front furnace doesn't move much air

McDuff · 12-31-2006, 05:50 AM

The front propane furnace fan doesn't move much air at all. It is real loud at intake but the outputs are almost zero. There is way more air coming out the exhaust tube than on the inside.

The rear heater moves air ok, still a little low I would think but who knows?

I can't find any filters or anything that would seem to be clogged. Is this normal or is something wrong?

edit: additional Q? One time when set on electric heat, the propane kicked on also. Other times on elec, the propane never kicked in even when it got real cold(in fact I think the heatpump froze up one night). So which is correct? Does it auto-switch when needed, or is it manual at the thermostat only?

Thanks.

'03 UA 40E

McDuff · 12-31-2006, 05:50 AM

The front propane furnace fan doesn't move much air at all. It is real loud at intake but the outputs are almost zero. There is way more air coming out the exhaust tube than on the inside.

The rear heater moves air ok, still a little low I would think but who knows?

I can't find any filters or anything that would seem to be clogged. Is this normal or is something wrong?

edit: additional Q? One time when set on electric heat, the propane kicked on also. Other times on elec, the propane never kicked in even when it got real cold(in fact I think the heatpump froze up one night). So which is correct? Does it auto-switch when needed, or is it manual at the thermostat only?

Thanks.

'03 UA 40E

AFChap · 12-31-2006, 06:50 AM

McDuff

Where in TX are you? We'll be in the DFW area in the Spring.

The LP furnaces don't push as much air as I would think, but it is enough to be noticeable. On your front furnace, it has a large intake, and yes it is noisy. I wonder if the duct is blocked or something? ...another thought ...our intake is totally concealed under the couch. Several months after we bought the coach I was looking under the couch and discovered the intake was totally covered by the protective vinyl they put on the carpets ...you might check that. If it isn't taking air in, it can't blow air out!! (while you're checking things, check to insure a bag is installed in the central vac under the refrigerator. They are NOT installed at the factory, and if the previous owner never looked at it, there is no bag installed!!)

On the heatpump, the LP will kick in with the heat pump if you set the thermostat more than 3 degrees higher than the displayed temp. And when the heatpump locks out due to cold temps, the gas furnace will come on instead of the heat pump. However, we have noticed that it will often get several degrees below the thermostat temp before the LP comes on. When we know it will be in the 20's, we just go ahead and switch to gas before going to bed.

I presume you realize we are talking about the front LP furnace only. The rear LP furnace has it's own thermostat in the bedroom, and it is totally independent from the heat pump and/or front LP furnace. You could be running the rear LP furnace with the air conditioning if you set it that way! The little switch on the bottom of the bedroom stat turns the rear furnace off (way to the side) or on (close to the middle).

McDuff · 12-31-2006, 07:10 AM

Hi Paul,

We are in the DFW area. We are in a little city called Sachse on the NE side of Dallas. Would love to meet up with y'all when you come thru.

We have a euro chair by front intake, so it is easily seen(and heard). My brother removed the vent cover and still saw nothing blocking intake. Kinda stumped at the moment.

Interesting on the auto switchover. Seems like mine works intermittently. Like you we will set to LP when it gets cold.

Yep, figured out the rear is a standalone unit. I was wondering about the little switch underneath though, thanks for letting me know it is on/off. Be nice if they labeled it...

Kinda funny, took me and brother to figure out the white thermostat underneath the "main" black one, has nothing to do with furnace. I thought at first it would be the LP setting, but nope, as you know it is a fantastic vent setting.

Gonna be nice to get an owners manual...

We will check on the vac bag, good point.

Jerry

AFChap · 12-31-2006, 01:56 PM

Jerry

If you closely inspect the little switch on the bottom of the bedroom thermostat, you might find some indication etched in the metal ...kind of hard to see even if you know it is there!

We will be at Dallas Hi-Ho RV Park in Glenn Heights of I-35E just south of the I-20 loop for the month of March, and near Saginaw for month of April. We got our UA at McClain's in Denton. We normally have some service items done when we are in the area, but are thinking of going to their location on South I-35W this next time. It would be nice to compare rig details a bit. What color is yours? ...and do you know the month of mfg? Mine is very early in the year, and has some interesting differences from an identical one built late in the year.

McDuff · 12-31-2006, 02:23 PM

Hey Paul,

Well Glenn Heights is way closer. Other than going to Baton Rouge for St. Pats (long)weekend, we should be able to hookup. Maybe we could come camp down there for a night or something. Would be cool to talk to ya and see another 40E. 'Course I won't be able to get in yours, but the wife could, and you could tell me diffs from inside mine.

Don't know the MFG date, any idea on how to findout? The owner bought early in '03, Jan, I think. Ours is full paint Harvest, the grey color. Here is a link to pic showing lift, I will be uploading more later.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/McDuffTx/Motorho...rys_Motorhome015.jpg

AFChap · 12-31-2006, 02:58 PM

Jerry

We rarely make campground reservations, but do in the DFW area as we block those times to visit friends & family. Our reservation at Hi-Ho starts March 5 for four weeks.

