We have a 2019 standard 13 with bath. It appears that The furnace is more heat than we could use unless camping in the arctic. Has anyone found a method to derate the heat out put. The air temps are very high and it runs longer than needed to keep up with the needs. Is there a smaller orifice or burner available to get closer to 5-8,000 btu . We have a 1500 watt ceramic heater that is 5,200 Btu and it seems like enough for cool/cold weather. Hi 20's to 30's at night but we hope to dry camp this fall and looking for suggestions
Fri, 08/23/2019 - 13:51
#1
De-rate 2019 furnace
The furnace thermostat location (End of lower cabinet.) in the older Scamps was always an issue. They usually get covered up by bedding and are non responsive or cause large temperature swings. The best thing to do is switch to a digital thermostat and mount it 4ft. above the floor on a cabinet or make a bracket and mount it on the cabinet supports.
Eddie
Our 2019 has the factory Digital T Stat and it is mounted on the side of the cabinet facing the bed near the top. I added a 3/16 spacer to stand it off the cabinet to see if it responds quicker but even the display is so much slower than a indoor thermometer sitting directly 4 inches.above it. I am not complaining but I am hoping to improve it. I realize nothing was designed for such a small sealed trailer. I do have a email out to Suburban to see if there is a smaller fuel orifice for high altitude that would reduce the fuel a tiny bit and reduce the fire breathing dragon effect. Many thermostats have an anticipator adjustment to help reduce over shooting but even this digital one is not so equipped. and the furnace instal directions addresses this with a recommended setting
2019 Scamp 13 standard
Some are going with the Propex heaters. They can even be mounted outside the trailer and the heat ducted to inside your trailer. They are much lower BTU's than the Suburban or Atwood but users seem to really like them. It's a lot to spend on a furnace when you have a brand new trailer. I bought a Lil Joe w/o a furnace last winter and may go with a Propex heater due to limited space and narrow cabinets. Looks like you are taking the right steps with your Suburban. About the only other suggestion is to try a heat only Honeywell thermostat.
Eddie
https://www.propexheatsource.com/travel-trailer-heaters-furnaces/
https://amzn.to/2KX4beN
Still hoping Suburban will chime in but anything considered a modification would likely be off limits. I ordered 2 original #56 Orifices to fill and resize smaller if possible. But I do not want to sacrafice even heating in the chamber or proper lighting. Safety/reliability is the first order comfort comes second
2019 Scamp 13 standard
As expected there is no response from Suburban regarding a method to derate the Furnace. I am running one size smaller gas orifice but do not see much improvement. I tried two sizes smaller and had burner flame reliability concerns. Next to look for faster responding T-Stat or one with an anticipator circuit to minimize the over run. . Good thing this is a hobby for me and I don't mind tinkering.
2019 Scamp 13 standard
After several versions of burner and gas orifice changes it seems that this direction only brings on tiny yet reliable changes. So as experiment I decided to go old school and went with a Honeywell $16 dollar mechanical T-Stat with an adjustable anticipator function and by setting it to the shortest/lowest setting I may have found some improvement. Obviously this does not address the fire breathing Dragon heating the Scamp so quickly but it appears that it is much quicker to turn off and there-for not overshoot so badly. I am sure I am not the first to do so but had to try something. When the cold weather actually gets here I can accurately test and see if it helps.
2019 Scamp 13 standard
My Wife and I spent the last 4 days in Sleeping bear dunes National lake shore DH -Day camp ground without Electric in 45 degrees and rain and sleet. The Honeywell T-Stat with the Anticipator function seems to track the interior temps better than the digital one. We turned it off when leaving for the day and the interior temps were 50F The first heat cycle was aggressive and did overshoot by 2-3 deg but after that it was only 1-2 deg and thru the night it was comfortable. The T-Stat is in the normal mount position but is spaced 3/16 off the surface. We left the kitchen window open an inch and the roof vent open but not running and this seemed to keep the moisture inside in check pretty good and was set to between 65-70 deg . Seems to be an improvement, We also saw two other Scamps there
2019 Scamp 13 standard
Salukispeed, even though you haven't gotten a lot of replies on this, I'm really glad you posted it. Very useful information, and you carried right on through all your experiences. Well done, and thank you.