Caravel Hydroflame removal?

[Stefrobrts]

I am having trouble removing the Hydroflame heater from my Caravel. I think I got all the screws out, and it wiggles a bit, but it just won't come out. I even undid the heater outlet on the outside of the trailer, but it won't come out either. The Hydroflame has a big exhaust tube on the back of it which goes into a bigger tube which goes to the outlet. I'm not sure how these are attached inside, but I think that's what hanging up. I don't want to break anything, and 'pulling as hard as I can' doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere. Any advice?

[Over59]

I found it hard to remove mine. The pipes (inner and outer) slide over the connection on the back of the heater. Mine had a retaining screw but was still hard. Had to jiggly back and forth and pull up a little. Tap lightly on the fitting to knock loose some of the carbon that bonds the pipe together. Seems the pipe were accordian style as well, one half sliding into the other which then went outside to the round fitting. This was very stuck to the pipe. You have disconnected the gas line at the heater and freed the temperature probe? Try turning the pipe to free it up. Wait till you see whats inside the thing.

[Janet H]

1. Close windows, seal leaks etc
2. Turn on oven pilot, fridge, and open valve to furnace
(a) open oven door
(b) Run odd errand - leave trailer to "rest" for several hours.
This step is very important.
3. Open furnace door
4. Insert lit emergency road flare
5. Close door

Hydroflame will remove itself and any leaking windows you may have as well as old worn out upholstry. If you do this right find your oven and fridge will cleaned as well.

Stay safe....

[Stefrobrts]

Well, if I could light it, I wouldn't need to remove it

[Paul Mayeux]

Stephanie - Had the same problem with the hydroflame in our Caravel. I tried everything from tapping on the pipes to spraying WD40 in the outlet. Ended up having to take a sawzall and cut through the pipes. The culprit was the inner pipes had rusted together. I bought a new Olympic wave 3 to go in it's spot. I kept the original exhaust on the side by capping the end and reattaching it to the trailer with rivets. It turned out to be a pretty nice installation.

[Stefrobrts]

Well, I did some more pulling and prying and swearing last night, and nothing budged. There's no screws anywhere around, so I'm thinking my next move is to cut through the pipes and repair the damage once it's out. I'd like to keep the Hydroflame itself, if we can get someone to fix it for us.

[bredlo]

Hydroflame. Almost as good an oxymoron as airplane food.. or Microsoft Works.

[walter1]

Jumbo Shrimp

Originally Posted by bredlo

Hydroflame. Almost as good an oxymoron as airplane food.. or Microsoft Works.

[Over59]

By the way I never got it working again and cann't find a replacement. If you don't need the heater use the space for storage, if you do need heat and camp a hookups get a little electric heater, that's what we use. Otherwise you are likly looking at a whole new install under the sofa or dinette. That was our plan until we bought the Bat Cave.
Pull the thing apart from the outside, break the seal of the caulking, twist and pull and twist, ect. You cut the pipes and you will never get it back together, It's two pipes. One inside the other.

[Stefrobrts]

I'm cutting it out. There's no twisting to it at all, it just won't budge. I think the only wiggling I'm getting is just the flexing of the chassis/box. That thing is stuck good.

Did you take it to someone to fix yours? What was wrong with it that couldn't be fixed? It seems like such a simple concept. Are you sure a new heater like the one in the new Bambi couldn't fit into the space? Seems like there's a bit of room behind the wheelwell, though I haven't measured those to see exactly how big they are or how much clearance they need.

We usually camp with hookups, but it would be nice to have the option not to use them. When we're just stopping overnight we sometimes don't hook up anything but the blueboy. In our climate, we can get away without AC, but we definitly need the heater!

[Over59]

Took it out, took it part, cleaned it, put it back in. Won't light. Haven't spent anytime on it since. I don't know of any that fit that space as is and I'm not comfortable with a cat heater in that space. Not enough clearance for me. If you don't mind running the supply on the surface from the back of the fridge the end of the galley by the door is a popular place and you already have gas nearby. Good Luck.

[Stefrobrts]

Well, I finally got the heater out by cutting through the exhaust. The small inner pipe was rusted tight where they slip together.

I'm going to take it to my RV shop and have them work on it and see if they can get it going again. If they can, I'll have an ignitor added to it, and hopefully we can get a few more years out of it.

I agree, I don't want a cat heater there, it would be WAY too close to my head when we're sleeping on the gaucho.