Removal of Duotherm furnace in 1977 Trillium 4500

[billandkate]

Hey Dave,
You there? We need your help in helping guide us through removing our old Duotherm furnace from our Trillium 4500.
Anyone else, too. We are hoping for a real person who owns a vintage gal.
Bill + Kate Poss

[billandkate]

We spent an hour removing the Duotherm furnace from our 1977 Trillium. We were stumped at why it stuck until we Googled furnace removal for Trilliums and were directed to 2009 and 2012 posts by folks who told us that a rusted exhausted pipe was what caused the unit to stick. While I researched online my husband wiggled and jiggled the furnace until the rust unstuck. Now we'll send it to Trillium in Calgary to repair. When we took the furnace out a petrified wasp nest fell out. The unit's exhaust pipe is coated in rust.

[billandkate]

A petrified wasp nest fell out of our Duotherm exhaust pipe from our 1977 Trillium 4500. My husband lost skin on his wrist in the enterprise.

[billandkate]

My husband's perseverance paid off in removing our Duo Therm furnace from our 1977 Trillium 4500. Lots of jiggling to get the exhaust pipe shaken loose! There is also the petrified wasps' nest that fell out. A could quarter cup of rust sprinkles fell out, too.

[David Tilston]

I am sorry that I was not able to help. I was in limbo. I just completed the worst vacation ever:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ver-60777.html

What was wrong with your furnace?

I think my oldest kid's furnace is hooped. Pilot light lights, but the main burner never comes on. I suspect it is the gas valve. I will change it myself this time, if my kid coughs up the money for a new valve. They are not cheep.

[Don ravinerat]

I am removing my furnace from my Trillium ( or trying to). Thought I would see if there were any post. I have removed the face plate or housing. Removed the screws (only 2) that holds it into the Fiberglass. Is that all that is retaining it? I'll go try to giggle it some more but I don't want to break anything.
The repair place said if I could remove it and bring it in they could look at it between jobs. If I have to bring the whole trailer in it will be 2-3 weeks as he has fallen behind.
My pilot lights while I hold the button in but I can't turn it to run as the pilot goes out.

[David Tilston]

There were four screws that held the furnace in on my trailer. There were also several rivets on the outside vent. Four that held the cover on, and more under the cover. Your problem may be the thermocouple. If not, the gas valve. The valve is expensive:
Duo-Therm Gas Control (Fits Units with no Wall T-Stat)
Robertshaw® 710-201 Unitrol Gas Valve 710 Series 7000SLC Right Valve® Equivalent
Duo-therm Gas Control 903705.000

It should be noted that the valve in these links has different port locations then the original valve. Installing it will require some tube bending. If this is something you are not comfortable with, then have qualified furnace technician install it.

[Spanke]

Originally Posted by Don ravinerat

I am removing my furnace from my Trillium ( or trying to). Thought I would see if there were any post. I have removed the face plate or housing. Removed the screws (only 2) that holds it into the Fiberglass. Is that all that is retaining it? I'll go try to giggle it some more but I don't want to break anything.
The repair place said if I could remove it and bring it in they could look at it between jobs. If I have to bring the whole trailer in it will be 2-3 weeks as he has fallen behind.
My pilot lights while I hold the button in but I can't turn it to run as the pilot goes out.

Check out this thread:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...r-49659-2.html

Spanke

[Don ravinerat]

There are 2 other screw holes for mounting but they are missing.
So do I need to remove the vent cover to get the Duotherm out? I have put my head down the bench seat and can see the venting which looks in good shape. No rust on the furnace at all. I can drill out the rivets and pull the outside plate off. Will that free the furnace?

[billandkate]

Hi Dave, sorry to hear about your worst vacation ever. Joe at Outback trailers is ever so kind. We shipped the furnace to him last week (cost $56 to ship to Canada). We'll let you know how everything works when we get it back. Meanwhile, our electric converter stopped working the day we took our trip. May have to send that to Calgary, too.

[billandkate]

Originally Posted by Don ravinerat

I am removing my furnace from my Trillium ( or trying to). Thought I would see if there were any post. I have removed the face plate or housing. Removed the screws (only 2) that holds it into the Fiberglass. Is that all that is retaining it? I'll go try to giggle it some more but I don't want to break anything.
The repair place said if I could remove it and bring it in they could look at it between jobs. If I have to bring the whole trailer in it will be 2-3 weeks as he has fallen behind.
My pilot lights while I hold the button in but I can't turn it to run as the pilot goes out.

Hey there, Don. There are 4 screws to undo that actually attach the furnace. They are not the housing.

[billandkate]

Hi Dave, the furnace didn't light. When we originally had the Trillium at the RV repair center last year the guys told us the furnace didn't work and there were no replacements. Haven't tried to get it to work since. Now we're waiting to hear back from Outback Trailers in Calgary.

[Don ravinerat]

Yes there should be 4 screws but there were only 2 left. Holes are still there. Think I have to remove the outside cover/vent

[Spanke]

The flue is two pieces that telescope within each other. One attached to the furnace body that pulls out inside and one that must be removed from the outside. They usually rust together and separation can be nearly impossible. Sometimes you can get lucky and can slide the outer section off of the inner section without uttering a lot of expletives. You do have to remove the outside cover/vent first to get to the actual flue.

You have to get these pieces apart somehow to remove the furnace, possibly with some banging and/or cutting as noted in the link I posted. Read through it completely, it should tell you pretty much everything you need to know.

Don mine is a '78 Trillium 1300, a 4500 may have a different furnace, but you didn't say what you have.



Spanke

[Don ravinerat]

Thanks Spanke. Mine is actually a 1975 Trillium 1300. It does seem like they are different. I took step by step pictures as I took it out. I will post them on this thread so anyone else looking can see how it's done.

[Don ravinerat]

So I would like to add my furnace removal on this thread since It was easy to find when I was searching for info.
Mine is a 1975 Trillium 1300 and seems different from the 4500 Trillium.

I removed the housing or face plate. ( I may not get my terms correct) There were a few screws in plain view.

[Don ravinerat]

so like everyone else I couldn't get the Duotherm to move more than a 1/4". I opened up the bench where the water tank is and I could kind of see the back. So some banging, pulling, jiggling, shaking it wasn't coming off.

I went outside and removed the vent.



Well the metal at the end of the vent was fastened to the housing with two self taping screws. I removed these but it still would not move. The end was larger than the hole itself.

[Don ravinerat]

I needed to remove this larger cap so I can push it all back into the trailer. I could pull on the furnace and it would move more than before.

[Don ravinerat]

There are 2 rivets on either side at the top and 1 on either side at the bottom. So I tried to use a drill but the angle was hard. I could get almost all the way through on the outside ones. I was able to take an all and punch it out because it was partially drilled out. I also put a 2x4 up against the side so there was something firm to hit against. The inside ones were a little more of a challenge but I got them out. It cam off the end rather nice.

[Don ravinerat]

As you can see I had to bend the top of the cap which was angled up to fit through the hole. Once I started to pull from the front of the furnace it started to move. I thought it was still hung up but with some back and forth, up and down it finally came right out.