Floor heat

[BBelanger]

I have three zones of heated floors. Watching the amp draw meter on the power controls system, I see an amperage draw when I turn the heat on. However, the bedroom and bathroom show an increase in amperage (3 amps low 6 amps medium) when going from low to medium but no more draw when going to High. My kitchen floor shows the same amperage draw (10 amps) on all three settings. The kitchen floor used to be enough to heat at night here in Tucson but the furnace now comes on. Wondering if anyone is experiencing similar issues. I can confirm by using a black and decker thermal heat sensor.

[Luv2go]

If your floor heat is run by Silverleaf turbopilot has a great post on troubleshooting the system in his NewAire here.

[willipaul]

Originally Posted by Luv2go

If your floor heat is run by Silverleaf turbopilot has a great post on troubleshooting the system in his NewAire here.

no silver leaf on his coach, that much i know....

i have to say the phaeton heated floors were far superior to what is in the dutch star. it is one of the few things that i miss from my old coach. i have not checked voltages scientifically, and do not have a temp gauge to check surface temps, but these floors don't get as warm on the high setting as the tiffin floors did. i do like having 3 zones, but they are not as powerful. i have not run mine enough continuously to see if they lose the ability to get warm over time. that is what you are suggesting, correct ? that over the course of a few weeks you are noticing them not putting out the warmth they used to ?

perhaps they are losing their conductivity as the elements are run, breaking down over time....one more thing is that the phaeton floors had 5 levels of power, vs. the 3 on the DS.

[Ricci]

Hi Bill - I've had heated floors in both Tiffin products and in our present Newmar. While the pads are made by the same company the way they are controlled is different (I prefer the Newmar as the Tiffin was capable of making our cat very uncomfortable if turned up too high).
The Tiffin pads were (in 2016) controlled by thermocouples in the floor. They went on and off dependent on the temperature of the floor mass in the area of the thermocouple.
As explained to me at PDI, the Newmar system doesn't really boost the amp draw but rather varies the on/off time of the pad. A higher setting results in a longer on cycle of on, a lower setting cuts that time ratio. So low might be 3 on and 6 off, where high might be 6 on and 3 off.
If the basement temperatures are colder now than before that could account for the need for supplemental heat.

Tom

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by BBelanger

I have three zones of heated floors. Watching the amp draw meter on the power controls system, I see an amperage draw when I turn the heat on. However, the bedroom and bathroom show an increase in amperage (3 amps low 6 amps medium) when going from low to medium but no more draw when going to High. My kitchen floor shows the same amperage draw (10 amps) on all three settings. The kitchen floor used to be enough to heat at night here in Tucson but the furnace now comes on. Wondering if anyone is experiencing similar issues. I can confirm by using a black and decker thermal heat sensor.

This is an older thread, I am curious what you have discovered since then? Did you order the heated floors on your 2019?

[BBelanger]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

This is an older thread, I am curious what you have discovered since then? Did you order the heated floors on your 2019?

They replaced all the floor relays saying they were defective. I wouldn’t own a coach without heated floors now that I’ve had them. We sometimes have to go without when we dry camp and don’t want to run the generator, and that’s not a good experience.

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by BBelanger

They replaced all the floor relays saying they were defective. I wouldn’t own a coach without heated floors now that I’ve had them. We sometimes have to go without when we dry camp and don’t want to run the generator, and that’s not a good experience.

I have them on my new order, but never experienced. What is the normal amp draw per zone?

[BBelanger]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

I have them on my new order, but never experienced. What is the normal amp draw per zone?

On low mine draw 11,5 and 2. Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom.

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by BBelanger

On low mine draw 11,5 and 2. Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom.

is the variance due to the size of the area being heated?

[BBelanger]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

is the variance due to the size of the area being heated?

I would assume that is correct. The kitchen goes from behind the driver seats all the way past the refrigerator. Then the bathroom does the slide out too and the rear bathroom is very small.

[pshoe]

On my 15 DS the difference between low medium and high is how long they stay energized, not the amount of current they draw. For example, on low, they cycle on for less time than medium or high.