Two questions please

Darrell · 11-30-2013, 08:01 AM

I have a 2014 Rockwood 8280WS and stayed in it for the first time last night.

Question #1a & 1b:
The outside temp's got into the low 30's. The furnace came on but was having a hard time warming the place up. The furnace sounds like a jet engine taking off but you can just barely feel warm air coming out of the floor vents. Is that normal? I have a 1500 watt ceramic heater that I ran before going to bed and it was good, but I was hesitant about running it while sleeping. I think I could hear childhood memories of my mother saying, "turn that space heater off before you go to sleep or you will burn the house down". Does anyone run their space heaters at night?

Question #2:
There is a charging station on the wall by the nightstand and it has a bright blue light. Does anyone know how to turn that danged light off?

Thanks in advance.

Dave_Monica · 11-30-2013, 08:26 AM

I'm very familiar with that unit having camped 200+ nights in a 2010 model. The furnace is located under the stove/oven...air flow is the strongest at the outlet closest to that and least at the farthest outlet...bedroom. I usually run the ceiling fan on low pushing down to help distribute the heat.

I've run 2 ceramic heaters steady as we always camp with electrical hook-ups...only run the furnace if they can't keep the camper at a comfortable temperature. The only issue is the all the outlets in the main living area are on 1 outlet...there's a second circuit for the outlets in the bath/bedroom. I added a separate 20A electrical connection to the camper wired to a dedicated outlet by the EC to use for a heater...usually can only use that connection if on a 50A site.

As far as the charging station, that's new to me. I'd expect that the blue light is powered internally inside the outlet and the only solution may be covering it with a piece of electrical tape or something similar.

Dave

SYE · 11-30-2013, 08:31 AM

I run my space heaters all the time, but I do not buy them at the dollar store either, we have only had 1 incident with a space heater and it was because my son was warm he threw the blanket off of him and it landed on the heater, the heat then melted all of the knobs ,the faceplate etc, but didd not catch on fire. My suggestion to you is set them up on a table or something off of the ground so blankets will not get thrown down on them. As to your charging station, mine has a green light on the usb slot, and there is no way to shut it off, si I cut a piece of black electrical tape and put over the light, you may also be able to cover it with a shrapie marker

awellis3 · 11-30-2013, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

I'd expect that the blue light is powered internally inside the outlet and the only solution may be covering it with a piece of electrical tape or something similar.

I didn't want pieces of tape stuck everywhere so Penny cut small, round pieces of blue painter's tape to cover the offending LEDs. This reduced the glare to a soft glow (so you can tell the unit is on or off), and the size and shape of the tape has an OEM quality about it.

Teach

John McClain · 11-30-2013, 10:09 AM

I have a 1500 watt ceramic that has a built in temp. gauge I set it 68 degrees that I set my heater to 65 deg. sort of a back up. I am going to try the fan idea. I did have a problem with my ac fan turning on at the same time the heater came on, blowing cool air. My wife had put a tempure setting into the thermostat and than she flipped the little arm to the auto setting so the heater and the roof fan come at the same time.

The led light can fixed by a black marking pen or fingernail polish. Try the dot method to obtain the darkness you desire

WestTexas · 11-30-2013, 10:48 AM

Yes. Using a fan helps a lot. I use a small fan directed at the small space heater since we don't have a ceiling fan.

We often run our campers fan on circulate too. That provides white noise when it's noisy outside.

**Herk7769** · 11-30-2013, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SYE

I run my space heaters all the time, but I do not buy them at the dollar store either, we have only had 1 incident with a space heater and it was because my son was warm he threw the blanket off of him and it landed on the heater, the heat then melted all of the knobs ,the faceplate etc, but didd not catch on fire. My suggestion to you is set them up on a table or something off of the ground so blankets will not get thrown down on them. As to your charging station, mine has a green light on the usb slot, and there is no way to shut it off, si I cut a piece of black electrical tape and put over the light, you may also be able to cover it with a shrapie marker

Is the "charging station" a 12 volt TV power outlet? (See photo)
If so, press the little black button to turn off power to the roof antenna.

SYE · 11-30-2013, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herk7769

Is the "charging station" a 12 volt TV power outlet? (See photo)
If so, press the little black button to turn off power to the roof antenna.

Mine is not Herk, totally separate from the TV.

Darrell · 12-01-2013, 01:29 PM

Thanks ya'll,
I picked up the second space heater and will use it as needed. I'm still not sure about sleeping while it is running though. I guess if I get cold enough, I will.
Herk,
The light is for one of those smart-phone chargers/docking stations thingy. Duck tape solved that problem.

Thanks again.

tomjsas · 12-01-2013, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darrell

Thanks ya'll,
I picked up the second space heater and will use it as needed. I'm still not sure about sleeping while it is running though. I guess if I get cold enough, I will.
Herk,
The light is for one of those smart-phone chargers/docking stations thingy. Duck tape solved that problem.

Thanks again.

I had the same feeling about my docking station. I also put a bit of black electrical tape over it. Otherwise it really lights up the room....guess it is a good night light :-)

KDHfan · 12-03-2013, 09:01 PM

We use a 1500w heater (we have a small 2306). We sit it up on the counter out of the way so nothing comes in contact with it... Set at 70 and it keeps everything around 67 or so. We also run the campers fan continuously... It does a great job of circulating the warm air to keep it "even" throughout.

Taylorgso · 12-03-2013, 10:02 PM

First time I fired up the furnace on our Solera it seemed like very little air was coming out of one of the outlets. I took the grill off and found the house plugged with what looked like Fibreglass Insulation - how it got there I have no idea. You may want to pull grill off of the offending duct and make sure it isn't obstructed or perhaps not connected to the grill.

You may also like: