Fantastic Fan Thermostat January 29, 2003, 11:56:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 18616Kevin. I probably had the same thing happen to me. I assume you checked the fuse already. The temperature adjustment had to move farther and farther to the cold for the fan to operate, until it wouldn't work at all. I removed the faceplate; the paper color dial is history, the screws are behind it. The adjusting screw to calibrate the thermostat unit had red loctite on the end but not where it needed to be on the screw threads. It had worked its way out far enough that it wouldn't come on. I just screwed it in until the fan came on with the dial about midway. A dab of loctite in the right place and I reassembled it. Took about an hour. It looks fine without a dial plate. Hope that helps. Ron with Bluebelle, a 23.5 '99 TKB[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Thermostat Reply #1 – February 09, 2003, 07:08:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 18884Today I tested my propane furnace thermostat. I placed a digital thermometer next to the thermostat with the following results: at 65.2 I adjusted the themostat so furnace came on at 76.9 the furnace turned off automatically at 64.2 the furnace came back on automatically.This is far too big a temperature swing for comfort (approx 12 degrees)1. Do I have a faulty thermostat? 2. If this is normal, has anyone replaced the LD thermostat with one that will keep the temperature range more comfortable. I never did this type of test at home so I am not sure what the normal temp. swing is in a house.I have been using the furnace (it works great) but have been moving the thermostat setting manually to turn it on and off as needed.Linda in "not so Tropical Texas"
Re: Thermostat Reply #2 – February 10, 2003, 11:23:49 am Yahoo Message Number: 18909Hi Linda-- The thermostat in my 2000 LD is a simple, mechanical type--similar to what we had in our home before the advent of electronic thermostats. Yours is probably the same, or similar.This thermostat senses temperature -- via a bimetallic strip -- to "decide" when to turn on the furnace. But a clever, and simple, timing device decides when the furnace shuts down. There is a small resistive strip in the thermostat that acts like a little electric heater. When the furnace starts running, the strip starts heating up. Eventually, it will warm up the bimetallic strip enough that the furnace shuts off. So the thermostat doesn't directly sense room air to shut down. This minimizes the effect of drafts on the furnace operation. The heating of the resistor strip is supposed to be an analog of the heating of the rig and the resistor is adjustable. In my unit, when I remove the cover by pulling straight out, I see a vial of mercury above a spring coil. To the right of the spring is a 2" long metal strip with numbered markings on it. Attached to the strip is a sliding metal contact. If you slide the contact one way, you'll reduce the "dwell time" (the time the furnace runs). Sliding the other way increases it. You can experiment with this setting without hurting anything.At one extreme, the furnace won't stay on very long, with smaller temp swings, but will run more often. At the other extreme, the furnace will run a long time, really heating the place up. Then it will be a long time until everything cools down enough for it to come on again.Hope this helps. /noel/P.S. I'm thinking of replacing my thermostat with an electronically controlled setback unit, so the rig would warm up automatically in the morning. Has anyone else tried this yet?
Re: Thermostat Reply #3 – February 10, 2003, 03:16:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 18917I had some information from the web on this, but deleted it when I decided that it was not worth it because often I'm using the electric heaters, not the thermostat-controlled furnace. It is possible however, based on the information I had. You have to get the right type of thermostat (battery-powered, not 24-volt powered) however.You can get lots of information by searching
Re: Thermostat Reply #4 – February 10, 2003, 05:23:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 18918"P.S. I'm thinking of replacing my thermostat with an electronically controlled setback unit, so the rig would warm up automatically in the morning. Has anyone else tried this yet?"noelWhat you need is a millivolt heating setback thermostat that is battery operated. The best I could find is a model used for both heating and A/C. It will still work fine for your application. There may be heating models still available somewhere. Most thermostats nowadays are 24 volt powered. See http://www.shop.store.yahoo.com/air-n-water/ctprogtherby.htmlAnother choice is adding a switch at or near where you sleep, reachable from when you are still in bed. Wire the switch in series with the existing thermostat. At bedtime, set the thermostat to the desired morning temperature and turn the switch off. In the morning, turn the switch on and then wait for the heater to do its job. On our 23.5' FL, the wiring is straightforward. This may be more difficult in other models.Larry
Re: Thermostat Reply #5 – February 10, 2003, 10:36:33 pm Yahoo Message Number: 18925QuoteHi Linda-- The thermostat in my 2000 LD is a simple, mechanical type--similar to what we had in our home before the advent of electronic thermostats. Yours is probably the same, or similar. Thanks for the info Noel. I adjusted my thermostat to get about a 4 degree swing which is much more comfortable. The really good news is that Tropical Texas is once again Tropical so I won't be using the furnace much.
Re: Thermostat Reply #6 – February 11, 2003, 08:10:12 am Yahoo Message Number: 18929"I'm thinking of replacing my thermostat with an electronically controlled setback unit, so the rig would warm up automatically in the morning. Has anyone else tried this yet?" Yes. Last fall I installed a Honeywell MagicStat CT3200 programmable thermostat in Gertie, replacing the old Robertshaw mechanical thermostat, which was becoming unreliable due to contact corrosion. I had cleaned the contacts several times, but still had to whack the thing occasionally to get the furnace to start up. And of course I wanted the ability to have the furnace come on in the morning before I got out of bed! I chose this particular model because I've had CT3200s in my last two homes and have been very happy with their reliability and ease of use. The 3200 cost about $55, and there are less expensive models available from Honeywell and other manufacturers that may work equally well; I just preferred to use a device I was already familiar with and confident about. Here's the URL for the CT32000 operating manual, in case you want to read up on it before installing it:http://hbctechlit.honeywell.com/techlit/PDF/69-0000s/69-0653.pdf> Note: while this thermostat is labeled for use with 24V systems, it works fine on 12V. I will say that after installation I found the temperature swings rather wide, as described in the note that began this thread. I need to go back and adjust the lag time a bit to narrow the operating temperature band. Other than that, the thermostat works as well in Gertie as it does at home.
Topic: Fantastic Fan Thermostat (Read 7 times)
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Topic: Fantastic Fan Thermostat (Read 7 times)
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