Itasca Sunrise heating problem

AveryF · 11-10-2019, 07:18 PM

My wife and I recently acquired a 2004 Itasca Sunrise 34D from her aunt and uncle. Unfortunately, they have had a number of medical problems and their coach was unused for several years. As you might expect, this amount of "sitting" has led to a number of issues, most of which we have been able to fix.

Unfortunately, we now have a problem with the heating system. My wife decided to go out and take care of some odds and ends today, and noticed that the main heating system which worked very well for the past several days, was not working and the digital display on the thermostat was out. We removed the fuse, cleaned the contacts, and replaced the fuse in the thermostat and the digital display now seems to be working. The A/C in that unit seems to work just fine now as well but neither the heat pump nor the propane furnace work. If I remember correctly, the fan would come on for 30 seconds or so before it produced any heat but now the fan won't even come on. It sounds for all the world like there might be a tripped breaker but I've checked all the 12 volt and 110 volt breakers I can find and can't find anything wrong there. I thought perhaps it might be dirty contacts in the thermostat since the switches were difficult to move so I used a spray electrical contact cleaner to clean them but it didn't help at all. My guess is that the thermostat needs to be replaced but I don't really want to go changing out parts hoping it might fix it. Any and all suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Oh, FWIW, the rear heat pump is operated by a separate thermostat in the bedroom and it seems to be working just fine but I don't know if that heat pump is augmented by the propane furnace in the event the heat pump can't adequately heat that area.

Jim_HiTek · 11-10-2019, 07:37 PM

FWIW, I have a TrueAir thermostat and occasionally I have to pull it out and disconnect the 12 volt power connector to reset it's brain. Winnebago says you can't reset it. Not true.

My heatpump works fine in heat mode even though the propane floor furnace hasn't worked since last year, that is after I reset the thermostat. Happens pretty regularly that I have to unplug it but it's pretty simple for me.

My 12 volt connector to the thermostat only has 3 wires, in your case, with two floor furnaces, it should have 4. That is if you have the TrueAir.

Finally, there are some very specific rules that the thermostat follows about when it turns on the propane furnaces instead of operating the heatpump. Check your booklet for the rules.

AveryF · 11-10-2019, 08:09 PM

Our thermostat is an Coleman Mach RVComfort.HP, RVP # 8530-346. I've disconnected both connectors and reconnected them but that didn't do anything in my case. Sure would've been an easy fix, though!

Jim_HiTek · 11-10-2019, 08:19 PM

Yeah, it would. I learned that I needed to leave it unplugged for at least 5 minutes to totally reset it.

AveryF · 11-10-2019, 08:22 PM

Thanks! I'll give it a shot...

Well, crap! That didn't work either........

AveryF · 11-10-2019, 10:17 PM

At this point, there's no reason to believe it ISN'T the thermostat so I'll order one online, replace it, and hope for the best.......

AveryF · 11-11-2019, 07:37 AM

Quick update. I was able to find a wiring diagram for my particular thermostat online last night to determine the 12-volt and furnace wires. I jumped those pins this morning and the heater fired right up, confirming my suspicion that the thermostat was indeed the problem. We have a new one on order and should be good to go by this weekend!

Jim_HiTek · 11-11-2019, 08:16 AM

Excellent. Sounds like you got it surrounded.

In my case, jumpering those wires as spec'ed in the users guide doesn't do anything so my propane furnace still isn't working. I'm planning on pulling it out here in a month or two...really don't need it that much right now here in the warm SW.