Smoky furnace

[alex00]

I forgot how smoky a new furnace in a new unit can get. It put a small haze in the air this afternoon when I ran it for a bit. Later tonight I ran it for about an hour while I installed the bedroom TV. It was the perfect storm of the smoke detector not wanting to work and me being preoccupied. It looked like someone turned on the fog machine at a Halloween party.

I left it at 65* and cracked some windows. I'll burn some propane tonight and hopefully burn off all the manufacturing oil. I'm just glad I discovered this at home and not when the family was sleeping inside.

 

[donr827]

I have not had that problem in any of the new trailers that I have purchased. You might want to have it checked out to make sure it is working OK. Maybe someone with a lot more tech experience will jump in.
Don

 

[danemayer]

Never heard of a smoky haze in the trailer from a new furnace and it sounds like something is very wrong.

 

[jnbhobe]

New furnaces usually do smoke to burn off the oil from manufacturing, It just means your dealer didn't try it.

 

[cookie]

I agree with Jon.
I had that happen in a pop up camper we had.
And since you mentioned smoke detector, if you think it should have activated and it didn't, check the battery.

Peace
Dave

 

[jmgratz]

If it continues smoking I would have it checked out. A minimum of smoking would be normal but excessive is not.

 

[alex00]

I'm happy to report that after leaving it on all night, the furnace is odor and smoke free. I left the garage vent and bathroom vent open with the bathroom fan running. I'm confident the smoke was a result of oil on the burner. I'll admit I was pretty worried when I first noticed it. A quick Google of the issue made it seem fairly common. On a side note, I'm pretty impressed with how quiet this furnace is compared to my SOB trailer.

Thanks for the input, I'm glad this wasn't a serious issue. Jon nailed it. I think the dealer turned it on to see it worked, but didn't exercise it.

 

[Hippy]

Hey guys! What a coincidence. Arrived in Arizona early evening 2 days ago and set up. Was a little bit cool and decide to turn on the furnace and leave it on while we went out to dinner. We got back and as I opened the door, there was a lot of smoke, a big haze that we could barely see inside. No alarms went off at all. Luckily we didn't go straight to bed with the furnace on or who knows what the outcome what have been. We've already broken in the the heater approx. 3 to 4 times for long periods of time since we've bought the 5vr and never had this happen. I'm still getting smoke and or haze. Now I'm concern. I'm going to have it checked out when we get home. But for future, I will turn on and test the furnace to be on the safe side. I test all the alarm systems and they worked.

 

[Doublegranch]

I had that happen in my NorthTrail when it was brand new. The first couple of times running the furnace it filled the RV with smoke and a smell. It appeared to be dust in the vent tubes and etc. It cleared up after a few times.

 

[alex00]

That's weird that you've used the heater before, but now it decides to smoke. Let me know what they say if you have it checked out. Mine was clear as a bell when I went in this morning.

Since I spent about an hour working in the trailer with the smoke building up, all I felt was an irritated throat, but never had any trouble breathing. I don't think there would be an immediate concern if this happened while sleeping, but would be scary.

Hey guys! What a coincidence. Arrived in Arizona early evening 2 days ago and set up. Was a little bit cool and decide to turn on the furnace and leave it on while we went out to dinner. We got back and as I opened the door, there was a lot of smoke, a big haze that we could barely see inside. No alarms went off at all. Luckily we didn't go straight to bed with the furnace on or who knows what the outcome what have been. We've already broken in the the heater approx. 3 to 4 times for long periods of time since we've bought the 5vr and never had this happen. I'm still getting smoke and or haze. Now I'm concern. I'm going to have it checked out when we get home. But for future, I will turn on and test the furnace to be on the safe side. I test all the alarm systems and they worked.

 

[Manzan]

The first time out with our last SOB trailer, we met up with a Good Sam group and after a good meal and some story swapping retired to our new trailer. It was about 11:30 PM and chilly so turned on the furnace for the first time. It did not take long at all for the smoke detector to sound off, waking everyone in the campground. Got it off quickly and that was the last time it smoked at all. Our 21 fbs did not smoke a bit the first time out but we did have a great dealer so it could be they cleared it up.

 

[Westwind]

I agree that if a dealer properly inspects a RV they would light the furnace and have it run to burn off the new smell etc., but it appears that the staff employed at the dealerships these days either don't get it, never were shown, or haven't been properly trained with a written procedure to follow or maybe can't read. It's up to the purchaser to do that PDI check to be sure that everything is OK since it can't be left up to the dealer these days.

 

[UtahAV]

Our ElkRidge did the same thing really badly. First trip out set off the smoke detector. For the next couple of weekends at home I set the thermostat to 85, opened the windows, and let it run all during the day. That helped. We had smoke on and off most of the first year of ownership. It was worst when the heater had to run for extended periods such as when first turned on when the coach was cold. I have seen on other forums that really on the ball dealers will run the furnace over night before you take delivery. Ours obviously didn't. You should also fire up you oven and let it heat to 450 or so for a while. Bet you will find some smoke there too. Happy RVing!

-UtahAV
-Mark


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[alex00]

Good call on the oven. I forgot about that. Since we used our SOB over all of two times, it wasn't on my radar.

Our ElkRidge did the same thing really badly. First trip out set off the smoke detector. For the next couple of weekends at home I set the thermostat to 85, opened the windows, and let it run all during the day. That helped. We had smoke on and off most of the first year of ownership. It was worst when the heater had to run for extended periods such as when first turned on when the coach was cold. I have seen on other forums that really on the ball dealers will run the furnace over night before you take delivery. Ours obviously didn't. You should also fire up you oven and let it heat to 450 or so for a while. Bet you will find some smoke there too. Happy RVing!

-UtahAV
-Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scottyb]

Good call on the oven. I forgot about that. Since we used our SOB over all of two times, it wasn't on my radar.

Yes, the oven will produce some smoke too. It was 105 degrees outside when we did our PDI. They fired the heater but immediately turned it off. Did the same thing for the oven and was told that it might set off the smoke alarm the 1st time we used them. Since most of our destinations were in very hot places, we didn't use the furnace for about 6 mo and it smelled of smoke but nothing visible. The oven smoked a little but I had the doors open for ventilation.