Heater blower will not shut down!!

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AnthonyRM
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Heater blower will not shut down!!

The camper is a 2017 13 footer which I picked up in Backus last summer. The propane heater has not been used. Today I turned it on, the blower came on, the unit ignited and heating began. The problem is the blower will not shut off.  I set the thermostat at 50. The temperature on the unit went up to 35 degrees but the temperature on my thermometer in the camper reads 90 degrees. So how do I get this blower to shut down and why is the digital thermometer reading 35 when the actual temperature is approximately 90 degrees? 

Sweating in Vermont.....Anthony

 

ac0gv
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Joined: 09/22/2016 - 13:57
Fan shut off

Temperature conversion table

CelsiusC) 35  =  95 Fahrenheit (°F)

      In addition, with most furnaces, the first fan to run when heat is called for is a small fan that blows fresh air into the area with the burner. Then the flame starts and when the plenum is hot the blower fan blows the heat out. After it no longer calls for heat the flame shuts off and the blower continues to run until the plenum is cool.

Paul O.
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Are the new thermostats in

Are the new thermostats in Scamps digital (electronic), rather than mercury switches?

If it is digital, then Kenneth is right, and you need to consider the units and switch it to the ones you want. Vermont is still USA, so it should be F - right? If that does not clear the problem, the thermostat may be bad. Yes, there is a long time lag before the blower shuts off.

Sorry, a little bit confused - is it VT or CT?

-Paul
2004 Scamp 19 Deluxe,
2021 Tacoma, Double Cab, 6 cyl. 4WD
Colorado

ac0gv
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Thermostat

https://www.scamptrailers.com/parts-store-cat-view/appliances/suburban-n...

I think it needs a jumper cut to get to C, but my book is in storage.

LyleB
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Joined: 07/28/2015 - 07:24
I have a new 16 footer. If

I have a new 16 footer. If you watch the indicated room temperature on the thermostat, you will see that it takes FOREVER for the indicated temp to raise. When I turn on the furnace, I have to manually turn it on and off for several hours. FINALLY the room temperature indicated on the thermostat will rise to the actual temp, and from that point on, the thermostat works ok. I have never seen such a slow to respond thermometer. I assume that the sensor is buried way too deep within the thermostat housing - very poor design, if you ask me.

I may be replacing this thermostat soon if I find I find I use the furnace often enough. It is a digital thermostat, but a very poor one. Emerson is the brand.

AnthonyRM
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Joined: 11/13/2016 - 08:35
Thermastat

It was CT. but now the camper is in VT.

I had two thermometers in the camper, the Emerson thermometer on the unit and a separate one. They read radically different temps. When the blower would come on, the temp would rise 30 degrees before it would cycle off. I set the Emerson at 60 degrees and when it finally shut down, the wall thermometer read 90 degrees while the Emerson was reading 67. It seems like the more it cycled on and off, the closer the Emerson thermometer got to the actual temperature. This was my first time using the heater so I have some experimenting to do, but so far the temp is going from too cold to too hot.

Anthony Memoli

ELongest
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Joined: 11/02/2013 - 20:13
Thermostat

Not familiar with your Emerson thermostat but some digital thermostats require batteries, just something to check. It is recommended you carry an extra battery when winter camping. Scamps thermostat location on the older trailers at the dinette end lower cabinet is really bad. Especially when it gets covered by the covers at night. The best operational location a PO had made I've seen  was mounting a bracket on the spiral posts and he shrink wrapped the wires to the post and mounted the thermostat to the post. Both Casita and Escape mount their thermostats 4-5 ft. off the floor on the edge of a taller cabinet at the edge of the open isle way closer to the center of th trailer away from the direct heat blast of the trailer. This gives a better temperature sampling for the furnace. Compare your extra thermometer side by side with the thermostat reading.

Eddie  

Paul O.
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Joined: 01/19/2014 - 13:05
Thermostat location.

Eddie may have hit the nail  on the head - the location of the thermostat. Mine is exactly where he described, and even though we do not sleep downstairs and so do not kick the covers over it, it is still not ideal. It is attached to the thin wall of the cabinet, so when the people space in the Scamp gets hot, the cabinet and its wall may be still quite cold, hence the thermostat sensor may be way off. I have contemplated placing a thermal insulation pad of some sort between it and the wall, but have not tested it yet. (It would then be a little more like mounting it to that spiral post.)

-Paul
2004 Scamp 19 Deluxe,
2021 Tacoma, Double Cab, 6 cyl. 4WD
Colorado

LyleB
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Joined: 07/28/2015 - 07:24
Yeah, I agree that the

Yeah, I agree that the thermostat location isn't ideal, but that is not the problem. It is, as I said, the extremely poor performance of the Emerson thermometer within the thermostat.

I just spent two hours iin my Scamp monitoring the thermostat performance. As I said, another thermometer was used right beside the Emerson. I had to manually shut the furnace off a number of times when the temp reached 90 degrees, and the Emerson still indicated 54 .degrees. About a half hour ago the Emerson finally shut off the furnace automatically (it was set to 68 degrees). The indicated room temperature has continued to rise, and now indicates 74 degrees.  The independent thermometer indicates 70 degrees. I will leave the furnace on, and see how it performs through the day.

As I said, it has taken going on three hours for the Emerson to get even close.  Not a good performer.j

salukispeed
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Joined: 08/20/2018 - 13:45
spacer

You may be on to something. On our old motorhome I used a couple nylon spacers/washers on the mounting screws between the t-stat and wall to space it 1/8 inch off the wall. This seemed to help it track the air temp a little better without moving it up onto the spiral post. 

 

I posted this before seeing your t-stat observation. Maybe an old school mechanical one as a test

2019 Scamp 13 standard

AnthonyRM
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Joined: 11/13/2016 - 08:35
I agree with Lyle! When the

I agree with Lyle! When the temp in the camper was 25F and I turned on the heater, the secondary wall thermometer went up to 90F while the Emerson Thermometer read 37F. I shut the heater down and waited until the camper cooled a bit and turned the heater back on. The built in thermometer takes forever before it reads anything close to the actual temp. This morning I turned on the electric space heater and let the temp rise long enough to get the Emerson thermometer up to 45 and then turned on the heater. It didn't stay on as long before it cycled off, but still got too hot. I shut it down but need to do some further experimenting. At this point I don't know if this heating system is going to keep a reasonable temperature in the camper. I'm seeing 30 to 40 degrees fluctuation in the camper temperature as the heater cycles on and off. It's either very cold or very hot. 

Anthony Memoli

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