Heater Not Strong Enough?

Hi,

I've posted a similar question in the Appliances forum, but haven't found what I am looking for yet. The heater on my coach runs almost non-stop during cold summer evenings here in Colorado. My dealer took a look and said the heater, fan and ducting looks good.

What can I do to improve the performance of my heater? Is there an upgraded unit that can be installed? A more powerful fan? Do I need more BTUs for the Colorado evenings?

Thanks in advance,
ToyHauler

Toyhauler,
I've had to deal with the same problem, I'm quessing you have no heat in the bedroom (under vanity), The heater ducting is not sealed or taped, I had one person at heartland say this is to heat the tanks (or campground) then I had plant manager say no its supposed to be sealed. Mine is now sealed at I still have low air flow in bedroom, better but not great.
Hope this helps.

more "no heat"

I have a 4012 with the same issue. Very little heat in the main part of the RV, up front it's really warm. I've tried to close off part of the ductwork to the front, but that didn't help much in the back. I went in someone else's 4012 and it was nice and toasty after 20 minutes. Ours runs nonstop in 40 degree weather.

I thought this was the "ask the factory" forum. Does anyone from the factory look at these posts?

thanks,
-JR
07 Cyclone 4012

ToyHauler

Did your service people actualy look inside the duct work? It only takes a minute with a small mirror in the vents to look at the condition of your duct work. Take the 2 screws holding the vent cover down out and remove the cover then put the mirror down into the dust work and you should be able to see if the duct work is plugged or crushed. Also you might want to look at how well your furnace box is mounted there are other posts on here about them not being down and sealed allowing them to leak a lot of air that is not getting into the duct.

You might also want to look for cold air intrusion I know that I have a problem with the area under my fridge that is very open to the storage area which is in turn open to all kinds of cold air. Also the bedroom floor which is the top of the storage area has no insulation that I can tell just the wood.

Have a look at my post in the Sundance area it has some pics of what I found. There is also another post there with similar problems.

Have Fun
Rick

JR - Sorry, but Brian who was the point person for this particular forum is no longer with Heartland. I am going to tell you that the first and best thing to do is to get the coach back to the dealer who can work with our service personnel to get it working correctly. If however, you just want ideas to try and do it yourself, I will do my best to give you some insight. I would start with the furnace sitting in it's hole in the floor first (as mufflerman suggested). I have seen time when this seal has been compromised by either rough travel (literally bouncing out of place) or poor workmanship (not a good seal job where the furnace sits down into the floor ducting). Once you are sure that this is not the issue, then you are left with double checking the flexible duct hoses that run to the front of the coach (bedroom and bathroom). SIDE NOTE: These areas of the coach are typically the warmest, because they are the closest to the furnace, and have a straight shot coming off the furnace itself - vs. the in-floor ducting of the main part of the coach.
The main floor is ducted with aluminum ducting and sealed under that with a black darco covering. I think there are ways to add additional heat runs off of the existing furnace - but again, I would suggest letting a dealer do that.
ST

Jr,
Pull the intake grill off and make sure the heater unit is attached to the floor tight and secure, If that looks ok then inspect the upper ducting(in pass threw storage) for air loss, you will have to pull panel off for complete inspection. If all is ok then you have to pull the bottom cover off and maybe drop a tank or two to inspect the duct work for leaks.
Mine was not sealed on upper ducting or lower ducting, my dealer did the reseal so I still wonder if it has leaks, when I get it back I plan to check it again myself.
Good luck.

Thanks guys, I've been away a while. The furnace was blowing all out of every crack, we've sealed it up as much as possible and closed off about half of the 4" duct that goes up front. The rectangular duct does not appear to crushed or blocked, but it's at the dealer for some other stuff, and they are going to have a look at it. We may just have to wait until it gets cool again so they can figure it out. I know they will heat, I was in another one that was warm and had shut off after only 20 minutes or so, ours never gets warm enough to cycle.

-JR

JR
We had a similar problem with our 3055. Found the hole on the underside of the furnace was cut wrong. Only 1/2 of the air was going into the duct work, the other 1/2 went into the tanks. Dealer recut the hole and sealed up the misscut part. I have also sealed all around the furnace with airduct tape.
Rand