2005 Winnebago Voyage 33v Ceiling Grate

[Bornbrock]

Sorry for what may be a dumb question but I am a brand new RVer and I bought a 2005 Winnebago voyage 33V and have a question about a plastic grate in the ceiling that intermittently seems to run and draw a lot of amps.

Is this a heat pump? It is a grate about 14 inches by 14inches and as I say it seems to run on and off when the unit is on shore power.

Thank you for any help you can give me and if there is a way to shut it off

Thanks! Born Brock

[Eagle5]

Hi Born Brock,
That sounds either like your air conditioner return duct, or your heat pump return duct (an option for the 2005 Voyage). Please see:
Section 7 of your Owner's Manual.
Another thing to check is your inlet air filter, which should be kept clean. I use Carbon Fabric in my air return to help keep the air clean:
Carbon Filter Fabric in a 22M
My cold air return duct is 15"x15".
Thanks, Eagle5

[Bornbrock]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

Hi Born Brock,
That sounds either like your air conditioner return duct, or your heat pump return duct (an option for the 2005 Voyage). Please see:
Section 7 of your Owner's Manual.
Another thing to check is your inlet air filter, which should be kept clean. I use Carbon Fabric in my air return to help keep the air clean:
Carbon Filter Fabric in a 22M
My cold air return duct is 15"x15".
Thanks, Eagle5

Thanks so much Eagle 🦅 I am not sure if it is a heating pump return or air conditioning but with the temperature at about 34 degrees it seems to come on and off. I appreciate you pointing me in the right direction 🙏🏻

[Morich]

Hello and welcome to the group. Being new is always a combo of excitement and grief, just thinking of all the things we DON'T know can give us heartburn!

But there is always hope and one thing that I feel Winnebago does better than some is providing online info to help us find some answers.
But even finding the spots to look can be scary! So let me point to some you may not have found or even thought to look-----yet!
I like to have info before needed, so I'll point to some .

Parts, manuals, drawing are always good to have.
For the starting page:
https://www.winnebago.com/
click "owners" at top right to get to a list on a second page.
Scrolling down and looking under each tab under resources can lead to a ton of info to look over on a cold winter night while we set there wishing!

The parts catalog often has drawing of how parts fit together and names for things we have no idea! Not only a catalog to order things but it helps to know what to call those "things".

Some of the parts we often need to know about is the plumbing and it has a special section here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...m/Plumbing.htm
Little things like how big the holding tanks and where to find the drains can ease the confusion when first looking!

Hope that can be of help but always keep the forum in mind as questions are what makes it interesting, so ask away!

Note on when and why the AC or heat pump run may be in the owners manual as it sounds like the heat pump is running and that is likely to have a control on the wall thermostat. Getting the settings right on the thermostat should let you turn what's running on/off at the right times.

[Bornbrock]

So I am lost at the moment with this. The owners manual doesn’t offer much help but the thing is that the inside temperature is around 40 degrees and the only heat is an electric heater but this thing keeps cycling on and off every so often. I have included pictures of the grate and the thermostat and where it is set, doesn’t look like I have a heat pump do this must have to do with the air conditioner but why would it be running when it is this cold. I would rather disable it if possible because it is drawing too many amps

[Bornbrock]

Sorry here are the pictures I hope

[Morich]

Some guessing here, so please check and tell me if I'm right or wrong?
Looking at the picture, I think that would be the filter and vent for the rooftop air conditioner and there are sometimes different options on those.
So looking at drawings for your RV, I see one place that appears to have two thermostats??
The one pictured looks like the switches to control heating or air appear to be set in the center whichshould be off and it should not run.
I turned the picture over and did some marking for what I see and might let you check if correct.


But there also appears to be a second thermostat location furhter back along the left inside of the RV??
Is it possible that you are looking at one and have it turned off but a second thermostat is the one controlling what you hear?

Perhaps look and check for a second one? The drawings are sometimes confusing and show options which some RV do not have, so this may not be true at all but worth checking??
Click this snip to get a better view.

