Tonight.............
we will reach freezing temps...
( Arizona - high desert) holding about 12 hrs.........
Have never started heater or water heater.....
Have just under half tank propane...
are there any tips or tricks for this initial start-up...
and will half a tank of propane last 12 hrs?
New-be with angst
you have enough propane. you may have to go through several light cycles to purge air from the lines.
Last winter we had temps from -10 up to +15 for a couple of weeks and one full tank lasted us about two weeks. Of course we weren't using much hot water since we used the house for washing dishes and showers.
elaine,
Heaters and water heater usually work fine. If they don't, there are some simple trouble-shooting steps to follow. On the page linked below, scroll down to "furnace" and "water heater" sections for some good info. Also check your owner's manual (if you have one) for specific instructions. Good luck!
Foretravel Motorhome technical help and information links (http://beamalarm.com/foretravel-links/foretravel-technical-help.html)
You need to know, there are some things that happen after you ask for heat or hot water.
There is a time delay for the furnace unit to start doing anything.
Then the fan comes on, that you will hear.
Then air blows out that is in the cold duct works.
Then you get warm and then warmer air.
When the wall controller is happy with the set temp, the burner goes off.
When the furnace is cooled down, the fan goes off.
The water heater switch starts that process.
You should hear the electronic spark, and then a whoosh of the gas flame.
The water heater is sort of noisy, and heard inside the coach. When you hear the flame noise quit, you have a full tank of hot water.
You might stuff a towel or small pillow into the trap door opening for the electric cord, to help keep that bay warmth from the furnace inside the bay. I made a trap door insert, that fits tightly, but has just enough room for the power cord to fit.
If you have water to an ice maker, we just learned that the heat tape on that water line is not for winter heating.
Best of luck
As I recall the bays are heated more by the front furnace. There is some heat to the holding tanks that comes passively from the interior temperature from the vent under the shower. I had my thermostat set to its lowest setting on my 93, U225 in temps in the single digits with no freeze ups. The inside coach temp went as low as 33 degrees over night but we were in the house at that time.
We were as low as 7 degrees while living in our current coach with no problems. I now have supplemental heat, 100 watt incandescent lights, in the bays and 1500 watt electric heaters in the coach just in case I have a furnace problem.
Many of us have installed remote sensing thermometers in the bays to insure they don't go below freezing.
Thanks for all the great info just making sure we aren't missing something.. this forum is the best! :D
If your stove lights you have flowing propane. I would test your furnace right now to be sure it does light. I just replaced my rear furnace and will need to replace my front one soon. They lasted 22 years. Yours are 24 years old so depending on usage/maintenance yours maybe on their last legs. Better to find out during the day then tonight when it's dark and cold out. If they (do you have one or two furnaces) don't light you'll need to make other plans. Take a trip to Walmart or Home Depot or anywhere they sell heaters and buy several. Two 1500w heaters for inside the coach and 1 for the water bay. You really don't run into many problems until you get down in the teens temperature wise.
Good Luck!
see ya
ken
Some of us are using the small personal 200 watt heaters in the water bay, on a thermocube. The Easyheat EH 38 thermocube controls the heater, on at 38, off at 50. The thermocube plugs into your bay outlet, the heater into the cube. I found the Easyheats at a hardware store, and at the big box store, in the section with outside water faucet heater tapes.
We too use remote sending units to be able to read temps in the bays, and know the heaters are working.
...or crank up the engine and drive south until you finally reach someplace warm! :)
In our '92 U 280, the rear furnace has a duct that enters the water bay. It's important to plug up the sewer hose outlet with an old terry cloth towel to prevent cold air from reaching the water tanks.
If you have never used your propane fueled equipment (since buying your coach), it occurred to me that perhaps you have not yet had your propane tank filled. If this is the case, you
might not have as much propane as you think. You might have more than a half tank, or you might have less - the tank level gauges (both electronic and mechanical) are often incorrect. The only sure way to know what you have is to get the tank topped off, then see what the gauges do as you use propane. Foretravel installed generously sized tanks on most models - like stated above, a
full tank will last you quite a while.
My tank gauge originally showed incorrectly. After bouncing around 15k miles it seems more accurate
A little late at this point, but I would never try and start my furnaces for the season without at least taking a shop-vac to the furnace tube and squirrel cage fan. I've had them packed with mud from insects and dirt and leaves.