Quieting a Suburban Furnace

[Rob and Linda]

I'm on a quest! Our new Casita is equipped with a Suburban NT-16SE furnace... a nice little contraption except for the jolting noise it makes when it turns on in the dead of night! It wakes me up with every ON cycle.

I have considered an electronic/electrical "solution"... that being to add a "soft start" circuit that would start the blower motor gradually over three or four seconds to reduce the instant-ON noise.

Discussing that idea with an EE friend, he suggested that I look over another approach also... acoustically insulating the furnace enclosure. He provided this link: http://www.ehow.com/how_2170281_noisy-rv-furnace-quiet.html

I'm thinking that the "insulation" approach might be a good place to start... I'll probably do that soon after the first of the year.

But surely I'm not the first guy to concern myself with the awful racket these little furnaces make! If anyone on this Forum has had any success in quietening their furnace, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheerz!

Rob

[Byron Kinnaman]

I just go used to it. Many have complained about the, but I never thought it was that bad.

[Cyndi B.]

I am a jumpy sleeper so when that thing kicks on I wake up Sleeping Beauty. As much as I hate getting one more thing out to put away whenever we are plugged in we use the cheap heater from Wal-Mart which saves on LP.

[Rob and Linda]

Originally Posted by Cyndi B.

I am a jumpy sleeper so when that thing kicks on I wake up Sleeping Beauty. As much as I hate getting one more thing out to put away whenever we are plugged in we use the cheap heater from Wal-Mart which saves on LP.

Cyndi...

I understand! Actually, I really like the heat provided by the strip-heater in the A/C... the constant whirr of the fan is kind of soothing, and not cycling on and off is a plus.

But, on the other hand, I just hate to have something that isn't all that useful (I'm talking aboout the Suburban furnace at night) when it could be made much better. I guess that's why I've spent so much of my life 'modding' stuff!

[Cyndi B.]

Rob:

I have been reading alot about the strip heater here lately. We don't have A/C even though we live in humid states so is this something that would work without A/C?

[Rob and Linda]

Originally Posted by Cyndi B.

Rob:

I have been reading alot about the strip heater here lately. We don't have A/C even though we live in humid states so is this something that would work without A/C?

Cyndi...

The strip heat(er) is simply a resistance element built in to the A/C (same principle as the heating element in a 'cube' heater) that heats when electricity is applied and the A/C blower forces air across the 'hot' strip (element), warming the air and discharging the air into the heated space (the camper). So (If this made any sense at all), the strip heater is an integeral part of the A/C.

Cheers and stay warm!

Rob

[Byron Kinnaman]

All the little electric heaters are well and good except some of us never have hook-ups.

[DonDeutsch]

In addition to my FG trailer I have an ice fishing house where an electric heater is not an option, unless I want the noise of a generator.

I think I will try the insulation route.

[Cyndi B.]

I will be watching the ice fishing from my front window where it's warm.

[DonDeutsch]

My Ice house is an RV trailer on wheels, it lowers to the ice. I consider it the other side of rv camping. I should start another tread on this.

[Cyndi B.]

So who decides when it's safe to go out on the ice? They have a report like the weather?

[Gina D.]

Check with a qualified RV Tech with experience in your furnace. The fan is a critical part of the starting system.

The gas will NOT be supplied to the pilot/burn system if the fan is not moving enough to trigger the Sail Switch.. which is aptly named. The fan turns on, the wind velocity pushes back on the "Sail" part of the switch which then opens and tells the gas workings it's OK to fire up. It is a safety feature.

I am sure the switch would be triggered once the fan gets to full speed, but since you are messing around with a potentially deadly system, a little verification couldn't hurt.

[Leehman]

Originally Posted by Gina D.

Check with a qualified RV Tech with experience in your furnace. The fan is a critical part of the starting system.

The gas will NOT be supplied to the pilot/burn system if the fan is not moving enough to trigger the Sail Switch.. which is aptly named. The fan turns on, the wind velocity pushes back on the "Sail" part of the switch which then opens and tells the gas workings it's OK to fire up. It is a safety feature.

I am sure the switch would be triggered once the fan gets to full speed, but since you are messing around with a potentially deadly system, a little verification couldn't hurt.

Another choicer

[Gina D.]

I forgot to mention that the furnace will try to fire 3 times then give up. If your fan isn't up to speed by the end of that sequence, it will never fire.

[JEAN-L]

I don't understand why Suburban doesn't intall a 12 volt blower motor like the one we have in our car, they are much quieter.

[Cyndi B.]

I think they like the thought of keeping us up all night and the TV on high volume.

[DonDeutsch]

Originally Posted by Cyndi B.

So who decides when it's safe to go out on the ice? They have a report like the weather?

The reports are always stay off the ice. I guess the only time it is safe to go on the ice is when ther isn't a report

[Oliver P]

I too have the same problem. When that suburban kicks on so do I.

I had an idea to modify the circuit with a switch so that when I am plugged in and the heater on the fan in the suburban never turns off. From what I can tell this will not run afoul of the protection scheme

[DonDeutsch]

Oliver,
I think this would be a great idea if the power draw isn't too great. How much electricity, measured in run hours, would you think you would lose?

[Oliver P]

Originally Posted by DonDeutsch

Oliver,
I think this would be a great idea if the power draw isn't too great. How much electricity, measured in run hours, would you think you would lose?

I think that depends largely on how cold it is and how warm you want your trailer to be. I would probably not leave the fan on all the time if I was not plugged in. my digital thermostat also has a switch for the fan that is auto or on.i just need to work out how to do the mod