Bay Heater Question

[DaveBunker]

In going through all the systems in this new to me coach, I understand and tried to use the Systems Heat. More or less to make sure it works. Last night up here in Pioneer, CA. should have been a good test. The temp dropped to about 32 around 1am. I set the Systems Heat Switch as explained in the owners manual and checked every other hour up until 1am. Seems the heater in the water bay never showed that it came on at any time. I felt it and it was always cold to the touch. It says the snap disk thermostat will active the heater once the temp drops below 40 give or take 6 degrees. Never did to my best observation.

Have any of you folks that have the same or similar system had any trouble with it? Or did it just not get cold enough? I also assume if the switch light activates then there is not a fuse problem.

Dave B

[MisterT]

just didn't drop temps low enough in the closed bay

[Jim.B1]

Dave
This was our first Winter with our 2014 Southwind and I was concerned if heat would be provided to the Wet Bay and Utility Bay.
I purchased 2 remote thermometers (Walmart $12.00 each) and placed one sensor beside the fresh water tank and the second sensor beside the black water tank.
The small digital displays sit on the dog house and let me monitor both the temperature in the coach and in the bays.
They worked great, and I found the propane furnace kept both bays well above 32F anywhere between 38F and 42F even when the outside temps were 4F.
We also found that when in warmer climates in Florida, the sensors showed the temperatures in the bays 5-10 degrees cooler that outside temps.
For me, it is an inexpensive way to monitor these areas when travelling in freezing temps.

[Mr_D]

I also monitor my bay temps with a wireless unit from inside the stick house. Very seldom did the bay temps get low enough in freezing weather to kick the blower on. My bay hest is from the AquaHot. I think that's different than yours though.

[96 Wideglide]

The 12v Cargo Heat heaters Monaco installed are prone to failures!

Mine, the fan would start, but never blow warm air.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Dave-

Test by applying an ice cube to the snap disk.

Does your coach has a Therma-Tech RV3000 12V heater? It is known to have its problems. If it does not come on with the ice cube test, pull the connector off and make sure you're getting 12V constant on the red, 12V switched (from snap disk) on the blue, and ground on the white. The 12V constant usually comes from a circuit breaker near the house batteries, but each coach can be different.

Our coach furnace keeps the wet bay warm enough. The snap disk went off (and system heat indicator came on) when I opened the bay door for a couple of minutes in 28-degree temps.

[DaveBunker]

Ok, thanks for all the insight. I will do some tests on the Snap Disk heater in the wet bay. I do use remote therms. So all good.

Dave B

[MSHappyCampers]

Here is a replacement if you can't get the other one going!

https://www.amazon.com/Back-Seat-Hea...=12v+dc+heater

[DaveBunker]

I received good advice from everyone on the bay heater. Now in the middle of testing the existing heater. Not sure where to hold the ice cube as per l1v3fr33ord1.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Dave-

The snap disk is mounted in the wet bay, not attached to the heater. Sized between a dime and a quarter, with two spade contacts around the edge.

Below find a typical wiring diagram for the snap disk and heater.

[96 Wideglide]

Once you find it, just unplug the two connectors, and use a small jumper wire connecting the two. this eliminates the ice cube.

[nehog]

Originally Posted by DaveBunker

I received good advice from everyone on the bay heater. Now in the middle of testing the existing heater. Not sure where to hold the ice cube as per l1v3fr33ord1.

In the first picture, there are four wires going to the heater assembly.

Two reds are a thermostat.
The black is the heater element return (can be supply, interchangeable with the...)
The black wire is the power to the heater element (see black wire above). Between the black wire and the element is a non-resettable thermal fuse.

This thermal fuse should read zero (or very close to) ohms. If open it must be replaced. We've all replaced them at one time or another, they are available on Amazon in packs of five.

The thermal fuse is used above its rating, and my last replacement was to use two in parallel in an attempt to spread the current between them and get it below the ratings. Whether this will be successful or not I've not figured out.

Test that thermal fuse. It is probably blown.

Edit: I'm apparently color blind!

[DaveBunker]

Ok, All done. Wide Glide, thanks for the jumper tip. If you walked up and saw me on my hands and knees, holding an ice cube to the snap disk, you would have laughed. My wife ask me what I was doing with ice cubes in the water bay and I said I was installing an ice maker up inside, the only problem is you have to get on you hands and knees and hold a glass way up inside the bay to get ice. In any case I put the heater back together and ran the jumper between the two snap disk leads and it came on. Fan and heating element blew hot air. So the heater works fine. Either it didn't get cold enough in the water bay last night, or the snap disk is faulty. I doubt that I have a faulty snap disk. This coach spent its whole life in a heated garage before I bought it.

Thank you 1v3fr33ord1 for the wiring diagram. It was very helpful.
All good at this point, now on the the next project..

Dave B

[DaveBunker]

BTW Nehog....I did check the thermo fuze. It read 0 ohms. So it's ok at this point. Thanks.

Dave B