05 Winnebago Voyage???????????

[JC2-WO]

As my sig should show, we purchased a preowned 05 Winnie Voyage last week and are slowly learning the ins and outs of owning a MH versus's a 5ver. Even after reading the literature/manuals that came with it, I have several questions for those in the know.
1: Can someone explain to me how the AC/HeatPump setup is supposed to work. Set the thermostat on electric the other day when it was in the 20's and only cold air came out from the ceiling ducts. Never did feel heat from the ceiling. Don't believe the LP furnace came on until I switched over to furnace on the stat.
2: The large slide behind the drivers seat will alternately start and stop several times when going out. Works continuous when coming in. Any ideas?????
3: Does the Gen charge all batteries,(starting&house) when running. When the couch is running, are all batteries being charged?????????

 

[JC2-WO]

As my sig should show, we purchased a preowned 05 Winnie Voyage last week and are slowly learning the ins and outs of owning a MH versus's a 5ver. Even after reading the literature/manuals that came with it, I have several questions for those in the know.
1: Can someone explain to me how the AC/HeatPump setup is supposed to work. Set the thermostat on electric the other day when it was in the 20's and only cold air came out from the ceiling ducts. Never did feel heat from the ceiling. Don't believe the LP furnace came on until I switched over to furnace on the stat.
2: The large slide behind the drivers seat will alternately start and stop several times when going out. Works continuous when coming in. Any ideas?????
3: Does the Gen charge all batteries,(starting&house) when running. When the couch is running, are all batteries being charged?????????

 

[Nonno]

JC2,
The heat pump will not work when outside temp is below 36F. System is usually set to automatically start the LP gas furnace to assist heat pump if room temp is 5 degrees or more below the thermostat setting.

Generator charges house batteries.

House batteries are automatically charged by engine alternator while engine is running.

Hope this helps.

 

[zertrider]

And the slide actuators intermittently starting and stopping is normal. Part of the syncronizing system. If one ram is running faster than the other, the fast one will stop to let the slow one catch up, so that the slide closes up square and not all angled.

 

[tomsm]

JC2 - Congratulations on the new rig!

To summarize the charging question - when the coach engine is running, all your batteries are being charged. When plugged into shore power or running the genny, only the house batteries are charged. This is not true of all brands, but I think it holds true for all the Winnie products.

Many use some type of aux charger for the chassis batteries. I use and prefer the Trik-L-Start unit because you hook it up and forget it. When the house batteries are being charged from any source, including solar, it routes some of the charge to the chassis batteries. You can read about it here. There are other types available and maybe someone else will pass on their personal experience.

 

[JC2-WO]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob Russo:
JC2,
The heat pump will not work when outside temp is below 36F. System is usually set to automatically start the LP gas furnace to assist heat pump if room temp is 5 degrees or more below the thermostat setting.

Generator charges house batteries.

House batteries are automatically charged by engine alternator while engine is running.

Hope this helps. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I believe I read something about the temp restrictions, however why would the ceiling vents continue to blow cool air if the lp furnace comes on. I would think that no airflow should be coming out the ceiling vents when the furnace takes over from the heat pump.

Also one question I forget to add in my original post(#4), it's been pretty cold here the past several days and when I first start the coach engine up, the power steering seems to be making a loud noise for 20-30 seconds and will stop after that or if I move the steering wheel before that. Haven't been able to check the fluid to see if that is the cause.....

 

[tomsm]

I think you're right about the airflow. When it gets down around 36 my heatpump shuts down completely including the fan that blows through the ceiling vents. You may have a bad outside temp sensor.

As for the thermostat not automatically starting the LP heat when the room temp is 5 or more degrees below the set temp, I had that exact problem and it took a new thermostat to fix it. I sent an email to [email protected], described the problem and they sent a new thermostat - no charge.

Also, if you haven't used a heatpump before, be aware that it will blow cold air for several minutes after startup and then sloooowly warm up. Takes a little patience, but it's a nice even heat when it finally gets going.

 

[Nonno]

JC2,
I agree with Tom, it sounds like a problem with the thermostat. Unless the 20 degrees outside temp had something to do with it I'd think the thermostat sould have started the lp furnace even in the electric position.

At times the heat pump and furnace do work at the same time. To paraphrase info in my operator manual; if inside temp is 5 degress or more below thermostat set point both the heat pump and furnace will initially run. If temp is 4 degrees or less only heat pump runs. Also if furnace assists heat pump 3x in a row the heat pump will shut down for 2 hrs and furnace will be primary source. After 2 hrs heat pump is active again and furnace goes to standby

As for power steering, does it only happen when cold?

