furnace ??

[John Greenlee]

I just got a 'newtome' 1966 Overlander. It has the original furnace, and I have a couple of questions.

1. It only wants to operate on the 12V switch position. After thinking about it and studying the owners manual, I came to the conclusion this is probably correct. I am guessing in the Airstream application, it works only on 12v like the lights and depends on the inverter to keep the battery charged with city power. Is this the case? Or should it operate with the toggle switch in the 115v position?

2. The owners manual (yep, came with it) says the floor registers are for return air only. However, warm air comes out of them when it is in operation, and the return air goes in the big vent under the sink. What's up here?

Thanks!


JMG

[CanoeStream]

(but not really a bump...)

Read the following thread, but especially look at the safety links and make double sure you would dare go to sleep with such an old furnace running:

Short circuit in suburban furnace

Only the most knowledgeable (and not the hobbyist or budget-conscious owner) should try to bring such a unit back into regular use. As the sarge on Hill Street Blues always said, "let's be careful out there."

[John Greenlee]

A little checking and...

This furnace is an International Oil Burner model 1520L. Maybe not original to the trailer?

[85MH325]

John, I agree with Bob's advice. Have the furnace checked by a qualified heating professional. Warm air in the cold air return may mean that your burner housing is cracked... not only is hot air escaping, but so is carbon monoxide.

Whether or not your furnace is original may be impossible to determine. Specifics changed from trailer to trailer on the same production line, and additionally Airstream would custom build any coach with custom appliances if the buyer requested it.

Your best (and safest) bet is probably to just replace the old furnace with a newer (and more efficient) model.

Roger

[John Greenlee]

Hello,

Its pretty obvious to me that the fan is turning the direction to force the air out the floor registers. I figure that this is either correct for this furnace, or it is wired backwards.

My owners manual specifies a Suburban. It may have been replaced with this one.

I agree that I may well pull it out and inspect the heat exchanger before any serious use of it. The heater really is immaculate, so maybe the use was low. Living in Texas means I will probably need it little if any since we mostly camp during the summer. The only use I have made of a heater in the summer was when we took our other (now redundant) trailer to Yellowstone back during June. It was plenty cold there. 95 at home, 45 there.

JMG