Community Forums

tyaughton · 07-30-2017, 11:52 PM

2006 Itasca Sunova 29R
We've just returned from a 2 week shake-down cruise. We've fixed the heavy issues, and are now dealing with esthetics and would-be-nice items. One thing we've noticed is that the propane tank seems rather small for the size of the unit. Our 26' Rexhall had a significantly larger tank. After two weeks the gauge is already showing only 1/3 tank - we filled just before heading out and our needs are light, the fridge, only turning on the h/w when we need to and quick cooking.
Has anyone changed their tank to a larger capacity? Any problems, warnings, must-do's?
Judy

NYBobbo · 07-31-2017, 06:55 AM

I have been told the factory installed LP tanks are DOT certified for that vehicle. I doubt if you will find an LP company to change it out for a larger tank.

LP tanks seem to have a wide range of accuracy of the electronic gauges vs the actual amount of LP in the tank. It was suggested to me to get under the vehicle and check the gauge on the tank itself..... since I only use LP for the cook top and fridge (can always run my diesel gen to run fridge if not plugged in) I don't worry about it... when it gets below 1/2 I start to keep a look out for a propane seller.

The only time I actually ran out of LP was when the regulator failed.

Switchflicke · 07-31-2017, 07:37 AM

The quantity should be marked on the tank and on the spec sheet for the rig. Mine fills to 23 gallons and that lasts for a very long time. Something like 3 months using cooking twice a day and furnace for an hour almost each morning for a month. Remember that full is when the tank is up to 80% of its capacity. BUT full is full. So if the tank COULD be filled with 28 gallons, when it has 23 gallons in it it's FULL. And the shutoff should kick off the filler supply.

Stan

Jim_HiTek · 07-31-2017, 01:45 PM

You mentioned only turning on H/W when you need too, but does that mean you only turn it on to heat water just before dishes or a shower? Even so, it uses lots of gas to heat the water.

I learned early on with my '94 Bounder that water heating took lots of gas and I added an aftermarket heater element to the water tank drain hole. That plugged into an AC patio outlet very close to the water heater (6 gallon). So whenever I was at a RV park, setup included plugging the heater element into AC. And hour later, I had hot water. With that heater element for hot water, and with heading south during the winter so little furnace use, and never using the oven, I no longer had to get a propane fill too often.

Best upgrade I did to the RV.

tyaughton · 08-02-2017, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek

You mentioned only turning on H/W when you need too, but does that mean you only turn it on to heat water just before dishes or a shower? Even so, it uses lots of gas to heat the water.

I learned early on with my '94 Bounder that water heating took lots of gas and I added an aftermarket heater element to the water tank drain hole. That plugged into an AC patio outlet very close to the water heater (6 gallon). So whenever I was at a RV park, setup included plugging the heater element into AC. And hour later, I had hot water. With that heater element for hot water, and with heading south during the winter so little furnace use, and never using the oven, I no longer had to get a propane fill too often.

Best upgrade I did to the RV.

There's a button on the master control panel that says 110V hot water and it looks like it should light up when it's on, but it doesn't, so I have to assume it's either not hooked up, or something is wrong at the tank end of things. We're still trying to understand all the newfangled gizmos in this rig compared to the last one, and I haven't had a chance to look into that yet. That said, we don't plug in much. Just returned from 14 days on the road and we only had electric for 5 of those 14.

Hikerdogs · 08-02-2017, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyaughton

There's a button on the master control panel that says 110V hot water and it looks like it should light up when it's on, but it doesn't, so I have to assume it's either not hooked up, or something is wrong at the tank end of things. We're still trying to understand all the newfangled gizmos in this rig compared to the last one, and I haven't had a chance to look into that yet. That said, we don't plug in much. Just returned from 14 days on the road and we only had electric for 5 of those 14.

According to the 2006 Sunova brochure the standard water heater is a 6 gallon gas only unit. Here's a link to the 2006 Sunova brochure.

https://winnebagoind.com/resources/b...Sunova-bro.pdf

The water heater is listed under the "Systems" category on the second to last page. It may have come with the optional gas/electric model with the motoraid heater to keep the water warm when traveling.

If you didn't get the operators manual here's a link to the online one from the Winnebago website:
https://winnebagoind.com/resources/m...6/06Sunova.pdf

Note the second paragraph about the water heater on page 4-8 says to make sure the water heater is full before turning on the electric heating element. It's possible that sometime in the life of the unit the element was turned on when there was no water in the tank. If this did happen it would take only a matter of seconds before the heating element burned out.

tyaughton · 08-02-2017, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

According to the 2006 Sunova brochure the standard water heater is a 6 gallon gas only unit. Here's a link to the 2006 Sunova brochure.

https://winnebagoind.com/resources/b...Sunova-bro.pdf

The water heater is listed under the "Systems" category on the second to last page. It may have come with the optional gas/electric model with the motoraid heater to keep the water warm when traveling.

If you didn't get the operators manual here's a link to the online one from the Winnebago website:
https://winnebagoind.com/resources/m...6/06Sunova.pdf

Note the second paragraph about the water heater on page 4-8 says to make sure the water heater is full before turning on the electric heating element. It's possible that sometime in the life of the unit the element was turned on when there was no water in the tank. If this did happen it would take only a matter of seconds before the heating element burned out.

I will look into that, thanks. Our unit is listed as "special edition", but I haven't found much that makes it more special than a standard unit. Didn't even have an inverter (although the paperwork led me to believe it did). Of course, it now has an inverter, solar panel, new taps, new water pump, new TV, new tires, new brakes, new anti-sway, new foam in the dinette, new mattress, etc, etc, etc.

okmunky · 08-03-2017, 12:06 AM

You can add propane capacity with one of these and a 20# propane tank.

https://www.amazon.com/Sturgi-StaySt...rv+propane+kit

The best part about having one is not having to drive your motorhome to the propane supplier. In a pinch you can do a swap out with a prefilled BBQ grill tank. I ran out at midnight and was able to run to the corner store. It's cheaper to refill your tank rather than swapping.