My Furnace may be unrepairable...what is new?

The 30K is not going to be easy to replace without at least some body work, and I really doubt you will find a new combustion chamber for it. Probably the easiest would be a new Suburban NT series, but cutting a huge hole in the sidewall might actually be the cleanest install.
Note Atwood has a new line of furnaces replacing the 8500 series.

This place is along way from PA, but should have what you need.
Laurelhurst distributors

Gdetrailer,
Thanks. I saw the pic of the attwood, but it didnt register in my brain as i saw the pic, but it does look like an external installation unit.

I am going to call around monday to see if I can find another combustion chamber for my current furnace. I think that would be the easiest solution.

I am disturbed by the amount of heat that comes out the exhaust. But now understtand the engineering decisions behind it.

groundhog

groundhogy wrote:
Yes, I am reading a post in the airstream forum about higher efficiency furnaces. Two are mentioned....

Excalibur 8500 IV Furnace, 30,000 BTU - Attwood. Has or had a design flaw with an electromechanical hum that is anoying.

Trumatic - German. Smaller very quiet.
This one apparently has the water condensate drain so may be really high efficiency.

Since you have a Suburban, I would highly recommend staying with a Suburban.

If you change to a Attwood, you WILL have to cut a very large hole in the side of your RV..

Suburban and Attwood have two incompatible ways of mounting and there is a big difference in dimensions between the two. You better measure very carefully, the Attwood may be wider and deeper than a Suburban and the suburban IS much taller narrower and shallower than a Attwood..

Suburban is removed or installed from the INSIDE, the Attwood is removed or installed from the outside.

Propane lines enter in different places and the power and T stat connections may not be in the same place.

Overall, there is not much extra efficiency to be had between manufacturers so the extra rework you will be doing is not really going to give you any savings in propane.

The biggest problem with RVs is the LACK of insulation, that is where the biggest gain in efficiency is, not the furnace.

Are you looking for electrical efficiency or LP efficiency? The latter is usually what furnace efficiency refers to when not otherwise specified, but sometimes for RVs the former is equally as important if not more so.

Yes, I am reading a post in the airstream forum about higher efficiency furnaces. Two are mentioned....

Excalibur 8500 IV Furnace, 30,000 BTU - Attwood. Has or had a design flaw with an electromechanical hum that is anoying.

Trumatic - German. Smaller very quiet.
This one apparently has the water condensate drain so may be really high efficiency.

I would look for a furnace with a two speed blower. Less noise, more efficient.

I would get a direct replacement. Newer models are more efficient.