Heating vents...

[badog62]

The bathroom of my 390MBL Oakmont gets blazing hot while the rest of the spaces struggle to get heat when I turn the furnace on. Is it because it's the closest vent to the furnace? If I block it, will it push mor air to the other outlets?I have to leave the bathroom door open to help with heating.Does anyone else have this problem?thanks for the replies.

 

[rxbristol]

It is the closest vent to the furnace so we also leave the bathroom door open to distribute the heat evenly. The rest of the vents don't get as warm, but they're working OK so it doesn't bother me.

 

[JohnDar]

The manufacturer will admonish you to not block any vents and many accept that as gospel. I put adjustable vents in all the floor registers several years ago because the bedroom and bath become ovens while the rear of the rig is a meat locker. It helps considerably redirecting the hot air from under the bed to the rear of the coach. It might also help if you can drop the underbelly coroplast and make sure none of the flimsy flexible plastic ductwork is kinked, crushed or folded on itself.

 

[danemayer]

Suburban advises against blocking vents because the combustion chamber may get too hot and trigger the over-temperature switch, shutting down gas flow. If the switch weakens, you may end up with intermittent furnace operation.

So if you do restrict the vent airflow, write yourself a reminder in case you start having problems.

It's also possible that one or more ducts going to other locations is pinched or even disconnected from the furnace. If you have zero airflow, that should be checked out.

 

[Shortest Straw]

We had the same issue on our previous trailer. I went down to Lowes and bought some y piping like this,
http://www.lowes.com/pd_23381-1814-...ctId=3132803&pl=1&Ntt=3+inch+pvc+wye+fittings
Then I cut the duct hose to the bathroom and the main room, put the y pipes in so that the air flow direction was not changed on the hose to the main room, installed the y fitting so that it siphoned some of the air off of the bathroom into the main room ducting, and then put some ducting between the two fittings. It reduced the bathroom heat a bunch. I will eventually do that to our current trailer as well.

 

[lwmcguire]

Had to put adjustable vent registers in the Bath and Bedroom also to get it below 90 when the living room was 60
Talked to surburban but they werent any help

 

[asherwin]

Blocked our bathroom vent three years ago and have had no issues.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Suburban advises against blocking vents because the combustion chamber may get too hot and trigger the over-temperature switch.

Great advice...

However, I had the opposite problem on our prior trailer (Keystone Outback)....the bathroom was FREEZING. They did not install heat in the bathroom.
To solve this, I removed one of the blocked flanges on the heater and installed a replacement flange that had a 2" collar. Then routed the duct the bathroom (under shower) and presto....heat. (Huge wife points!!)

Anyway, my question is, what is the difference if someone blocks/closes the vent in the bathroom vs Suburban shipping the heater with a few of the vents blocked? You can see in the image below, there was still one space closed off, that I could have use, if I need to route heat to another location. I was thinking of using this one to heat the underbelly, but never got around to doing that mod.

 

[danemayer]

Anyway, my question is, what is the difference if someone blocks/closes the vent in the bathroom vs Suburban shipping the heater with a few of the vents blocked? You can see in the image below, there was still one space closed off, that I could have use, if I need to route heat to another location. I was thinking of using this one to heat the underbelly, but never got around to doing that mod.

View attachment 42426

Suburban has an installation manual that specifies how much ducting has to be attached to a given furnace. Do all RV manufacturers follow it? Don't know.

 

[JohnD]

We had that problem with our Prowler . . . just picked it up two days ago from getting several warranty issues addressed.

Ours was blasting heat into the bathroom and bedroom, but none down in the kitchen and living room.

I ran the furnace before I left the dealership and they seemed to have fixed that right.

I was told that both ducts to the downstairs were kinked in the underbelly of the trailer.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

I was told that both ducts to the downstairs were kinked in the underbelly of the trailer.

Heartland should make the underbelly clear, so we can just crawl under trailer for a quick peak.

 

[JohnD]

Heartland should make the underbelly clear, so we can just crawl under trailer for a quick peak.

Yup . . . but then we'd see the big mess they leave under there!

 

[TravelTiger]

Heartland should make the underbelly clear, so we can just crawl under trailer for a quick peak.

Now you may be on to something! Maybe some clear access panel "Windows" so you could see certain areas of concern.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[happykraut]

The heat register in our bedroom was not even connected at the factory, which was OK since we don't use heat in the bedroom anyway. I installed a round adjustable vent register into the steps going up to the front. Then I routed the bedroom ducting to the new register in the steps. Works great. This is the second rig I have done this to. A person could use a 'y' and still have one go to the bedroom and the other to the steps.

 

[JohnDar]

Now you may be on to something! Maybe some clear access panel "Windows" so you could see certain areas of concern.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Or at least use interlocking sections, something like a tongue & groove, so we could remove a section at a time to get in there. Having to drop the whole underbelly cover off is not something for the faint of heart.

 

[danemayer]

I had to adjust the cable on my Gray #1 gate valve yesterday. Fortunately I have zippered Flex Mend Trap Flaps under the Gray #1/Black valves, and under the Gray #2. Unzipped it, pulled the coroplast and insulation out of the way, and made the adjustment. They also allow me to lube the gate valve plungers and change batteries on my remote thermostat.

They're less than $5 each and are fairly easy to install. You just have to peek inside the underbelly to locate the gate valves so you know where to put the flaps. I also used some pop rivets around the edges to make sure the airflow doesn't peel back the edges.

 

[TravelTiger]

I had to adjust the cable on my Gray #1 gate valve yesterday. Fortunately I have zippered Flex Mend Trap Flaps under the Gray #1/Black valves, and under the Gray #2. Unzipped it, pulled the coroplast and insulation out of the way, and made the adjustment. They also allow me to lube the gate valve plungers and change batteries on my remote thermostat.

They're less than $5 each and are fairly easy to install. You just have to peek inside the underbelly to locate the gate valves so you know where to put the flaps. I also used some pop rivets around the edges to make sure the airflow doesn't peel back the edges.

We need pics!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JohnD]

The dealership hacked up the coroplast under our Prowler . . .

While they did cut a big square of new coroplast and covered up where they had to go in and fix the heating ducts, they only put three screws on each side of the square, but didn't seal it with any kind of tape.

Plus, there is a long slit about three feet in length and another diamond shaped hole that they also made and didn't attempt to cover them up with anything.

I've got photos, of course . . . I'll post them later.

 

[JohnDar]

I had to adjust the cable on my Gray #1 gate valve yesterday. Fortunately I have zippered Flex Mend Trap Flaps under the Gray #1/Black valves, and under the Gray #2. Unzipped it, pulled the coroplast and insulation out of the way, and made the adjustment. They also allow me to lube the gate valve plungers and change batteries on my remote thermostat.

They're less than $5 each and are fairly easy to install. You just have to peek inside the underbelly to locate the gate valves so you know where to put the flaps. I also used some pop rivets around the edges to make sure the airflow doesn't peel back the edges.

Looked it up. Interesting stuff to consider getting. My black tank valve was getting a little stiff last summer, so maybe I might open up an inspection port to check it and put one of these on.

 

[danemayer]

We need pics!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry Erika, when I'm lying on my back at 10 degrees, taking pictures isn't on the list. And now the mini-skirt is back in place. You can get an idea from the instructions.