38Q Owners - Gas Heat Question

Floridakamper · 01-15-2017, 10:45 AM

I'm 6 months into ownership of my Q. Still sorting out challenges. It's gotten cold enough here in Florida to occassionally use the furnace.

It is not working as well as my previous coaches. It sounds normal but the air coming out of the floor registers is not as strong of a flow or as warm/hot as I previously got in my last Newmar or two previous Winnebago's. As I would expect, the further from the heater the register is, the less flow is present but by the dog house, flow is barely noticeable and even in the bedroom it is less than I would expect. Is this what other Q owners are experiencing?

May all our problems be small in 2017.

ScottyBye · 01-16-2017, 01:10 PM

Assuming that your blower fan is working properly and at the right RPM...I would start by confirming that there is no debris/blockages in the duct work in the floor. I had a similar issue in my coach and that was the culprit. I have seen everything from construction debris, to rodent nests in duct work. You may also want to check the duct connections at the frunace to make sure none have come loose or disconnected. A few tricks you can use for checking duct work are.... use a leaf blower in one duct while covering the others (except 1) and see what comes out the other end. Use a flexible rod/shaft with a damp cloth on the end and fish it down into the ducts. Use a shop vac with long flexible hose into the ducts. Use a electricians steel fish tape. Use an endoscope camera to see down into the duct work. I have tried all these methods at one time or another. Some work better than others depending on the situation.
hope this helps...

Floridakamper · 01-16-2017, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottyBye

Some work better than others depending on the situation. hope this helps...

Thanks ScottyBye. I'll be trying a couple of those. All the best. Bob

cpoo · 01-16-2017, 05:54 PM

I have tried all those things. Feel the floor after the furnance runs for awhile. It is toasty. My ducts are connected but they sure loose heat along the run. It does warm up the coach and bays well even though I don't feel much of the forced air.

grtharris · 01-16-2017, 06:56 PM

Floridakamper A couple of things, First your furnace as two speeds any time the set temperature is not more than 5 degrees above room temperature the furnace runs at the low speed. There is a noticeable difference in the low and high speed air volume and noise.
Secondly just for peace of mind remove the cold air return grill under the tall closet in the bedroom and make sure there is nothing blocking the return air hole in the floor. I heard of one case where the plastic floor covering was over the return vent hole in the floor.

Floridakamper · 01-17-2017, 04:47 AM

cpoo: It does heat the coach but slowly because of the low air flow.

grtharris: I didn't know it was a two speed fan. Next cool spell I'll try different temp settings and see what kind of difference I get in flow.

Americanrascal · 01-25-2017, 04:51 AM

Bob -My air flow seems weak also compared to other rigs I have owned , but I do think I have sensed the two speeds GT Harris speaks of. I do have to give it credit as it kept the rig comfortable.

Man that thing chews up propane though! Mine used 11 gallons in about 5 days in that cold snap we had 2 weeks ago here in Georgia- and I only had the thermostat set at 55! I used the gas heat to keep the unit from freezing up as I did not want to winterize due to travel.

We have another cold snap coming in this weekend and I may change my approach. I'm thinking of setting the electric fireplace low, opening all the cabinet and hall doors and adding a small electric space heater in the rear hallway. Then I'll keep a small cube running in the wet bay. Will see if I can save some gas. Just need to get some air in around the water pump- washer area.

I sure am going to check that return vent though to make sure its not covered!

Joe

Floridakamper · 01-25-2017, 06:46 AM

Joe, I did check my return vent and all looked well. We'll be using the coach for a week starting Saturday and there is some cold weather in the forecast here in north Florida so I'll have an opportunity to use it. I plan to try and figure out how the two speed fan works. I was looking at the specs of a 2017 38Q and I saw they mentioned the two speed fan. I also saw the AC units on the 2017 were TrueAir not the Coleman Mach's that we have. Bob

When my rig was at the dealer recently for repairs, my propane tank was full. It was there over a cold spell and they must have used the furnace because when I picked it up the tank was only half full. So I suspect my furnace also uses a lot of propane. I'll fill the tank after this trip. The good news is we try to stay out of weather that requires the furnace. I'll also check my front heat pump that was just replaced.

Americanrascal · 01-25-2017, 05:28 PM

WOW- Went to True Air. That may be quite a statement. I may have to find a 2017 on a lot somewhere on a hot day and see if I can check out what the difference is between the Coleman units. I haven't looked but I wonder if they are cranking out the same cooling BTU's especially on the front unit which seems to struggle the most or if they upped the cooling rating.

Hey don't let that cold air into FL next week- I'm headed south to get some warm stuff. At worst I would prefer to only have heat pump service and not need to use any propane while down there LOL!

cpoo · 01-26-2017, 12:11 AM

Don't underestimate the heat from a 100 watt incandescent bulb when you have electricity. In a closed area you capture a lot of heat.

Primetc · 01-31-2017, 07:30 AM

grtharris. I am curious, where did you get the info that there is an air return hole to the furnace behind that grill under the washer/dryer cabinet? My information is that the only air input to the furnace is the external pipe.

grtharris · 01-31-2017, 07:45 AM

The external pipes are the combustion air inlet and combustion exhaust outlet. The air return I was referring to is the cold air return for the furnace That is the air that gets heated and sent to the floor vents.

Floridakamper · 01-31-2017, 08:10 AM

I opened mine up to be sure it was not restricted and it's there and not restricted. I'm in cold temps for a few days and ran the furnace. I see no evidence of a two speed fan functioning. I get minimal air flow and what I do have does not seem to change from "first on" to three hours of operation later.

grtharris · 02-01-2017, 08:23 AM

Floridakamper, your furnace is a 25000/40000 btu furnace. Try starting the furnace by just raising the thermostat 0ne degree above room temperature let it run a couple of minutes then raise the thermostat ten degrees after a few seconds you should hear a noticeable change in the speed of the fan. The furnace will stay in high output until the setpoint is reached.

Floridakamper · 02-01-2017, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grtharris

[B] Try starting the furnace by just raising the thermostat 0ne degree above room temperature let it run a couple of minutes then raise the thermostat ten degrees after a few seconds you should hear a noticeable change in the speed of the fan. .

Thank you very much. I'll try it. Bob

Floridakamper · 02-01-2017, 08:54 AM

Just tried it. I did hear the fan kick into a higher speed but it had little or no difference in the air flow at the floor registers.