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Post by polarbadger on Apr 25, 2023 8:07:11 GMT -5
I am living full time in my 5th wheel and have been staying in New Jersey an New York state in some cold weather, which has been no issue as once the trailer is warm it stays very comfortable. However the air flow from the gas furnace through the floor vents is very gentle/weak and it seems to run for a long time. Is this by design - gentle heat over longer period? Or should I get a strong flow from the vents?
My previous rig (2017 Jayco 42ft 5th wheel) had a much stronger furnace air flow but also suffered a little from hysteresis It was super hot before the furnace finally kicked off and then it settled down. The Durango, by contrast just gets gradually warmer.
To try and put some numbers to this: It was about 37 deg this morning and inside the RV was set to 58 degrees for sleeping. I turned on the furnace at 6am and by 7:15 it had only got to 64 deg. So 5 degrees an hour gain or so? It took another 60 mins to get to 68 and from 7:15 I had the electric fire on as well.
Is this typical or do I have an issue? If it is standard is there some booster/more powerful fan that I could look at to improve airflow?
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Post by laknox on Apr 25, 2023 12:59:22 GMT -5
I am living full time in my 5th wheel and have been staying in New Jersey an New York state in some cold weather, which has been no issue as once the trailer is warm it stays very comfortable. However the air flow from the gas furnace through the floor vents is very gentle/weak and it seems to run for a long time. Is this by design - gentle heat over longer period? Or should I get a strong flow from the vents? My previous rig (2017 Jayco 42ft 5th wheel) had a much stronger furnace air flow but also suffered a little from hysteresis It was super hot before the furnace finally kicked off and then it settled down. The Durango, by contrast just gets gradually warmer. To try and put some numbers to this: It was about 37 deg this morning and inside the RV was set to 58 degrees for sleeping. I turned on the furnace at 6am and by 7:15 it had only got to 64 deg. So 5 degrees an hour gain or so? It took another 60 mins to get to 68 and from 7:15 I had the electric fire on as well. Is this typical or do I have an issue? If it is standard is there some booster/more powerful fan that I could look at to improve airflow? I would check that the ducts are all installed properly, as in actually connected to the furnace and floor vents. I'd also check to see if the ducts are actually clear of obstructions or kinks. Some people have also replaced the cheap plastic vent covers with metal covers that are =adjustable=, so you can control where, and how much, heat goes. Lyle |
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Post by relliott on Apr 25, 2023 13:49:15 GMT -5
I have the same trailer but a 2019, and had the same problem with low flow at 1st.
I dropped the aft wall in the main pass through to gain access to the propane furnace and ducting.
Found one of the ducts that connects to a manifold not even connected. Also, where the ducting connects to the furnace, there was lots of air escaping.
Connected the duct that wasn't hooked up, and used aluminum tape to tape the ducts at the furnace and doubled (estimate) the airflow from the ducts.
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Post by nvguy on Apr 25, 2023 23:52:25 GMT -5
Previous posts pretty much summed it up. Get to the furnace and inspect the ducting. Chances are you will find some air leaks and maybe some kinked or disconnected ducts.
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Post by polarbadger on Apr 26, 2023 8:02:18 GMT -5
" I dropped the aft wall in the main pass through to gain access to the propane furnace and ducting."
Yes, I felt dumb for not thinking about that after I posted so I took that wall down (LOTS of space in there I'd like to use...) and found the manifold wasn't connected to the heater box correctly. The screw near the back (hardest to get to) had been stripped so the manifold box wasn't sealed at all (2" gap) down that side. I tweaked the edges of the box with some pliers to get a more snug fit and fixed the stripped screw and it sat on there much better. You can feel the air out of the vents as you walk past them now.
Heater is much more how I'd expect it now. Not the wall of hot air that the Jayco had (which was annoying anyway and LOUD) but it got the rig from 58 to 69F in here in about 60 mins this morning (before I turned the electric fire on) with a 38 degree outside temp. Which I think is perfectly good performance, especially given how quiet it is and a 35 foot rig.
I have a metal adjustable vent in the bedroom (to close it off entirely, actually) and I think I will get one for the bathroom and throttle it a bit there because that is by far the strongest vent and, now I have seen the duct runs, makes sense as it is the shortest and straightest route for the airflow.
Thanks all.
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luscombet8f
Weekender RV’er
My 1949 Luscombe T8-F & 251RLT
Posts: 65
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Post by luscombet8f on Apr 26, 2023 11:56:29 GMT -5
polarbadger ... Thank You for the Update... it is posts like this... with the suggestions and followups... that make a Forum work well for everybody!! I'm glad you are 'on speed' again!!! :-)
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Post by Edd505 on Apr 26, 2023 20:38:55 GMT -5
Polar I had the same issue, must be a common issue, I added the aluminum tape around all the ducts to completely seal them. I found I was not getting enough heat in the living area and added a duct as the was one blank I needed to punch out. kzfamilyforum.com/thread/4029/more-heat |
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