 

[brgman-WO]

Guys,
The 2005 33V Voyage has roof top Air/heat pumps not the basement air/heat unit. The units are two different systems.

Gary
2005 33V Voyage

 

[Clay L]

Regarding the power steering noise when it's cold, mine does that if it gets down to the 20s or so.
There were some posts about that a year or more ago and as I recall, the info at the time was that it was considered normal by Workhorse.

 

[tomsm]

Never mind....

 

[JC2-WO]

If it will mean any difference in the info received, my ac/heatpump units are rooftop Coleman Machs, Model 8534B876 with a RVComfort.HP Coleman Mach digital stat.

 

[Nonno]

Disregard everything I wrote after the first comma in my first reply.

 

[JC2-WO]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clay L:
Regarding the power steering noise when it's cold, mine does that if it gets down to the 20s or so.
There were some posts about that a year or more ago and as I recall, the info at the time was that it was considered normal by Workhorse. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't know at this time if it will make the noise at warmer temps as it hasn't been above the 20's since we picked it up last week. Will have to wait on that. I was wondering if the PS fluid is reg stuff or synthetic. If reg, maybe replacing with synthetic would help?????????

 

[FrontRangeRVer]

The power steering pump noise is very normal when starting in the cold...it will go away.

I started my motorhome yesterday when it was -19F degrees , and the noise was deafening, and went away after several minutes. There was nothing in my medicine cabinet that wasn't frozen like a rock.

Go over to the Workhorse forum (on this website) for chats about the power steering pump cold noise...its really normal...

 

[stevedg007]

JC2...everone has given good advice and comments. As a Voyage owmer, I do not use the AC/heat pump if it is really cold. I use the LP furance. I also invested in a small electric space heater...this really works very well at keeping the coach cozy. The LP furnace and AC/heat pump are noisy compared to the electric space heater. I have got the AC/heat pump to "pump" out warm air, but like the posts have already mentioned you need the right balance of temps to get the thing to work right. Get yourself an electic space heater, works great.
My slide also does the same thing, going out, They do say its normal.
If your concerned about the engine battery not charging on the generator or shore power, invest in the Trik-L-Start™ Starting Battery Charger/Maintainer. Also take care while parked for long periods, to not have the cab radio on engine battery. This will slowly pull down the starting battery's power. This happened to me...had to use the battery boster switch to get the coach started.
Enjoy your Voyage..we enjoy ours..have 20,000 plus miles on it now!

 

[JC2-WO]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by tomsm:
I think you're right about the airflow. When it gets down around 36 my heatpump shuts down completely including the fan that blows through the ceiling vents. You may have a bad outside temp sensor.

As for the thermostat not automatically starting the LP heat when the room temp is 5 or more degrees below the set temp, I had that exact problem and it took a new thermostat to fix it. I sent an email to [email protected], described the problem and they sent a new thermostat - no charge.

Also, if you haven't used a heatpump before, be aware that it will blow cold air for several minutes after startup and then sloooowly warm up. Takes a little patience, but it's a nice even heat when it finally gets going. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Since my rooftop AC/Heatpump units are Coleman Mach's, can I assume the e-mail address above would still apply or is this for the RVComfort HP Coleman stat only??

 

[JC2-WO]

I want to thank everyone for their input as the info will really help in becoming comfortable with our unit. It sounds like I will have to wait for the temp to rise before I can fully test the ac/heatpump funtion. My next goal is to figure out the HWH leveling system.

 

[jonny33v]

JC2,
I also have a 05 Voyage 33V. I think your heat pump is probably acting normally. The heat pump does require a fairly long time to warm up and actually blow heat. It is a little deceiving as the air will never feel as warm as the output of the furnace floor vents. We have used the heat pumps with great results down to about 34 degrees. I have never experienced the furnace automatically kicking on to take over the Heat Pump. I don't even know if this is possible. The thermostat, as you know, has a setting for electric heat and one for gas heat.

We have LOVED our 33v and have almost 20,000 mile since brand new. Our large slide does the same as yours. I think it does this to make sure the screws are coming out together.

Are you having issues with the Jacks?? Let me know, maybe I can help.
Jonny

 

[troth-WO]

Curious, aren't the leveling jacks on Voyages supplied by Kwickee, not HWH? And the slide outs, are they Kwickee?