Furnace air

[Steve70605]

I also have a 2016 36MQ. The bays are heated by the propane furnaces. I camped last year in Kentucky and Indiana over the holidays without issue. I am planning on doing so again this year. I talked to Thor Tech beforehand to identify areas of concern. I used a heated water line, left the grey and black water valves closed (opened only to drain), Thermostats were set on 68*, I placed a 60 watt incandescent bulb droplight in the wet bay for insurance. Temperatures were in the 15 - 16 degree range during the stay. I had no issues.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by ThePowells

Gunny,

Does your have heated waste tanks, or can you dump them and leave them empty? If so, that will solve your tank problem. Another step is to hump on down to Tractor Supply and get you a https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...t?cm_vc=-10005 and a small heater or heatlamp to put in the wet bay. Then put a couple of oil filled radiator heaters in the coach and set on lowest setting. For what we are expecting, all I have done is open the bathroom door, rolled in the slide, turned on the heater and the tanks are empty.
Our coach is also connected to the house LP should it really get way too cold.

Weather over the next 10 days in Zebulon, NC has a few evenings getting down to below freezing, but each day the highs are in the 40's-50's. I wouldn't fear freezing water in the tanks or any place else in the RV with those temperature swings. Certainly no need to buy oil filled radiators or wet bay heaters!

The thermal mass of full tanks will withstand such temperature swings better than empty ones. The small amounts of water in dump valves, etc. could freeze during the night, but a tank full of 35º-45º water would keep things from getting cold enough to freeze in closed, insulated compartments.

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by Steve70605

I also have a 2016 36MQ. The bays are heated by the propane furnaces. I camped last year in Kentucky and Indiana over the holidays without issue. I am planning on doing so again this year. I talked to Thor Tech beforehand to identify areas of concern. I used a heated water line, left the grey and black water valves closed (opened only to drain), Thermostats were set on 68*, I placed a 60 watt incandescent bulb droplight in the wet bay for insurance. Temperatures were in the 15 - 16 degree range during the stay. I had no issues.

Thanks for answering the original question.
Do you recall which furnace heats the bays (one or both)?

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by tcopeland

Thanks for answering the original question.
Do you recall which furnace heats the bays (one or both)?

Watch your remote thermometer, the sensor located in the wet bay, and turn on the front furnace. After 10 minutes see if you find a temperature rise. Go out and open the compartment door to cool it down again. Go inside and turn off the front furnace and turn on the rear furnace. After 10 minutes, see if the temperature goes up.

Alternative method: Turn on the front furnace, go outside and feel in the wet bay for warm air from the duct outlet. If no heat, turn off the front furnace and turn on the rear furnace, go to the wet bay and now feel for heat.

YOU CAN ANSWER THIS YOURSELF.

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

Watch your remote thermometer, the sensor located in the wet bay, and turn on the front furnace. After 10 minutes see if you find a temperature rise. Go out and open the compartment door to cool it down again. Go inside and turn off the front furnace and turn on the rear furnace. After 10 minutes, see if the temperature goes up.



Alternative method: Turn on the front furnace, go outside and feel in the wet bay for warm air from the duct outlet. If no heat, turn off the front furnace and turn on the rear furnace, go to the wet bay and now feel for heat.



YOU CAN ANSWER THIS YOURSELF.

That’s the plan.

[ThePowells]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

Weather over the next 10 days in Zebulon, NC has a few evenings getting down to below freezing, but each day the highs are in the 40's-50's. I wouldn't fear freezing water in the tanks or any place else in the RV with those temperature swings. Certainly no need to buy oil filled radiators or wet bay heaters!

The thermal mass of full tanks will withstand such temperature swings better than empty ones. The small amounts of water in dump valves, etc. could freeze during the night, but a tank full of 35º-45º water would keep things from getting cold enough to freeze in closed, insulated compartments.

I was more worried about the Gunny and him staying warmer that in a 2 man shelter.
For me, I was just looking long term for the winter, but we do have a trip back to the factory scheduled for the last week in February. I just wanted it at the point where I don't have to worry about it. The fresh water is full and other tanks completely empty. There are others nearby that have drained, blown, and pinked. I would completely D/C the electric heat, except that there may be days that I still may need to sleep in the coach and if I do, I can't wait for the entire coach and bed to warm from 35-40 to 72. Staying at 65, 10 minutes of furnace and a heated throw in the bed will take care of it, so by the time I change clothes the coach would be ready for me and my 47 and 27 pound heaters. Getting into the teens here for 3-4 nights and not above freezing for the same period and having that a couple of times a year is about normal for us. I'm comfortable at this point with whatever we get for the rest of the winter.

