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furnace mounting - blowing air at the water tank & lines


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#11 Thevulture

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Posted 12 July 2018 - 10:42 PM

I’m getting ready to install a Propex on my Eagle. Have you noticed any issues with your exhaust going into your truck bed? Or do you think there’s enough airflow?
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#12 Vic Harder

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Posted 13 July 2018 - 12:29 AM

not yet, since it’s warm outside
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#13 Thevulture

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Posted 15 July 2018 - 04:33 PM

Thanks.
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#14 Vic Harder

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Posted 31 August 2018 - 07:55 PM

Update time.  We have been out a few times in cooler weather, so have had a chance to check out the Propex furnace.

 

First - it works!  Noisier than I had hoped.  Can't compare to much of anything else though, since the other noisemakers in the camper are only the 130L Truckfridge (near silent) and the Fantastic Fan (noisy!).  

 

Second - I had to tweek my install.  I had a problem with the furnace not lighting, (turns out to have been user error, as I didn't tighten the propane hose onto the tank tight enough to open the valve - small burr had me thinking it was "on", had to push past that resistance to really get it on), and learned a few things from the excellent support folks at Propex Canada (Chris Ball).

 

- The exhaust hose gets really hot (250*) and needs to be protected.  These units normally go into "Caravans" with metal bodies/floors.  When installing in a wooden camper, we need to take extra precautions.  Also, I mounted mine in a really tight spot, so need to take extra extra precautions! See more info below...

 

- There is a fuse on the circuit board!  This can be really hard to get at, depending on how the furnace is mounted.  Take a look at it when you are connecting the wires and have the cover off.  JPG attached with details here:

Propex   Pektron Board Fuse problem

 

I got this PDF from Propex Canada, when we were troubleshooting why the furnace wouldn't light up.  The fuse on mine was not blown, but it was good to find out where it was.

 

So I made a few mods to ensure the hot stuff on the heater does not get in contact with wood.  I had initially routed the flame exhaust like this:

IMG 2376
 
It now goes through an aluminum plate, with the hole just big enough for the supplied silicone rubber sleeve to fit, and sealed with red high temp silicone for use on engines and other super hot items.  The hole behind the alum has been enlarged to 2", so there is lots of room around the exhaust hose.
IMG 0209

 

I also added another hose clamp to secure the hose and keep the down angle consistent (for condensation drainage) and added some 1" long metal stand-offs to keep the hose away from the camper's wooden surfaces.
IMG 0215

 

Finally, I added a piece of angle alum inside the camper, to shield the hot air hose from the hot exhaust hose.  There is about 3" clearance there, and the hot exhaust hose rests on top of the alum angle.  I could also add a sheet of silicone rubber on top of the angle alum at some point, as the alum angle still gets pretty hot.

IMG 0208

 

 
Also, the way I had the hot air exiting and blowing onto the water pump, and hose fittings on the end of the water tank, meant that there wasn't a lot of air flow coming out of the heater.  Too many obstructions as you can see in the image below.  So I am going to be adding some more length to that hose and running it beside all those components, and still exiting down low as planned, but with a hose to run through the whole way.  Gotta go to HomeDepot and grab some dryer vent hose for that.
IMG 0205

 

The next project is adding a better thermostat.  We tested out the existing one last weekend, and on the lowest setting it heats the camper to 15*C.  Too warm for me at night.  I'd like to get a "freeze protect" setting of around 5*.   I got this info from Propex Canada and need to splice in a thermostat to give me finer control.

propex   additional thermostat info

 

Ideas on how to do that would be appreciated.  There are a few links out there, (this is a great general install page https://faroutride.com/propex-install/ )

but nothing super clear on how to wire in an additional thermostat.


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#15 DanoT

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Posted 02 September 2018 - 05:41 AM

I have found that for winter camping the position of the thermostat can be critical. The factory thermostat position in my Phoenix camper was too close to the furnace and in really cold temps caused the furnace to shut down before things got very warm. So I re positioned the thermostat farther away on the side of a cabinet but this time the furnace would not cycle off when I wanted it to. So the 3rd thermostat position (front of the cabinet) was finally the charm.


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1991 Dodge CTD, owned since new. 2011 Coyote RV Phoenix pop-up camper, custom made for the Canadian winter.

#16 larryqp

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Posted 02 September 2018 - 11:29 AM

When I installed my propex heater,  wrapped the exhaust pipe with automotive exhaust header wrap.The ends of the header wrap are secured with a hose clamp.

It's available at any auto parts store. I can wrap by hand around the exhaust pipe when its running and it's not hot at all. It may be overkill, but I didn't want to worry about it. I think a roll of the exhaust header wrap was about $50. Cheap enough for mental wellness.


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2016 F150, FX4, XLT super cab

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2009 Ford Ranger 4x4, XLT, Supercab total loss on 7/30/19

2014 FWC Shell total loss on 7/30/19

Towed behind our home which is a 2005 Kountry Star Diesel Pusher


#17 rando

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Posted 04 September 2018 - 03:58 AM

The arrangement of your exhaust tube may be a little concerning.   When I installed a Propex on my pop-top land cruiser, the advice I was given was that you had to be careful routing the exhaust near flammable materials (which you have addressed), but also that the exhaust needs to extend out from under the vehicle to make sure you were exhausting away from living spaces.   Dumping the exhaust gases into the space between the camper and truck seems a little risky, given these campers are not very well sealed.   Can you run the exhaust out to the edge of the camper and into clear air?

 

Wiring in a new thermostat is a little tricky - you will loose the status LED, which is useful for trouble shooting as it blinks out error codes and possibly the fan control too depending on your thermostat.    An easier solution maybe to modify the stock Propex thermostat to have a lower range:

https://www.thesamba...c.php?p=6630782


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#18 Vic Harder

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Posted 05 September 2018 - 05:01 PM

Dumping the exhaust gases into the space between the camper and truck seems a little risky, given these campers are not very well sealed.   Can you run the exhaust out to the edge of the camper and into clear air?

 

Wiring in a new thermostat is a little tricky - you will loose the status LED, which is useful for trouble shooting as it blinks out error codes and possibly the fan control too depending on your thermostat.    An easier solution maybe to modify the stock Propex thermostat to have a lower range:

https://www.thesamba...c.php?p=6630782

Thanks for these insights rando.

 

I'm pretty sure that the CO can't get into the camper.  I saw those same instructions, and I wonder about the wisdom of it, since CO is supposedly lighter than air, so I am not sure how dumping it below the truck would help, it would rise up anyway.  

 

That link looks interesting!  I had thought of keeping both the existing Propex thermostat so as to get the blinking lights, etc... by splicing into the temp sensing line and inserting another thermo in there.  


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#19 Vic Harder

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Posted 05 September 2018 - 05:48 PM

Hmm... that article talks about the older version of the thermostat.  The new one looks very different and may not work the same.


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#20 rando

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Posted 05 September 2018 - 07:55 PM

I am going to guess the new one works the same way - temperature is sensed by a thermistor (resistor that changes resistance with temperature) and a second in series with the thermistor that turns the variable resistance into a voltage.    This the resistor you want to change to move the range of the thermostat (R7 in the previous version of the thermostat).   If you post a close up photo of the board inside the thermostat, I can probably tell you which resistor you would need to change.


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