Furnace not getting warm enough - 2020 Momentum 397TH

[Carey Z]

Hello all, just took delivery of our 397th. We have looked at this unit for about 4 years and finally pulled the trigger. Our last RV was an Arctic Fox 27T. One gripe I have already is the lack of furnace BTU. My bad in figuring the furnace would be sized accordingly. It has the same size furnace as our Arctic Fox and is almost twice as big.
35 degrees out and the furnace ran for 6 hours and would only get the main area to 52, bedroom to 58, and garage to 50. I do no or feel this is acceptable. Who buys a trailer at this price and has to ever use supplemental heat?
what am I missing? Or am I the only one that takes their RV out when it’s below 75 outside?

[OurNewEra]

Hello all, just took delivery of our 397th. We have looked at this unit for about 4 years and finally pulled the trigger. Our last RV was an Arctic Fox 27T. One gripe I have already is the lack of furnace BTU. My bad in figuring the furnace would be sized accordingly. It has the same size furnace as our Arctic Fox and is almost twice as big.
35 degrees out and the furnace ran for 6 hours and would only get the main area to 52, bedroom to 58, and garage to 50. I do no or feel this is acceptable. Who buys a trailer at this price and has to ever use supplemental heat?

Have you checked the airflow and air temp at the vents? There are many threads about poor or low airflow at the vent. In my TT one of the 4" vent flanges was not connected to the furnace. Other 2" vents had too much duct which caused low airflow. I would check what is coming out of the vents and then trouble shoot from there.

I did see a youtube video on RV furnaces and they stated that an RV furnace is about 37% efficient. So if there are any issues with the ducts - pinched, bent, too long, etc . . then the efficiency really takes a hit.

[howson]

Hello all, just took delivery of our 397th. We have looked at this unit for about 4 years and finally pulled the trigger. Our last RV was an Arctic Fox 27T. One gripe I have already is the lack of furnace BTU. My bad in figuring the furnace would be sized accordingly. It has the same size furnace as our Arctic Fox and is almost twice as big.
35 degrees out and the furnace ran for 6 hours and would only get the main area to 52, bedroom to 58, and garage to 50. I do no or feel this is acceptable. Who buys a trailer at this price and has to ever use supplemental heat?
what am I missing? Or am I the only one that takes their RV out when it’s below 75 outside?

colan , the individual that posted in #15, is a highly experienced professional RV technician. While the other tips and hints are certainly valid in this thread (checking for disconnected or crushed ducts) from what colan reports I wouldn't count on stellar heat performance.

Also, if you'd like to learn more about this forum, how to navigate, search, etc, check out the Welcome Letter to New Members at https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members

Howard

GDRV-Megan -- this heating issue in the Big Mo IMO is one that should be passed to the Momentum team..

[RV Tech Ret]

colan , the individual that posted in #15, is a highly experienced professional RV technician. While the other tips and hints are certainly valid in this thread (checking for disconnected or crushed ducts) from what colan reports I wouldn't count on stellar heat performance.

Also, if you'd like to learn more about this forum, how to navigate, search, etc, check out the Welcome Letter to New Members at https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members

Howard

GDRV-Megan -- this heating issue in the Big Mo IMO is one that should be passed to the Momentum team..

I also am a retired RV Tech and previously talked about the lack of heat in my 376THS and discussed this with GD (after checking all the hoses etc.). The furnace is a smaller BTU unit, there is another higher BTU furnace with the same footprint that should be installed on these larger units....doesn't help me, good thing I don't do much cold weather trips......

Mark

[Carey Z]

I have not had a chance to check into the ducting ect. But will begin to check it out. It seems odd the unit has heated water tanks for cold weather yet the furnace can’t get to a comfortable temperature when it’s chilly out. Living in Montana we start camping this time of year and it can be cold. I was never told there was an option for a larger BTU or I would certainly have ordered it.
Thank you all for the replies. I am hoping I find some ducting not hooked up or something obvious that fixes the issue. Maybe I had better find out from GD what my expectations should be. Maybe GD is only meant for fair weather trips!!!

[Carey Z]

I suppose since I am trying to educate myself on this 397TH, does anyone know if these toy haulers have three heating zones, or the control just shows three zones. No matter what zone I initiate on the control, all three areas (garage, living ,bedroom) have air going thru the duct system. If it was indeed a three zone system, and only the Living area was activated, there should be no air blowing into the bedroom or garage.
Guess I need to call the factory if nobody knows the answer!

[howson]

I suppose since I am trying to educate myself on this 397TH, does anyone know if these toy haulers have three heating zones, or the control just shows three zones. No matter what zone I initiate on the control, all three areas (garage, living ,bedroom) have air going thru the duct system. If it was indeed a three zone system, and only the Living area was activated, there should be no air blowing into the bedroom or garage.
Guess I need to call the factory if nobody knows the answer!

Single zone.

A lot easier to "see" this versus a lot of text:

The red rectangles are heat ducts (according to the diagram GD provided to the moderators).

The furnace is the "F" and the thermostat the "T".



The garage is often a point of concern and most owners that "live" in that space require supplemental heating.

Howard