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Old 05-11-2015, 11:17 AM   #1
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29xlr review first 3 weeks

well been on the road for a week now with the 29xlr . so far unit is holding up well . fixed the issue with the furnace [worked out a deal with FR for 2nd yr warranty not worth much ] the way it's ducted in using dryer vent hose no tape at any of the joints the thing was worthless . now the ducts act as cold air returns . since i have no need to heat garage I have it so it blows out the front , replaced the screen cover with a louvered 10"x10" grill from HD sealed around the front of the furnace and cabinets . it heats the unit nicely now been in 30 to 45 degree days for the last week with snow and rain . the furnace will come on for about 15 mins and then off for 30 plus , can keep it at what ever temp i like inside .
The light for the stove vent is worthless . don't care for the step up shower but it works well as does the electric element for the hot water heater . added a 2 gallon pressure tank for the pump system which helps keeps the pump from running all the time . when hooked up to city water i have no issues and seems good . I use a heated hose so as not to freeze . Most nights it's been right at 30 to 32 . Really Glad i dropped the underneath covering and added 2" foamboard , insulated all the water lines and secured them as they were just hanging covered all the water tanks with reflective insulation ,all the wiring that was just loose and laying on top of the covering . Bundled and secured them all . ran a couple runs of #8 wiring for a couple inverters to run tv & ice maker and other things when not hooked up . resealed under unit and chalked in and added more support to the underneath covering . pulled off the china tires and sold them and installed 10 ply e rated tires . Made a battery box on the front tongue with 4 # 24 deep cycle batteries . have had no issues with running out of juice total weight of batts is 192. Also pulled the propane tanks and all the gas piping as it was all rusted . cleaned off and painted re-secured all gas lines . used a rubberized undercoating for the propane tank holder and re-secured. All the cheap drain caps for the water tank and low point drains have been replace with brass ball valves and now do not hag down so far
I've got the unit fully loaded with 2400 # leaving only a few hundred for water and gas . unit tows good with the andersen hitch been through a few hundred miles of 20 to 30 mph cross winds with 0 issues or sway .
Bike is loaded in the back 900 lbs along with generator 140 , pressure washer 68 # ladder , some coats , wall mount vacuum using the electric bed as storage for my boat and fishing equipment total weight of 87lbs and have had 0 issues with that all works well
with the generator [champion 4000/3500 remote start ] everything works but you need to watch if you have the water heater on electric and running a 1500 watt heater it will bog down . hitting max output then so put WH on gas then . other then poor workmanship and fixing minor issues like missing or loose screws , lack of chalking in shower , poor design of usable space things that can be lived with all is good . I did some how get a mouse in the garage he used the heater vents as a travel passage , got him with a trap . guessing he was in something i loaded or jumped in when i had the back open . either way he's gone now . What else oh ya added a shelf under the tv for dvd player etc . if you do this be sure you make clearance for the slide . had to notch out my shelf for the slide as an after thought but it looks great . did a full wax of unit and will be in west yellowstone tomorrow for the summer .
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Old 05-11-2015, 11:37 AM   #2
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Did you mount the pressure tank under the sink?

And thanks for the update
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Old 05-11-2015, 12:22 PM   #3
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yes on the left side . got it at lowes for $49 , had to adjust air pressure for pump cut in. what I did is let air out until it would fill about a gallon container before the pump turned on . working well . would do you good to pick up the crimping tool and some extra clamps and fitting for a repair kit to have on hand
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Old 05-11-2015, 12:45 PM   #4
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NS,
Any pics of the new vent covers, pressure tank and tv/dvr shelf?

Scheduled to get mine on 5/19. Can't wait for it to finally be here. Then I get to go back an reread everyone's updates to I can get mine ready for summer...
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:05 PM   #5
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I'll work on pics seem to be a pain to up load them but will try
Also added the camco roof vent covers in smoke on all three roof vents . walmart on line was the best price at around $26.
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:16 PM   #6
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lets see if pic show up
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:26 PM   #7
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Test pic
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:28 PM   #8
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NS,
My test pic from my phone worked fine. I have uploaded for my home pc as well.

