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Old 02-07-2019, 09:42 PM   #1
Sldersham
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Telford, TN
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Alpha Wolf Heating/Cooling

I have a new 2019 Alpha Wolf 26RL-L it's apprx. 30 ft long. I have discovered that the heating system dose not work that well there is only one heat vent in the living space (living room dining room and kitchen) and one vent in the bedroom. When I first bought it I tried to sleep in it in the driveway it was 38 degrees outside and I could not get the temp inside over 50 degrees. My friends at Camping World suggested I buy a portable heater which I did, and you use it in the living area and when you go to bed move it into the bedroom. I am not sure about the arctic package I normally would not camp in winter anyway. My next question is how well the a/c system is going to work, I was told that the trailer is wired for a second a/c unit which is ok. I kind of figured that I might end up having to put a second unit in it, I also have a fifth wheel and I had to put a second one in it. But I just discovered that the area where the second a/c unit is to be installed is just a few feet from the main unit, my concern is what about the bedroom when it's 90+ degrees. But maybe I am putting the horse before the cart as I have not used the camper yet in the summer.
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Old 02-07-2019, 10:09 PM   #2
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1. Something is wrong with your furnace or you have unatched/crushed heat runs. At temps that mild your furnace should have no problem warming up the camper. shame on the dealer for not investigating.


2. do you have a 13k or 15k a/c unit? if you have the smaller unit it may struggle to keep up in extreme heat situations magnify that if you are on a sunny camp site with no shade.
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Old 02-08-2019, 03:05 AM   #3
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I have the 2019 26-DBHL and we had no problem keep the inside warm during hunting season. Other than the frozen water line mentioned in my other post. I did take the time to insulate the pass through storage area by stapling R-13 to the top and bed side wall. I also did the same in the rear storage area under bunk (put the insulation on the top of the storage area / bottom of the bunk. It made a huge difference. I did have to leave the one bedroom door open as the second vent is just outside of the bedroom.

I also had to stuff some R-13 insulation around the emergency exit windows in the frame as they let air in like crazy.

I also used one of those insulated vent fan blocks in the bathroom.
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Old 02-10-2019, 10:56 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Kimber45 View Post
1. Something is wrong with your furnace or you have unatched/crushed heat runs. At temps that mild your furnace should have no problem warming up the camper. shame on the dealer for not investigating.


2. do you have a 13k or 15k a/c unit? if you have the smaller unit it may struggle to keep up in extreme heat situations magnify that if you are on a sunny camp site with no shade.
I am going to have to check on the size of the heating and air units I am not sure,
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Old 02-10-2019, 11:03 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Cdj1990 View Post
I have the 2019 26-DBHL and we had no problem keep the inside warm during hunting season. Other than the frozen water line mentioned in my other post. I did take the time to insulate the pass through storage area by stapling R-13 to the top and bed side wall. I also did the same in the rear storage area under bunk (put the insulation on the top of the storage area / bottom of the bunk. It made a huge difference. I did have to leave the one bedroom door open as the second vent is just outside of the bedroom.

I also had to stuff some R-13 insulation around the emergency exit windows in the frame as they let air in like crazy.

I also used one of those insulated vent fan blocks in the bathroom.
That makes good sense, I don't mind adding a little insulation or even use some of that spray foam I have used that product in my 5th wheel it worked well. I live in East Tennesse while it dose not get real cold it dose get into the teens and it will help in the summer as well......thanks
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Old 02-11-2019, 02:35 AM   #6
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I attended the MARVAC RV show this weekend and came across my same 2019 Alpha Wolf. So I asked the salesman about the Arctic Package and he didn't know a whole lot so he gave me a brochure. Seems the brochure for the 2019 line is now two pages rather than the one pager I got last August for the 2019 line. It now states the underbelly is heated and insulated! Funny how when I called FR in November to complain about my water line freezing they they told me the underbelly was not heated or insulated nor do they recommend using the camper below 32 as it's not a three season camper!
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Old 02-17-2019, 07:40 PM   #7
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Looking at your specs there MUST be something wrong. Are all vent fans off? Your camper comes with a 35k btu furnace. My 26dbh which is only 3 feet shorter (also only 1 13 foot slide) than your rig has a 20k btu furnace and just the other day I ran the furnace in 20 degree temps for about an hour and was able to hit mid 50's when initial inside temp was 32. You are almost doubling the heating capacity and nowhere near double the area to heat.

