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12-12-2002, 06:35 PM
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#1
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Rivet Master 
1986 25' Sovereign
Southern Middle
, Tennessee
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,335
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Furnace/catalytic stuff
I've been off the board for several weeks finishing my deer season and busy with work. I just thought I would share a few things with you concerning questions posed by members of the forum on catalytic heaters and the furnace. Here goes:
My furnace refused to light several weeks ago while I was testing it for some upcoming hunting weekends. I thought it might be the propane lockout because I ruled out low batteries which were fully charged. I even hooked up to shorepower with no difference in detectable fan speed difference. I closed off all valves and tried again in several sequences but nothing worked. Thermostat was where it needed to be and was turned off at the end of each attempt. I could hear the furnace attempting to light 3 times then it would not try to light again. I left for the 109 mile trip but along the way some fool in a small car pulled into my lane as his front door cleared my front bumper. I hit the brakes and maneuvered to the left of my lane. I didn't have time to look in my side mirror as I saw his car disappear under the front of my hood. I heard the trailer brakes start squalling and waited for the impact. I must have missed him by a few inches. By the time I reached my destination and centered the trailer up, the furnace worked when I tested it and it ran fine all weekend.
Here are a few tidbits for those analytic types:
Catalytic Wave 6 heater on low setting Friday morning-
Time temp outside temp inside
10:30 a.m. 40.5 degrees 43 degrees
11:00 a.m. 40.9 46.2
12:10 p.m. 41.5 53.1
2:15 p.m. 42.3 57.6
3:35 p.m. 41.7 58.6
4:05 p.m. 41 58.1
5:50 p.m. 39 56.3
6:15 p.m. 38.1 56.1
7:45 p.m. 35.2 57.2
7:55 p.m. 34.7 57.6
8:25 p.m. 33.1 56.3
Saturday morning
4:00 a.m. 26.2 46.9
Heater turned on high at this time
4:12 a.m. 26.4 49.5
4:30 a.m. 26.4 51.1
Turned to low and went hunting.
I set the furnace temp on 62 at bedtime Saturday night and the catalytic heater on low. Temp was 63 inside at 4 a.m. Sunday morning and 30 outside.
__________________
Craig
AIR #0078
'01 2500hd ext. cab, 8.1 litre gas, 5 sp. Allison auto
3.73 rear end
Mag-Hytec rear diff cover
Amsoil Dual by-pass oil filtration system
Amsoil synthetics all around
265 watt AM Solar, Inc. system
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12-13-2002, 01:22 AM
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#2
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 94
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12-13-2002, 08:01 AM
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
1972 31' Sovereign
High Springs
, Florida
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 2,311
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Craig, I had symptoms of a bad gas valve also. I would light the pilot, and when the t-stat was set to temperature, it would blow out the pilot light. Removing the cap screw inspection cover, and turning up t-stat, it would light and blow flames out inspection port. Some said gas valve was bad, and could not be replaced as unit was obsolete.
But what I started doing was this, one to two evenings a week I started firing up the furnace and watching an hour of tv or so, and going on "mouse patrol". After a couple of days of use, the furnace now operates correctly. I have even run it a couple of days, with no problems. I think the gas valve get dirty from setting, and using it cleans it out. Former owners never used the furnace.
__________________
ARS WA8ZYT
2003 GMC 2500HD 4X4 D/A Ext. Cab
Propane Powered Honda EU2000i
Lots of Hot Sauce!
Air # 283
WBCCI 1350
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12-13-2002, 04:35 PM
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#4
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Rivet Master 
1986 25' Sovereign
Southern Middle
, Tennessee
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,335
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OK Ron,
I couldn't get the columns to line up right for some reason. I know it is hard to make out but if you take each line with time, outside temperature and then inside temperature you can get an idea that the heater had some effect on the inside temperature. The Oregon Scientific barometer/temp unit was placed on the dresser across from my twin bed in the center of the trailer (rear bath) and the remote unit on top of my 40 lb. aluminum tanks outside. I usually sleep in a sleeping bag on top of the mattress so that I don't have to make up a bed while on a hunting trip.
__________________
Craig
AIR #0078
'01 2500hd ext. cab, 8.1 litre gas, 5 sp. Allison auto
3.73 rear end
Mag-Hytec rear diff cover
Amsoil Dual by-pass oil filtration system
Amsoil synthetics all around
265 watt AM Solar, Inc. system
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12-13-2002, 07:25 PM
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#5
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 222
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Me lost too
Hey David see where you were in Corpus Christi my hometown for many years. I used to bird huntup at Pawnee near Beeville. Did you ever live in that area?
Anyway I am not sure what all this heater talk is about either.
First what is a Catalytic Heater? Is electricity needed? What is the fuel? I am assuming that a catalytic heater is an auxillary item.
Was your point that the auxillary heater raised the temp to the levels you noted? Was that surprising? I mean what would it be expected to do other than raise the temps? Did you not use the built in furnace until Saturday night? Still sounds pretty nippy inside to me!
Were you saving battery power (furnace blower) or just running an experiment in using the auxillary heater?
Or Am I all wrong here and the Airstream furnace is known as a catalytic heater? If we are talking about an aux heater, wherewas it placed and is it directional or 360 degree radiant?