Should be pretty easy but wishing you some good luck...:thumbup:
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:37 PM   #9
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:39 PM   #10
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you can see in the last three pics of the insulation and how it looked when i opened it up a real mess , FR and the employees should be ashamed at the shoddy workmanship. can see any industry where this would fly , except of course for FR
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:40 PM   #11
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Old 05-11-2015, 02:52 PM   #12
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Thanks for the pics. The cables do look a bit messy.
Happy the TH is working out for you.
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Old 05-11-2015, 03:12 PM   #13
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yep just a bit . still can't believe what i saw when opened up . low point water drains where not the low points as the water lines were just sitting on the covering also . now all wrapped and insulated , bundled up and secured . i would suggest anyone who gets a unit from FR do the same . I'm sure i prevented a lot of misfortune in the future by doing this . Also the unit stays a lot warmer now that it has 2" foam board insulation . why pay for extreme weather package when you can do it better and cheaper then what FR charges and it's done right
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Old 05-11-2015, 04:00 PM   #14
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Looking at the enclosed area is on my to-do (along with other items.. )
Thanks for sharing...
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Old 05-11-2015, 09:14 PM   #15
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Hey NS. Glad your doing OK and thanks for the info. Can you explain how you reversed the heater air flow. Thanks.
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Old 05-11-2015, 11:13 PM   #16
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Hey NS. Glad your doing OK and thanks for the info. Can you explain how you reversed the heater air flow. Thanks.

Did not reverse the air flow at all . using the heater in a way it was designed to be used . when you pull the cover off the furnace from the inside you will see that it's there to block the air flow and force it into the ducts on either side . i just removed the ducts and blocked the duct openings , this is the way it comes from the factory . the furnace can be used with the duct openings on either side or leave the duct covers in place and the front cover off and all the hot air comes straight out (the new louvered cover) sealing the front of the furnace and space between the cabinets so no hot air can go anywhere but out the front , leaving the duct work and vents in the unit intact but not connected to the furnace they act like cold air returns.(feeding the furnace the return air
the furnace draws in the cold air from the back side of the furnace cabinet .
the screened cover that comes stock used to allow the cold air in . When set up like this the cold air runs over the duct work causing more inefficiency in the way FR has it set up . they could use a good HVAC guy to show them how to set up the heating systems and cooling as well . since I've done this type work for the last 25 yrs or so I know I have a better understanding of this then FR does .
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Old 05-12-2015, 08:22 AM   #17
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On my to-do list. Thanks buddy.
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Old 05-12-2015, 06:10 PM   #18
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No wonder it barely works! Only 2 ducts nearly flattened out ( tight turns) no duct tape and using dryer duct... Not only that but there isn't much room for the return air to get through.
Not to mention is 19K btu. I bet the way its setup you don't get 10K out of it.
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Old 05-12-2015, 06:19 PM   #19
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I've thought of adding a separator between supply and return on the lower AC unit... The width of the return vent slots and height about 6 / 7 inches... Made out of white aluminum... Round the corners that hang down. When in rapid cool it would be way more efficient.
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Old 05-12-2015, 06:20 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by WolfWhistle View Post
No wonder it barely works! Only 2 ducts nearly flattened out ( tight turns) no duct tape and using dryer duct... Not only that but there isn't much room for the return air to get through.
Not to mention is 19K btu. I bet the way its setup you don't get 10K out of it.
Took the cover off did you ? now you see what I'm talking about . run the unit with the cover off and see feel the difference . the way i'm set up now 19000btu is all thats needed if you have no need to heat the garage . if you do then better get something else as this set up will never do it even with a bigger furnace well maybe a 50,000 btu unit . i was hesitant to post my fix here as to many FR employees spying on what's going on ! screw em !
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