Furnace thermostat

Has anyone replaced the furnace thermostat ? We have a 2004 2619
and the thermostat is very irratic. I have tried adjusting it by the instruction manuel. The run cycle is still too long
it runs and runs and runs, until it is way too hot, then when the trailer cools back down and needs to come back on it, it won't ?? Is there a better quality thermostat (more sensitive) available ?

THanks

Jack

[Bill]

Jack -

This question has come up a couple times - same very annoying symptoms. I don't think I got an instruction manual with mine, so I don't know what it told you to do, but for a solution that worked for me, check out

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...read.php?t=933

Bill

We don't think much of the thermostats the RV industry uses. We didn't replace the one in our TM, but when we bought our current TT, I upgraded the thermostat (same as TM used) with a digital, programmable Hunter, that has a built-in clock that will automatically turn the heater on in the cold morning without anyone having to get out of bed. Total cost: under $30. Total time to change: less than 15 minutes (2 wires).

Paul

I take it from your post that you used a household thermostat?

I had thought of trying that but my house thermostat is 24 volt?
I assumed then that ALL household thermostats were 24 volts?

Is the Hunter that you used a 12 volt model?

Thanks

Jack

Hello Paul. It must be nice to get up on a cold morning and have a warmed up trailer. Beside that does this thermostat even out the highs and lows and long cycling periods of the one that is stock with Rvs?

hal

author=red_apache
I had thought of trying that but my house thermostat is 24 volt?
I assumed then that ALL household thermostats were 24 volts?

You are correct that all analog thermostats operate off 24 volts. However, the newer digital thermostats are battery operated, and electronically do the switching. 12 volts to 24 volts, line voltage doesn't matter.

Beside that does this thermostat even out the highs and lows and long cycling periods of the one that is stock with Rvs?

You can adjust the digital units to cycle back on with as little as 1 degree below the set temp or 3 degrees below the set temp.

On the Hunter I bought, you can set up to 4 time periods during the day, and have different settings for weekdays versus weekends.

It also has override features that allow you to adjust the temp up or down, as the need requires from the program that you set up.

I bought ours at Wal*Mart, but Home Depot, Lowes, etc. have this type of unit, too. Please don't ask me for a model number... our trailer and all the books are in storage until the snow melts! :

Now that's really interesting! So there is a battery in this unit as well? You've got to remember to change this in the spring or the unit won't function properly?

We typically don't use our heater that often due to it's noise level (LOUD), but in order to warm the trailer to an accurate level, this may be a good option.

Please let us know about the battery.

Thanks!

Gregg

[Bill]

Gregg -

Don't confuse digital with accurate - they are not the same. A digital thermostat will still suffer from the two basic problems that affect the original thermostat. These problems are:

1. The air in the room does not circulate well to the sensor inside the housing of any thermostat. As a result, the thermostat is never quite sure what the temperature in the room is. As the furnace runs and room temperature rises, the temperature inside the thermostat housing stays cool for a while (this is called thermostat lag), and so the thermostat keeps calling for more heat even after the room is warm.
The cure for this is to use the thermostat's internal preheat function, as described in the link at the top of this thread. Every thermostat, new or old, analog or digital, has one, for this very reason. Some of them come from the factory pre-adjusted to a nominal value (and I bet the Hunter that Paul describes is one of them). The TM thermostat comes with this function turned off. Too bad TM doesn't activate it at the factory, but it is not hard for you to do it.

2. Because the TM is a folding trailer, the thermostat is mounted quite low - not at eye level like a home thermostat. As a result, it measures (and reacts to) the temperature of the air closer to the floor. Since people basically react to the temperature of the air at face level, the thermostat is never going to get it quite right. But this is pretty minor.

I would think that the primary advantage of a digital thermostat would be the ability to program various start-stop times. If you like the time-programmability - having the furnace come on before you get up in the morning - then by all means buy a digital unit. An analog one can't do this. But if that's not what you are looking for, you might think twice - and turn on the preheat function in the existing thermostat - before spending the time and money.

Paul, how well does this track your experience?

Bill

[Denny_A]

I would think that the primary advantage of a digital thermostat would be the ability to program various start-stop times. If you like the time-programmability - having the furnace come on before you get up in the morning - then by all means buy a digital unit.

Question: If one were to forget to delete/disable the program, wouldn't the heater attempt to continue the cycle - whether or not someone was there to notice? If so, what would happen if the owner folded and parked the trailer in storage, upon return from a trip, and the program continued. Seems possible the battery would suffer the slings and arrows of.........etc.

Denny (just thinkin' n' wondrin')

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by Denny_A

Question: If one were to forget to delete/disable the program, wouldn't the heater attempt to continue the cycle - whether or not someone was there to notice? If so, what would happen if the owner folded and parked the trailer in storage, upon return from a trip, and the program continued. Seems possible the battery would suffer the slings and arrows of.........etc.

Denny (just thinkin' n' wondrin')

Same thing that would happen if you left the current manual thermostat on/off switch in the ON position with the temperature control in the middle of its range. A digital, programmable thermostat fundamentally does exactly the same thing the factory provided manual thermostat does: when the temp drops below whatever it's set for, a switch/relay closes to provide TM house battery voltage to the signal wire of the furnace. Then relays and timers in the furnace activate, etc, etc. The programs in programmable digital thermostats don't have to be disabled/deleted to prevent them from going into effect...everyone of these that I've ever seen has an on/off switch, usually of the three-way heat-off-cool variety.

However, I kinda sorta recall (and could be very wrong about this) that the switch under the bathroom wall also cuts power to both the water heater switch and thermostat when the bath is down. I seem to remember I couldn't get the water heater switch to even show a light on my TM until the bath was set up. (note: this is a very fuzzy recall). If this is the case (and from a logical safety interlock point of view, it really should be to avoid furnace or water heater start in a closed TM), then there's no issue at all if the programmable thermostat calls for heat when the trailer is folded...even if the owner forgot to switch the thermostat off.