Alde Heater

[Stuart_374391891]

I have an Alde 3000 compact system in our Fleetwood caravan.

I have a couple of questions about it as I've never had anything to do with it before as I've only had the caravan about a year.

There is part of the system in a waldrobe and looking at the level gauge its showing empty. I am assuming this is why there is no heating in the caravan.

So the questions are:

1. Where can I buy the glycol needed to refill it?

2. Do I need to mix it with anything?

3. How do I actually refill the system?

4. What else do I need to know?

 

[lohr500]

Hi Stuart,

Do a Google search for Alde and then go to their download page.

There is an installation manual for the 3000 compact boiler that explains the filling process and the glycol requirement.

I've cut & pasted a bit here from page 7.

FILLING THE HEATING SYSTEM.

The heating system should be filled with a fluid mixture of water and glycol. For preference, use high quality ready-mixed glycol (with inhibitor) intended for use in aluminium heating systems. If using concentrated glycol, the mixture should consist of 60% water and 40% glycol. If the heating system will be exposed to temperatures below -25

 

[jacky3]

hi.

a good quality concentrated antifreeze with a mixture of 50antifreeze/50water will do the job,just make sure its the same colour as what is already in,blue in mine

 

[Jennifer_374461363]

you can buy the antifreeze that alde use on line, google the name as given in the instructions.

 

[Jennifer_374461363]

also, the header tank should be filled to a little above the minimum mark, if it is too low the pump will be whirring in mid air and do nothing. if it is too full it will overflow when the pump goes.

 

[JTQ]

The glycol is your normal car antifreeze at the normal 40/60 concentration, with water, so Halfords etc.

Just a few words of caution.

As already said make sure you use the same type of antifreeze as already there. There are two types, type one is blue or green, type two is normally red or orange. They ought not be mixed though garages often do in ignorance.

Never run the system without this antifreeze solution as expensive damage will surely follow.

You pour the mixture in the top, often via the cap holding the pump.

If air gets trapped in the radiator circuit it can be hells own job to remove it. Bleeders are provided teed off the circuit to help get the air out.

Fill just over the minimum. If you put too much in it will simply blow the excess out. After filling you could well need to top it up one or more times as the pump clears the small amounts of trapped air.

 

[Stuart_374391891]

Hi Stuart,

Do a Google search for Alde and then go to their download page.

There is an installation manual for the 3000 compact boiler that explains the filling process and the glycol requirement.

I've cut & pasted a bit here from page 7.

FILLING THE HEATING SYSTEM.

The heating system should be filled with a fluid mixture of water and glycol. For preference, use high quality ready-mixed glycol (with inhibitor) intended for use in aluminium heating systems. If using concentrated glycol, the mixture should consist of 60% water and 40% glycol. If the heating system will be exposed to temperatures below -25

 

[Stuart_374391891]

Thanks Tony the pump is running as we can hear this and we do have hot water still so it must need a top up.

Not sure what colour the mix was though. Is there an easy way to find out as the system is empty.

 

[lohr500]

Hi Stuart,

I am no expert on this type of heater, but looking at a few internet posts it sounds like you can use a good quality car antifreeze. A lot of car engines have aluminium cylinder heads and even aluminium engine blocks so an antifreeze suitable for aluminium engines should be OK.

The Alde manual says 40% Glycol, 60% water, if not already pre mixed. I would follow the instructions on the antifreeze can.

No idea what the capacity of the system will be and therefore how much you will need to buy.

I also saw a post about an Alde system fitted to a Fleetwood and it talked about a short black drain tube under the van fitted with a bung.

Are you sure it is completely empty? Try finding the drain, carefully remove the bung and see what colour fluid comes out. If it is bone dry, then it shouldn't matter what colour anti-freeze you use. If fluid starts running out then put the bung back in quickly after noting the colour and buy antifreeze of the same colour.

If it is bone dry, and you have found th drain plug, I would be tempted to do an initial fill just with water, filling very slowly and checking round the whole system all the time for any leaks. Better to discover a leak with water than waste good money on an antifreeze leak!! Assuming no leaks, I would run the system for 15 minutes with the heat set to maximum before allowing it to cool and then fully draining down. This might help flush through any crud left in the system before you refill with the correct glycol mix. Running it for such a short period of time on water alone shouldn't cause any corrosion issues.

For info, the manual says the fluid level should be 1cm above the header tank min. mark when cold.

Do let us know how you get on. I just hope that no damage has been done to the heating elements if it has been run without the glycol solution in the inner boiler section.

 

[JTQ]

Hi Stuart,

I am no expert on this type of heater, but looking at a few internet posts it sounds like you can use a good quality car antifreeze. A lot of car engines have aluminium cylinder heads and even aluminium engine blocks so an antifreeze suitable for aluminium engines should be OK.

The Alde manual says 40% Glycol, 60% water, if not already pre mixed. I would follow the instructions on the antifreeze can.

No idea what the capacity of the system will be and therefore how much you will need to buy.

I also saw a post about an Alde system fitted to a Fleetwood and it talked about a short black drain tube under the van fitted with a bung.

Are you sure it is completely empty? Try finding the drain, carefully remove the bung and see what colour fluid comes out. If it is bone dry, then it shouldn't matter what colour anti-freeze you use. If fluid starts running out then put the bung back in quickly after noting the colour and buy antifreeze of the same colour.

If it is bone dry, and you have found th drain plug, I would be tempted to do an initial fill just with water, filling very slowly and checking round the whole system all the time for any leaks. Better to discover a leak with water than waste good money on an antifreeze leak!! Assuming no leaks, I would run the system for 15 minutes with the heat set to maximum before allowing it to cool and then fully draining down. This might help flush through any crud left in the system before you refill with the correct glycol mix. Running it for such a short period of time on water alone shouldn't cause any corrosion issues.

For info, the manual says the fluid level should be 1cm above the header tank min. mark when cold.

Do let us know how you get on. I just hope that no damage has been done to the heating elements if it has been run without the glycol solution in the inner boiler section.

It cant be "bone dry" otherwise it would already be wrecked but the OP has hot water so its working.

Sounds like dangerously low fluid but recoverable.

 

[Damian]

Concentrated blue glycol anti freeze from Halfords mixed 40/60 with water for topping up the system.

The black drain under the van is for the domestic water drain in winter.

The heating side of the Alde system does not need draining as it is a mix of antifreeze, and it requires a special pump to change the fluid, which should be done every 3 years

 

[JTQ]

Concentrated blue glycol anti freeze from Halfords mixed 40/60 with water for topping up the system.

The black drain under the van is for the domestic water drain in winter.

The heating side of the Alde system does not need draining as it is a mix of antifreeze, and it requires a special pump to change the fluid, which should be done every 3 years

"---it requires a special pump to change the fluid,"

Correction:

it does not "require" a special pump to change the fluid; I agree it could well help but its perfectly possible to do so without if you follow Alde's instructions.

Done it, but bleeding fully is a tedious job.

 

[Jennifer_374461363]

Alde use Comma Super Coldmaster Concentrated antifreeze, Castrol antifreeze NF (grade code 1729) is also recommended.

Your system will hold in the region of 13 litres, depending on how many radiators you have.

 

[Jennifer_374461363]

Cheapest we found was from www.rensu.co.uk , cheaper than Halfords.