Furnace smell and a few other questions

Hi, new to the forum. We just bought our first 5th wheel, 32 QBT. So far so good. We traded up from a Rockwood 8317SS. We camp alot in a seasonal campground with 3 kids so the added space was welcome.

We fired up the furnace for the first time this past weekend. The only thing we didn't do when we did the walk through!! Though it was 85 degrees the day we picked it up. Anyway the smell coming from the furnace was pretty bad. It is hard to describe, somewhat chemical based but very objectional IMO. So much so I had to open the roof vents. I tried letting the furnace run most of the day while we were not there with the windows open but the smell is still there. Any thoughts? I checked the front compartment and do not smell anything. Could it be just because it is new? I thought it was propane but the detector never went off. It's not a burning smell. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Second thing is the back bedroom became a hot house in a matter of minutes while the front bunkhouse was ice cold. I cover the vent in the back bedroom and that helped alot. Is it ok to install vents with registers to re direct the air flow?

The first time we turned on our furnace it had a terrible smell. I was sure we'd die from fumes, so I opened the window on my side of the bed. Took care of myself, Scruffy was on his own. Anyway we both woke up the next morning.

I guess it was just paint and stuff burning off. The dealer probably should have done that before we picked it up.

We replaced all of our floor vents with adjustable vents.

Tater

to the forum.

Ours did the same thing, but after a while, the smell went away.

The terrible furnace smell is normal, it burns off after a few days. The first time we used our furnace we were in the mountains. I knew it would get cold at night so before we went to bed I set the thermostat at 63 degrees and turned on the furnace. At one o’clock in the morning I was awakened by the smoke detector screaming its alarm. The furnace had kicked on and was burning off that newness. It scared the bejeebees out of me.

Its vegetable oil and all new furnaces have their heat exchangers coated in it to prevent corrosion before use. Let it burn and it will go away.
I just had a new furnace put in our house and it took 3 days for the stink to completely go away!

Same thing here. We used our furnace for the first time this weekend and it really did stink. I planned on this happening so I turned it up to 80° and we went trail walking for a couple of hours. I had all the windows and vents open so it didn't get too hot inside. When we came back, it was still stinky, but bearable. I've seen in the DIY section where people have installed adjustable registers, but that was mostly to keep dirt, etc out of the vent during summer use. No reason that would not be acceptable to close the hot room and leave the rest open.

VRUNNER to the forum

Same thing here when we first fired up the furnace.

Welcome to the forum!

We have a rear bunkhouse in our 5th wheel too and put the adjustable register in there. It has helped immensely, the boys are no longer sleeping in a sauna. Best $12 ever.

Thanks for the info!! Good to know its normal. We bought the Rockwood new too and I remember when we turned on the furnace, it had a burning smell that tripped the smoke alarm but it went away quickly. Now to get some vents!!

My furnace did the same thing. I removed the cover(inside panel) to the heater and cleaned all the loose sawdust and junk that had gotten on the furnace from manufacturing. I think this helped mine.

Good idea. Next question is how do I access the furnace? I looked this past weekend and am guessing it is from underneath the trailer??

Mine is in the pass through locker under the toilet area. 30LSBS
and you can also see it from behind the wooden vent under the pantry.
Sean

I would think your furnace is like most, it would have a return vent cover over the front. This is the cover I removed to access the furnace. I believe it was four screws and the cover came off. Just turn the furnace on and listen for the noise, the cover will be right there. They all make noise when the fan runs.. Good luck ! Duke

If I was to do this mod I would have to enlarge the heater return but might be worth it. Anybody ever try to add a filter on the return?

Hello and Welcome to the forum ! I'm a H.V.A.C. mech. for 30 years. It can take a time for the anit-rust oil on the heat exchanger to burn off. Plus if your unit has set for any length of time there may have been more than an normal amount of dust in the system. The best way to locate and access your furnace will be :1 Find the flue vent on the outside of your R/V this normal under the Refrigerator but not always. If in doubt run your furnace and check for the hot flue. 2 Your fresh air or return air grill will be on the inside directly across from this flue . 3 Remove the grill and your furnace will be in that space against the outer wall.
Registers with adjustable dampers in your supply air is want you need to force the air to your cold spots, don't forget the supply air to the basement area.
Filter the return air is great , just keep your filter away from your furnace , keep it clean.

The Steckelberg's wrote:Hello and Welcome to the forum ! I'm a H.V.A.C. mech. for 30 years. It can take a time for the anit-rust oil on the heat exchanger to burn off. Plus if your unit has set for any length of time there may have been more than an normal amount of dust in the system. The best way to locate and access your furnace will be :1 Find the flue vent on the outside of your R/V this normal under the Refrigerator but not always. If in doubt run your furnace and check for the hot flue. 2 Your fresh air or return air grill will be on the inside directly across from this flue . 3 Remove the grill and your furnace will be in that space against the outer wall.
Registers with adjustable dampers in your supply air is want you need to force the air to your cold spots, don't forget the supply air to the basement area.
Filter the return air is great , just keep your filter away from your furnace , keep it clean.

My return register is under the refer door. The heater is located under the refer. If I put a filter, were the register is, would there be enough air flow to the heater. How can I measure to make sure. I would have to enlarge the opening to a 21 by 14 if I remember correctly.

Great info!! Thanks!! I will check it this weekend. The return is under the frig. A filter sounds like a good idea. Hope the oil burns off soon, it is pretty stinky stuff.

The opening is big enough ! try to use a media pad filter like the one in the AC unit . Cut it just a little larger then the grill and sandwich it behind the grill and the opening. You may want to look at your unit before you install the filter to see it there is any trash around the furnace and vacuum it out before you close it up.

The Steckelberg's wrote:The opening is big enough ! try to use a media pad filter like the one in the AC unit . Cut it just a little larger then the grill and sandwich it behind the grill and the opening. You may want to look at your unit before you install the filter to see it there is any trash around the furnace and vacuum it out before you close it up.

That is an idea I did not think of. If I wanted to cut the opening bigger and install a housing and filter you would use in your house (14X21) would the furnace get enough air flow. Suburban says no. They say the chamber would over heat do to lack of air flow. Do you agree?

I don't agree. A clean filter flows very well and if the flow is ever reduced too much, the sail switch in the furnace will shut it down.
Suburban says "no" to stuff like this to keep from answering questions like " So if its ok to use a filter, why doesn't Suburban inlude one? They hate stuff like that.
All this is just my most humble and pesimistic opinion though

Thank you ScottandGrace. Learn something new again. Lack of air flow and the heater quits. I have never heard of the sail switch. So now there maybe a mod happening soon.

Suburban furnace Company !! CYA ??? What is the size of the present grill ? Length X Width = Sq In of area . New grill or filter same formula !! +or- 10% Safety on furnace no air flow No lite-off.

The new filter would be larger so I should be good to go. They were afraid of the restriction the filter might present. CYA might be the correct answer.

The stuff that was on my furnace I vacuumed out and that took care of the odors. I really don't think you need a filter, you just need to clean the wood chips and pieces from manufacturing out and you should be good. I think I might have wiped the furnance off with a damp rag after I vacuumed it. I have had several trailers and have never had to install a filter for dust and have not had any issues. Most of the trailers we had for 10-12 years. Good Luck!