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Old 01-19-2011, 08:51 AM   #1
navybanker
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Thermostat

Newbie question - turning the Dometic programable theromstat on and off seems to be complicated! The instructions say to hit "any" button to 'wake up' the thing. Okay, did that and finally got the furnace to come on using 'mode' bottom and on/off. After heating up the camper some wanted to turn furnace off and use electric heaters. Pushed the on/off button and nothing appeared to happen. Instructions state the lighted panel will only show time of day when off. I know the furnace fan will run for a while once the gas burner is shut down so waited five minutes. But, the lighted panel continued to show 'furn' and temp setting. Heat still coming from vents. Finally, goes off after setting the zone to off. Anyone have advice for this digital thermostat challenged new owner?
 
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Old 01-19-2011, 09:00 AM   #2
bncinwv
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Do you have the new thermostat with the round display in the middle??
Bingo
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Old 01-19-2011, 09:08 AM   #3
Ozz
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Can you just turn the temperature down to a low setting? If it does not respond, kill the power to it and re-boot it, (power it back up) that may get it's 'mind right'
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Old 01-19-2011, 09:19 AM   #4
navybanker
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Yes, it has the round face lighted panel. I tried to turn it off but it didn't seem to respond. The panel now says "off" which I assume is for the 'zone'. My patience is short especially when it is 36 degrees in the camper. It is parked at our stick house and I was just loading stuff prior to our first trip. How do you kill the power to it other than the on/off button? Are you talking about the fuse? Thanks,
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Old 01-19-2011, 09:23 AM   #5
bncinwv
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I know to turn the unit on you have to press the on/off button twice, once to initiate the system and the second time to activate it according to the users manual. Maybe you have to press the on/off button twice to turn it off as well, I can't remember. Make sure you are turning off both zones in the event both are activated. Check both zone 1 and zone 2 and make sure they are off. To turn the thermostat down, the up and down arrows to the right of the dial raise and lower the temperature setting. You can press the inside temperature button on the right to check rig temperature if you desire to set the thermostat lower to turn it off. Sounds like both zones have furnace turned on to me though.
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Old 01-19-2011, 09:25 AM   #6
bncinwv
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As a follow up, you can kill power to the thermostat by switching the battery off in the convenience center (the red key).
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Old 01-19-2011, 09:38 AM   #7
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by navybanker

Yes, it has the round face lighted panel. I tried to turn it off but it didn't seem to respond. The panel now says "off" which I assume is for the 'zone'. My patience is short especially when it is 36 degrees in the camper. It is parked at our stick house and I was just loading stuff prior to our first trip. How do you kill the power to it other than the on/off button? Are you talking about the fuse? Thanks,
Yes, or as Bingo stated the off switch will also work
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Old 01-19-2011, 10:19 AM   #8
bncinwv
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The more I think about this and the limited time I have had with ours (same thermostat), I seem to recall that the two zones are primarily for dual air conditioner installations. Zone 1 should be the only one that controls the furnace. If you by chance set both zones 1 and 2 for furnace on, and then turned the furnace off in only zone 2, then I think the furnace will still be on. Turning the thermostat off should have turned the furnace off regardless. On the last page of the Operator's manual there is a system reset procedure that you may have to follow to "reboot" the thermostat as Ozz states. As a disclaimer, I am definitely not a HVAC person as Ozz is, I am merely going by limited memory. Let us know what works for the MOC's future reference, and hopefully so that I can rest assured that my memory is still partially functional.
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Old 01-19-2011, 10:39 AM   #9
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Bingo, you are too kind, I have never see this thermostat and don't have any instructions on it, so you will probably be much better at helping than I.
Generally if one of the electronic units does something crazy, or locks up, I reset them.
Good luck on this navybanker
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Old 01-19-2011, 10:48 AM   #10
CamillaMichael
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by bncinwv

The more I think about this and the limited time I have had with ours (same thermostat), I seem to recall that the two zones are primarily for dual air conditioner installations. Zone 1 should be the only one that controls the furnace. If you by chance set both zones 1 and 2 for furnace on, and then turned the furnace off in only zone 2, then I think the furnace will still be on. Turning the thermostat off should have turned the furnace off regardless. On the last page of the Operator's manual there is a system reset procedure that you may have to follow to "reboot" the thermostat as Ozz states. As a disclaimer, I am definitely not a HVAC person as Ozz is, I am merely going by limited memory. Let us know what works for the MOC's future reference, and hopefully so that I can rest assured that my memory is still partially functional.
Bingo
For ours, zone 1 is forward and should be in the off position when operating the furnace...otherwise, the a/c tends to come on. Zone 2 controls the furnace...in our model. I am beginning to get the feeling that what might be true of my 3400 may not be true of another????
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Old 01-19-2011, 02:20 PM   #11
kylec2
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If the unit is "asleep", in other words the display is dark, you press the ON/OFF button twice. The first press "wakes" it up (the display lights up) and the second press actually turns it off.
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Old 01-19-2011, 02:21 PM   #12
bncinwv
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Michael, that well may be true, don't forget we have a 3750FL, so the front to me is the back to you (I think???). Hopefully Navybanker can get it sorted out and let us know whether I had any idea of what I was talking about based on my memory.
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Old 01-19-2011, 02:57 PM   #13
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The furnace appears to be off but still has zone showing and "off". I think both zones are off. I will work on again in the morning. I don't seem to be able to get the "off" to work where only the 'time' shows in the display. May have to reset using the battery switch. I should have thought about that! Thanks,
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Old 01-19-2011, 03:58 PM   #14
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When my thermostat is turned off, there is nothing in the display, everything is turned off. If the thermostat is on and the furnace is off, then the time will be displayed.
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Old 01-20-2011, 04:18 AM   #15
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This morning hit the "on/off" button 'twice' and it is off with just the time of day showing and the light in the display went off. The problem is hopefully me hitting the buttons too quickly. Thanks for the help.