Also specs show 15k btu a/c as standard on your model. I have 15k as well and in 100 degree heat SHADED I have no problem holding temps in the 60's. Key word is shaded. We did a 9 night in direct sun last year in July heat (couple days hit 100) and it made a huge difference. Temps inside were hitting 80 but no higher. A dry 80 vs humid 100 still felt good though. After that trip we try to only book shaded sites. You will just need to see how well yours will do in the heat. I only have one slide vs your two + you are an extra 3 feet in length = more space to cool.
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Old 02-17-2019, 08:48 PM   #8
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i have a 2019 FR Vibe 28rl which has the same floor plane as yours and my heat works very well when its chilly, ac system i dont know yet its still cold here
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Old 02-21-2019, 09:50 AM   #9
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We have the same model Alpha Wolf 26RL. Only 2 heat ducts, one the living area and bedroom. No heat duct in the bathroom and it stays cold in there. The one in the living area is not sufficient to cover the area. We are very disappointed with this design but it's ours now. Our friend has a Cherokee 274WK with similar design and has 2 heat ducts in living area, one in the bathroom and bedroom and no problems heating. Just
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Old 02-22-2019, 10:29 AM   #10
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Yeah with only two heat ducts makes the bathroom cold. Since there are multiple unused heat ports available in the furnace I'm going to look at adding a 2" line from the furnace through the pantry and sink cabinet to a floor vent at the bottom kick plate in the bathroom. I am also hoping to add a 2" PVC line through the floor over to the fresh water tank and line to actually heat the underbelly. By adding a ball valve I can just open the line under the sink when needed to heat the underbelly. My spring to do list.
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Old 02-23-2019, 07:33 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Cdj1990 View Post
Yeah with only two heat ducts makes the bathroom cold. Since there are multiple unused heat ports available in the furnace I'm going to look at adding a 2" line from the furnace through the pantry and sink cabinet to a floor vent at the bottom kick plate in the bathroom. I am also hoping to add a 2" PVC line through the floor over to the fresh water tank and line to actually heat the underbelly. By adding a ball valve I can just open the line under the sink when needed to heat the underbelly. My spring to do list.
We did a tee and ran another duct from the duct to the bathroom, its warm and cozy in the bathroom now. In the cabinet where the furnace is we put a tee between the duct going down under the floor to bedroom and the furnace, added a duct to the bathroom wall between the toilet and shower
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Old 03-07-2019, 04:52 PM   #12
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We did a tee and ran another duct from the duct to the bathroom, its warm and cozy in the bathroom now. In the cabinet where the furnace is we put a tee between the duct going down under the floor to bedroom and the furnace, added a duct to the bathroom wall between the toilet and shower
Wow it sounds pretty ambitious I just brought it home yesterday it's been in storage since we bought it other than the fist two days and have not had a chance to start removing pannels yet. But I will be checking what you suggested I need to find the water heater and see what's entailed to dewinterize the unit. Thanks for the info....
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Old 03-08-2019, 12:43 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cdj1990 View Post
Yeah with only two heat ducts makes the bathroom cold. Since there are multiple unused heat ports available in the furnace I'm going to look at adding a 2" line from the furnace through the pantry and sink cabinet to a floor vent at the bottom kick plate in the bathroom. I am also hoping to add a 2" PVC line through the floor over to the fresh water tank and line to actually heat the underbelly. By adding a ball valve I can just open the line under the sink when needed to heat the underbelly. My spring to do list.
PLEASE post updates and pics...I am thinking I will need to do the same thing!
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Old 03-09-2019, 11:11 PM   #14
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I'm out of town and will post pictures of the after. I did not take any pictures. Under the sink there is an access panel leading to the drawer area. under the drawers (in the island) there is a vent coming out of the floor, I put a tee there and place a vent going out the back of the island towards the couch/dinette. The second was under the buffet, got to take off the fake cabinet door and the access panel tee off the vent going to bedroom, this one comes from the heater and go down under floor. I cut a hole in wall between the toliet and shower and placed a vent there. This is wonderful because the bathroom was always cold no matter how much I run the furnace. Now the bath and bedroom are cozy.
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Old 03-11-2019, 03:15 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by indigo65 View Post
I'm out of town and will post pictures of the after. I did not take any pictures. Under the sink there is an access panel leading to the drawer area. under the drawers (in the island) there is a vent coming out of the floor, I put a tee there and place a vent going out the back of the island towards the couch/dinette. The second was under the buffet, got to take off the fake cabinet door and the access panel tee off the vent going to bedroom, this one comes from the heater and go down under floor. I cut a hole in wall between the toliet and shower and placed a vent there. This is wonderful because the bathroom was always cold no matter how much I run the furnace. Now the bath and bedroom are cozy.
Thanks a lot the vent in the bathroom is exactly what I may try. I pulled the panel under the buffet and found the vents to be kinked I shortened two of them which allowed better air flow I want to see if this dose the trick before I try to breach the wall.
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Old 03-27-2019, 12:26 PM   #16
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I just purchased an alpha wolf 26rl-l last week. Yesterday morning was 43 degrees inside my camper I set the thermostat to 68 and it took 2hrs 45 min to cycle off. Only has the one heat duct in island and the one under the bed. I can run the electric fireplace along with the furnace and it will heat up faster but I was just checking the furnace by it’s self. So my question is did you come up with something to help yours heat up. What did you end up doing to it???
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Old 03-30-2019, 08:57 PM   #17
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See my earlier post for the extra vent we put in the bathroom and on the back of island. We had to use another heating source until the unit warmed up.
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Old 04-10-2019, 09:29 PM   #18
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Have the same camper. The AC is nothing to write home about but it works. Keeps it cool as long as I can keep my 4 year old kids either in or out lol
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Old 05-16-2019, 12:21 PM   #19
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2020 Alpha Wolf 26rl

