Thermostat - Montana Owners Club

Mel B. · 10-22-2018, 08:45 AM

I think it's time I replaced my original thermostat, any suggestions? Mine works but you can't get an accurate temperature read.

**DQDick** · 10-22-2018, 08:48 AM

If you can find an RV thermostat that reads temperature accurately, please let the rest of us know. Some are close, but over the years and rigs we've just learned to set it where we are comfortable and not worry about what temp it says it is.

Kyle and Lisa · 10-22-2018, 08:52 AM

We use an indoor/outdoor thermometer and compare the reading to the thermostat.

**Carl n Susan** · 10-22-2018, 11:06 AM

What thermostat go you have today? Early Montanas (2000 - 2002??) used a standard inexpensive household type thermostats. But 2004 is when Montana decided to use the infamous Dometic Infra Red (aka hand held remote) thermostat. Here is a link to an old discussion about replacing this POS. Clicky

That started the period where the thermostat is tied to a electronic circuit board in the AC unit which has to be changed with the thermostat.

**scottz** · 10-24-2018, 01:02 AM

I agree with Carl. Gone are the days you could go to Lowes and buy a good thermostat for your Montana. Mine has the capacitive touch thermostats which are the latest generation of junk. I've been waiting three months for Dometic to send new face plates; called them today and "they are in the mail"; I think they forgot.

wecker1 · 10-24-2018, 05:31 AM

During this initial year of ownership we too have kept an indoor/outdoor thermometer in our RV to check the accuracy of our two Dometic thermostats. We found that both cool to several degrees below set-point. While through time we understood this and could regulate the temperature accordingly, I wasn't willing to settle for this inaccuracy and failure to operate as intended. I had the main living area thermostat replaced twice and the bedroom thermo once. The last time was just a month ago and the same problem persisted with both. Since my warranty is about to expire, rather than go back to CW I wrote to Dometic customer service and explained the situation. That same day they placed two new thermostats in the mail, under warranty, which I received less than a week later. While I would have preferred to have had thermostats that worked as intended I'm pleased to see Dometic step up to the plate recognizing the issue and providing the replacements. I can only hope now that these actually work.

Mel B. · 11-06-2018, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carl n susan

What thermostat go you have today? Early Montanas (2000 - 2002??) used a standard inexpensive household type thermostats. But 2004 is when Montana decided to use the infamous Dometic Infra Red (aka hand held remote) thermostat. Here is a link to an old discussion about replacing this POS. Clicky

That started the period where the thermostat is tied to a electronic circuit board in the AC unit which has to be changed with the thermostat.

This one

grumbolt · 12-26-2018, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel B.

This one

you are in luck, you can change that out with an inexpensive digital unit from lowes or home depot as mentioned above, and you will be thrilled with the results!

i changed mine on my previous unit and it was like night and day, it didnt have as much of a swing in temp between cycling on and off.

grumbolt · 12-26-2018, 01:43 AM

im thinking of trying to come up with a way to go back to the old hunter style controls for my 2007 that has the climate control center with the phone cord style connector, as well as changing the mechanical controls out in my bedroom :P

jlemon · 01-03-2019, 08:16 PM

Has anyone looked at trying to use a Nest style thermostat?

MidMOTraveler · 01-04-2019, 05:55 AM

I think some of the problems are related to the placement.
Our front thermostat is directly under one A/C vent and over a heat vent.
Bedroom t-stat is under A/C vent. Also the bathroom is the only thing separating the two and for some reason it is the cold/ hottest place so the air flow affects them.
We just figured out what it takes to be comfortable and go with it.

BuilderBob · 01-04-2019, 09:17 AM

I have a Nest at my S&B I don't now if it will do the Heat, A\C & HP in your 5er I used a home stile in one of are old 5er but it had a different stile system.

2Wanderers · 01-04-2019, 02:14 PM

Seems like a lot of people have reported many issues with the fancier thermostats! Many require you to change out the control board in the air conditioner. The one in the picture is around $36. The newer ones are well over a hundred when you include the new board. If it works, leave it alone! Just buy a spare. IMHO.

wecker1 · 01-04-2019, 02:54 PM

Over the past year we've had the 2 Dometic Capacitive Touch Thermostats on our 3791RD replaced by CW twice because they cooled the unit to at least 6 degrees below set point. As my warranty was ending in November I wrote directly to Dometic citing the problem and they sent me 2 new thermostats at no cost. I replaced them myself and they now cool to only 4 degrees below set-point....anyone else having similar problems and is there a fix? Knowing the deviation from set-point we can work with it as is but if there's an adjustment that can be made to recalibrate the system I sure would appreciate any advice - thanks

waynemoore · 01-04-2019, 04:14 PM

Well I have a NEW thermostat works via the internet in my stick home. I like to be able to adjust it when away from home. Especially in the summer when it is well over 100 degrees here. It was several hundred dollars and it cools and heats at about 3 degrees off. Not because of the thermostat but because of the physical placement of the unit.

I have checked how far off the one in the rig is and it is about the same as the one in the stick house.

I set them accordingly and forget them.
Got much better things to think about.

jlemon · 01-04-2019, 08:35 PM

i hate the Dometic touch thermostats in my camper. My dogs kept touching the one in the bedroom next to the bed with their nose changing it from ac to heater in the 100 degree summer heat, or they would hit it with their tail and knock the face plate off. Now I can't put the faceplate on because when I do it never goes on right and the unit wont work. I figured a nest style thermostat might work well because I could at leave lock the screen so the settings couldn't be changed.

Mark7 · 01-04-2019, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel B.

I think it's time I replaced my original thermostat, any suggestions? Mine works but you can't get an accurate temperature read.

I had the same one in my '05 3295RK. I replaced it with the LUX model I took out of my home when I upgraded there. BIG difference in temp swings. Works great! Easy change out once I figured the fan thing out. Let me know if you need any help here.

grumbolt · 01-05-2019, 02:50 AM

i am pretty sure i can retrofit the home style control into the newer systems, only problem i see right off the bat is replacing the 4 conductor telephone wire that runs through the walls/ceiling. it would involve replacing the control box in the ceiling as well.

Dsull · 01-05-2019, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark7

I had the same one in my '05 3295RK. I replaced it with the LUX model I took out of my home when I upgraded there. BIG difference in temp swings. Works great! Easy change out once I figured the fan thing out. Let me know if you need any help here.

How do you make it work with the 2 fan speeds? I want to get rid of the same one as the OP.

grumbolt · 01-08-2019, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dsull

How do you make it work with the 2 fan speeds? I want to get rid of the same one as the OP.

in my old unit the household thermostat would only support a single fan speed... so i added a toggle switch.. spdt. the wire from the thermostat goes to the center connector, the high speed goes to one of the outside connectors, and the low side will go to the other. with the switch in one position, the fan will operate on low speed, with it in the other, high speed.

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