furnace sail switch

[jnfrombigt]

I've watched Reace's sail switch repair video. On every picture I've seen of the 5.0TA, I've seen no way to access the furnace from the trailer's exterior. I'm picking mine up June 24 and I'm wondering how do I get to this switch that's causing so many problems?

[Eggscape]

You will find it behind this hatch.

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

You will find it behind this hatch.

Thanks That's the best picture I've seen of that side of a 5.0TA. Has that hatch always been located there on the 5.0TA or did they start adding them at some point? jn

[Eggscape]

I am not sure of the date, but all models within the last year now have this new style of exterior furnace access hatch.

We picked up our trailer exactly one year ago today and it did not come with the hatch.

[jnfrombigt]

After I viewed Reace's video I began looking at 5.0TA pictures including the ones on the Escape website and I could not find one with that hatch. With the hatch it doesn't appear to be a big problem cleaning the switch on a periodic schedule. The switch itself is a fairly simple designed micro switch with a flap that is pushed down by the flow of air. Thanks again for the info. jn

[davidmurphy02]

That's our trailer in the photo showing the hatch - and after hearing about numerous sail switch issues and how difficult it was to pull the old furnace out, having the exterior access hatch on our trailer was a big relief. I picked up an extra sail switch from ETI to put in my spare parts box, and with the hatch door for easy access I don't worry about it at all. Murphy's Law of Spare Parts will be in effect too - whatever spare parts you carry to deal with problems on the road, those items will never break....it will be something else

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

I picked up an extra sail switch from ETI to put in my spare parts box, and with the hatch door for easy access I don't worry about it at all. Murphy's Law of Spare Parts will be in effect too - whatever spare parts you carry to deal with problems on the road, those items will never break....it will be something else

On our six week maiden voyage last fall, after cleaning our sail switch a couple of times, we complained to Dometic and they sent us a new sail switch. Before leaving last January, on our twelve week winter escape, the new switch was installed. We easily had over thirty nights with the furnace running (we use a small electric heater when we have hookups) and the sail switch worked properly every night (we're cursed now!). Hopefully that original, cleaned sail switch will stay in the spare parts box.

And yes, I'll pull the new sail switch to inspect/clean before leaving on our next trip in June.

Enjoy,

Perry

[steve dunham]

A friend of ours purchased a new dreaded Forest River trailer from one of those often maligned , unscrupulous trailer dealers . They had the same or similar issues with their Dometic furnace , refrigerator and A/C that have also been mentioned numerous times on thus forum . Forest River / dealer changed out their Dometic furnace , refrigerator and A/C and at no charge to the customer !

Silence often speaks volumes

[Chama]

Spoke with Dave at ETI about the continuing problem with fibers in the sail switch. He suggested removing the sail switch, and the interior plastic face grill and blowing out the furnace with compressed air. On our unit, it appears to me that the sail switch is located on the combustion side of the furnace just inboard from the squirrel cage blower. Dave's comment would seem to indicate that the fibers are coming from the cabin air side so this is still a confusing issue. In any case, once we get home from this trip, everything inside the furnace cavituy will get the compressed air treatment. Our trailer was not very clean when we picked up (floor filthy, saw dust in cabinets) so there could well be junk inside the furnace cavity.

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

That's our trailer in the photo showing the hatch - and after hearing about numerous sail switch issues and how difficult it was to pull the old furnace out, having the exterior access hatch on our trailer was a big relief. I picked up an extra sail switch from ETI to put in my spare parts box, and with the hatch door for easy access I don't worry about it at all. Murphy's Law of Spare Parts will be in effect too - whatever spare parts you carry to deal with problems on the road, those items will never break....it will be something else

I agree with the principle that if you carry a repair part you have probably prevented a problem. When I saw that picture I thought that looked like David Murphy's outfit. I still have a couple of months to go and I'm hoping I don't encounter all that snow I see in your picture. I did not get the extra insulation package and don't plan to camp in those conditions.

[davidmurphy02]

Originally Posted by jnfrombigt

I agree with the principle that if you carry a repair part you have probably prevented a problem. When I saw that picture I thought that looked like David Murphy's outfit. I still have a couple of months to go and I'm hoping I don't encounter all that snow I see in your picture. I did not get the extra insulation package and don't plan to camp in those conditions.

When we went through there was snow on the ground, which was beautiful, but temps were already high enough that the roads stayed clear. Two months from now you won't see any snow there, and certainly won't have any issues with frozen roads.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by Chama

Spoke with Dave at ETI about the continuing problem with fibers in the sail switch. He suggested removing the sail switch, and the interior plastic face grill and blowing out the furnace with compressed air. On our unit, it appears to me that the sail switch is located on the combustion side of the furnace just inboard from the squirrel cage blower. Dave's comment would seem to indicate that the fibers are coming from the cabin air side so this is still a confusing issue. In any case, once we get home from this trip, everything inside the furnace cavituy will get the compressed air treatment. Our trailer was not very clean when we picked up (floor filthy, saw dust in cabinets) so there could well be junk inside the furnace cavity.

