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Old 10-06-2012, 06:53 PM   #1
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turning on the furnace for 1st time

We have a 2012 197 ultra lite & are going dry camping for the first time at the Grand Canyon. It's going to be cold & I had a couple of questions if any can help me out I would appreciate it.

1) How do you turn on the furnace? It seems as though you just set the thermostat & at a temp? There's no on/off switch. Never used the furnace before so not sure if we need to do anything else. Looked it up in the owners manual & it gave no instructions.

2) Whats the best way to run the heater when you are dry camping? Owners manual just says it needs propane & 12 volt.


Thanks. We've never had a travel trailer before this one and are learning as we go.

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Old 10-06-2012, 06:59 PM   #2
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My T stat looks like this, and you switch to heat. Nothing to touch on the furnace.

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Old 10-06-2012, 07:02 PM   #3
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Also keep in mind the furnace fan uses a considerable amount of juice and it will drain a battery overnight if it runs too much when dry camping.
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Old 10-06-2012, 07:46 PM   #4
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You may want to run the furnace before you go camping. A new furnace can (probably will) generate some odor for a while.
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Old 10-06-2012, 09:31 PM   #5
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If the furnace runs a lot you will most likely have a dead battery by morning. If you have two batteries you will be a lot better off. We use a Kozy World or a Mr. Heater when boondocking.
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Old 10-07-2012, 03:03 AM   #6
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Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, crabman, our thermostat doesn't look like yours. Ours has no switch for a/c or heat or even on/off. It only has a bar to slide for more or less heat. Strangest thing I ever saw.
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Old 10-07-2012, 06:48 AM   #7
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I went looking for 2012 JAYCO 197 photos on google images and I guess this is your thermostat on the wall here. Looks like it has touch button controls



Surely there is a HEATER button on this panel... Let me keep looking maybe I can find a better picture of the thermostat somewhere...

FOUND THIS PHOTO...
The top slide switch set the temp I guess but I see a another slide switch on the bottom.. Maybe this is for selecting AC or Heater... This is a strange look thermostat. Maybe someone else on here has a clue...

Maybe this is two thermostats in one. The top one for the A/C and the bottom one for the heater. Pehaps the switch is built-in the slide switch. ON-OFF is at the beginning of the slide.


Sample photos from google images

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Old 10-08-2012, 11:11 AM   #8
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Our 213 has the same thermostat as pictured above. The bottom slide adjusts the temperature. The little lever on the top right hand corner is the on off switch for the furnace. To turn the furnace on you push it to the left about a 1/4 of an inch. You will hear and feel an audible click. Opposite to shut it off. Our on off switch is so stiff that my wife's fingers are not strong enough to turn it on. First mod planned for next spring is installation of a simple digital thermostat.
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Old 10-08-2012, 11:30 AM   #9
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We have the same thermostat also on our 228. If the lever is up against the right side of the housing I know its off and can only go to the left for on mode. I'm always afraid to brake it if I go the wrong way because it is very stiff to move and the lever looks weak.
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Old 10-08-2012, 04:27 PM   #10
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x2 with bigbird, our 228 is the same and since we just fired the furnace this weekend I can tell you there is a smell and a haze that hung around the camper for about 2 hrs. after lighting it off for the first time.
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Old 10-08-2012, 05:58 PM   #11
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The thermostat that RoyBraddy shows is in our hybrid. Very basic, as every below RoyBraddy stated, there is a little switch in the upper right hand corner. I broke mine off by accident, and had to use a table knife for a weekend to flip the on/off switch (had to remove the faceplate to do so). Setting the temp is a real challenge. Once you find the range you like I would recommend using a sharpie and marking your temperature range you like, as setting it is difficult at best. Due to my broken switch I changed mine out with a simple digital thermostat. It is pretty easy to do.
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Old 10-15-2012, 09:26 AM   #12
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The first time we fired up our furnace (thankfully in the driveway) it set the smoke detector off. I understand there is a manufacturing/shipping coating on the innerds that has to burn off. After I figured nothing was burning that wasn't supposed to I opened the windows, put a fan in the doorway and let 'er run. After about 5 min the alarm quit and I closed things up and ran the furnace a bit more and all was good.
We've owned ours for a year and haven't had to use the furnace in anger yet. We don't boondock and have a small electric space heater that does the trick down to around the freezing mark (coldest weather we've been in thus far).

Enjoy the CANYON (CANYOn, CANYon, CANyon, CAnyon, Canyon, canyon...)!
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Old 10-28-2012, 07:04 PM   #13
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Furnace woes

I have recently purchased a 2004 23b in excellent shape. We took it out this weekend, Oct 26 - 28. The nights got down to freezing so I wanted the furnace on. I have the thermostat shown in Roy Ken's photo. I read the directions which said to throw the top lever to the left turning it on. I then set the thermostat. Nothing happened. I then opened the panel and pushed the black lever to "reset". Still nothing. I opened the electrical panel and turned every breaker off and then reset them to on. I pulled every fuse but all 8 of them were (or was it 9) were fine. The gas was flowing to the stove top. Any suggestions about what I should try next? Did you just get a digital thermostat that is meant to be used on a house?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jagiven View Post
The thermostat that RoyBraddy shows is in our hybrid. Very basic, as every below RoyBraddy stated, there is a little switch in the upper right hand corner. I broke mine off by accident, and had to use a table knife for a weekend to flip the on/off switch (had to remove the faceplate to do so). Setting the temp is a real challenge. Once you find the range you like I would recommend using a sharpie and marking your temperature range you like, as setting it is difficult at best. Due to my broken switch I changed mine out with a simple digital thermostat. It is pretty easy to do.
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Old 10-28-2012, 07:54 PM   #14
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I would really recommend a trailer park with power. It is getting kind of cold up there and an electric heater would really be nice to have.
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Old 10-31-2012, 09:55 PM   #15
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I'm glad to hear others have this same thermostat, I personally think its a cheap piece of crap & jayco should be ashamed of putting something like that in their trailers. Love my trailer, except for this one little thing. Bought a mr. Heater rouse in the trailer instead of messing with this when we are trying to boondock.

AZ campers
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Old 10-31-2012, 10:16 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AZ Campers View Post
I'm glad to hear others have this same thermostat, I personally think its a cheap piece of crap & jayco should be ashamed of putting something like that in their trailers. Love my trailer, except for this one little thing. Bought a mr. Heater rouse in the trailer instead of messing with this when we are trying to boondock.

AZ campers
Mr.Heater or Kozyworld are a very good choice for boondocking.
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Old 11-01-2012, 12:56 AM   #17
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This is an informative thread if you want to change the thermostat.

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...tal-Thermostat
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Old 08-18-2020, 02:09 PM   #18
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My basic heater switch wont move left to stiff and afraid to break it off any suggestions??
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Old 08-18-2020, 02:19 PM   #19
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We've had a couple of those thermostats. They really do move very hard, but we've never broken one. Just fingernails.
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Old 08-18-2020, 02:25 PM   #20
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I see 2 choices. Move to the left. It either turns on or breaks. If it breaks, buy a better one.
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