Shutting down heater/furnace

[Ssmookler]

Just got my '86 sovereign and it is in my driveway,for now,with power from a landline. We are keeping the AS here for a few weeks then taking it to JC for a complete checkup. Some minor problems to address.
My question is how do I shut down the heater/furnace?
The thermostat does not have an off position and when I went in to the AS this morning while watching the flurries come down the furnace was on.
I don't want the furnace on while we have it sitting in the driveway using up the LPG. I want to keep the power on but don't know the right steps to shut it down.
Suggestions?

[TinTin]

For the interim, you could reduce the setting on the thermostat.

Your thermostat is likely different from ours, the on-off on the Duo-Therms is on the bottom right.

[polarlyse]

We had an '85 Excella. The thermostat was in the sleeping area. It was a rotary style with an on-off switch on the bottom. Not sure what yours is but the newer trailers are entirely different with AC / heat pumps and fan all included in their function.

[HowieE]

If you can not find an on/off switch, and one should be there, just disconnect one wire in the thermostat or pull the fuse.

Long term have Jackson install a switched thermostat.

[cwf]

Find the fuse going to the heater and remove it. Pull one of the wires off of the Propane solenoid in the heater so you can leave the propane pressured up.

[Ssmookler]

Thanks for the very helpful suggestions. I'll look at removing the furnace fuse and check out the thermostat again. I thought I checked out the thermostat but will look again.

[bigjohnn]

mine doesNOT have a on - Off sw just push it to the lowest setting an that is OFF 1972 Safari ( #2741 )

[Jim Foster]

Out '83 Excella shuts off when the thermostat is set to the lowest position.


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[cwf]

What shut it off?

[xrvr]

I thought mine had a little indent on the lever after moving the thermostat to the lowest temp. Just gently move the lever a little farther past the indent and it is off.

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by zigzagguzzi

I thought mine had a little indent on the lever after moving the thermostat to the lowest temp. Just gently move the lever a little farther past the indent and it is off.

This is the answer for thermostats that do not have a separate on/off switch. The switch is built into the range of the sweep of the stst.

If your heater does not turn off when the stst is lowered to the end of the range and pushed to a hard stopping point the stst may need to be checked.

Remove one wire from the stst and with an ohm meter across the 2 attachment point on the stst sweep the stst through the full range. You should lose continuity at the lowest point of the range. That is the switch.

[perryg114]

Usually on the ones that have the thermostat from Suburban off is turning the temp all the way down. I thought mine was off the other day and I had not turned the thermostat far enough to the left for it to turn off. The thermostats that Suburban provides are really crappy.

Perry

[blkmagikca]

The thermostat on my 1987 Excella is in the bedroom area. The manual simply said to move the setting to the lowest possible temperature. However, there is a simple fix to this which I did.

I bought a small SPST toggle switch at Radio Shack, and drilled a small hole in the side of the thermostat to mount it. I cut the power lead into the thermostat and connected the cut ends to the switch. Now I just have to flip the switch up for on and down for off without making any changes to the temperature setting. This, BTW, is what the thermostat in my previous AS (a LY motorhome) had.

Simple solution, works well and the cost was under $5.

[perryg114]

I will be finding a good digital thermostat at some point.

Perry

[Thalweg]

I have the original thermostat in my '62. There is no "off" position on the thermostat. The lowest point on the thermostat is about 50 degrees. I found that if the battery is hooked up, and the temp is below 50, the fan on the furnace will come on regardless of if the propane is on in the furnace or the pilot light is lit. So I got an in-line toggle switch that simply attaches to the wire, and put it on the thermostat wire. It keeps the fan from kicking on.

I've been debating on moving the switch to the 12-volt power line to the furnace. Last week the furnace kicked on, and I didn't want it to because I was trying to conserve battery power. I turned the switch off, but the fan kept running for a couple of minutes. Does anyone know, is there a potential to damage the furnace if I remove power to it while it is hot?

[TG Twinkie]

The idea behind the furnace running for a couple of minutes is to cool it down. You really don't want to shut down a hot furnace immediately.
I have the original thermostat in the Argosy. Never had the furnace blower come on. Even at -30 degrees F when the lever is all the way to the left.
There is nothing more simple than the old style thermostat with the mercury bulb. No electronics to fail. Nothing to program. No error codes to deal with. I like the old saying. "KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!"


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[Thalweg]

Thanks TG. I thought that might be the case. I'm also a big proponent of the "Keep it Simple Stupid" standards. I'll keep the switch on the thermostat wire. Can't get much simpler than that.