Running furnace with slideouts in.

[badger6724]

I was wondering if its okay to run the furnace with the slideouts in. Some of our Artic fox 28f furnace vents are covered with the slideouts in. We want to be able run the furnace when using truck stops while on the road in freezing weather without taking up two parking spots. Usually I would find an edge spot to slide out the kitchen if I can but the dinning room/living room is too large and covers two furnace vents. The kitchen doesn't cover any vents. Any thoughts, opinions?

[mighty7sd]

Half of one of my vents is covered by the slide. When I've run the furnace in the winter, the vents get extremely hot, too hot to touch. I'd be nervous about it and have not run the furnace with the slides in. Even if the vent was closed (which mine is not close able), it would still get that hot I believe.

[badger6724]

Surprisingly the only vents that has a closure option are the ones in the bathroom and bedroom. The vents that would be covered don't. But as I mentioned in an earlier post that the covered vents are not blocked. Maybe I should block them so there will be no heat going under slide. Any and all opinions are welcome.

[Community Alumni]

Dog Trainer wrote:
If you have uncovered vents the air that is blocked will not cause any pressure back up in your furnace. The air will simply be re directed to the open vents. When I tow in the cold days I will stop a couple of hours before we set up for the night and fire up the furnace I have never had a problem with our trailer and have done this many times.

Exactly. When winter camping I've purposely blocked off vents in the bedroom to get more heat flow in the living room to get the temperature up quickly there.

When we had our Class A we often ran the furnace while traveling with a vent blocked.

[Dog_Trainer]

If you have uncovered vents the air that is blocked will not cause any pressure back up in your furnace. The air will simply be re directed to the open vents. When I tow in the cold days I will stop a couple of hours before we set up for the night and fire up the furnace I have never had a problem with our trailer and have done this many times.

[Vinman02]

LAJMINNIEPLUS wrote:
It should be no different than closing off some of your vents. I assume that each of your floor vents has a closure option. Mine do. If you close off some of the vents, the air will simply flow out of the remaining open vents.

I agree with this, whats the difference if the slide is blocking the the vents or they are closed? I wouldn't hesitate to run the furnace with the slide covering some of the vents.

[LAJMINNIEPLUS]

It should be no different than closing off some of your vents. I assume that each of your floor vents has a closure option. Mine do. If you close off some of the vents, the air will simply flow out of the remaining open vents.

[KrowNB]

Badger, we only bought the trailer (Hideout 25RKS) last fall. Used it till Oct then put it to bed. It doesn't have a "winter" pkg, but it's called a "Cold Mountain" pkg - I think it's for using in the early/late camping season. I can't remember if it was the dealer or I read somewhere that the tanks were heated by the furnace and could be used, for example, when heading south for a day or two until you get to warmer climes. I've never used it in those conditions so have no idea if it works well. I'm hoping to hear something about it on this thread. I'm also wondering what problems could be created by covering one vent. I'm thinking as long as a couple are free to let the air flow there shouldn't be any issues. But then I don't know very much about travel trailers, this being the first one we've ever owned.

[badger6724]

KrowNB, is yours a similar model to the 28f silver fox series? I also have the winter package with high output furnace ect. I have four vents, two covered, dinning room and living room. Like yours my bedroom and bathroom are unobstructed. My tanks are heated by the furnace but are also heated electrically if the furnace is off. Where did you hear that you could tow with the furnace on and have you ever tried it or just running furnace with slides in? I tried to talk to my dealer about it but they carry many makes and don't seem to know that much about this model. Also the vents are not completely covered. About 50% sticks out from the slide with 2 inches of clearance from bottom of the slide. But is still covered with a flap of carpet. Thanks for your input.

[KrowNB]

My trailer has three vents. The one in the LR/Kitchen gets covered by the slide but the one in the bath and BR remain unobsructed. As far as air flow goes, with the slide in, this will just send more air through the frontmost vents. It's hot air, not a hot element; it shouldn't be a fire risk so I can't see what problems it would cause by running the furnace. My unit has a "Cold Mountain" package where the tanks, etc are supposed to be kept from freezing when the furnace is running. I was told you could even tow it with the furnace running to keep it from freezing (I know the propane on/off is a debatable issue but this isn't about that).

I'd like to hear from others about this. Anyone heard from the manufacturer on it?

[badger6724]

Thanks guys. Seems odd that they would have a winter model with "heated everything" but can't run the furnace with slides in. Oh well, break out the blankets.

[delwhjr]

ScottG wrote:

MFL wrote:
Here is an opinion...I would not run furnace with slide covering two vents.

Jerry

Me neither.
Restrictions and possible damage from heat buildup are just two of the possibilities.

Agreed, Restricted air has to go somewhere. Excess heat could cause many problems. It may also create issues with the system itself due to back pressure created by the restriction.

[ScottG]

MFL wrote:
Here is an opinion...I would not run furnace with slide covering two vents.

Jerry

Me neither.
Restrictions and possible damage from heat buildup are just two of the possibilities.

[Dirtpig]

I agree with MFL, put something on top of a vent like a metal pot while furnace is running. Then let the furnace run for 1 cycle and feel how hot the pot is, ask yourself if you are comfortable trapping that kind of heat. Im somewhat surprise they would design the fox like that, my nash has no vents blocked when slide is in. Maybe they had no other option.

[stickdog]

If it's a flush floor slide when in the it should be a couple inchs above the main floor and because of that, is the reason not to use the dinette as there is no support under it. And because it is cantileavered it is not blocking airflo from the vents. If it is not a flush floor slide it will still allow airflo though not as much as the 2 inches of space is enclosed but genarally but not that sealed to the interior of the RV.

[MFL]

Here is an opinion...I would not run furnace with slide covering two vents.

Jerry