tempermental furnace - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Melstar · RV-Dreams Family Member

tempermental furnace

53 Merc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just guessing, but is it a Suburban Furnace? If so, I had the same kind of issues. Found it was an "insulation interference connector". That means a wiring junction that only clips onto the service wire to provide a "T". I found it by turning on the furnace, going outside and removing the cover and gently "jiggling" wires until the furnace fired. Once defined, I removed the piece of junk connector, stripped insulation and soldered the wires. A piece of electrical tape and I'm done.

Hasn't given the same problem in 4 years now.

-- Edited by 53 Merc on Wednesday 22nd of December 2010 08:03:05 AM

MNdrifters · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gonna ask the obvious. Got Propane?

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

I tend to err on the side of caution...I would take it in to be checked out. There is something wrong, and when it comes to propane items I prefer to have the experts check it for me.

TDCDintheRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

mel
If you know the brand and model of your furnace you may be able to download a manual at this site: http://bryantrv.com/docs.html, or just google the brand and model to find information. When we bought are uesd 5th wheel we did not get any manuals have most of them in the Internet.
Tom

TDCDintheRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

Good call Dan, on our old TT the furnace burner would not start when we were getting ready to go on winter vacation, turned out that the heat exchanger had rusted /burned thru, had to replace the furnace.
Tom

-- Edited by TDCDintheRV on Wednesday 22nd of December 2010 10:11:45 AM

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

When you say the furnace goes on and off soon after, do you get warm air while it's on or just cold air. I suspect a propane problem. Does your gas stove work? Are the valves open on the propane tanks.

Until you get some experience, it's probably wisest to get a tech to look at it and watch them closely to learn. It can be very confusing getting into the RV lifestyle. Everybody goes through it though, so don't feel too bad.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Could it be a heat pump ? I understand they don't work well in very low temps.

Being from California, I don't know much about furnace issues....I can't remember the last time we used ours.

Melstar · RV-Dreams Family Member

This was our first trip....the tanks were full.....the stove and oven worked fine with propane.
Don't think we have a heat pump....
The furnace...when it did come on....did blow warm air from the vents in the floor......just not for very long and it would not come on when we'd put the temp higher on the thermostat.
I did have Crossroads send me an Owner's Manual on line...... very little in there about the operation of the furnace.
The brand name is Suburban. Will try to get the manual.
We do have an extended warranty.....so if my hubby can't find out the problem..we will take it in to be checked.

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Could very well be the thermostat.RV thermostats are not known for reliability or accuracy.

TxYellowRose · RV-Dreams Family Member

Since you do have propane, I would also suspect the thermostat.

Been there, done that, still have the blankies!

To be on the safe side, I would suggest getting a tech to check it out.

Cheers and congrats on the 5er!

Betty

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

It sounds like the thermostat or possible wiring issue. I got tired of the heat & a/c not working properly so I installed a Hunter Digital (same unit you would have in your S&B) Thermostat and have been very pleased. Less cycling on & off and the temp of the TT is easy to control now. It came with a remote so now I can control the temp from the bed or sofa:)

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Mark, Model # please.I'm really fed up with the wide tempature swings of the Dometic Duo Therm I have.If you set furnace on 68 it will let it get down to 62 before it comes back on.Not acceptable.Same swings on Air Conditioning going other direction in Temps. disbelief

TDCDintheRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

George

Google "hunter digital thermostat rv" and you find more information then you ever wanted to know. I have been planing to install a hunter 44110, for the same reasons you listed.
Tom

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is a must do, IMO, modification. It makes controlling the temperature sooo much easier as you can move the setting one degree at a time. It really does makes a big difference, especially with the LP furnace operation.

Two links among many from a search:

http://home.roadrunner.com/~morodat/hunter_install.html

http://www.klenger.net/RV_General/HVAC_Hunter_Tstat/index.html

Just take your time, go slow and you’ll be able to figure it out. If not, a dealer could do it for you. But it really is worth the time and small relative small cost for both heat and AC. (That includes heat pumps.)

For what these things cost, new RV should just have them as standard equipment.

Bill

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

Racerguy wrote:

Mark, Model # please.I'm really fed up with the wide tempature swings of the Dometic Duo Therm I have.If you set furnace on 68 it will let it get down to 62 before it comes back on.Not acceptable.Same swings on Air Conditioning going other direction in Temps.

Racerguy,

It's a Hunter 42996 Just Right Digital Thermostat with Remote from Amazon. See link below.

http://www.rverscorner.com/hunterstat.htm

You need to install a hi/lo fan switch too. I installed mine on the wall behind the thermostat instead of putting it on the thermostat housing. See pic.

http://www.amazon.com/Hunter-42996-Digital-Thermostat-Remote/dp/B000X9JCXO

Lucky Streak · RV-Dreams Community Member

Just a thought....This past January, the people next door were having a problem with their new RV.. Furnace wouldn't stay on.... First thing the repairman did was to remove all of the small throw rugs off the cold air returns...
Furnace worked great..

Bill

Melstar · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill, we were careful not to have any rugs over the air vents.....first thing my DH reminded me of! biggrin

Colorado_Kid · RV-Dreams Family Member

Racerguy wrote:

Mark, Model # please.I'm really fed up with the wide tempature swings of the Dometic Duo Therm I have.If you set furnace on 68 it will let it get down to 62 before it comes back on.Not acceptable.Same swings on Air Conditioning going other direction in Temps.

I have the Domestic Duo Therm also and it does the same thing. It will get very hot then shut off and a couple of minutes later will come back on. Its like it has a mind of its own.

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

Colorado_Kid wrote:

Racerguy wrote:

Mark, Model # please.I'm really fed up with the wide tempature swings of the Dometic Duo Therm I have.If you set furnace on 68 it will let it get down to 62 before it comes back on.Not acceptable.Same swings on Air Conditioning going other direction in Temps.

I have the Domestic Duo Therm also and it does the same thing. It will get very hot then shut off and a couple of minutes later will come back on. Its like it has a mind of its own.

Colorado Kid,

The digital thermostats don't have that temp swing. You can even set the digital to over compensate, this reduces the cycle on/off time. Example: I set it to 72 degrees and the heater will not shut off until the temp reaches 73-74 which means it won't come back on until the temp drops below 72.
The Hunter has performed well with the heat and a/c.

http://www.hunterfan.com/uploadedfiles/Support/Owner_Manuals/41970.pdf