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Old 06-18-2011, 03:02 PM   #1
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Furnace problems?

Hi everyone. We just got back from our inaugural trip with our 21ssl Roo. Everything worked great.......yes, we had condensation, but at least I was expecting it....thank you forum posters!!!

But I do have a question. It didn't seem like the heater was keeping up very well. It ran non-stop last night. The outside temperature probably dropped to 35 to 40 degrees.

We set the thermostat to 72 and it never stopped running.....I guess, never reaching our target temp. We only opened up one of the popouts, so we weren't losing heat that way. I was sleeping on the outside and it definately was chilly!

The main heat vent located at the door seems to pump out heat pretty well. The vent that is below the refrigerator is putting out about 20% of the doorway vent....and the one in the bathroom might as well be for show.....you can barely feel anything at all!


Just curious if this is a common problem? I looked at the furnace and it does appear that the hose is cramped a bit where it makes it's turn from the heater, but from where it's mounted, there really isn't an alternative.


Input or experiences?
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Old 06-18-2011, 03:24 PM   #2
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could be a number of reasons.
check all the ducting. some have a crimp or blockage from installation.
also, the analog thermostat is junk. most of us have upgraded to a digital one.
the Hunter is the most popular, but i installed a Honeywell i got on clearance.
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Old 06-18-2011, 05:16 PM   #3
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very common. I suspect your furnae is only 20K btu. Meaning you will be cold no matter what.
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Old 06-18-2011, 06:10 PM   #4
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Do you have an electric space heater? Since we got one we have not used the furnace, we now carry two, one as a back up. If you are hooked up to power you night as well use it an save the fuel.
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Old 06-19-2011, 03:19 PM   #5
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Do you have an electric space heater? Since we got one we have not used the furnace, we now carry two, one as a back up. If you are hooked up to power you night as well use it an save the fuel.
That's a great idea.....unfortunately we seldom camp in places with services. We prefer to camp for free in the mountains of Colorado!

I opened the front panel and found out ours is a 19,000btu input/14,400btu output.

What the heck?

Does forest river not realize that some people camp in the mountains?


I've been in the mountains on July 4th and endured a snowstorm in my popup. The popup had a bigger heater than this one.

Seems a shame to have to upgrade the furnace on a brand new trailer.




OK....Guess I'll look for those crimped air delivery pipes.....that's my next step. Wish me luck!
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Old 06-19-2011, 04:30 PM   #6
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you really should install a digital thermostat, it'll make your furnace much more efficient.
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Old 06-19-2011, 05:07 PM   #7
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you really should install a digital thermostat, it'll make your furnace much more efficient.
This will not get any more BTU's out of a furnace, this would regulate the temps better in the on off cycle but theirs is constantly running due to a small BTU furnace. No need to spend extra$$$ on something that int going to fix the main issue. IMO
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Old 06-19-2011, 05:13 PM   #8
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What the heck?

Does forest river not realize that some people camp in the mountains?

This is not only a FR issue, this is an industry wide situation. My 35 foot fifth wheel only has a 35K BTU furnace. If a person were to do a heat loss calculations on an RV like they did on a house you would certainly see much larger furnaces installed.
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Old 06-29-2011, 02:17 PM   #9
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Angry

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This will not get any more BTU's out of a furnace, this would regulate the temps better in the on off cycle but theirs is constantly running due to a small BTU furnace. No need to spend extra$$$ on something that int going to fix the main issue. IMO

Yep....decided to go ahead and install a digital thermostat. Worked great....sorta. We just got back from camping the last few days. The first night the temperature dropped to about 40. That stupid thermostat turned on and off all night, until about 5:00am. Then the furnace didn't turn on again.

I have a feeling that because a hybrid loses heat faster than other TT's, it's not that big of a deal to have a 5 to 8 degree variance in when a heater turns on.

But the odd thing was that the thermostat was calling for the heat to be on...but the furnace wasn't firing up! (this was just like the original thermostat)

I cycled the thermostat off, then on again, and what do you know? Furnace fired right up to get back to the target temp.


Hmmm.....not sure what to do, but right now, after the season is over I'm thinking that something needs to be addressed in the furnace. (I don't want to miss any camping waiting on the dealer to fix it!)
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Old 06-29-2011, 03:07 PM   #10
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One thing that will help considerably is to put reflectix in all of the zipper windows of the tent ends. This will cut down on furnace running and warm up or cool down the trailer. Since we're next door neighbors (Utah) we know how cool the mountains can get. The 2nd & 3rd time that we went out this year at Easter & Memorial Day we woke up to snow. At night we set the thermostat at about 55 & it would cycle on & off occasionally & did the job keeping the trailer warm & comfortable & we have one additional bed with the 233S & one less vent with only one in the doorway & one in the bathroom. Just an interesting note on the Reflectix. We had put this in our 85 Coleman PUP years ago at the suggestion of this & other RV forums. My wife couldn't believe the difference that it made in the comfort of the PUP & so it was one of the 1st things that we did with the Roo. The day that we measured & cut the Reflectix was cold & windy. It was amazing as we started putting it in the windows how it helped cut the wind & you could instantly tell that it was warmer in there.
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Old 06-29-2011, 03:21 PM   #11
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We picked our 21SSL up from rvwholesalers in April. Lucky we stayed at the local state park. The furnace would light and get hot for a few minutes and then it would get cold. You could tell from the exhaust outside. It was a rainy, windy, 32 degree night. The dealer sent a tech out to look at it that same night. They actually had to pull the furnace and take it back to shop. Apparently some sensor was bad in it. Probably same thing for you. Sucks to buy something new and it not work. Hope you get it fixed. You could probably easily pull the furnace and take it in so that you don't miss camping time.
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Old 06-29-2011, 04:02 PM   #12
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Thanks rbq.......will definitely do that!
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Old 06-29-2011, 04:12 PM   #13
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Camped this weekend and it only got down to low 70's at night. We'd be glad to box some of that up and send it your way if you'll do the same.....
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Old 07-08-2011, 01:14 AM   #14
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I used my propane furnace ONCE. It was loud, used alot of power, and was not good at warming the inside at all. I, too like to camp in the mountains, so I installed an Espar D4 Airtronic heater in my Roo. Did some extensive mods on the ducting so I now have heat into the rear bed, the front bed and in the middle of the trailer. Best of all, it is a dry heat coming out of the vents, unlike the propane furnace which has a wet feeling to the heat. The dry heat has cut condensation way down. Best of all, my wife is warm at night.
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