Furnace smoke on Forester 3051

[george22253]

Had first opportunity to try out my Mr F furnace and there was a good bit of smoke that came into cabin. Probably burn off on new furnace but never had that kind of smoke in previous Rvs. It actually set off the smoke detector. I ran it a food while and we thought the smoke became less. Luckily I have heat pump and this is Texas so not very cold. Thoughts?

[Flybob]

Some smoke is normal ( enough to set of detector) but is should decrease after about 20-30 mins. Part of PDI should have been to recommend you run the furnace about 30 mins with the windows open before you have to use it for heat. If the smoke does not stop after about 30 mins, you might check for foreign items such as rodent nests.

[DavidBo]

If it's still under warranty I would definitely be making a trip to the dealer. Where there's smoke, there's fire...never a good thing in the RV world.
I'd be willing to bet a piece of schmutz got into the burner some time during manufacture, but that should have been discovered by the dealer during their receiving inspection.
A little initial burnt smell is normal when starting the heater for the first time of the season, but actual smoke? Not worth the risk, needs to be investigated.

[george22253]

Going to run it again this afternoon with windows open...think it will likely clear. Thanks for the responses.

[BooBoo23]

A thin coating of oil remains on new steel from the cold rolling manufacturing process. It will burn off in a short period of time, this is normal on first startup.

[DavidBo]

Originally Posted by BooBoo23

A thin coating of oil remains on new steel from the cold rolling manufacturing process. It will burn off in a short period of time, this is normal on first startup.

I agree, but I thought the dealer was supposed to pre-run all these systems prior to sale? I guess some do, some don't.
When I first turned mine on I got a little burned dust smell just like my home furnace when winter starts, but nothing viseable. I guess that's why I was a little more concerned about the op's actual smoke.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by DavidBo

I agree, but I thought the dealer was supposed to pre-run all these systems prior to sale? I guess some do, some don't.

I would bet the majority DON'T, nor do they inform the customer about this needing to be done.

Many newbies don't know that you need to have everything running during the PDI/walkthrough.

On our first new trailer, the dealer had everything running except pressurizing the water lines.
On our 2000 mile trip home with it, first time I hooked up the city water(with a pressure regulator), the outside shower C/H valves blew out of the the compartment. They hadn't been tightened by the factory nor the dealer.

I made sure on our new TT, they had ALL systems running, inclluding water and furnace.

[grangalo]

Same thing happened to us with our new tt...we came running out and it scared the sh...out of us! Luckily, the salesman who is our neighbour at the camping site told us it was normal....asked him why he did not mention that at PDI ....

[AquaMan]

Completely normal. Usually run furnace for a couple hours with the windows and vents open for a complete burn off of residual oils in the system. This is common knowledge and you should have been told.