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12-13-2002, 07:45 PM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
1972 31' Sovereign
High Springs
, Florida
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 2,311
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The things I do for you guys....
walked across the street in the rain and took this picture, so you can see a catalytic heater Hex! The cat heater somehow burns propane without a flame. You light it near the base and it flames up and then goes out, continuing to "burn", without a flame. I'm not sure of the theory of operation, but they work nice! Mine came with the trailer, not sure if it is an AS option or not.
__________________
ARS WA8ZYT
2003 GMC 2500HD 4X4 D/A Ext. Cab
Propane Powered Honda EU2000i
Lots of Hot Sauce!
Air # 283
WBCCI 1350
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12-13-2002, 08:03 PM
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#7
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 222
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Thanks
Thanks Pick I was imagining something entirely different. I did check the Owner's Manual for 1974 Excella and nothing of that nature is pictured or mentioned. So at least in 1974 it must have been at best an optional and most likely not a factory option at all.
I notice it built into your credenza, how deep aprox does it go in?
(Don't go back out there for that) just guess. Does the credenza tend to get hot or warm at all? Is it strictly radiant or is there a fan to spread the heat it makes?
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12-13-2002, 08:33 PM
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#8
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Rivet Master 
1986 25' Sovereign
Southern Middle
, Tennessee
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,335
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catalytic heater
hex,
All your questions were good ones. Pick answered some of them and it looks like he has a nice unit in his trailer. First, I have hunted on the Scott Ranch in Beeville off and on for many years as a guest of family friends. The ranch was owned by oil men and was later divided among the owners. My sister and I grew up with the owner's daughters and they are a very nice family. I really can't tell you exactly where in the Beeville area it is without the map I have of the place at my mom's house in Corpus Christi. I do know that I pass Beeville Community College and it is a few miles farther down the road.
As Pick noted, the catalytic heater uses propane. There is no visible flame, only a red glow. The higher the knob is turned up, the more propane coming into the unit and subsequently more surface area that turns red. The catalytic does not give off fumes but does consume oxygen. They recommend you crack a vent or window to be on the safe side. I usually open one of my overhead vents an inch but leave the rest of the vents closed. I will open a window by the kitchen counter half an inch. This has been sufficient because I haven't awakened with a headache and am still alive contrary to what my wife says.
Some of the catalytics use electricity to power a small fan but neither of my units have this. If you find my pictures in the gallery you will see my Wave 6 mounted on the left side of my entrance area. I had an old Therm'X unit that was disconnected by the RV dealer who cleaned the unit up for a private individual prior to my purchase. I accidently broke part of the unit while hooking it back up so went with the Wave 6. I am not sure if the Therm'X was an option from Airstream or not.
A previous post suggested that the catalytic was only good if you were in front of the unit. I can tell you that it will run you off the front couch when on high but I knew that it heated the rest of the trailer also. This is why I ran the test. It may heat the air and objects in front of it as a forum member stated but the heat moves down the trailer to heat the rest of the unit. Granted, the other end of the trailer is not as warm as the front but then I could put my portable unit in the bathroom if I wanted to. I only used the front mounted Wave 6 on low the first night without help from the Suburban 30,000 BTU furnace to prove my point. Sure it was cooler than most people like but I wanted to show what the 2,000 BTU setting would do without any other source of heat or fan. My hunting buddy sleeping on the front couch was comfortable and slept like a rock.
The second night I left the unit on low but kicked in the Suburban furnace. Fri. night and Sat. morning were colder than the next night but I was also running more lights than normal and wanted to see how my 2 batteries were holding out. That will be another post in a few minutes regarding the Delco Voyager batteries and my BatteryMinder battery charger. I ran the furnace all night long and turned it off around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning. There a few members who have run a catalytic heater in conjunction with the furnace to save battery power when boondocking. It worked for me last winter and comes through again for me this winter. The furnace turns on every now and then, heats the underside of the trailer and moves the air around. When I arrived home Sunday and hooked the BatteryMinder charger to the batteries, it took froom 4 p.m. until sometime Tuesday morning before the unit showed that the batteries were going through the desulfation process. It is a slow charge but not a 4 or 5 day process like some have suggested. It has also been helped by a 5 watt Pulsetech Solargizer solar charger/maintainer unit. Hope this clarifies why I have been testing these products. I have been extremely happy with all the products I researched extensively before buying. My wife says I spend too much checking this stuff out but I only want to spend money on products that work.
__________________
Craig
AIR #0078
'01 2500hd ext. cab, 8.1 litre gas, 5 sp. Allison auto
3.73 rear end
Mag-Hytec rear diff cover
Amsoil Dual by-pass oil filtration system
Amsoil synthetics all around
265 watt AM Solar, Inc. system
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12-14-2002, 06:45 AM
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#9
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Moderator Emeritus
1972 31' Sovereign
High Springs
, Florida
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 2,311
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Hex, that unit is surface mounted, it is only about 2 inches thick! It appears to be factory installed as it is riveted to the credenza. I would have to disassemble the unit to remove it. It is a 6000 BTU unit.
__________________
ARS WA8ZYT
2003 GMC 2500HD 4X4 D/A Ext. Cab
Propane Powered Honda EU2000i
Lots of Hot Sauce!
Air # 283
WBCCI 1350
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