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m.hony · 01-03-2014, 04:30 PM

I would think maybe something is left unplugged on the back of the thermostat...

**moosetags** · 01-03-2014, 07:30 PM

I have checked the back of the thermostat. There is a single four contact plug that plugs into the back of the thermostat. It looks like a telephone land line plug. I have taken it out and cleaned it. I'm still not seeing the gas furnace at all.

Brian

Jim Flower · 01-03-2014, 07:58 PM

Brian, try resetting your thermostat. On mine this is done by putting it in the off position, holding down the mode and zone buttons and then turning it on again. If this does not work, try cleaning the other end of the telephone like cable connection that is found up in the ac unit. This is a pain because you have to remove the cowling inside your Airstream. If this does not work, maybe the dip switches were incorrectly set when the unit was installed and I don't know how to do a reset. But both the unit and thermostat manuals are available on line. If none of this works,you need Lewster. Jim

**moosetags** · 01-03-2014, 08:28 PM

Thanks for the info, Jim. I have already tried the reinitialization of the the system via the thermostat buttons as you described. I have done it a couple of times without any favorable results.

Being that the gas furnace function vanished upon installation of the new outside unit, I am guessing that the dip switches were set incorrectly at that time. I am hoping that the company that installed the unit will come back at no charge and correct this situation.

We are in Tampa again tonight, but we are headed home tomorrow. I will be giving them a call on Monday morning.

By the way, we are finding that the heat pump is still functioning at temperatures below 40 degrees. It's 38 degrees tonight in Tampa. These new heat pump units go through a defrost cycle, and continues operating.

Brian

Brian

Jim Flower · 01-03-2014, 09:01 PM

Brian, it just happened to be fresh on my mind since I had to do mine (again) last week in order to get the ac to work. Good luck. Jim

Snaken49 · 01-04-2014, 09:22 AM

moosetags you may want to make sure the jack connectors are the proper size according to the Dometic specs.

I had an AC/Heat pump upgraded to a new unit and the shop used the wrong connector. It worked while we parked at the shop. But after driving down the road it would not turn on. We had to go to Radio Shack and buy a connector kit and crimper to restore normal operation.

There is also a junction box under overhead AC outlets in the ceiling of you unit that may have a loose connector.

Good luck!

**moosetags** · 01-04-2014, 08:24 PM

Thanks for the info. We just arrived home from Tampa (430 miles). I'll check the connectors in the morning.

Brian

richinny · 01-04-2014, 10:11 PM

brian, try contacting lewster. i think you are right about the jumper setting. if it is easy it might be easier than getting the installer there to do it.

Snaken49 · 01-05-2014, 07:33 AM

moosetags

The most difficult thing about checking the jumper settings is climbing up on the roof.

Removing the shroud and the cover on the jumper box is easy.

http://www.dometic.com/1f24ead8-6316...87ce6bad.fodoc

The link above is to the installation manual. The jumper settings are on page 18. Page 10 also shows the correct configuration for the RJ-11 connector cables.

Hope this helps!

Gene · 01-05-2014, 11:43 AM

Brian, what follows is my speculation on possible causes of your furnace problem. It maybe more confusing than it is worth and I suspect you have thought of all this already, but just in case it helps…. In the meantime, a trip to Key West may be a good idea to warm up.

The heat pump on ours is supposed to operate until about 28˚ and then switch automatically to furnace. I found that the heat pump was pretty inefficient below 40˚ and haven't used it in years. It is also noisy. 28˚ is when the water starts to freeze hard and the furnace is needed to warm up the tanks.

We have a Lasko ceramic heater that works pretty well until it gets below 50˚, then I turn on the furnace since I usually wake up in the middle of the night.

The Lasko was ordered from Amazon and I think it was less than $30. There are many Lasko heaters available, but we got the simplest with a fan. It has worked fine for years and saves propane when you've got 120 v. and it doesn't get too cold, or until it gets colder.

I hope you get your furnace working as it surely sounds like a bad connection or improperly set switches. If it is a dip switch, you may not have to go to the AC—there has to be one somewhere else, maybe in the thermostat. I've removed the thermostat, but don't remember if there were any switches I could see since I wasn't looking for them. On most things, dip switches are hard to find, very small and hidden in a corner of a remote where I need a magnifying glass to identify what to do with them. I doubt the switches are at the furnace since the thermostat would be the logical place for them. Our thermostat has capability for a 2 zone system (not sure whether for heat or two air conditioners—more likely the latter) and maybe there is a clue there. Zone 2 doesn't do anything on ours.

One way to make things work is to jump the wires and operate the furnace manually. I thunk you'd have to do that at the furnace—find the wiring and use a jumper. But the 12 v. line to the furnace probably comes from the thermostat and would not be hot. Normally, it is the hot wire that is switched, but I have found on our trailer sometimes it is the ground that is switched. At the furnace there will also be high and low limit switches for the fan—these can be changed, but that is not your problem (probably). They may be hard to identify and make it harder to figure out which wire is for what. But the furnace will run before the fan so the firebox heats up, then the fan comes on and runs until after the gas turns off to blow the last bit of heat through the trailer. So it is possible the furnace is heating up, but there is no fan and you only get a little bit of heat by convection. In that case, the furnace would keep running and running and running unless there is a relay that turns it off if it gets too hot. That doesn't sound likely in this situation.

The most likely thing is something was done wrong when the A/C was worked on under the principle to check the most obvious and simplest thing first. If the connector on the A/C were loose, nothing would work. Since there is a switching system that turns on the furnace when it gets too cold outside for the heat pump to operate, somewhere in the A/C is a sensor that reads the temp. That allows the furnace to operate according to what the thermostat is set for. My guess is that switch that allows the furnace to run when the temp falls to 28˚ is closed whenever the heat pump is off. And that switch could be a problem and may be located in the thermostat or the A/C.