Another question: I don't want both propane tanks to be on auto switch over. I notice the knob at the top of the regulator on the side opposite the door to the camper is turned to the right and apparently to the tank on this opposite door side. I turned the tank itself off on the other side (door side). Hopefully, this means when this particular tank is empty (opposite door side) we will know it and have to turn the other tank on. Everyone we know does this so both tanks will not be empty if you are not paying attention. I had rather get up at night to turn the valve on the full tank and know to fill the empty tank rather than chance both tanks being empty in the middle of the night. The knobs are somewhat different from our traded SOB. Thanks, our first trip is for six weeks so trying to test and learn everything before we go!
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:02 AM   #16
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We are not in our unit so I don't remember exactly what our thermostat looks like. However, our thermostat has two zone settings for heating and cooling, and the lowest button (of four) on the side of our thermostat has "Zone" printed next to it. During our PDI I asked about the functioning of the zone button. In the LCD window you will see the number "1" or "2" for which zone you have selected. I was told the a/c worked on two zones and you can set the temperature for each zone, but the furnace only worked in zone "1". When in the furnace mode, using the toggle button, you can select zone ! or 2. But in our unit the furnace will only respond to the settings when in zone 1 even though you can set temps when in zone 2.
One night I asked the DW if she lowered our furnace setting because we like it cooler at night, and she said yes. Well I woke up in the middle of the night and I was hot. When I checked the thermostat setting it was set at 62, but I noticed zone 2 was selected. So I hit zone button once to wake up the system and when I hit the zone button a 2nd time it switched to zone 1. And the thermostat showed 68 degrees as the set temp. So I lowered the thermostat to 62 and slept comfortably the rest of the night.
I hope this helps and I haven't confused everyone. But the zone settings are quite important on the new unit.
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Old 01-20-2011, 06:04 AM   #17
pineranch
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You switched horses from elect. to propane.
You can do as you stated with the propane, however you are defeating the purpose of the automatic change over feature. Suggest you research how it actually functions, then make your own decision.
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:42 AM   #18
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I researched on this site and it appears many people keep one tank in reserve by having one tank turned off. The six couples we travel with all do this. This is a personal preference. This doesn't make it correct. Presently, the knob on top of the tank on the street side is turned to the right which I assume is to the street side tank. So, the knob or lever straight up is on auto? To the left is to curb side tank? Or does it matter as long as both tanks are turned on? Research found some saying you can check to see if red is showing meaning one tank is empty when on auto. I am asking for more details on how this system works. I might like the auto if I understood it completely. Sorry for changing horses. Thanks,
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Old 01-20-2011, 09:25 AM   #19
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OK, here's what I do. Both tanks on.
I turn the knob to the door side tank. When the indicator turns RED I know that tank is empty and the system is using the other tank and its time to fill the empty door side tank.
You can make either side the master tank. If you place the knob in the middle position it will empty both tanks before it turns RED.
Someone else may have another take on it.
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Old 01-20-2011, 09:46 AM   #20
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The auto-switchover features of regulators is is intended to utilize the secondary propane tank in the event the primary tank is empty. In normal operation the lever (sometimes a dial knob) points to the hose of the "primary tank". Presuming the primary tank has propane (and its valve is open), the regulator will show a "good" indicator (typically a green bar in a sight glass) showing that propane is being drawn from the primary tank. When the primary tank is empty, the regulator automatically begins to draw from the secondary tank and shows a "fail-over" indicator (typically a half-green/half-red bar in a sight glass).

In normal use, when in a "fail-over" state you move the lever from pointing to the old primary tank hose to the old secondary tank hose and pull the empty tank out to be filled. It should be noted that whatever tank the lever points to is where propane will be drawn from first therefore making it the "primary" tank.

In the event no propane is available in both the primary and secondary tanks the regulator shows a "bad" indicator (typical a solid red bar in the sight glass).

There are many regulator designs and I described what I have found to be typical, however some regulators use a dial instead of a lever and a green/orange/red indicator instead of the green/half-green & half-red/red as I described above.

The use of the auto-switchover function is up to the individual and causes no harm to the device if you turn off the secondary tank. It is a matter of personal choice whether to use the auto-switchover, if it makes you more comfortable then go with it. I have used the auto-fail-over function for 20+ years with no issue, but it is part of my morning coffee ritual to go outside and check if I have failed over to the secondary tank. Again, there is no right or wrong way; choose what works best for you.
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