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jswatzell's avatar
jswatzell
Explorer
Nov 19, 2015

Questions on Discovery motorhome

Hello
My son recently bought a Fleetwood Discovery Motorhome. The kicker is he is brand new to RV'ing so I have been trying to help as much as I can. However, there's a lot I'm not sure about when it comes to this type of RV. So I want to run a couple of things by y'all to make sure I'm telling him right. First off, he is full timeing in it. He works as a pipefitter so has to go where the job is. So this motorhome seems to fit the bill for him. Now for the questions. He has 2 heat pumps and 2 lp furnaces. I think probably the heat pumps work well down to a certain temp and then the gas furnaces kick in to supplement the heat pumps. Is this correct? We live in East Tenn so we get some cold weather but not super severe usually. One thing I'm not sure about is how do the water lines fare in cold weather? I think as long as the gas furnace is running the lines will be fine as they are in a heated area under the floor. If only the heat pumps are heating the home then the gas furnaces wouldn't be heating the area under the home to keep water lines free. However if I'm thinking right the lp furnaces would be running if it gets down cold enough to freeze the lines. Am I thinking right?
Is there any other thing he needs to do to prevent cold weather problems? He is getting a heated water hose to prevent that from freezing and has a frost proof faucet supply. Thanks for the help in advance.
Class A

9 Replies

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  • dubdub07's avatar
    dubdub07
    Explorer
    Nov 23, 2015
    My Discovery only has a middle unit heat pump. It works VERY well into the low 30s and during the day. At night the propane will need to be used. Also, mine will transition automatically to propane, although not very timely and after a lot of cold air is pumped in. Not sure the Discovery came with 2 heat pumps in the late model years.

    WW
  • Fiesta's avatar
    Fiesta
    Explorer
    Nov 21, 2015
    2015 40E. Water and drain lines to the slides for sinks and refrigerator run on arms extending under the slides like the supporting arms. They are exposed to freezing. I can shut off the refrig. water supply under the bathroom sink. Have not found shut off the kitchen sink yet. The kitchen sink drain; just don't use it in very cold temps.
    There are many holes that need to be plugged in the compartments below the slides, ESPECIALLY the water compartment. Can't drain sewer tanks if frozen, then can't do a dump....
    Plug every hole light comes thru from outside. Look under slides.
    Disconnect city water hose at faucet outside, drain and put hose in lower a compartment, when below freezing.
    Leave some heat on inside.
  • chuckftboy's avatar
    chuckftboy
    Explorer
    Nov 20, 2015
    Many or the Fleetwood units are exactly the was you suggest, Duel heat pumps with duel furnaces. My Pace Arrow was that way and my new HR is the same. Coleman (RVP) units heat well down to about 40 degrees. Less than 40 they'll run a lot and probably not keep up. When its cold out, both gas and pump will run if there is 5 degrees difference between space and set temperature. The pump alone will try to recover the last 5 degrees.

    If you are set for electric heat and the thermostat doesn't satisfy the temperature in 3 hours, if memory serves me, of run time the thermostat will lock out the pump and switch to gas.

    On my Pace the front furnace heated the bays and on the HR they're heated with the rear furnace.
  • John_Wayne's avatar
    John_Wayne
    Explorer II
    Nov 20, 2015
    If he's new to RV and hooked up to water he is probably leaving both drain valves open which will build a pyramid of P--- in the black tank. In cold weather I'd pass on the heated hose and run off the fresh water tank leaving the holding tanks closed till they were near full. Drain the tanks refill the fresh water tank and run that way no worry about frozen hoses or dry matter building up in the holding tanks.
    And running off the water pump IF you did have a broken pipe from freezing you'd know because the pump would be running when no faucets were open and he could turn the pump off when he was out of the rig working. And not come back to find water running out of the doors because a pipe split and he was hooked to the water bib.
  • dsteinman's avatar
    dsteinman
    Explorer
    Nov 20, 2015
    We have a 2012 Fleetwood Discovery 40G. So details will be different depending on model and year.

    We have 2 zones for heating. The second zone has a heat pump and propane heater. Zone 1 is propane heat only. I find that the heat pump only works good down to about 40 degrees F. It will switch over automatically to use the furnace if the temperature is about 5 degrees below the set point. It will also do this even if it is warm outside. In this case it might use both the furnace and heat pump.

    In ours, zone 2 is the furnace with a vent to warm the tanks. So, if it is cold you need to make sure that zone 2 is set so the furnace will come on and not just zone 1. The temperature sensor for zone 1 is too close to the front windows so it's temperature must be set colder than zone 2.

    We have been below 10 degrees at night without any problem and without taking any special precautions other than disconnecting the water hose.

    Some of this will also depend on how cold you let the RV get inside at night. We usually set zone 2 to 66 degrees, zone 1 I think is usually 60 degrees.


    David
  • xctraveler's avatar
    xctraveler
    Explorer
    Nov 20, 2015
    Our AC/HP system works fine down into the high 30's. When the heat pump cannot keep up and the interior temperature drops 5 deg F below the set temp the propane furnace kicks in (this is an over simplification but close enough). I would expect that the Discovery has a similar setup if the units are Coleman Mach with RVComfort Thermostats. In any event the propane furnace sought to keep the water compartment from freezing in temps into the mid 20's below that I throw an incandescent worklight in the bay with a 100 W bulb, never had a freeze up.

    Double check the Discovery owners web site and documents for more specific information about the coach.
  • Blaster_Man's avatar
    Blaster_Man
    Explorer
    Nov 20, 2015
    Usually Fleetwood puts heat pumps on only the aft unit. They are good to 40 at the lowest, then blow cool air, not warm air. Also, the furnace will not come on automatically. He'll have to turn off the heat pump and turn on the furnace. The furnaces will warm the basement, to include water lines inside the coach.
  • fcooper's avatar
    fcooper
    Explorer
    Nov 20, 2015
    Although I'm not familiar with the Discovery, I think your assumptions are correct.

    If he does not have an owners manual, you can get one at the link below. You do have to scroll down a bit to see the owners manuals.

    Fleetwood owners manuals

    Most motorhome refrigerators have an icemaker with the solenoid and water line just behind the external access door, and therefore subject to freeze damage if not drained.

    Hopefully, you'll get more info from some Discovery owners.

    There is a fleetwood owners group on the IRV2 forum.

    Fred

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