[Bornbrock]

Thanks for the reply this is really puzzling because both thermostats are set off and I have moved them back and forth to make sure they are in the off position. Can’t understand why this thing keeps cycling on and off. The Motorhome was in storage with no shore power and now it is plugged in and this thing started to cycle?

Thanks again for your help!

[Morich]

OK, sounds like time to move deeper!
One thing to keep in mind is that the thermostat is simply a switch which is controlled by temperature and sometime they get problems that make them do odd things.

So one way to "reset" their little brain is to cut the power to them, wait a few minutes and then reconnect them.
I find mention that they are sommetimes not getting the right info when we interupt power and need to be reset. But I also am not finding the really good info I was hoping to find, so we may have to stumble along best we can.
Do you happen to know where there is a 12 VOLT DC fuse or breaker to control the heating and air? Since both the heater and air will often use 110AC for the big things like running the blower, if we can find a 12VDC source and cut it off, that is one way to disconnect the power to the thermostat.
If you know where to find the fuse or breaker, that would seem to be one way to kill it for a short time and then reconnect it.

What problems would it be to unplug the RV and also trip some main 12VDC breaker to be sure ALL power was cut off to the thermostat as an easier way to try to reset it?

Another way that I am sure would work is harder to do as it requires getting the cover off the thermostat and taking it off the wall to disconnect one of the wires instead of killing power at the source.
This is a bit of info on what you might find getting to the wires that are often tucked back into hollow wall where you might not find them.
Sometimes figuring how to get the cover snapped off is part of the problem.

Disconnecting the RED wire that is on the thermostat should cut the positive battery supply. In this case it looks like the red meets another red so no confusion but sometimes the red from the thermostat may meet a different color in the wall, so we need to get the right one!

This is what SHOULD be controlling things but there is an old saying in electronics!
We know what they do when they work right but when they don't they can do anything they feel like!!

Fingers crossed that at least you can stop the power use until getting better info?

[Bornbrock]

Wow great info! Thanks for sticking with me on this problem . I will give it a try and let you know how I make out… Thanks again I really appreciate it!

[Bornbrock]

Originally Posted by Morich

OK, sounds like time to move deeper!
One thing to keep in mind is that the thermostat is simply a switch which is controlled by temperature and sometime they get problems that make them do odd things.

So one way to "reset" their little brain is to cut the power to them, wait a few minutes and then reconnect them.
I find mention that they are sommetimes not getting the right info when we interupt power and need to be reset. But I also am not finding the really good info I was hoping to find, so we may have to stumble along best we can.
Do you happen to know where there is a 12 VOLT DC fuse or breaker to control the heating and air? Since both the heater and air will often use 110AC for the big things like running the blower, if we can find a 12VDC source and cut it off, that is one way to disconnect the power to the thermostat.
If you know where to find the fuse or breaker, that would seem to be one way to kill it for a short time and then reconnect it.

What problems would it be to unplug the RV and also trip some main 12VDC breaker to be sure ALL power was cut off to the thermostat as an easier way to try to reset it?

Another way that I am sure would work is harder to do as it requires getting the cover off the thermostat and taking it off the wall to disconnect one of the wires instead of killing power at the source.
This is a bit of info on what you might find getting to the wires that are often tucked back into hollow wall where you might not find them.
Sometimes figuring how to get the cover snapped off is part of the problem.

Disconnecting the RED wire that is on the thermostat should cut the positive battery supply. In this case it looks like the red meets another red so no confusion but sometimes the red from the thermostat may meet a different color in the wall, so we need to get the right one!

This is what SHOULD be controlling things but there is an old saying in electronics!
We know what they do when they work right but when they don't they can do anything they feel like!!

Fingers crossed that at least you can stop the power use until getting better info?

I was able to find the AC breaker so I turned it off and the fan stopped! I will have to experiment when it becomes warmer and I need the air conditioner but for now it is a relief that the 15 AMP draw has quick working. I really appreciate all your help and will keep in touch as we go forward 👍🏻

[Morich]

Sounds good. I always find winter is a good time to set and plan but spring is a better time to work those plans!