help with heater

[spidernjaz2]

ok not sure if this is the correct place for this question. i am spending the winter in a 1978 holidare 5th wheel. It has a coleman mach el rv series air/heat unit but i dont know how to use the heat. i need to find out if it needs propane and if it does where is the pilot light

[Dave78Chief]

A roof top unit from that era would have electric heat strips:

Coleman AC Mach 1-3 EL Operation: 1983 Fleetwood Pace Arrow Owners Manuals: RV AC operation & maintenace instructions manual

Coleman AC Mach 1-3 EL Installation: 1983 Fleetwood Pace Arrow Owners Manuals: RV Air Conditioners Coleman Mach 1 & 3- March 1EL & 3 EL

Coleman AC Service Manual: 1983 Fleetwood Pace Arrow Owners Manuals: Coleman roof ac service Mechanical Control manual

Are you sure the rig does not have a furnace? See if you can find a furnace exhaust port on the outside of the rig.

Dave

[Rvpapa]

It may not have the heat stips installed. The dials have all selections marked ( heat, cool,etc) but the actual heaters were optional kits.
Art.

[spidernjaz2]

the previous user told the rv park owner that he used the heater. guess i will try to reach him. some heat comes out of ceiling vent for about 20 min, then cool air. do u know if it should have a pilot light somewhere. or where i might find old school user guides

[Dave78Chief]

The ceiling unit would be self contained. Typically there is a seperate furnace at floor level. It would be operated from a standard wall thermostat. You need to find the furnace determine the brand/model then people can help you better.

Dave

I typical RV Furnace exhaust vent on the outside of the rig looks like this


One port is intake, the other exhaust for the burner chamber.

[spidernjaz2]

ok thank you

[Francesca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spidernjaz2 the previous user told the rv park owner that he used the heater. guess i will try to reach him. some heat comes out of ceiling vent for about 20 min, then cool air. do u know if it should have a pilot light somewhere. or where i might find old school user guides

The coleman is an electric unit- it won't have a pilot light.

Francesca

Edit add:
Here's an interior shot of a 1978 Holidaire bumper pull trailer.
Under the fridge is the gas heater- in this case it's a Hydroflame.
The ad I got this pic from is at http://ebrandon.ca/itemview.aspx?ite...246&cat_id=114

[Gary RVRoamer]

As the others have said, the roof unit is electric and does not use propane or a pilot light. However, there will also be a furnace down near floor level that does use propane and, in that vintage, almost surely has a pilot light. It may look something like this:

Atwood Everest Star 7900 II Furnace, 12,000 BTUs

In that era, there is probably no wall thermostat and the pilot light will be behind the metal grill on the front of the furnace. If you can identify the make and model of the furnace, we can help you with lighting instructions and probably even find an owner manual online.