Forum Discussion

lawrosa's avatar
lawrosa
Explorer
May 31, 2017

Missing heat vent 2018 coachmen..

So I picked up the new travel trailer. All was good with walkthrough and build quality excellent IMO.

But,

During walk through I mentioned that the travel trailers I see on line have a heating duct at front fascia of couach. Mine only has 3.

1 in master 1 in bath and 1 at far end near bath/bunks.

The sales man stated I can add one.. lol.. I drove 4 hours to get it and I wasnt leaving it there. ha ha.

So I got home and for the life of me was wondering if this was part of the build for a reason or they forgot it..

Note, all 2018's I have seen so far seem to be missing this duct.. Well not all. I can go on line and find a few, but not many..


So I e mailed coachmen. I sent him pics. His first response was some models they can put a duct and others they cant. After he viewed the pics he stated that I contact the dealer for these parts. And he copied the dealer and recommended the dealer send the parts at no cost to me..

Thats where I am at now as I have not heard back from dealer yet. But I did forward all messages to the person I dealt with through my whole buying process..

Now the question..

Why do you think they ommitted the heat duct?
Do you think I should add the heat duct?

It seems the one duct in the master gets very hot as its so close to the furnace. Like 6 inches. So it gets most of the air. The other two ducts are at least 10 ft away.

I think adding the duct to the 35k btu heater should be beneficial..

Whats all your opinions?

Comparison








My camper










  • wildtoad's avatar
    wildtoad
    Explorer II
    May 31, 2017
    So it happens to more than just me! Last year I pick ed my brand new motorhome and a) they had left out my rear window, and b) they had left out a heat duct in the floor behind the drivers seat. Luckily the duct work was part of the flooring installation and all they had to do is cut the hole. Doesn't help you but just to let you know it happens. It should be a warranty item.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    May 31, 2017
    Missing something like 1 heat duct is not common, but it happens. From your pics, it is easy for the Dealer to add the duct. All he needs is the metal furnace duct collar. 6 foot of duct hose and the couch vent. Now, to your process for getting it resolved. While you took the initiative, it is really counter productive to getting it done. The CORRECT process after contacting Coachman was to then get the RV back to the dealer and let him write up a Repair Order and get the parts and install. THIS is the best way. What you have now, is a bunch of people trying to do the right thing but not really communicating correctly. With a Repair order, there is a paper trail to make sure everything is documented AT the dealership level. That helps not getting the repair lost in all the e mail communication. Also, 35 btu furnace REALLY needs that extra duct to keep from overheating. Doug
  • Chris_Bryant's avatar
    Chris_Bryant
    Explorer II
    May 31, 2017
    A 35k btu furnace requires 4 ducts- with no dampers. More if you can shut them off.
  • Dave_H_M's avatar
    Dave_H_M
    Explorer II
    May 31, 2017
    If it were me i would consider having the parts shipped to me and do that work which looks like a no brainer myself and save the two trips to the dealer.

    i have done that deal with two separate dealers in my time.
  • lawrosa's avatar
    lawrosa
    Explorer
    May 31, 2017
    Chris Bryant wrote:
    A 35k btu furnace requires 4 ducts- with no dampers. More if you can shut them off.


    I cant shut them off but from the pics I can add 2. The dealer is arguing on the point of warranty and they should not eat the $20 in parts since coachmen will not verify that its a quality issue.

    Coachmen is just saying I can put it there and it does not pose an issue.

    They recommend the dealer send me the parts at no cost to me. But the dealer is thinking otherwise apparently..

    We will see..

    I think the one vent out front will suffice.

    I did notice when running the heat, the duct in the master that is close to the heater, gets extremely hot. Like the vent is so hot it will melt...
  • lawrosa's avatar
    lawrosa
    Explorer
    May 31, 2017
    Dave H M wrote:
    If it were me i would consider having the parts shipped to me and do that work which looks like a no brainer myself and save the two trips to the dealer.

    i have done that deal with two separate dealers in my time.


    Yeah the dealer is 4 hour ride... I only would consider taking it there for a major appliance failure or a leak of some sort.
  • lawrosa's avatar
    lawrosa
    Explorer
    May 31, 2017
    Well just off the phone with warranty dept at the dealership. Parts will be sent to me at no cost.

    I still did not get any reasoning on why this vent is missing on the 2018's. The 261 and 231 rb are similar models. They both are ommitted for 2018..

    I assume they dont want to admit its a quality issue as the repair/labor for dealers. I guess it will take a person like myself to catch this.

    After all I camp in 20f weather at times.

    Any more feed back is appreciated...
  • Chris_Bryant's avatar
    Chris_Bryant
    Explorer II
    May 31, 2017
    At some point, Atwood/Dometic will catch the install problem, and make them correct it.
  • lawrosa's avatar
    lawrosa
    Explorer
    Jun 01, 2017
    After further research, and I cant be sure yet, the 35k furnaces and up should have 4 ducts per the link I put up to the manual..

    This 35k btu furnace is listed in the 2017 coachmen brochure.

    But looking at my furnace it has those two openings on the cover plate. This would dictate a 30k btu furnace.

    I would say 2018 yr they downed the furnace.

    So it seems this furnace per suburban only needs a min of 3 ducts. So what do they do? Eliminate a duct since it only needs 3.

    This is what I gather from my research.

    Im going to add the duct regardless one they send me the material.

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