Here Goes Nothing

[Roopert21bh]

Well we left Toronto area on Friday morning at 4am headed for RV Wholesalers down in Lakeview, Ohio. We were on our way to pick up our new Roo 183. We got there 10 minutes before our delivery time of 11:30. Cool. The RVW rep (Mike) did the walk through and demonstration. We had no issues and were anxious to get away. So we got on the road headed back up to Port Huron and the KOA. We finally rolled in at about 7:30 or 8pm. So the first set up took place in the dark. Very hard to see if it was level or not. Make a note to bring a level next time. Everything went well, with the family eating our first meal in our new RV. Lasagna, and it was good too with lots of garlic bread.

That KOA is absolutly beautiful. We were very sorry we couldn't stay longer to enjoy it more.

So after the water and electrical hook up, we started to really look at the new RV. Everything seems to work fine. Plugged in and used the heated mattresses and boy did we need them. The heater quit after the first try. Not sure why. I'm going to look at it tomorrow. Any suggestions? As i said it worked once and blew heat and then packed it in.

All in all though the trailer is a thing of beauty, we love it and can't wait to get out somemore in it.

[Boyd]

Level: I use a marble on any flat surface for leveling.

Heater: Gas furnace or electric plug-in type heater? #1 check breakers.

[TURBS]

could have been air in the line ?
run your stove burners for a bit to try and help clear air if thats maybe what happened.

[Roopert21bh]

When i first fired the furnace, the fan came on followed by the ignitor, followed by beautiful warm air (and trust me we needed it last night) after that there was nothing. Not even the fan coming on.

[Roopert21bh]

I bled all the lines and let the stove tops run for at least 3 or 4 minutes. So it couldnt be air in the lines. And i checked all the breakers by turning them off and then back on again.

I was looking at the wiring diagram and i think the furnace might have tripped a manual reset high limit control. Tomorrow I'm going to get in there with my meter and figure it out.

[hockeytownmom]

I don't think my furnace works properly either. But I think we're just going to use an electric one from now on.

[Labzy]

Hmmm what is the thermostat at?
Maybe it is not coming on because the thermostat is set at too low a temperature.

[Roopert21bh]

Ok, thanks for all your posts in response. I have the definitive answer on this and here it is.

Suburban, the maker of all things appliance etc for RV's.... are a bunch of Ass Hats. It's obvious they never have to service their own product because they couldn't make things more service unfriendly if they tried.

I got into the problem with my heater today and here is what i found. All the electrical elements of the heater are located on the side of the heater, thus you have to disconnect the gas and all venting and electrical to pull said heater from the location. Next you must pull the actual heater from it's tin shell/sock that the heater is actually in. This shell does two things. It serves for somewhere to bolt/screw the heater to the Rv and also acts as a plenum for you to hook your flexible ducting to. So now I have the heater out and sitting on my RV table to access the electrical
I was passing voltage at the thermostat. Next in line is what Suburban call a 'valve switch'. This is in fact simply an on/off toggle switch. This couldn't be the problem area, because it is a positive off/on switch and the switch was in the on position. Next in line is sail switch or a limit switch, i can't remember which. The sail switch is there for when the therostat calls it immedialtly starts your fan, once the sail switch closes, inidcating you have air flow, the ignitor sparks up your flame and you get warm air.

I figured either the sail switch was defective or the limit was defective. Remember this is a brand new unit, and **** happens.

As it turned out, it was an interresting problem. This is what makes life worth living. The sail switch was getting hung up on a piece of the heat exchanger and when the fan turned off after the heat cycle, the sail switch would remain closed. The electronic board/brain which governs all. looks at it and says, 'well I turned the fan off, why didnt the sail switch open...Houston we have a problem...no more heat untill someone fixes the problem or the sail switch opens'

So in a nutshell, i trimmed back the sail switch's main sail (lack of a better term) so it would always clear the heat exchanger and put it all back together. we have heat. My wife thinks I'm a genious, brings me beer and gets naked. could life get any better...oh and don't mention the wifes sister that gets said beer cut off and clothes back on.

Best regards, my next mission will be to put an electronic thermostat in.

But you know, why would anyone want to burn their propane, when all the campgrounds offer their 30/50 amp service, and you could pick up a little cube heater that runs at a fraction of the noise that the propane does, and runs off their electriciy. That's my next buy, and I'll save the propane for dry camping.

[Hoo Dad]

OK, I'm impressed. I would have to take the camper to the dealer to get repaired. I would still get the beer and hopefully all other perks but I would be in the hole a lot more money.

[Boyd]

And you get a big "atta-boy" from this old dog. Salute

[capucine]

Roopert: since it was a brand new trailer maybe a dealer close to your home would have look at your furnace for the warranty repair. I know that other dealers of the same brand just want to serve their own clients and this is why it is important to buy close to home for your warranty work. As it is now I dont think that they will honour the warranty since you already took the unit apart.

[Labzy]

Originally Posted by Roopert21bh

are a bunch of Ass Hats.

LOL, never heard THAT one before........

Glad to see you got it all figured out

[Roopert21bh]

I understand about warranty, and how it takes an inordinate amount of time to get the warranty approved and completed. About how nine times out of ten they misdiagnose what is wrong and than you're back to square one. About how the vehicle never does what's wrong when the mechanic is standing there.

The problem I described above would take a mechanic a year and a day to diagnose and ultimately waste you're time and frustrate you more than them.

If you get the feeling I'm not going to buy the extended warrenty...you're right. It's pure wasted money.


As far as voiding my warranty...that's open for a lot sharper minds than mine, but I doubt it.

I live 7 hours from where I bought my Roo, so any warranty work and I would get the same old line....'did you buy it here?....no....hmmmm'

[Bill_C]

O.K., nice job. Now forget the furnace and tell us more about the beer and getting naked part.

[Roopert21bh]

Ah beer, my favorite subject. Although I consider myself a rookie with very limited experience, I must admit to having a certain fondness for Indian Pale Ale. I have many favorites, some of which are only available in certain States, as they are micro brewed there in. A certain brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan comes to mind. But I digress. My current favorite is Sam Adams Latitude of 48 IPA. Wow. What a great brew. Very bold and although it's advertised as having citrus blends, it can't be tasted. Not like those silly Blond beers. seriously if you want citrus, go drink OJ. IPA is very bold for an Indy beer, and much darker than you would imagine. When you drink one, toast your good health.

Another beer of choice is Stella. A very light tasting beer that won't leave you bloated, but clears your pallet so every bite of steak tastes like that first bite. I know that Stella seems like a band wagon beer. But it really is very good.

Here's a little video to get your beer taste buds going....

Stella Artois: World Draught Masters.

Oh and the naked part is over rated, unless, you're talking about her sister...

[Bill_C]

I didn't know pouring beer was an art! The only experience I have had with getting beer out of a keg was looking up at the tap opening, mouth wide open, while laying on the floor.

[baldy]

x2 on the warranty. Cheaper to keeper and fixer!

Is this a sister wife kinda thing? Damn I couldn't handle more than one! LOL!

[sherdep]

Love the ass Hat comment - had to laugh at that one and good find

the 2nd year warranty would pay for itself the first time you use it for say like Delamination or very expensive parts goes out but just my .02 for piece of mind.

Another idea for heat is to add the Heating Element to your Ceiling A/C unit - I think I got mine for like $70 shipped to my door from PPL in Texas - well worth investment as well on top of the ceramic heater's - atleast you wont trip over the element that is installed in your roof A/C though lol

[j2detroit]

wow she gets you beer

[Taranwanderer]

This thread is useless without pics...