# Furnace Problems



## Reggie44 (Aug 12, 2005)

Hi all, just a question on furnace operation. We spent the weekend camping. We had electrical so we used both the furnace and a space heater. The furnace would work fine at the start of the night. But through the night the space heater could not keep up the temperature 68F but the furnace would not come on to help. Why is this? Could it be the space heater was blowing on the thermostat gauge? I even tried putting the remote temp up to 78F on the furnace, it would still not come on. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. JR


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

What I have found with the Outback furnace / thermistat is this: It is nothing like your home's. When running the furnace, it will get cold first, then the furnace will come on and things will get warm...sometimes too warm. Then the furnace goes off and will not come on again until you are getting cold.

Using the electric heater just confused your furnace more. The electric heater kept the camper warm enough to not warrant the furnace kicking on (it didn't get cold enough).

We always use our electric oscillating heather when we have hookups as well. But we never have needed to run the furnace as well.

Randy


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Two things...

CastleRoclOutbackers and you are both correct...

1. The space heater was probably blowing on the thermostat and it was fooling the temperature gauge.

2. The variance offset of the heater can be as much as 5 degrees... meaning that you set it for 65 degrees -- it finally kicks on when it gets to 60 .. and runs until it gets to 70 ... and then kciks off until it gets to 60 .... etx etc....


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

You must also ensure that you get a response beep back from the AC unit. The remote may indicate that you set it to 78 but the last response it got was say 68.

I would also test it without the space heater to make sure that it was not impacting the furnace control. Also on my 28rss if the furnace is running and I heat some water on the stove for hot chocolate the heat from the stove will cause the furnace to kick off.


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## Reggie44 (Aug 12, 2005)

Thanks for th responses. I will try it out on its own this week in the driveway. We are heading out this weekend with no hook ups so I want to make sure it is working. JR


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Reggie44 said:


> Thanks for th responses. I will try it out on its own this week in the driveway. We are heading out this weekend with no hook ups so I want to make sure it is working. JR
> [snapback]110340[/snapback]​


Great idea. I quick check in the driveway







will ensure warm nights while camping.

Thor


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

The heater is a tricky thing to get comfortable with. Sometimes it responds with the "beep" every time I touch the remote...others I have to get right up under the heater to make the darn thing work. It has some room for improvement.


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

What I'm hearing in everyones replies is that when any other heat source is added, there's major confusion with the furnace. Actually, isn't the detector for the temp. in the roof mount unit? If so, that makes plenty of sense, as hot air rises, and cold air stays close to the floor. Maybe use the electric heater as far away as possible from the unit, and if you heat something on the stove, turn on the vent hood to remove that heat. Also, I think that, like others have said on other threads, make sure you change out your floor vents so you can regulate the flow. Otherwise, you're gonna burn up in the front part of the TT and freeze in the rear part.....or that's been my experience, until I got aggravated and put a frying pan over the front bedroom's heat vent!!







HI, it worked!!








Darlene action


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

sgalady said:


> What I'm hearing in everyones replies is that when any other heat source is added, there's major confusion with the furnace. Actually, isn't the detector for the temp. in the roof mount unit? If so, that makes plenty of sense, as hot air rises, and cold air stays close to the floor. Maybe use the electric heater as far away as possible from the unit, and if you heat something on the stove, turn on the vent hood to remove that heat. Also, I think that, like others have said on other threads, make sure you change out your floor vents so you can regulate the flow. Otherwise, you're gonna burn up in the front part of the TT and freeze in the rear part.....or that's been my experience, until I got aggravated and put a frying pan over the front bedroom's heat vent!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


'
Not sure I really want to know "how" you got that frying pan to stick there?


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## Dreamtimers (Mar 7, 2005)

Oregon_Camper said:


> The heater is a tricky thing to get comfortable with. Sometimes it responds with the "beep" every time I touch the remote...others I have to get right up under the heater to make the darn thing work. It has some room for improvement.
> [snapback]110671[/snapback]​


Mine was like you described. You had to be almost directly under the unit for it to see the remote. I removed the cover and found the sensor was way back from the window in the cover and slightly off angle. Bent the sensor to where it was close to the window. I can now adjust the temp from in the bed. GREAT for starting the morning warm, then get out of bed.









Good Luck.

Dave


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Oregon_Camper said:


> sgalady said:
> 
> 
> > What I'm hearing in everyones replies is that when any other heat source is added, there's major confusion with the furnace.Â Actually, isn't the detector for the temp. in the roof mount unit?Â If so, that makes plenty of sense, as hot air rises, and cold air stays close to the floor. Maybe use the electric heater as far away as possible from the unit, and if you heat something on the stove, turn on the vent hood to remove that heat.Â Also, I think that, like others have said on other threads, make sure you change out your floor vents so you can regulate the flow.Â Otherwise, you're gonna burn up in the front part of the TT and freeze in the rear part.....or that's been my experience, until I got aggravated and put a frying pan over the front bedroom's heat vent!!Â
> ...


I sat it on the floor, over the furnace vent!!







When you're roasting alive







, and the boys are on the other end, hollering they're freezing







, it calls for drastic measures.
Darlene action


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

sgalady said:


> Oregon_Camper said:
> 
> 
> > sgalady said:
> ...


Guess I read that wrong...I was under the impression you put the frying pan over the heaters thermostat shy shy


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## Ohtrouting (May 27, 2006)

I had that same problem. I tried different things and finally changed the batteries in the remote. After the batteries were replaced I could use the remote anywhere in the TT. Good luck.


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## Reggie44 (Aug 12, 2005)

Sent the trailer to the dealer. They fixed the problem. Drum roll please. It had debris on the bottom. *Pine needles*. _Dealer reccomended solution_ do not park near vegetation. Looks like only Walmart camping for us from now on LOL. Anyways I could not see anything from the exhaust ports. They had to remove the furnace thru the cold air return. In future I will put on maintenance list to occasionally vacuum out the inside of the furnace compartment thru the cold air return. I suggested they put a cover at the back of the trailer like the fridge has. Silence on the other end of phone. Anyways as always thanks for all the great help and suggestions from everyone. PS Has anybody put some small screen metal mess on the end of the exhausts to help prevent anything from getting in?


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Reggie,

Glad to hear you got your problem solved. Nothing but blue skies ahead now!









How exactly did they suggest those pine needles got in there in the first place?
I don't see how they could fall in?

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## kyoutback (Jul 12, 2004)

Reggie44 said:


> Sent the trailer to the dealer. They fixed the problem. Drum roll please. It had debris on the bottom. *Pine needles*. _Dealer reccomended solution_ do not park near vegetation. Looks like only Walmart camping for us from now on LOL. Anyways I could not see anything from the exhaust ports. They had to remove the furnace thru the cold air return. In future I will put on maintenance list to occasionally vacuum out the inside of the furnace compartment thru the cold air return. I suggested they put a cover at the back of the trailer like the fridge has. Silence on the other end of phone. Anyways as always thanks for all the great help and suggestions from everyone. PS Has anybody put some small screen metal mess on the end of the exhausts to help prevent anything from getting in?
> [snapback]115512[/snapback]​


These work well for wasps and other insects. Not sure if it would keep pine needles out.

Furnace Screens


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## Reggie44 (Aug 12, 2005)

Thanks Doug, the conversation didn't get that far. I couldn't be bothered to discuss the finer points of the subject. So I plan on getting the screens as insurance to prevent a future problem once my warranty runs out. JR


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