Cold Weather Camping

I have a 2005 3124KS I got a got a week ago. According to the AC manual, it has the heat option if the dial has a "low heat" setting and the temp knob has blue for cooler and red for warmer. Mine has both. It is supposed to be an 1800 watt heating element. I have run mine for a couple hours and it definately puts out heat. Does anybody have and experience with this heater? By the rating, I would expect it to do better than a 1500 watt space heater.

Doug, My expierience is that the heat strip in the A/C is good to take the chill off but thats about it. Problem is the blower blows to high and the air is barely warm when it comes out. Dave

I did as the manual recommended and closed the louvers down to decrease the air flow and that seemed to help. The trailer was pretty cold the day I tried it as it got down close to freezing that night. The temp on the propane heater's thermometer was buried at 50 degrees and took some times to move off it. It warmed up into the upper 40s or low 50s that day. I was not sure if it was the heater or the sun and increasing temps that accounted for the rise in temp, but after about 3 or 4 hours the TM was a little above 60 degrees inside. I guess I will find out this weekend when we take our shake down camping trip. Highs in the 60s, but it is supposed to get to 41 degrees Friday night.

Doug.

I don't agree with your findings on temp when the furnace is on, but you didn't mention outside temp when you were getting 40s to 50s inside.

I find my 3326 will give a 20 degree rise using a 1500 Watt electric heater running full time. That is the difference between inside and outside temperatures at night when camping in my back yard. You should find the furnace to give a whole lot more rise than that... I would estimate over 40 degrees, but have not done that.

On this subject, I did find an air leak that can be easily closed and intend to do that very soon. The piano hinge on the door was found to be a source of a cold draft while I had a broadside cold wind down at the Dunes. I went outside, unfolded the door, and put some plastic packing in the piano hinge area and reinstalled the door. That absolutely stopped the wind except down low where my plastic didn't reach. It made a significant improvement in the inside comfort. I intend to put some sticky-back door sealing foam in that region and I will automatically have the draft blocked forevermore. You might find some drafts that you can do something about. My favorite is to leave the cielling vents open at night when I can't see that they are open.... duhhh.

Oh the furnace works great. I tried it the day before when it was in the low 30s. It warmed the TM right up. This was the heat strip in the AC unit. I am hoping to get a better handle on how well it works this weekend and will report back. I will also bring my heavy duty extention cord and a 1500 watt heater to supplement the AC heater if needed instead of using propane for the furnace. I also fixed the leather flap up front between the front wall and slider since I tried the heaters. It looked like someone tried to push the slider in and got aggresive, but forgot to fold it up. Torn the right side out from between the outside wall and the wood strip.

Well the heater strip in the AC unit did warm the TM up 10 or 15 degrees. I go tired of listening to it, so I got me 1500W space heater out and the fan on it only blows when heat is called for. I had the furnace at 60 and the space heater adjusted about 65. It got down in the low forties. I never heard the furnace come on. I did heard the space heater cycling on and off when I woke up a couple times during the night.

One thing I also noticed on my first trip a couple of weeks ago is the 2 shells do not seal over the stove on the door side. The shells overlap but do not come together. I can see day light & you can put your fist in the space. Has anyone else had that problem or is it suppose to be that way? I'm going camping again this weekend, I'll try & get a picture of it and post it next week.
Carol

[Bill]

Carol -

What is the situation on the opposite side of the camper - that is, above the refrig? Do the shells seem to overlap and seal normally? Or are they jammed really tightly together at the overlap? If too tight on one side and too loose on the other, one of the shells may need adjustment. Probably a torsion bar adjustment.

Bill

The shells over the frig area seem to be sealed nicely but I'll double check that as well this weekend. When I pulled into the site before doing anything else we leveled the camper.
Carol

When the TM is open and setup, I can barely get my fingers between the two shells, both across the top and up both sides. The seal on the inner rear shell is definately in physical contact with the upper outer shell all the way across.

It sounds like you need the shells adjusted.