Furnace NOT Shutting Down

[dustinc02]

Hey Folks, I thought I would throw out another problem that I am having. It has me a little worried.... I am in Southern Idaho and the temperatures have been in the single digits and negative digits with the wind chill. The Montana has done superb, nothing frozen, I have been very comfortable. When I go to work during the day I put the thermostat on the furnace down to 60 degrees just to keep the "underbelly" from freezing. To my surprise, today when I came home the furnace was running and it was 82 degrees in the RV. I do not know how long the furnace was running for. The temp on the remote was, in fact, set at 60 degrees. When I tried to shut down the furnace, (Either on the remote or the "Console") Nothing would happen. No beeps nor power down. I had to pull the 30 amp fuse to the furnace to have the system reset to be able to shut it down. The carpets along the ductwork were pretty warm to the touch. I am scared that it will start a fire or melt something if this keeps happening. Not to mention the tank of propane that I burned. I have a 2006 3400Rl with the "Convenient" Dometic remote control. (As if anything was wrong with the old manual style thermostat) Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. I can not just leave it off or else my pipes and tanks will freeze. Thank you.

[Carl n Susan]

Unfortunately, the Dometic "remote" thermostat is a piece of junk. Beside being weird to operate, it pretty much ignored set points (10 degrees one way of the other was close enough for it). While it may have been trying to reach it's upper limit screwed up set point, there is no good way to tell. Previous victims reported it turning on the AC (to cool things down) while the heater was still increasing the temperature. Go figure!

I would set it to 50 degrees which should keep the belly warm and not risk consuming a tank of propane if it tries to go higher. But this would only be a temporary measure until you can replace the "remote" with the Comfort Control Center (CCC) thermostat. That is what most of us did, albeit with Montana's assistance, early on. There is a long (34+ pages) thread on the thermostat, it's issues, and how to replace it. You should be able to find it doing a Search - be sure to look for Archived Posts (it was a while ago).

Even if you have to pay for it, around $200 AFAIK, it is worth it. The CCC holds the temperature you ask for +/- 1-2 degrees.

[dustinc02]

Thank You Carl and Susan for the information. I found the 34 pages of posts and it helped me to discover my options. I am not too concerned with the 10 degree difference as long as it comes on before freezing and shuts off at a reasonable point. My difficulty is that the system "freezes up", in terms that once the furnace turns on it does not shut off. I mean it will keep running until I run out of propane or possibly worse. I can not override it with the remote or wall unit to shut it down. I have to physically pull the fuse for the system to respond. I would be happy with a 10 degree fluctuation at this point. If I knew it would turn on and shut off at some points when I am not there to keep the tanks and lines from freezing.

I read from the posts the part numbers for the CCC and the "electronic kit", is this the same across the board for this new system or is it specific to the make and serial number to the A/C and the furnace that I have in my 3400RL? I stopped at a dealer today and they said they could make something work if they had these numbers. By reading the posts it seems that the CCC is what I want. I do not want them to try to order something else. I am sorry for my ignorance on this topic. Thank you again for all the help.

I need to vent... I contacted Keystone via email about the problems I have had with the Dometic Remote and the problems that many others have had. I stated that I would like to resolve the problem with the CCC unit and that I needed guidance on doing so without having to bring it in to the dealer to diagnose and repair. I am willing to pay out of pocket for peace of mind. The response I received was not at all what I expected. I was told by Keystone that they have had a small amount of complaints about the system and that they had no reports of failure. He said to take the RV to the dealer for diagnosis. He then advised me to not ignore the problem as it could potentially cause further problems. By knowing there was a problem and neglecting to have it addressed would void my warranty. He said he has my email saved in their system for further reference.

I just wanted to know the procedure of aquiring a CCC replacement system. I did not mean for it to turn into this. Now if there was a large problem caused by failure of the remote system they will not honor the warranty. Needless to say, Keystone does not wish to guide me in any direction.

So, I just need to figure this out and replace the system. To make things worse, that same night I contacted Keystone I opened the freezer and all the food was thawed. This will be the 5th time the refrigerator has failed in 4 years. 3 times the electric heating element, 1 time the entire cooling unit and now?????

