Thermostat problems

[HelotesAg]

Howdy everyone and thanks in advance for any help or advice. I lurk on these forums a lot and have learned a great deal but have never posted.

I have an '08 Wildcat 32QBBS (that we LOVE) but the last time we took it out the AC wouldn't come on nor would the heat. I did some reading and found that sometimes the DuoTherm thermostats go out and a lot of folks replace it with the Hunter stat from WalMart. So I got one of those on our way out of town for a short trip. I pulled off the old thermostat and was preparing to put the new one on when some of the wires accidentally touched - and the heater came on! Then I started playing and was able to touch the appropriate wires to make the AC fan (only) come on. I didn't try the Hunter thermostat that weekend but happened past a camping world OTW home and bought the exact OEM DuoTherm thermostat to replace the old one but it still did not work. I eventually tried the Hunter thermostat too, but it didn't work either. All the while, if I touch the bare wires together I get response from both the heater and the AC fans (separately). I checked all of the breakers and all of the fuses on the main panel but nothing was tripped.

Is there another breaker or fuse somewhere that I'm not aware of that is preventing the thermostat from turning on the heater or AC? I'm wondering if there's a subtle, hidden switch or button somewhere (like the one on the battery pole) that I need to reset.

I don't have another trip planned until May but I'd sure like to avoid having to take it back to the dealer. Any thoughts or suggestions y'all might have would be greatly appreciated!

HelotesAg

[cfsoistman]

If the units run by touching wires together it still is a problem within the t-stat or the connections being made on the correct terminals. The thermostat is just the switch mating the contacts between the power feed and the appliance. It just cycles based on the temperature.

Hunter Thermostat

Check your wiring to the t-stat against the info from this link. It shows both original and the Hunter set-up.

[burdicda]

I looked everywhere for clarification on this mod
All the tips have RW + RC jumpered with a "BLACK OR GREEN" wire ground going to them....that didn't make any sense electronically to me so I put together a schematic diagram and just installed the mod last night...it works perfectly in cool, heat, fan speeds, everything.
http://burdick.home.digital.net/ke4ozd/RVstat.jpg
RC and RW are unjumpered in mine since each could theoretically have a different power source, otherwise you could be working on one alone and the darn thing energize on you from the other units power source.