One of things I don't like about 12 v. systems is the small wires and connectors are very difficult to test and clean. It has to be checked by trial and error. A wire could be broken, possibly fatally crunched when the A/C was installed. I would try bending any exposed wires to see if it restores the connection, and then you know which one to replace, no easy feat.

Good luck and be glad you aren't in Bismarck today (a furnace wouldn't help much at those temps).

Gene

Antique Pedaler · 01-06-2014, 08:08 AM

My experience is that when an appliance in the trailer won't work for no good reason, it's something I've done. Like the time the frig just stopped working. I thought and thought what I might have done. Finally I remembered the only thing I had done even close to the frig was vacume it from the outside opening. Sure enough the hot wire holding screw was loose and I had pulled the wire out of the connector. I'll bet money your AC tech erred.

**moosetags** · 01-06-2014, 07:35 PM

The company that installed the new roof unit two weeks ago came back out this morning and reset the jump switches on Lucy's roof unit. The furnace function immediately came back on line. We got it going just in time as it is going to be in the 20's tonight in the Florida Panhandle.

SuEllyn spent the day installing rubber flooring in Lucy. She has already built and installed the work bench/counter top over the stove burners.

Hopefully, New Lucy will not deal us any more unpleasant surprises.

Brian

SteveSueMac · 01-06-2014, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

...snip...

Hopefully, New Lucy will not deal us any more unpleasant surprises.

Brian

Hear hear!!!!

Nothing but good stuff from now on :-)

rodsterinfl · 01-06-2014, 09:35 PM

Hey Moosetags I thought you might be heading further south. I have a Holmes space heater I was willing to give you! BTW the the Voyager Digital Wireless rear view camera (Model WVOS511) is great. You will like it.

GettinAway · 01-07-2014, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

The company that installed the new roof unit two weeks ago came back out this morning and reset the jump switches on Lucy's roof unit. The furnace function immediately came back on line. We got it going just in time as it is going to be in the 20's tonight in the Florida Panhandle.

SuEllyn spent the day installing rubber flooring in Lucy. She has already built and installed the work bench/counter top over the stove burners.

Hopefully, New Lucy will not deal us any more unpleasant surprises.

Brian

Glad you got the furnace functioning again. The heat pump is way too loud for me..
Just curious, could you post a pic or two, or a link to the rubber flooring, and work bench counter top over the burners?
Thanks
Jeff

Gene · 01-08-2014, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

SuEllyn spent the day installing rubber flooring in Lucy. She has already built and installed the work bench/counter top over the stove burners.

Glad about the furnace.

Yeh, I want to see photos too. The idea for the cabinet we installed in our trailer came from SuEllyn, so these changes must be good too.

I thought of rubber flooring, but it is hard to find around here. Great for your feet.

Gene

**moosetags** · 01-10-2014, 11:28 AM

Well, New Lucy's gas furnace worked flawlessly throughout the recent cold snap. We had two nights of hard freeze, and down to 18 degrees on Tuesday. I realize that doesn't sound too bad to most of you. It's a big deal in the Florida Panhandle. On the coast here, we have not had any freezing temperatures in several years. We have never winterized our Airstream and count on our gas furnace when the temps drop below heat pump range.

We are continuing to get New Lucy fitted for heavy duty traveling. SuEllyn has designed and built a work surface to cover Lucy's stove burners. SuEllyn has also been installing rubber flooring. We had this in Old Lucy, and we really liked it.

Here are a few pictures of SuEllyn's latest projects.

Brian

Caryl · 01-10-2014, 11:55 AM

Brian,

Thanks for the pictures. The floor looks great. We are looking at the 23FB as well as the 25 and appreciate your thread. Here are a couple of questions:

Where will you store the work surface when using the stove top and when traveling? I made something similar for our Bambi to extend the non-existent work space and it has served us well.

Does water seep under the tiles when mopping?

Thanks.

Caryl

**moosetags** · 01-10-2014, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caryl

Brian,

Thanks for the pictures. The floor looks great. We are looking at the 23FB as well as the 25 and appreciate your thread. Here are a couple of questions:

Where will you store the work surface when using the stove top and when traveling? I made something similar for our Bambi to extend the non-existent work space and it has served us well.

Does water seep under the tiles when mopping?

Thanks.

Caryl

Hi Caryl,

As to your first question about storing the work surface while the stove burners are in use, we don't think that this will present a problem. During the eight years (1,350 nights/120,000 miles) that we had our 25FB, we used the stove top twice. Both times they were used at home as extra burners during holiday gatherings. We are microwave people. We have two microwaves at home so that we can eat together.

We have towed Lucy about 1,000 miles since SuEllyn installed the work surface. We have left it in place during travel, and it has not presented a problem.

We had the rubber flooring in Old Lucy for about seven years. We did most of our floor cleaning with Windex and a paper towel. Dirt does have a way of getting under the rubber floor at the edges. We simply lift the edge and hit it with the crevice tool on our camp vacuum.

Brian

**moosetags** · 01-10-2014, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodsterinfl

Hey Moosetags I thought you might be heading further south. I have a Holmes space heater I was willing to give you! BTW the the Voyager Digital Wireless rear view camera (Model WVOS511) is great. You will like it.

The Voyager wireless rear view camera is great. I have quit mounting the extended mirrors on the Suburban. When it's raining, the lens get wet, and the image on the screen is not real good.

Brian