Help! 2015 Mini Lite 2104s Furnace Questions

SusanO · 11-08-2015, 07:32 PM

Help us please! We took our new 2104s out for our first weekend outing, and the nights turned off pretty cool. We decided to turn on the furnace. It's never been used nor was it demonstrated to us when we did our walkthru. We assumed it was just a matter of setting the thermostat to heat and selecting the temperature. When we did this we heard what we assumed was the furnace coming on. We were expecting the fan to come on too - thru the same vents our A/C comes through. It did not and we could not get the fan to turn on manually while the furnace was on. After just a minute or two our smoke alarm went off - we had smelled that burning dust smell you sometimes get at home the first time the heat comes on for the season, but there wasn't any smoke that we could see. Still couldn't feel heat blowing out of the vents so we shut the furnace off and just added another blanket.

We don't know whether what we did and what we experienced is normal or not. We called our dealer's service department and he said he thought the fan should have come on but his response didn't give us a warm fuzzy feeling that he knew what he was talking about.

Can someone here tell us pleeeeease how to operate the furnace and whether what we experienced is normal of whether we need to get something fixed?

Thank you soo much!!!!!

Klbrown53 · 11-08-2015, 07:46 PM

On ours,

Set the thermostat to heat and we get heat through floor vents not the AC vents in the ceiling. I assume you know for sure that your propane tanks are turned on?

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rockfordroo · 11-08-2015, 07:49 PM

Shame on your dealer for not showing you how the furnace works.

First, the furnace does NOT blow through the same vents as the A/C, which are on the roof. Your heater vents should be low, either up through the floor or through round black vents. One of these vents is located under your shower door, based on pics I found on the internet. Given that your furnace is located under your sink and the cold air return is there (the mesh grill under the sink), I'm guessing you have another hot air vent coming out the end of the cabinet with the stove in it, by the door.

The first time or two you use the furnace, you burn off some oil and such that are on the furnace, so the smoke alarm going off is not unusual. That should go away. If you're getting the smoke alarm to go off, that implies the furnace is lighting, which means the blower is working. The furnace's blower motor comes on immediately (surprised you didn't hear it). Once the blower is moving air, it closes a "sail switch" that then allows power to light the gas. Once the TT warms up, the thermostat tells the furnace to turn off. That kills the gas, but the blower will continue to run until the furnace cools down.

Here's a PDF of the manual:

SusanO · 11-08-2015, 07:55 PM

Thank you SO MUCH. This is exactly what we needed to know! We did hear the blower come on but obviously we were looking for the air in the wrong places! The vents are just where you said they were. We will try it tomorrow but I'm certain what you have told us will turn out to be the case.

This forum is the BEST.

Ken K. · 11-08-2015, 07:55 PM

Not sure, it sounds like it ignited because of the smoke alarm, but then again it could have been the fan motor sizzling. I would have to pull the panel and make sure there weren't fried bits of furnace before turning that back on again. If it's under warranty I would take it in, well I would take it in even if it's not I guess. Better to be safe than sorry.

Sometimes it takes a minute or two before my fan comes on, I guess those fins have to warm up before tripping the fan's on switch. The heat defiinitely comes from the floor in my mini lite as well.

Honestly I would have to get it checked rather than risk my well being on a bet it would fire up eventually.
hope this helped, -Ken

rockfordroo · 11-08-2015, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Sometimes it takes a minute or two before my fan comes on, I guess those fins have to warm up before tripping the fan's on switch. The heat defiinitely comes from the floor in my mini lite as well.

If it's taking a couple minutes for your fan to come, I suspect you have something going on in your thermostat. The fan should come on as soon as the thermostat tells the furnace to start.

**bikendan** · 11-08-2015, 08:16 PM

I'd be looking for another dealer.
1. Didn't demonstrate the furnace operation
2. Didn't tell you that you'd need to run the furnace BEFORE you go camping, to burn off the oils.
3. Who knows what else they failed to show you during the PDI or if they thoroughly checked it out before turning it over to you.

Your big mistake was not doing Camp Driveway BEFORE you took it out camping.
EVERY new owner should always do this before taking the RV out.
That way you find out what works and what doesn't before you get stuck in a campground.

SusanO · 11-08-2015, 08:57 PM

We did do a shakedown trip at my brother's place. But as the temps here in central Texas have been in the 90s until just the last week we didn't think to turn on the furnace. The A/C works great.

rockfordroo · 11-08-2015, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SusanO

We did do a shakedown trip at my brother's place. But as the temps here in central Texas have been in the 90s until just the last week we didn't think to turn on the furnace. The A/C works great.

I think your furnace is working OK, too; but if you find it doesn't seem to be, come back and give us the symptoms. Someone here will probably have the answer.

danield · 11-09-2015, 07:04 PM

When I bought my 2104S, the service department did a complete walkthrough of my unit. I asked a lot of questions based on advice from this site. Thanks to everyone. I turned my thermostat to heat and the temperature up to a comfortable setting before going to bed. When the furnace kicked on, I did smell something burning. Then the smoke alarm came on. If the service department had not told me to expect this, I would have s... in my pants. Smoke alarm stopped after 30 seconds. Wife and I stayed warm during the chilly night. Two observations though. The fire extinguisher is mounted on the wall next to the floor register. I moved it away from there. Also, watch for condensation inside the cabinets above the bed when it is cool outside and warm in the TT. Check frequently is my advice.

TARVIDSON · 11-10-2015, 01:00 AM

If your thermostat works like mine, you must have the fan set on auto or the overhead fan roars into life and blows a lot of air out of your ceiling ducts. On auto and heat the propane comes on, heats up the furnace and the fan comes on and blows heat out the vents near the floor and is much quieter than the overhead fan. You can run AC with the overhead fan on all time or set it on Auto. Some people like to run their fan full time on AC because the fan turning on and off wakes them up.

jdhreiss · 11-22-2015, 01:44 PM

After the propane is on and bled (check by lighting the stove top is the quickest way) all you have to do is turn up the thermostat and confirm it is set on Heat - Auto. The fan will come on and blow cold until the furnace heats up. Close all ceiling A/C ports to keep the heat in as well as the vents in the bathroom and over the couch.

I slept in mine last night (26* F) and was toasty warm without the heated mattress being turned on.

Joe R.
Kelso, WA

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