Catalytic Heater for Classic

[Kenyon]

Haas anybody installed a catalytic heater that was hooked up to the propane system? If so could you lead me to directions to do so.

[davidz71]

Kenyon,
I installed an Olympian Wave 6 in my '77 Excella 500 31'. The copper propane supply line connected on the lower left hand side of that heater. The heater was mounted on the left side wall upon entering the trailer and the stove/oven was just on the other side of that wall (curbside). All I had to do was bend the tubing with a tubing bender, drill a small hole in the wall the heater was mounted on and then make another bend downward to tie into the copper line feeding into the stove/oven unit. You will also need a flaring tool as well as the brass T to go into the supply line. Some people also add a shutoff valve but since one was installed between the propane tank and stove under the trailer, I did not worry about it.

[Mike Lewis]

Ken--I just put one in our 30' 06 Classic a couple weeks ago. I tryed to add picture here but am not sure where they went. Send a PM with your e address and I can send them to you. I did similar to Craig except I put mine on a hinged mount so I can swing it around and point it in different directions. Like his, I mounted it on end of the kitchen counter just above the furnace outlets. I put a hole through the cabinet and used a long enough hose to allow it to swing outward. The gas line enters the coach just below the sink and is routed over behind the microwave to the oven and stove. The best place to splice into this was to remove the micro. There is ample room to "T" into the line there. As an added safety precaution I added a small gas shut off valve between there and the heater. Also the tubing should be "Double Flared" and checked for leakes with soap water before lighting. We choose a Wave 3 so as to have room between the furnace outlets and fold down counter extention. While not large in terms of BTU's, 2800 on hi, it just right for cool morning in the end of the trailer. If your looking for substantial heat the Wave 6 or 8 would be a better choice. This will require either removing the counter extension or modifying it as the Wave 6 & 8 are taller.
pieman

[Mike Lewis]

Ken ---I found my pictures, "DAH", they are in my picture gallery here on the forum !----pieman

[davidz71]

Kenyon,
I forgot to mention that in my RVSolarElectric catalog they described using a Wave 6 with optional feet, a rubber supply line, swivel fitting and a quick disconnect in order to plug the hose in a floor or wall connection. This adds portability.

[S C Streamer]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

While not large in terms of BTU's, 2800 on hi, it just right for cool morning in the end of the trailer.

Hi pieman,

How well do you think a Wave 3 would do as a primary source of heat for my 17'er ?

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by S C Streamer

Hi pieman,

How well do you think a Wave 3 would do as a primary source of heat for my 17'er ?

Streamer----no , it's more of an area heater. Remember these are Radiant heaters and don't heat the air like a flame heater --there good for what they are intended but I don't think they are ment to be primary. Also Cat heaters are ventless but still require a window opened or sourse of air as they consume O2. The larger the heater the more openings you must have.---pieman

[Mike Lewis]

Streamer---forgot to mention that Olympian cautions the use of legs and making these heaters portable {using accessory legs} when using them indoors. -----pieman

[crestonrv]

amazing no d/c no noise currently have 3000btu olypian in my 20' i love the quiet heat just got home from week in saginaw mi. never went above 40 while we were there but comfy inside. was simple added a 3/8 tee to copper feed to stove and ran in back of cabinette to counter wall by e door through wall valve(shut off) and conected with short flex hose from local lp co. soap connections for leakm and presto heat. heaters are expensive are worth it. only drawback is condesate on windows in am wipe off with towel ea. am note a ceiling vent should be cracked for venting as in man. instructions read them they come in three sizes call man for recomended size.as far as i know only available for rv apllication from olypian bill

[OakHill]

Installed a tee and shut off for using a Olympian 6100 in the argosy with a 5 foot flex hose as Texas has a very short use time for it. If it looks like I could use it I bring it a long if not it stays home. Leave a window propped open on the latches and it will keep the place toasty. Upside don't listen to the fan run no ele. use Down side loose some floor space and have to watch what's around it as fire will burn!

[juel]

This is the heater that came in my 78 Argosy. Works well, but doesn't do the whole job when it's 10 outside with a 40MPH wind. I have a 24ft trailer. The frame around the heater was installed by us to reinforce the mounting on that wall. It's the wall next to the refrigerator and was only 1/4 plywood. You'll see the LP line in the lower left corner of the heater. It goes down thru the floor and is attached to the belly pan up to the LP connection. Obviously is a retro fit but very well done.

