Dometic thermostat barely works, brand new!

[cali_camper]

We spent our first night in our FR EVO T2300 - love it!

But since it was freezing cold outside, we ran the heater for a while. I set it to 65F like I would at home. But it just kept running, and running and running... until the kids were frying! So I thought I'd turn it down. No effect. Down some more. Nope. I had to turn it down all the way to 45F to get the heater to stop!

So the 'hysteresis' built into that thing must be way off. Or else the temp gauge must be inside a closet, who knows. Brand new RV, and yes I did check the AC and Heater during our PDI but I certainly didn't check the temperature control range.

What to do? I don't want to go all the way back to the dealer for warranty work. The stock thermostat isn't that great anyway, it only has options for Fan/Heat/AC anyway and doesn't show the ambient temperature. And fan is always on Hi.

Is there a good replacement? Can I used a household thermostat here or must it be a $pecial RV model?

Original looks just like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Dometic-331319.../dp/B00C9OEZK6

[Iwannacamp]

I have the same with reasonable results. You can install another type, but it is not plug and play. In other words...you will lose one fan speed. I would order a new one at $40 and get on with it.


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[Bama Rambler]

That's not a thermostat in the strict sense. It's more like a wired remote.

There's only 3 wires between it and the control box in the A/C. To replace it with another type you'll have to replace the control box as well as the T-Stat. You'll also have to replace the 3-wire cable with a 6-wire or 7-wire cable.

I think I'd approach having it fixed under warranty before I tackled that.

[fonzie]

Here is manual just in case you don't have it......

[SS Cruiser]

This sounds similar to an issue we had recently when using our furnace for the first time. We have the same thermostat as you with the addition of a "heat pump selection. We found that the ceiling fan would run continuously along with the furnace when connected to shore power or running the generator.

It seems that our fan setting was LO or HI, but you have to have the fan set to "auto" in order to keep the upper fans from running concurrent with the furnace unless you are on 12 volt power. Since you said the fan was constantly running, I was wondering if this is your problem. The cool air from those vents would probably keep the furnace running longer than it should.

We keep it on "auto" all the time.

[cali_camper]

Thanks all! Per the manual it's actually a very featured thermostat - perhaps a little more dumbed down than I would have liked.

I'll try it on Auto mode and see how things go. And I'll try the factory reset as well, maybe that will give it a kick in the pants.

[Ke5rbd]

Make sure it isn't on Centigrade.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by Ke5rbd

Make sure it isn't on Centigrade.

I always make sure mine is not set to centigrade. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[noshowbobby]

I had same issue with my a/c the first outing. Until I put it on auto the fan would continuously run and cool way beyond the thermostat setting. Once i figured out from dealer how to put it on auto( which owners manual doesn't state) everything works fine

[Learjet]

did you try the reset that is in the manual?

[Loraura]

In addition to keeping it on auto, sometimes there is a bit of a delay between turning it down and the unit actually stopping.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by Loraura

In addition to keeping it on auto, sometimes there is a bit of a delay between turning it down and the unit actually stopping.

I think that's the procedure with any heater. Once the heat source (propane, electric, whatever) is removed the fan will continue to run until a pre-defined temperature in the actual "furnace" is reached. Works with that in my TT and on both of the Trane units at home.

[cali_camper]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

I think that's the procedure with any heater. Once the heat source (propane, electric, whatever) is removed the fan will continue to run until a pre-defined temperature in the actual "furnace" is reached. Works with that in my TT and on both of the Trane units at home.

Ok I'm familiar with that delay. The problem was that this thing didn't seem to respond at all to my requests to lower the temperature. There's usually a 'click' when a relay switches off the heater or AC as the temperature set point is varied. I had to go about 20-30 degrees below the ambient temperature before the unit realized "ok, you want me to stop heating now!"

[SusanML4650]

We have the same thermostat. Ours went out 1 month after We got it in Our New 2014 Surveyor. Rather than pull everything up and go off to the dealer (We Winter in Ours in Florida) We just called The Mobile Repair (Certified and can do warranty work). He said if He had a dollar for everyone of these He has had to replace, He could retire early. It was only $39.00 to replace and He was there for another issue so We weren't charged labor. It took Him 5 minutes to replace.