As much as I love the RV I do not think my next purchase will be through Keystone because of this. Thank you to everyone for all there help with Montana problems I have had. Happy Trails

[Carl n Susan]

It has been a while since I went through this and even then, the dealer and Montana took care of it under warranty. So my recollection of details isn't too strong (CRS doesn't help either ). There are many of us here that made the switch. Some did it themselves (and posted the instructions and pictures in the 34+ page thread), others deferred to the dealer. At one time, Montana/Dometic would only ship to a dealer so you couldn't get the parts sent to your home. Hopefully they are over that by now.

quote:
I read from the posts the part numbers for the CCC and the "electronic kit", is this the same across the board for this new system or is it specific to the make and serial number to the A/C and the furnace that I have in my 3400RL?

AFAIK there is only one set of parts that applies to the years Montana supplied the "remote" system and the AC units installed.

quote:
... I contacted Keystone via email about the problems I have had with the Dometic Remote and the problems that many others have had.

Based on comments here on the MOC, I am surprised your e-mail generated a response. Most have stated a phone call to "Team Montana" (allegedly now disbanded), and a positive attitude, were the only way to achieve assistance. I personally have never had to do that as I have a dealer that supports it's customers.

quote:
... I was told by Keystone that they have had a small amount of complaints about the system and that they had no reports of failure.....

I suppose that out of the thousands of trailers they sold with the deficient "Remote" thermostat compared to the hundred or so MOC folks who replaced theirs is a "..small amount..". And the "..no reports of failure..." is either based on a differing definition of "failure" or total B.S. - take your pick.

quote:
I just wanted to know the procedure of aquiring a CCC replacement system.

Have you tried contacting Dometic directly about replacing with the CCC? They make it and probably are much more familiar with it than Montana.

quote:
By knowing there was a problem and neglecting to have it addressed would void my warranty. He said he has my email saved in their system for further reference.

Warranty? On a 2006 unit? I am surprised Montana would say this

quote:
To make things worse, that same night I contacted Keystone I opened the freezer and all the food was thawed. This will be the 5th time the refrigerator has failed in 4 years. 3 times the electric heating element, 1 time the entire cooling unit and now?????

Surely there is a warranty on your refrigerator after all these repairs? This seems to be an exceptional number of failures for one unit.

quote:
...I do not think my next purchase will be through Keystone because of this....

I know you are disappointed, but remember when you purchase your next rig, the problems you are having are with Dometic (thermostat and refrigerator) or Norcold (refrigerator). They are the only two suppliers of the RV industry. Either purchase, a new unit with a warranty, or obtain an extended warranty for an used unit, to protect yourself.

Hang in there Dustin. Hopefully somebody else will come across this topic with some better suggestions.

[bushmill]

We have a 2005 3670RL with the remote control for the furnace and AC. One time I had the same problem, could not shut down the furnace. Contacted my RV tech friend by phone, he said yes you can pull the fuse but are risking damage to the control unit that is located at the air conditioner. He had me shut down the shore power, then disconnect positive to battery for about 15 minutes. This allows the contacts in the control unit to reset. Have not had the issue since.
I have heard the remote system is no longer used by Keystone, hope that is true.

[racerjoe]

Our 2005 also had the same problems, We woke up early one morning at about 82-84 degrees also. Had to pull fuses to make it shut down. After talking with Dometic and understanding the many problems with the system, they finally agreed to replace the unit with the comfort control system as a "good will" gesture. The only thing I had to do was turn in my control unit and they would only send the replacement to a dealer, which was fine with me. Have not had any problems since. I do apprieciate Dometics help. keystone basiclly ignored any assistance due to the "out of warranty" excuse. But if they would of checked,Dometic would have gone the extra mile as they did for me and many others. Check with Dometic as they might still help,but you won't know till you ask.

[dustinc02]

Thanks folks, I will try the reset procedure tomorrow. It is just so darn frustrating to have to keep unhooking the RV to take it in to the dealer, sleeping in a hotel and being at their mercy. I know it is the price I have to pay for full timing. Nothing is easy...

[racerjoe]

I think for you dealing with Dometic directly would be your way to go. They will be very helpfull