Furnace How to...?

[Bighurt]

Ok so I took my 3300 RLB on her maiden trip this past weekend, Sunday morning the temps dropped into the 40's. My wife forgot extra blankets so I awoke freezing...

So at 2 am I get up to turn on the heat...the only thermostat in the unit is the remote for the Carrier AC, but it has Furn... So I pull out my manual figure out how to program the remote. Set the temp to 75° on furn, hit timer on and timer off at 3 hrs...nothing. No lights on the carrier unit but why would it the suburban heater is under the fridge.

So I pull out the suburban manual, its says using the wall mounted thermostat...what wall mounted thermostat...heartland manual...using wall mounted thermostat...Ok now I'm in my skivies shivering trying not to wake the three boys snug as bugs in their beds...meanwhile I can't find anything but this Carrier remote. And that just sits in the wall clip, how is that supposed to work.

So I turn off the remote stand under the Carrier unit and point the remote, I hit the on button...unit beeps good right...look at remote I have verbiage...again...go through the entire process all over Furn, temp, timer on, timer off....nothing wait 10 minutes....nothing...no lights on the unit..must be a button.. on this thing.

Hit everything on the Carrier that looks like a button...Emergency AC..hit button...unit beeps light turns green...great now I can make it colder...turn off... Emergency Heat....hit button...nothing...well that makes sense how is the AC supposed to heat anyways...mess with the remote again to no avail. Screw this POS I'm going back to bed we'll hit the dealer on the way back to town...

Freeze for another few hours....

Wake up...read Suburban, Carrier and Heartland manuals cover to cover...no explanation of the remote...well the 15K AC was a upgrade from the factory per the build sheet...maybe Heartland included the wrong manual or dealer made a swap...

By this time I'm pretty irritated, I had already removed the panel under the fridge before departure looking for the water heater bypass valves so I knew there was nothing in their to turn on adjust or flip...but the outside panel...might have something....

Remove screws and peer inside look the same switch as the water heater...but its already on...well that was useless. Reinstall panel...

Give up and tell the wife to fix the heater...

So she grabs the remote hits the timer on...temp 90+...timer off 2hrs...then presses the emergency heat, and on she goes... Well that makes no sense...after 20 minutes heat kicks off, no where near 90°F, remember manual said EM heat was default 73°F. 5 minutes later heat kicks back on for 2 minutes than off and on same cycle for some time...

So......

How is this **** thing supposed to work? How do I program it? And why is their no wall mounted thermostat?

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Bighurt, I can hear your frustration but I'm sorry, I can't help. I've not heard of a furnace not having a wall mounted t'stat. Hopefully someone will jump in here and give you some help.

 

[ncrebel8]

Hate to hear that you had a problem on your maiden voyage. I dont know anything about the remote, sounds like you may have a wireless remote thermostat? Emergency heat? Unless Suburban has some new system, I have never seen a furnace with Emergency Heat in an RV. That sounds like your A/C unit has a heat pump also? Im confused, regardless, all of this should have been checked out during your PRE DELIVERY INSPECTION (PDI) with your dealer. Where they should have explaned how everything operates. My first suggestion would be contact the dealer for information on the system you have.

 

[Bighurt]

Regardless, all of this should have been checked out during your PRE DELIVERY INSPECTION (PDI) with your dealer. Where they should have explaned how everything operates.

Seams when you buy over the internet you don't get this luxury. If it wasn't for this forum I would have never know there was a water heater bypass...sure the instructions on the UDC have a picture but that's not exactly the clearest picture...

The closest Heartland Dealer to me is 2hrs drive...

I was planning on calling them today, original dealer, but was hoping for a glimmer of hope from the forum gurus.

I appriciate all the help so far, at least I waited to cool off before posting and sounding like an ***

 

[ncrebel8]

Hope you get it figured out. Really wish i could help. With remote controlled thermostats and all that stuff, it may be something really simple. Hopefully someone here has the same system.

 

[Dave012]

Bighurt,

Sorry to hear about your problem. We have the same unit, same year, but sounds like a different set up. We have a propane heater in our unit that sits just below the refridgerator if you look at it outside. Our thermostat for it is located just above the stairs on the wall by the bathroom door. Just made sure we had the propane turned on, flipped the switch to furnace rather than a/c, cranked up the temperature, and it came on, instantly. Sounds like you have a different thermostat contraption. Do you have a propane furnace?

 

[jnbhobe]

Just a quick note. I think you said you had a carrier unit, all the controls for the furnace are in the air conditioner so like a tv point the remote at the AC unit to work the furnace. other than that the remote is self explanitory

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Funny thing about thermostats. A remote thermostat sounds like an interesting concept as long as there are no little ones (kids) around that may mess with it or lose it in the couch or under the couch. Also if you have it in your hand, aren't you adding heat to a sensor or is the sensor in a location other than the thermostat? Bighurt, if you don't get some response here that actually gives you the information you need, I would call Heartland Customer service OR find the label in your rig with the phone numbers of the Heartland suppliers and call the manufacturer direct. Have you tried a website for Suburban?

 

[Rickhansen]

Ahhh, the joys of camping - and in a new rig, no less.

Along with what jnphobe said, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the "remote" thermostats are infrared, which means line of sight only. That really is a catch-22 if that's the case.

I guess I'll stick with my Hunter, wired, programmable thermostats. Good Luck.

 

[Bighurt]

Really appreciate the replies...

I am a electronics geek and understand the infra-red deal and I did use line of sight, the carrier unit did beep after-all. I do have the 15K BTU AC upgrade which is the carrier unit with remote. I can already tell you I would have liked a wall mounted thermostat rather than a remote. Sounds like I'm ready for a mod. And yes I did have the gas turned on at the source and in the suburban unit.

I talked to the service counter at the dealer, horrible time trying to get someone but they were helpful once someone picked up. None the less he seams to think the remote de-programed itself some how. He did confirm I used the correct procedure for adjusting the unit however it wasn't taking the signal. Yes the remote controls the AC unit and the AC unit controls the suburban unit. I'll probably rewire this to a hard-wired wall unit. I have yet to try it but will be sure to post the results when I do.

This was a warm up trip for the one this coming weekend, we made a large list of things we forgot!!! The strangest was a rain coat...

Thanks
Jeremy

 

[jnbhobe]

I had a carrier 5 unit in a keystone challenger.Never really had a problem with it, just remember the fan will run 24/7 when the AC is on. I kind of liked the digital remote thermostat its a lot more accurate than the analog unit.Its a shame Carrier quit building RV units.

 

[jpajax]

I to have a Carrier took a while to figure it out. Let see if can remember how. 1 point the remote at AC unit press the button that reads on/off the green light on unit will come on. 2. press button that reads mode press it until the arrow next to the word Furn. 3.Press the buttons under the word temp. look at the screen when the temp appears that you want stop Waite the furnace should come on. Do not press the button that reads off timer. Hope this helps.