Burning smell

[scuba dude]

First outing this year and had to use the fireplace heater last night. Woke up this morning with a strong smell of electrical burn.Started looking for the source and about that time the fireplace shuts off. Breaker not tripped it just stoped working. Anyone know much about these fireplaces. One other thing about these,I noticed that you can not use the heater without the fake flame turned on also is that the way they are supposed to work.
Thanks Richard

[bncinwv]

Loose connections on the rear of the fireplace are unfortunately a too common occurrence. Do not try to use the fireplace until this is remedied for safety reasons. You will have to pull the fireplace out and check the connections. There have been several members who have a lot of experience with this repair and if they don't chip in soon, you can use the search function to find some excellent advice on removing the fireplace and checking the connections. It will help those who have the answers if we know the year and model number of your rig.
Bingo

[scuba dude]

It is a 2007 big sky 340RLQ

[1retired06]

All three of our montanas had fireplaces. Seems to me, that the last two, like the furnaces, had a smell for the first few minutes of usage, although not strong like you describe. And yes, flames must be on for the furnace to work.

[scuba dude]

I pulled the fireplace out and the 110 connecting block was burned totally. The wires were burned off of the plastic block. Why did this happen?

[bncinwv]

I would venture to say that the connection was loose. Loose connections generate heat. You can contact Dimplex (if that is the fireplace brand) and they have been good in the past at providing replacement parts. It has been mentioned on the forum that it is a good preventative measure to check these connections periodically. At least you identified the problem and are able to address it accordingly.
Bingo

[Art-n-Marge]

This is a very uncommon problem, but it does happen often enough. When I first bought my rig, the smell occurred just like 1retired06 mentions, but was not very strong. This is a frequent occurrence until the heater is used for some time; mine no longer has an odor when operating. But if the smell becomes strong and lasts too long, this is a problem and should warrant an examination like you just did.

I eventually did check my fireplace, just to set my mind at ease for the long term and found my connections to be sound and clean.

I think the flame flicker and motion ambience showing and being a requirement for the heater to run is a safety feature. This prevents the heater from being in the heat operation without any other indicator. I look at it like the largest, most obvious ON button indicator I have ever seen. I don't believe the ambience uses much power and learned to live with that feature in case you run it without the heat.

Like Bingo mentions, this company is one of those on the positive experience list in that they are very helpful and backup their product very well from what I've read from others. I have not heard a bad story about them when it comes to issues so you should have good luck with getting their help on resolving your problem.

It intrigues me this issue does not draw enough amps to reset the circuit breaker. Maybe this heater is designed so that the connectors destroy themselves to turn it off and creates such a smell rather reset a breaker to notify the end-user. It reminds me of the sulfur-like odor additive added to odor-free natural gas in the event of a leak and hopefully one doesn't like a match to debug.

Anyway, the way this heater shuts is self off by the connectors getting destroyed is one way to prevent a failing heater just to be turned on by turning on the circuit breaker. This could be why the company is able to stand by their product and sending fix-it parts rather than pay for a coach that gets burned down because of it (ouch!).

Does anyone else think they have over-engineered this thing this way? I'm just curious.

[scuba dude]

Thanks for the help. It is a Dimples and I sent them a e-mail so hopefully I will hear from them on Monday.

[scuba dude]

I meant Dimplex!!

[vampire]

How much heat do your firplaces put out? We have a 2008 3400RL and there doesn't seem to be much heat coming out. I called Dimplex and they thought it was the blower and sent me a new blower/heater and after installing it there still does not seem to be much heat. You must stand within 2 feet to feel any heat. Maybe if it was turned on and let run for awhile it would warm the room some but not much..Because of the stories of hot wiring I am afraid to let it run too long. I will agree Dimplex has been good to work with.

[bncinwv]

I am thinking the fireplaces are only rated at 1500 BTU, which is about the same as a small space heater. We use the fireplace for daytime heating and ambiance, night time heating in cooler temperatures we rely on our thermostatically controlled two space heaters. Seems there were some past posts on methods that some members used to increase the heat output, I can't remember but it seems like it had to do with supplemental fans and additional venting?
Bingo

[scuba dude]

I have used mine to take the chil out of the living and kitchen area along with a couple of space heaters the entire camper will keep warm down into the thirties with no problem. Now this burning of wires has me thinking twice about using it for long periods especially all night. Dont think I can trust it.

[Champ_49]

We use the heater to take a chill off in the mornings. Or during the days when we are there. Never would use it while sleeping or being away. Yes I checked mine and wiring was loose and also had to have the fan/heater blower assembly replaced by Dimplex. Excellent vendor to work with. Just as an added quip here, yes this was in a SOB, so you see the problems are not Keystone related!!

Dave

[junglejim]

We use ours like others have said and when we are parked in colder areas (NE OHIO) it runs 24/7 to supplement the furnace and helps alot.

When we first got our 5er, DW turned it on to take the chill off. I had already gone to work. She told me when I got home the fireplace caught fire . She turned it off and the fire went out by itself. I pulled the unit out and found the plastic junction block and cord that gets plugged in is what burned. I cut the blob of plastic out and soldered a new cord directly to the other wire that was attached to the junction block. And it has worked fine for the last 3 1/2 yrs with many many hours of use .

[old turbo]

The question I have are these electric fire place units UL inspected ? I have never had one in any of my units as it just took up space and I think it is more ornamental than really useful. If the rv industry would build a larger furnace to fit these large units we would not need the extra heat. I carry a couple of small room heaters and move them as we need them works great. I went to a rv show in February and saw a SOB that had two fireplaces,one in the living room and one in the sleeping area. Unit looked like a condo on wheels. I also see the day when all parks will have electric meters on site and we will pay for the power we use.

[mobil]

Dimplex also sent us a replacement heater/squirrel cage rewire kit(no charge). I run the fireplace all night with confidence at temps down to 30 or so. Any colder and we run the furnace so the belly tanks and plumbing don't freeze. It keeps us comfortable. As far as burning odors. We had a case of that. Couldn't trace the source until the water heater breaker tripped. Found the junction box on the back of the water heater(where Keystone wires in the house wiring to the water heater)had wire nuts BURNT and wire insulation stripped or worn off causing them to short, heat up, and smoke. The circuit breaker did it's job and our guardian angels were watching over us. We consider ourselves lucky not to have a fire. I KNOW how fast these trailers burn. So, if you're having a burning smell on any appliance, please don't use it until the source is located and properly repaired!

[snfexpress]

This happened in our 2006 (built late 2005). Our current 2009, built late 2008, had this problem corrected.

We run it as needed to provide heat.