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Old 10-10-2020, 11:10 AM   #1
navybanker
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Furnace Thermostat on Battery

Have a dometic thermostat for AC and furnace. Could not run furnace just on battery. Thermostat would not come on. Hooked up generator and thermostat and furnace worked. So, just using batteries should the thermostat come on. May need to run furnace going down the road for the first time on next trip this year. Do not have an onboard generator.
 
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Old 10-10-2020, 12:19 PM   #2
Carl n Susan
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The thermostat should work with only 12V. We boondock frequently with no electric yet we can run the furnace.
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Old 10-10-2020, 01:11 PM   #3
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Might check the battery voltage. If voltage is low fan will not run, if no fan no furnace.
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Old 10-11-2020, 08:22 AM   #4
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This is a mystery! I used a "power pack battery" instead of hauling the two batteries to the camper in storage with out power. This is first year the camper is not parked behind our previous home with 20 amp power. Camper is an hour away. Will go visit camper this week and see if works on 12 volt. I knew it should on 12 volt but just hooked the champion generator up for other checks on systems and bingo the furnace worked. The battery pack will level the camper and run the slides in and out. The pack showed enough power and pulled the slides in before leaving. I hope the thermostat is okay for our trip next week! Probably will not need to run furnace traveling but just trying to be prepared. Thanks,
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Old 10-11-2020, 09:22 AM   #5
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If you're storing it without power of any kind and haven't disconnected the ground to the battery then your battery has been killed by the propane detector and other draws that are not shut off when the battery disconnect is engaged.
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Old 10-11-2020, 11:04 AM   #6
navybanker
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No batteries in the camper when stored. They are in my garage on a maintainer. I also keep the "battery pack" (says portable power from Shumacher) at home also. Keep it charged up. Don't want to haul those two group 27 batteries back and forth unless about to leave on a trip. Would be nice to leave the batteries in the camper with the negative disconnected but not sure if that would work year round. Thanks for the suggestions! Learning a lot with the camper in storage.
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:10 PM   #7
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Since you live in TN, it should not get too cold, I would think. That would be the only worry about batteries in my opinion. I live near Phoenix and store my unit from Sept. or Oct to May with the batteries left in. I disconnect them. And I have never (in 14 years) had a battery go dead or too low while storing. I know everyone talks about taking them out and putting on a maint. charger. But I don't think it is necessary if temps stay close to or above freezing.
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Old 10-18-2020, 05:21 PM   #8
katdon
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We had problems with our dometic thermostat. Called an rv co. And was advised to do a hard reset per instructions in the manual . Worked like a charm. If battery power is not an issue try this.
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Old 10-18-2020, 05:31 PM   #9
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1. The furnace only needs 12VDC and propane (no 110V AC required). Therefore, the generator running the converter to produce onboard 12VDC should make no difference than your jumper battery IF it had sufficient power to run the thermostat which is very little current. If the jumper battery had sufficient power to run your slides then the thermostat should have showed power.
2. The thermostat gets its 12VDC from one of the two blue wires on the furnace. The other blue wire is ground to the thermostat, also from the furnace.
3. If you did not see the thermostat come on when you hooked up your jumper battery, I can only suggest that the battery connection was not good or the thermostat switch did not get to the heat position completely. You should try it again. I don't think you have a problem.
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Old 10-23-2020, 05:12 AM   #10
DebNJim B
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Next time you go to the camper I would take one battery and connect it to see if it works. The fact that it works off the generator says the thermostat is OK.
The only change here seems to be the power pack. It could be a ground issue. I assume you are connecting the power pack to the battery cables.
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Old 10-23-2020, 12:01 PM   #11
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On a side note ... be careful running the furnace going down the road. I didn't bother to look at your specific floor plan, but if more than one furnace vent is covered with the slides in ... you will not do your furnace any favors. You might even cause things to get hot enough to invite tragedy.

I unhook the ground lead from my batteries while in storage for sometimes 4 months ... always enough power to run the landing gear to hook up to truck when time comes.
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Old 10-23-2020, 03:56 PM   #12
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Source: Battery University.com is a great source of battery info.
https://batteryuniversity.com/index....d_acid_battery

Fully charged batteries are good for up to 6 months.
A quote from their site:
"Lead acid batteries must always be stored in a charged state. A topping charge should be applied every 6 months to prevent the voltage from dropping below 2.05V/cell and causing the battery to sulfate. With AGM, these requirements can be relaxed."
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