Well, jumping on the bandwagon. I have sent a engineering request off to Forest River as well as contacting my dealer for same thing. bummer is the camper is 5 hours north of dealer. After two long weekends in northern Wisconsin with the weather dropping to 28-32 degrees at night; I couldn't get the camper to heat past 63 degrees and that was with running the fireplace on high as well and furnace never quit running. after hitting the underbelly the air is still warm coming into camper but not enough vents probably to keep it super warm. I did get the model with all the arctic packages to help keep my glamper warm in the north woods. I agree with some of the previous posts. the vents do run underbody to keep all your water and stuff not slushy, but in doing so the 2 vents (one on island & one in bed area) is not sufficient to keep the place at full toasty mode. before I hack a T into my camper, which by the way sounds like a great idea; I am hoping Forest River returns my request to discuss this with me. Heck, they can send a rep and we can go drink brews and watch the thermostat. Thanks. ps. first post.
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Old 09-14-2020, 06:24 AM   #20
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To all you alpha wolf 26 rl owners. If your furnace is not getting your trailer up to temp. It is most likley becuase the furnace is short cycling. The two 4 inch flex ducts that run from the island and to the bedroom are way to long of runs and have way to many bends. I pulled the underbelly down on my camper and the runs are totaling around 12 feet each with at least 4 good bends in each one this is causing to much restriction and a build up of heat in the exchanger which trips the high limit switch. I got mine to function properly by disconecting the flex duct and taking 2 peices and running out into living area and it would heat properly. Also there is no heat going to underbelly near the tanks even though they advertise it as extreme weather package.. apparently the sticker they put on the side is what classified it as extreme weather package.. and lastly, the suburban tech that i finaly got to talk to me said that the sf 20 furnace in has no business being in a nearly 30 foot camper especially with 2 super slides. It should be the sf30 for the size.
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