For mfg date, look on the wall to the left of the driver's seat (takes a little contortion and maybe a flashlight!). There is a plate there with weight info, etc. It also has the Winnebago mfg date and the Spartan chassis mfg date.

AFChap · 12-31-2006, 03:13 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Here is a link to pic showing lift, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Jerry

I took a look your pic of the coach lift. Pretty neat! Does the lift prevent all access to the storage compartment behind it? It looks like the lift pulls back into the compartment?

My daughter works in a catastrophic care hospital, working with patients helping them to overcome injuries and get their lives back. I just sent her some info last month for a patient who was interested in RVing, but was unaware of accessible options. I'll send her your picture as a good example.

I'll also send you a PM so we can exchange email addresses to facilitate contact off the list.

Roadking · 12-31-2006, 07:37 PM

McDuff --- I'll try to answer your questions in regards to your furnance air flow. As I recall your floor plan is very close to mine so I assume the furnance locations and return air duct systems will be similar.

The furnance supplying the front of the coach is the one located on the street side (drivers side) of the coach and is controlled by the Coleman-Mach thermostat. The rear of the coach is supplied by the furnance located on the curb side of the coach.

The return air for the front furnance is via the air-grill located under the fridge. Remove the air grill and next to the central vacumn, or behind it, you should note a large hole in the floor. THe furnance is just below that hole. As AFChap stated, make sure that hole isn't covered by something. There are no filters on the propane furnance air ducts.

If you need to access the furnance you get to them via the side compartments. It should be the large "pass-thru" compartment. Each furnance is located behind a black sheet metal cover secured by about 20 screws. Several of the screws are covered by the compartment door rubber seal. Only when really necessary, remove the screws... without bending it, carefully peal the cover off, disconnect the furnance and slide it out. I had to remove my furnances to clean out the mouse nests from the furnance blowers... which solved my airflow and noise problems.

Also as an FYI there is a 14 in. by 20 in. house type air filter located in the heat pump/air conditioning return air system. This filter should be somewhere in the rear curb side floor of your bedroom... maybe under your bed or under the washer/dryer. Mine is under the washer/dryer compartment.

Also as an FYI the rear propane furnance return air location should be directly across the coach from the central vacumn. I have the kitchen slide and the return air is in base of the cabinet adjacent to the range.

McDuff · 01-01-2007, 06:23 AM

Paul - yes, the lift folds up and tucks completely inside the compartment. Then that "little" flap is closed to seal the compartment. No, the lift does not take up the whole space, we can still open the compartmentdoor (when lift is stowed) and we have storage room underneath the lift. There is a slideout tray with about 12" of room under lift.

Bless your daughter for her work. As one who has gone thru this, I can tell you that the prospect of what is "left" of your life is of grave and utmost concern for those involved. You might also send her this link:
www.winnebagoind.com/products/commercial/ability
it is Winne's online page for what they offer in accessible rv's.
If I can offer more help in any way(more pics/thoughts/whatever), by all means let me know.

Roadking - Actually it sounds like our layouts are flipped a little. My front furnace is on curbside w/ intake in the open, and my rear is on streetside with intake under washer/dryer cabinet.

Great writeup. Unfortunately, it sounds like I may have some kind of blockage on the output side of the furnace, as the intake is clear.

I will hunt down the air filter for elec system, thanks. Kind of surprised they don't have any filters on the LP systems too.

AFChap · 01-01-2007, 07:52 AM

McDuff

Thanks for the "accessible MH" links. Great stuff there! I'll pass it along to my daughter.

It sounds like you may have to pull the front furnace to see if there is blockage in the furnace output.

The heat pump/ac filter on our 40e is under the floor on the left end of the closet (as you are facing it). As I recall, it is 14x20x1. Using the rig fulltime, we change ours about every 3-4 months. Under the rest of the closet is a metal access panel to provide access to the top of the engine. There is also an access panel under part of the step behind the bed, but the steps have to be removed by taking out the screws in some hidden brackets under the edges of the step.

The engine access panels remind me of one differene in the early in the year mfg coaches vs the late in the year mfg coaches. My coach came with one engine fuel filter located on the passenger side of the engine above the starter. It was difficult to see, and extremely difficult to change. Some later mfg coaches have the first one where mine was, and also a second fuel filter on the frame rail at the rear of the engine. (one guy I know with this setup found out after three years than the hidden filter had never been changed as the service places never found it...). I think there are also a some coaches that have the hidden filter located at the rear of the engine by the factory. Cummins makes a filter relocation kit. After struggling to help a mobile service guy change my filter, I paid a Cummins Coach Care facility about $600 to go through the nearly all day task of relocating the fuel filter to the rear of the engine. I had to empty the closet, and they had a tall skinny tech hanging upside down from inside the closet working with another tech reaching up from under the coach to get the job done. Now I can easily service that filter myself if I want to, or open the fuel water separator on the bottom of the filter if needed.