Our Duo-Therm Comfort Control Center failed to see our furnaces for a while today. After cycling the power, pulling the thermostat, resetting connectors in the stat, and resetting connectors in the AC units, operation was flakey. It refused to see the furnaces and would not even operate the fans in the AC units. I also cycled that 12V with the switch in the step well.
We were only about 14 miles from the Camping World in Council Bluffs, IA. We went there are found they were closed for the holidays. (?!!!) The thermostat miraculously found the furnaces and has been working fine through the afternoon.
Keeping a spare may be prudent. Are there other gremlins that might cause such a problem?
All other systems were up and running well. Water pump, inverter, and lights all worked properly. Dash gauge showed appropriate voltage while traveling.
Dave,
I vaguely recall reading about someone having a fluorescent light ballast interfering with their Duo-Therm control. I can't recall if it was here, Escapees, or on rv.net that I read about it. I know one of ours lights interferes with the A/V IR eye.
You might try experimenting with the lights in your coach to see if you can duplicate.
Michelle
There is a fuse up on a board on the roof. If that fails then the thermostat fails to see things. Also the dip switches have to be set right but that should not be an issue. I would look first in the AC unit. There is a connector in there that is in series. If that connector goes bad then every thing is not going to work correctly. Pull the thermostat off the wall and walk to the rear and look for the phone line type connector and connect it directly to the thermostat and it should work. You can replace that connector first and see if that keeps it running. I would not do anything till you have a warm place to store the coach if you need it later as long as it is working now. If it flakes out look at the connector first.
During the course of our current trip, we have had all of our fluorescent lights on and off in various combinations with no apparent affect. When the thermostat failed to work, it was midday and there were no lights on. We think about that if the flakiness returns.
Many CF lamps block infrared remote signals. Some settle down after they have warmed up. There are some sensors that claim to be less sensitive to CF lamp interference.
I am not aware of any unusual RF interference (RFI) during the flakey period. We used no transmitting devices other than cellular network devices with no auxiliary amplification.
I unplugged/plugged the connecters that were easy to reach from inside. I like the idea of moving the thermostat closer to the control board (now that you told me the location of the control board). All has been working great since we stopped to try to buy a replacement stat.
J D, the old 4 button thermostat is no longer available, if you need to rebuild your thermostat it can be sent to Dinasour Electronics, they can rebuild it.
Or you might be able to fix it yourself.
duo_therm_control_center_repair (http://www.beamalarm.com/Documents/duo_therm_control_center_repair.htm)
Howdy J.D.
I recently exchanged my 4 button thermostat for a rebuilt. Contact William Hendrix whendrix@aol.com
Rebuilt works great!!
Dave Abel dave_abel74@yahoo.com
For what it's worth, the upgrade to a five-button is fairly easy. If I can do it, (literally) anyone can.
Chad - '98 U320
Wickenburg, AZ
Instructions
replacing-duo-therm-thermostat (http://www.beamalarm.com/Documents/changing-duo-therm-4-button-to-5.htm)
We have a 5 button unit. It has worked great except for a period of about three hours a couple of days ago. When it lost the furnaces, I unplugged/plugged cables in the stat, the front AC, and the rear AC. There was no immediate difference. A few miles down the road, it started working properly. ???