50 replies to this topic

[Idahojolson]

Sorry, hose not house. Taking the plastic cover off the heater and removing the corrugated foil hose worked because of an airflow issue kept the furnace from lighting.

[Stan@FourWheel]

what or where is that exactly?

 

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[patrkbukly]

Sample picture attached.

Thanks Stan.

 

So that said I have a question;

My furnace now starts and runs reliably at all elevations (remember I live at 10,082 feet and we camp higher than here often).

Is there any benefit to me removing that foil hose as well? Or should I leave it be?

[Idahojolson]

Thanks Stan!

[Idahojolson]

Spent the weekend in cold temps and snow and at 7000 feet. Took foil hose off and heater worked great the whole time. Two full days and a whole night of use. Used an entire 10 gallons of propane. Experiment a success. Just FYI.

[eav]

Yep we took the foil hose off too and the heater works fine after a few cold trips when it wouldn't ignite. We also stuck a silicon jar cover over the heater vent on the outside to prevent debris and dust from getting inside. We take it off before we fire up the heater. We also light the stove first before the heater to ensure an adequate propane flow. We also make the sign of the cross over the thermostat, just to cover all contingencies. 

[PaulT]

Look at these, https://www.etrailer...o/CAM42140.html

I have one on my furnace exhaust and another water heater exhaust.  Keeps insects and spider webs at bay.

Be patient installing the springs. They are a bit of a pain to get hooked up. A tarp on the ground helps finding a spring if you’re not patient. 

Not that I was impatient or fumble fingered when I did mine, you understand.   
Paul

[BigRanchInSky]

I'm back to 100% reliability. (I hope)

 

Stan (or someone @FWPC) sent me a new furnace faceplate (I had reached out to them last fall re: heater not working). It moves the round venting part over just a bit (so the round part of the faceplate is slightly more aligned with inner round part where hot air exits heater), but it's not exact at all.

 

I took off the old furnace faceplate, along with the foil tubing and put back on only the new face plate, no foil tubing. Went camping 3 days...furnace ran like a charm and it was in the 30's at night (no water in the camper yet). My belief is that the foil tubing hampers the furnace.

 

Is there any reason to use the foil tubing? Am I missing something? Since the inside of my camper is about the size a large phone booth I don't think directing the air mean much...and I'd rather have the heater work than not! I don't think the new faceplate did much, I DO think taking the foil tubing off helped tremendously though.

 

My motto: nix the tubing, live in heat! 

[JimBow]

I recently had a problem with the furnace not lighting in my 2017 Fleet.. This was in snowy below zero temp weather at 6500 feet. It randomly started working. I thought maybe some snow blew into the exhaust vent and caused the furnace not to light. I have no idea.

 

One thing I learned is to always carry a sleeping bag rated for the outside temps you'll be in and not to depend on that furnace. I want to look into a wood burning stove to use inside the camper. I don't know if it's possible.  

[ri-f]

I recently had a problem with the furnace not lighting in my 2017 Fleet.. This was in snowy below zero temp weather at 6500 feet. It randomly started working. I thought maybe some snow blew into the exhaust vent and caused the furnace not to light. I have no idea.

 

One thing I learned is to always carry a sleeping bag rated for the outside temps you'll be in and not to depend on that furnace. I want to look into a wood burning stove to use inside the camper. I don't know if it's possible.  

Would suggest a Wave 3 or Wave 6 propane heater as a supplement and/or redundant backup to your existing furnace, hooked up to a seperate tank with its own hose and fittings. It's a relatively simple install. I installed a Wave 3 in my Hawk (along sid the furnace) and found it reliable, clean, silent and efficient. I used it as my primary heater now, with the furnace for a quick warm up and then shut it off and let the Wave maintain an even heat once the cabin is warmed up and the furnace is shut off. And if you crack both a turnbuckle vent and roof vent or upper window a bit, it won't generate any more condensation than the furnace, at least that's been true for me.  I think you could install a small wood stove or pellet stove but it will generate plenty of soot and ash and require a lot of vigilence and careful maintenance in a pop-up camper. You'd also have to cut a large hole through a sde wall and run a long pipe up the exterior to get decent air flow. I don't think on a pop-up  this makes a lot of sense. If it were a hard-sided camper that didn't pop up it would be a viable idea, especially if you typically camped in forests with plenty of fuel waiting to be picked up off the ground.

 

Rich