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Old 01-26-2016, 12:38 PM   #1
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Using Heater/Furnace while Boondocking or no Shore power

I have a 2015 351-THSS from Palomino. My thermostat on the wall controls the A/C, Heat & Fan modes. In my previous TT it had a thermostat that only controlled the furnace because my A/C was just the ceiling type with controls directly on it.

My question - I tried running the heater off shore power but the thermostat did not come on. Does my furnace not run on 12v/battery power? How do folks use the furnace while boondocking?

Thanks in advance
Paul
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Old 01-26-2016, 02:26 PM   #2
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Assuming you mean that you tried to run it when not on shore power. Your furnace should run as long as the battery is charged and is connected to the RV electrical system.

Will it run when you're on shore power?

Have you checked the fuses in the converter/power panel?
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Old 01-26-2016, 04:44 PM   #3
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The furnace runs ONLY on 12v battery power.
Shore power only keeps the batteries recharged.

If you plan on doing this often, you need a two battery setup at minimum.
The furnace is the biggest battery power consumer in your trailer.
It can drain a single battery in one night.

When you turn the thermostat to Heat, there's usually a delay.
Is the battery installed or is there a battery disconnect switch?
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Old 02-04-2016, 11:51 AM   #4
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My scenario was we were needing to leave for a couple hours where I couldn't take the 5th wheel but wanted to be completely unhooked from the shore power so when I got back I just hook up the trailer and leave. I needed to keep it on for my two dogs and it was about 38 degrees outside. I disconnected the shore power to test it out and went to my dometic thermostat and tried to select to furnace but it wouldn't turn on. as soon as I plug it back in then I can to thremostate and switch to furnace. So I understand or at least have the notion that the furnace runs on the 12v, but I can't get it to turn on. I think I'll need to play with it more.
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Old 02-04-2016, 11:57 AM   #5
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When you disconnected from shore power, did your 12 volts lights still working? do you have a battery disconnect switch?
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Old 02-04-2016, 12:07 PM   #6
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Yep. they were still working. all 12v functionality was available. I do have a battery disconnect but I hadn't disconnected it right at that moment because I was testing if this was going to work. I just know there has to be a way to run it.
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Old 02-04-2016, 12:38 PM   #7
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What is the voltage of your battery when it's disconnected from shore power?
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Old 02-04-2016, 02:03 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Rambler View Post
What is the voltage of your battery when it's disconnected from shore power?
Good question. Not sure. I need to install some type of meter.
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Old 02-06-2016, 10:28 PM   #9
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Yeah, at least get a multimeter. You need it! The fan should come on first, flowed by heat. The heat won't come on until the fan comes on and circulation is confirmed. Do you have fan?


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Old 02-07-2016, 08:14 PM   #10
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The furnace in your RV is no different than the furnace in your house except it runs on 12V. The sequence of events is. select heat at the stat, In a short time you should hear the inducer fan start followed a short time later by the burner and then the main blower fan. I would suspect your batteries are dead if it will run with shore power plugged in and not when unhooked.
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Old 02-07-2016, 08:48 PM   #11
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To answer the 2nd part of your question, those of of us that dry camp or boondock and use the furnace, use two or more batteries and have a generator or solar panels to recharge the batteries.
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Old 02-07-2016, 11:11 PM   #12
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The batteries are recharged by generators or solar power for us that boondock camp....we don't know what "shore" power means ;-)

Where you camp depends on how many batteries you will need. Two Group 27 batteries is not enough to boondock in Colorado where overnight temps in the high country are often near freezing during summer. We have four batteries and 400 watts solar in our new camper and that seems to work well and our generator use is cut down to several hours a day instead of the 6-8 needed to recharge the two deeply discharged batteries to 90%...taking them to 100% would have taken forever!

If you are serious about boondock camping consider having at least 300 amp hour of batteries and a plan to recharge them. Solar and a little generator use work best for us. If you can afford more battery capacity then do it. 4 Trojan 6V T105 batteries will get you 450 amp-hrs with 225 of that usable. Usable meaning 225 amp available to avoid going below 50% of battery capacity. Draining battery below 50% greatly reduces battery life.
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