Furnace Ducting Air Flow Problems

MTELKRIDGE · Oct 22, 2017

We have a 2016 ElkRidge E275. With the furnace on, the front bedroom gets 90% of the airflow and heats up extremely fast while the remaining two vents (kitchen and bath) get almost nothing and don't heat up the rest of the trailer. We installed closing vents and closed the bedroom vent and it increased the air flow to the remaining vents slightly but still not enough. The bedroom vent also gets extremely hot, even when fully open, to the point it will burn your feet if you walk across it. Is there a way to adjust the air flow to the various vents directly from the furnace itself?

danemayer · Oct 22, 2017

Hi MTELKRIDGE,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Blocking ducts is strongly advised against by the furnace manufacturer. Doing so can cause the combustion chamber to overheat. To keep you safe, there is a high-limit switch that will open if the combustion chamber overheats, shutting off gas flow. But that may lead to intermittent problems with furnace operation.

The living areas closest to the furnace, with shortest ducts are always going to be hotter. What you might do is check the other ducts to make sure they're not pinched, restricting airflow to other areas. But you may not find anything wrong.

The problem you're having is quite common and I don't know that anyone has ever come up with a good solution. So I'm just going to spitball here.

You might try putting a Tee in the duct going to the bedroom and spilling some of the hot air into the pass through basement storage. If still too hot in the bedroom, try reducing the duct between Tee and bedroom to a 2" duct.

RetiredUSPS69 · Oct 22, 2017

Just a thought House Hot air systems sometime put a booster fan in a line that doesn't get enough air flow. Maybe you could put a 12 volt computer fan in the duct. 12 volt is easy to run wire or use and old 12 volt power supply from phone or what you have. I had a house that the central air had to many bends in duct work that is how the tech solved the problem, He used a 120 volt fan but i don't see why you could not give it a try. maybe it would work for you

Lynn1130 · Oct 22, 2017

Check the duct runs for kinks. I found the run going to the garage was about 2 feet longer than it needed to be and kinked to the point of shutting off most of the airflow.

MTELKRIDGE · Oct 22, 2017

danemayer said:
Hi MTELKRIDGE,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Blocking ducts is strongly advised against by the furnace manufacturer. Doing so can cause the combustion chamber to overheat. To keep you safe, there is a high-limit switch that will open if the combustion chamber overheats, shutting off gas flow. But that may lead to intermittent problems with furnace operation.

The living areas closest to the furnace, with shortest ducts are always going to be hotter. What you might do is check the other ducts to make sure they're not pinched, restricting airflow to other areas. But you may not find anything wrong.

The problem you're having is quite common and I don't know that anyone has ever come up with a good solution. So I'm just going to spitball here.

View attachment 55192

You might try putting a Tee in the duct going to the bedroom and spilling some of the hot air into the pass through basement storage. If still too hot in the bedroom, try reducing the duct between Tee and bedroom to a 2" duct.

Thank you for the quick responses! I guess I was too hopeful in thinking the manufacturer would balance the system at the factory. I will check to see if there are any kinks in the hoses but the reducer sounds like the next best plan. Living in Montana we use the furnace just about every time we camp, even in the middle of summer, so getting this fixed is a top priority! I will let you know what I find and what worked to fix the problem.

MTELKRIDGE · Oct 22, 2017

Lynn1130 said:
Check the duct runs for kinks. I found the run going to the garage was about 2 feet longer than it needed to be and kinked to the point of shutting off most of the airflow.

Thank you for the quick response. I will check for any kinks first....hopefully that's the issue!

JohnD · Oct 23, 2017

Also, check your ducts that aren't getting heat to see if they are full of sawdust from the factory.

This has been a reported problem from many . . . us included!

Furnace Ducting Air Flow Problems

MTELKRIDGE

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danemayer

Well-known member

RetiredUSPS69

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Lynn1130

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MTELKRIDGE

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MTELKRIDGE

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JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...

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