[DreamStreamr]

Kenyon,
We installed a Wave6 in our 25' International last Thanksgiving using five foot propane hose and attached feet for portability. You can search in photos by my user name (dreamstreamr) and it shows the piping and 1/4 turn gas valve. We leave gas valve off all the time unless stationary and using.

Heats trailer very nicely. Used trailer as a ham shack through January and February with just the catalytic heater without problems. As others have said we open a low window 1.5 inches at one end of trailer and a roof vent 1.5 inches at the other end. Also we have co and natural gas detectors in place -- no accidental alarms so far.

Heater is not in the way, has all required clearances, and we can pull it closer or point it wherever we wish. Heater stays where we put it during towing (without anchors) including 1,000 mile trip last month to Region 3 rally and back. We would do same thing again, same size heater. It's excellent.

[Excella CM]

When you work with old copper tubing, it helps to anneal it with a torch before trying to flare it.

[golddigger]

We had CampingWorld in Elkhart, IN, install an Olympian Wave 6 in our 31ft Classic last summer. The unit is great, but the installation was so-so. It fell off the wall while on the road:

Hamnqvist 2006 summer vacation: Day 28 -- From Coldfoot, AK to Deadhorse, AK

Works great although the kids are complaining a bit about it being too hot in the front of the trailer, while it not being that warm in the back. Allows you to extend your stay when you have no shore power. The cat heater does produce a bit of humidity as a by-product.

My installation has a copper line going through the floor and then a flex hose above. My plan is to install a hinge at some point. Using a stand is not that great of an idea if you have kids and pets, since the can/will tip over, with potentially bad consequences. I had mine put next to the door to reduce the risk my dane fries his butt.

[cammur]

Golddigger,

Really enjoyed your vacation pictures, especially Alaska. A goal of mine someday but I dunno.

[firedog]

Hi ,I just bought a Excella 29 footer,it has a Olympian 6100 Catalytic heater, I would like to hing the unit to swing into the kitchen area ,please let me know how your hing works Thanks.wbcci#3510

Originally Posted by golddigger

We had CampingWorld in Elkhart, IN, install an Olympian Wave 6 in our 31ft Classic last summer. The unit is great, but the installation was so-so. It fell off the wall while on the road:

Hamnqvist 2006 summer vacation: Day 28 -- From Coldfoot, AK to Deadhorse, AK

Works great although the kids are complaining a bit about it being too hot in the front of the trailer, while it not being that warm in the back. Allows you to extend your stay when you have no shore power. The cat heater does produce a bit of humidity as a by-product.

My installation has a copper line going through the floor and then a flex hose above. My plan is to install a hinge at some point. Using a stand is not that great of an idea if you have kids and pets, since the can/will tip over, with potentially bad consequences. I had mine put next to the door to reduce the risk my dane fries his butt.

[DasAir]

I've been using cats for years. First in campers and now in an AS. I have a wave 8 for AS. There are a few issues with cats that you should know. The combustion process generates water, lots of it! the humidity in an enclosed space can be a real pain. I've found a way to totally eliminate it though. Sorry I don't have pics, but I'll try to explain. I had a sheet metal guy fabricate a "chimney" for the heater. It is an aluminum box that is slightly larger than the top of the heater (about 1" wider and 1" deeper) and extends up the wall above the heater. The top of the box is closed and the bottom which sits even with the top of the heater is open. Hopefully you can visualize this. At the top you need to have a small port to the outside, like maybe a 1" tube running from the top of the box through the wall or ceiling. You don't want more than that because you will just lose heat. The box will get hot and radiate heat into the room so you want it away from where you might bump into it. You can also get aluminum gril material from any ace hardware and build a grill around the chimney. This set-up totally eliminates the moisture problem while still capturing nearly all of the heat! Cats are great IMO. They are very efficient, dead quite, and safe. Because they do not have fans, I use a 12V muffin fan, like the ones used in computers, but 12 volt, to circulate heat. The muffin fans use just milliamps of power and are very quiet and long lived. With the chimney fix and the muffin fan recirculater, the cats do a great job of heating for all but the most extreme conditions. I have camped in my camper at 7 below zero with the smallest cat you can buy.

My AS will have a mini wood burning stove and the cat back-up. No other furnace. I really enjoy the quiet.

David