8289WS furnace duct mod

[PhoneDude 8289]

The picture above is the ducts that are to the Bathroom and the vent just outside the bathroom door. SO much air coming out of both caused both those areas to get so much hotter than the rear living area. I removed the collars coming out of the furnace and blocked 1/2 the outlet with sheet metal.


The image above is of the mod going to the ducts in the living area. I used 4" aluminum 90º ells from Home depot. Installed them on the collars coming off the furnace. I removed about 6' of the scrunched up flex duct the factory installed. The smooth radius of the aluminum ells and stretching out the flex allowed for much more air discharge at the floor registers in the rear living area. Getting more airflow from the living area vents than from the bath and hall vents now. A friend has a air velocity meter, going to try and borrow it from him to know how much air flow I have. I ran the furnace thru several cycles, sure seems even.

No matter what I try to do my pictures come out 90º off, sorry about that.

[WFD]

I just replaced the vents in ours with vents that I can close. We keep the bath and hall vents closed all the time and more air goes to the living area as a result and the upper part of trailer seems to get plenty warm enough.

[PhoneDude 8289]

Originally Posted by WFD

I just replaced the vents in ours with vents that I can close. We keep the bath and hall vents closed all the time and more air goes to the living area as a result and the upper part of trailer seems to get plenty warm enough.

I did that to our unit but still was not happy with the trickle of airflow in the living area plus the closable vents I installed in the bath and hall were metal and got so hot they would burn you if touched. What I did yesterday feels like 3X or more the airflow in the living area and the above mentioned vents won't burn a person now. I'll follow up this winter, we do allot of cool weather camping.

[WFD]

So you did that by accessing the vents coming directly off the furnace? If I understand correctly you did not access the vents that are in the living area....all access was from the furnace outlet? Because the furnace area is fairly accessible, but not the living area vents.

[Scootdawg]

Looks like a good mod, I to do not like all the forced hot air in the bathroom and was thinking of a way to divert some of it.

[PhoneDude 8289]

Originally Posted by WFD

So you did that by accessing the vents coming directly off the furnace? If I understand correctly you did not access the vents that are in the living area....all access was from the furnace outlet? Because the furnace area is fairly accessible, but not the living area vents.

I did access the ductwork right at the furnace. The collars at the furnace are not screwed to the plenum, the way they are flanged they can be rotated to remove and replace. I removed the collars and installed a 2-1/2" x 6" piece of sheet metal on the inside of the plenum using sheet metal screws from the outside of the box blocking 1/2 of the 4" opening. I did this on the tap for the Bathroom and hall, really helped cut back the airflow to both those areas. I also removed the 4"X2" T that was feeding the vent in the basement.

By using the aluminum 90º ells and stretching out the flex duct allowed so much more airflow to the living area in the rear of the RV. Trying to move air through flex duct that is scrunched up and bent in a short radius creates a turbulence that restricts airflow.

[robertew]

I'm really glad to read this mod story. I have a 2012 and it has no bathroom register and only a 2" flex leading to the bedroom which is of little value. I've replaced the plastic covers in the hall and living room, because they were so easy to step on and break. I'd blocked off the duct to the basement as it gets so much warmer there than in the living area and gets plenty of heat because of the furnace location and un-insulated ducts. Adding the rigid elbows and stretching out the flex, would help move more air where it's needed. Thanks for the posts.