[Steve70605]

Originally Posted by tcopeland

Thanks for answering the original question.
Do you recall which furnace heats the bays (one or both)?

Don't recall. When temps get low enough to worry about freezing I run both as heat pump won't keep up that low. Bathroom above wet bay heated by rear unit so......?

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by Steve70605

Don't recall. When temps get low enough to worry about freezing I run both as heat pump won't keep up that low. Bathroom above wet bay heated by rear unit so......?

Called c/s. They said the piping to the wet bay is off the rear furnace.
Ran furnace for 20 minutes with no change in temperature on the monitor in the bay.
Who knows [emoji34]

[z3406]

FWIW
I just went thru several days of temps in the mid 20's. I had both furnaces running the entire time. My first clue something was amiss is when I turned the water pump on and nothing happened. Further investigation showed that everything in the wet bay was frozen. I increased the furnace temperature setting and put a space heater in the wet bay and the pump unfroze in about an hour and a half. I them did a full winterization of the coach took about 4 and a half gallons, that is with draining the water heater and putting the system in bypass. No apparent damage to the water system.
A call to Thor customer service this morning tells me that their heating solution for the wet bays is only good until about 25 degrees. That is as slip shod an engineering solution as I have ever seen. Add to that the fact that the water heater bypass is hidden behind a panel in the closet and the instructions for the valve setting in the wet bay for winterizing the coach are non existent.
This is the third coach manufacturer I have purchased a coach from and Thor's ineptitude in some areas is a revelation. They come so close to making a wonderful coach and then just botch the details.

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by z3406

FWIW
I just went thru several days of temps in the mid 20's. I had both furnaces running the entire time. My first clue something was amiss is when I turned the water pump on and nothing happened. Further investigation showed that everything in the wet bay was frozen. I increased the furnace temperature setting and put a space heater in the wet bay and the pump unfroze in about an hour and a half. I them did a full winterization of the coach took about 4 and a half gallons, that is with draining the water heater and putting the system in bypass. No apparent damage to the water system.
A call to Thor customer service this morning tells me that their heating solution for the wet bays is only good until about 25 degrees. That is as slip shod an engineering solution as I have ever seen. Add to that the fact that the water heater bypass is hidden behind a panel in the closet and the instructions for the valve setting in the wet bay for winterizing the coach are non existent.
This is the third coach manufacturer I have purchased a coach from and Thor's ineptitude in some areas is a revelation. They come so close to making a wonderful coach and then just botch the details.

What coach do you have?

[z3406]

It's in my signature box, same place you have yours posted.

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by z3406

It's in my signature box, same place you have yours posted.

Our 36MQ is differently another design.
Our winterize valve is on the water control panel.

[z3406]

To set the utility bay panel for winterizing my coach requires that three different valves be properly set, two of them are unlabeled and not mounted on the panel. Also when winterizing the full coach water filter is not in the loop so that must be drained. Winterizing also requires that the water heater be put in the bypass mode or that you fill the 10 hot water gallon tank with the antifreeze mixture. I know about the bypass setting for the hot water tank because I asked about it during my pre delivery inspection the location of the valves is not labeled anywhere. Here is a link to the schematic for the wet bay I mentioned above.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1456591112

There appears to be two basic types of panels in the wet bay in the diesel manual the Palazzo type and the Tuscany type, mine has the Tuscany type.

After a further search there is a schematic on page 125 of my owners manual on how to set the bypass for the water heater. The manual description on how to winterize the system calls for putting antifreeze in the fresh water tank, something I will never do. With one of the valves in the wet bay labeled winterize/bypass you would think there would be instructions somewhere on how to utilize that function but instructions just aren't there It is possible to set the valves and use the water pump to suck antifreeze directly into the plumbing from a jug, the instructions on how to do that are sadly lacking. With two of the valves necessary hidden and unlabeled I can't really tell anyone hoe to set the valves. If your mechanically inclined you can figure it out with the schematic I posted earlier.

[Steve70605]

Originally Posted by tcopeland

Called c/s. They said the piping to the wet bay is off the rear furnace.
Ran furnace for 20 minutes with no change in temperature on the monitor in the bay.
Who knows [emoji34]

Could be a ductwork issue. The flexible duct runs under the upper part of the bed in bed slide. Mine was crimped so no heat was getting to the bathroom area. There is a heat duct below the left cabinet under the counter top. Check if you are getting good flow there. If not, you may have a pinched duct in slide unit. If you remove mattress and top of bed (easy to do) you can see the duct to see if it is routed correctly. Hope this helps