Prestone at a regular auto parts store. The system holds a little less than 2 gallons, so I bought 2 of these jugs.
Rixen suggested that I simply loosen one of the hoses going to the Espar furnace and let it trickle into a bucket. This was easy, not messy, and took about 45 minutes.
Since we rotated our dinette seat and have a RoamRig system, it left the side with the pump accessible from behind the driver's seat. I removed the side of the dinette bench, loosened the glycol tank, and rotated it to access the blue glycol pump.
I cut the wires going to the old pump, loosened the clamps, and removed the pump from the two hoses connected to it. There was only a little glycol in the old pump, so a few paper towels cleaned it all up. The new pump is on the left in these pictures, and you can see the black speed dial on the 2020 pump on the right.
The new pump is a 2-speed, and since I have a Revel that with an engine heat exchanger (longer distances to push glycol), Rixen recommended that I put the new pump on high speed. This apparently draws about another amp of power. Instructions show how to wire the pump.
Putting the hoses back on the new pump was difficult, but a heat gun softened the hoses enough to make them pliable. I tightened all the clamps, put the reservoir tank in place, and poured about 2 gallons of glycol into the reservoir (using a funnel). Rixen said that the pump is powerful enough to push all the air bubbles through the line, which it did, and the heater is now functioning properly again.
27-February-2024