I found a carpenter’s pencil sitting on my furnace when I removed the front grill to add the carbon air filter. Might have had something to do with an intermittent rattle that we had from the furnace [emoji849]

[EdColorado]

A confirmation from ETI of what has been posted here.

“ The furnace draws air in from the front of the furnace, around the sides of where the hot air blows out.”

Ed

Another project for when we get home.

[Mel Tucker]

A word of caution to all Escape owners who have a Dometic furnace and use an Andersen Ultimate Hitch.....be extra careful when you have service done. I recently had to have my Dometic furnace replaced because of a bad electric motor. Dometic sent a new furnace as it was covered under warranty. They told me where to take my 5.0 TA to have the furnace installed. Took the trailer there as instructed. They removed the Andersen hitch assembly because their "mule" was rigged up for gooseneck only. Installed furnace, put my hitch back together and I left happy.

850 miles later I was coming up to an intersection and slowed when I heard a loud squealing sound. Stopped and decided to pull into a parking lot to see what was going on. Found that the people who re-installed my Andersen hitch did not tighten the 4 set screws sufficiently (supposed to be torqued to 40 pds). That allowed the hitch to swivel 180 degrees when stopping!!! Fortunately nobody hurt and no damage done. Lesson.......check everything yourself after work done on your trailer!!!! Safe travels everybody. I still love my 5.0 TA, my Anderson Hitch and the Dometic furnace.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Mel Tucker

A word of caution to all Escape owners who have a Dometic furnace and use an Andersen Ultimate Hitch.....be extra careful when you have service done. I recently had to have my Dometic furnace replaced because of a bad electric motor. Dometic sent a new furnace as it was covered under warranty. They told me where to take my 5.0 TA to have the furnace installed. Took the trailer there as instructed. They removed the Andersen hitch assembly because their "mule" was rigged up for gooseneck only. Installed furnace, put my hitch back together and I left happy.

850 miles later I was coming up to an intersection and slowed when I heard a loud squealing sound. Stopped and decided to pull into a parking lot to see what was going on. Found that the people who re-installed my Andersen hitch did not tighten the 4 set screws sufficiently (supposed to be torqued to 40 pds). That allowed the hitch to swivel 180 degrees when stopping!!! Fortunately nobody hurt and no damage done. Lesson.......check everything yourself after work done on your trailer!!!! Safe travels everybody. I still love my 5.0 TA, my Anderson Hitch and the Dometic furnace.

I have had my 5.0TA with an Anderson Ultimate hitch moved at the welding shop and they just used a 2 5/16" ball on the forks of a forklift. Definitely something to be aware of should they remove the adaptor like they did yours.

This does get me to thinking about checking the torque on those set screws as a maintenance item too.

[Eggscape]

Good point to inspect everything before you depart having had service.

My brother in law picked up his stick trailer after service and it was all over the road. He looked underneath to find some spring hangers were broken. Got it back to the service center where he was told by the SERVICE MANAGER that the new guy on the “mule” must have turned the trailer to sharp ripping off some and bending other spring hangers of the dual axle trailer.

The OWNER of the service center said no that was not the case and that my brother in law must have brought it in that way. He refused to release the trailer until my brother in law paid for the spring hanger repair work.

Most of us should not have that same problem but I can’t image the possible damage that could be caused to the core of the tires.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Because it measures is the difference in pressure between before and after the blower, the absolute or barometric pressure (or altitude) doesn't matter.

Not to quibble but there would be a reduction in the differential caused by altitude. Probably not enough to change things but that's why the Vne reduces with altitude according to the indicated air speed.

I guess that I'm really lucky. Every mile we've gone with our E19 has been with our little furry friend. Never, touch wood, have had a sail switch problem.

Ron

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Not to quibble but there would be a reduction in the differential caused by altitude. Probably not enough to change things but that's why the Vne reduces with altitude according to the indicated air speed.

I guess that I'm really lucky. Every mile we've gone with our E19 has been with our little furry friend. Never, touch wood, have had a sail switch problem.

Ron

One year older then your trailer , same heater. Another good reason we love our "Classic" 19 . I am not patient anymore fixing new appliances . Pat

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Not to quibble but there would be a reduction in the differential caused by altitude. Probably not enough to change things but that's why the Vne reduces with altitude according to the indicated air speed.

Sure, the air density is lower so the same blower speed would result in less pressure differential... but then the blower speed is not regulated so the motor will drive it faster in the lower-density air. I think at this point we're into effects an order of magnitude smaller than the margin of error in this hardware.

[Tam2004]

Since our first furnace in our new Escape 19 was a disaster last fall after we picked it up and the new replacement furnace has performed perfectly -- I have a new theory. I honestly feel like some are lemons - and couldn't that have something to do with the fact the the thermostat is not wired to the furnace - like in the "old days"? The message is flying through the air and there must be software to provide instructions? Is this a nutty idea? It didn't matter how many new sail switches or mother boards we put in. The furnace was possessed from about the 3rd day of ownership. I emphasize, after we got a new one after documenting for 4 weeks what exactly happened, it has been a dream. (I cross my fingers).