Remote thermostat

[Chester]

Mike, the I feel mode sets the remote unit to act as the thermostat sensor. If you leave I feel off then the wall unit acts as the thermostat sensor. I took my remote setup out and replaced it with the Duotherm CCC. This one works perfectly. Dometic asked if they could have my remote system back so the techies could test it to see why it was out on the temp setting. Mine was off 6deg from the setting whether it was in I feel mode or not. For I feel to work the remote has to have a direct line of site to the wall unit to send the signals to trigger the furnace or AC. If the remote can't see the wall unit nothing works.

[mjcjtroy]

One of the "not so good" things about the I feel mode is that if the remote shuts down so does you heating system. We thought that we had solved our problem when we used the I feel only to have it shut down while we were gone for a few days. Everything was frozen when we arrived home and it was 23 degrees inside. Even the canned food was frozen! Therefore, the end of the remote for us and the beginning of this long forum discussion since page 2 for us. We are thrilled that so many of you have solved your problem with the Duo-therm comfort control as we have.

[Land Bertram]

Well folks we have a 2005 3400RL with the dreaded remote thermostat problem. I spoke to Bob at Dometic providing the info from my testing and answered questions about the location of the sensor. Bob indicated that I would need to take my Montana to a service center to have additional testing done. It appears that Dometic has installation instructions provided with the digital remote control / sensor that indicates that the sensor should be mounted on the ceiling. I don’t understand how a heat/cool sensor can be mounted in the ceiling and work correctly. Heat rises and cool falls. Bob indicated that yes Dometic had replaced some digital remote units with the Comfort Control System and that the digital remote sensor units that had been returned worked correctly in their lab. Would appear that Dometic is no longer solving the problem by supplying the Comfort Control System.

I told Bob that I would have to talk to Montana. He then indicated he would talk to the warranty department.

I called Montana and did not get any satisfaction. I was told that a 10 degree cycle range in a RV was normal. I was told that engineering would be contacted and that they would get back to me.

[campbud]

You might want to contact your dealer and have them call Domentic. This is what we did and they sent the comfort control system to the dealer. We then had them mail it to us and we opted to install it ourselves. Very easy and takes about 30-45 minutes.

[rames14]

We have our "problem" solved thanks to Bob with the new Duo Therm system. But, once again, I see someone talking about a "10 degree cycle" issue. Is you system going ten degrees before cycling, or is the set point off ten degrees? Dometic is investigating two units from my 2005 Montana, both of which worked great except that you had to set it ten degrees higher than you wanted. Heating set at 82 maintained a nice steady 72. A/C at 84 kept a nice steady 74. Bob was very good with us, so I'm not sure what has changed. I will e-mail him to see if I get an answer.

[Land Bertram]

Ron, I performed the following test with a digital multi-meter and a thermocouple attached to the wall mounted sensor. On heat I set a desired temperature and the furnace shuts off 5 degrees hotter than requested. Then after a period of time the furnace turns on at a temperature 2 to 3 degrees colder than requested. On the AC side I started off requesting the AC to cool down to 74 degrees. After the multi-meter indicated 73-74 degrees and the AC did not turn off I started increasing the requested temperature 1 degree at a time. I would wait after the beep to allow the sensor the react. It took 81 degrees on the remote display before the AC unit turned off.

I will try to contact Bob by phone tomorrow to see if he was able to get help from the warranty department. I get the feeling that Montana has been mounting the sensors in the wrong place and now that Dometic has sufficient data they are no longer offering a free solution with the Comfort Control System. So far Montana has not gotten back with a response from engineering.

[mike johnson]

the great remote thermostat debate continues.we had our 05 -2955rl out 3 times and the heater/air con never did work.i took it in to our dealer 'east bay rv' in martinez calif ,and told them about this forum and all the trouble thats been going on with the unit.well i recieved a call yesterday and i'm pretty sure the company is going to cover putting in a regular therostat for my unit.i know somebody is taking care of the $ and i'm just assuming it's keystone.if any thing different comes of this i will let you all know.but thanks for everybody complaining,i think thier starting to listen .
mike & amy johnson
rio vista , calif

[Broome101]

Well folks since I originally posted this we have installed the duro therm comfort control center. We have made several ti[ps already this year and everything works perfect. Set it for temp you want shuts off at the correct temp no issues and no problems. I would think that after all the issues these remotes have had and seeing that they do not work keystone would have stopped using them by know. The remotes are junk the comfort control center works perfect, no issues in installing either it's plug and play type install.

[Countryfolks]

We just returned from a trip which required the use of the furnace in our 3500RL. The remote worked more or less [about the same problems as the rest of you] but the major problem is the receiver is turned 90 degrees to the length of the 5er and the remote cannot "see" it from anywhere but the diningroom table, about four feet away. I finally taped it to the wall about 3" from the receiver. The receiver is mounted on the side of the coat closed with the receiving area facing the refrigerator, not the livingroom. Cannot see the receiver from the bedroom either. I will be calling the dealer to start the process of replacing this setup with the wall mount unit. Having the use of the remote only in the dining table area is ridiculous. The system should be RF actuated anyway, not IR. Then, of course, it would probably interfere with WIFI!

Skip

[Montana_3768]

Wow, I almost feel like I've been had! We previously owned a Cardnial 28 WB and liked it only we wanted more space. Never had any problems with it. We just bought a new Montana 3400RL thinking it would be our ultimate retirement RV. Reading about this theromstat problem almost makes me want to take it back before we've even had it out. We are going to the lake next week and I suppose we'll just set the thermostat 10 degrees higher and see what happens. As I started reading, I was hoping that by the time I got to the May entries I'd see that Dometic had come up with a solution short of having to take the unit back to the dealer for a replacement Durotherm CCC. But please tell me, other than the AC/Heating remote problem, do you like your Montana? (And I thought the lack of a privacy curtain in the bedroom was a problem - silly me.)

[mikedesj]

I have a 3400RL witht he same remote thermostat. I have mounted the remote under the sensor. I leave it there most of the time. It works fine for me. Yes, there is variation but I think it is more the fact that we are talking about a camper that of course is full of drafts and what not. I find that if I run my ceiling fan on low it keeps the temp much more even. The remote works fine from my recliner. I keep it on ifeel most of the time. Last night it was 30 (we are camping this weekend in the mountains of NH and the campground has WIFI). I have had no problems with my 3400 and in fact love it. As with anything that you drive around on the fine roads of the USA it will require periodic tender loving care. I enjoy that. I think that is part of being a good owner. Anyway, I think you need to decide for yourself. Good luck and hang in there.

[mjcjtroy]

Again, I would like to emphasize that the "I feel" mode is not reliable. We left our 2005 3295rk for a few days and came back to a remote thermostat that had completely shut down. It was 23 degrees in the trailer. If you are only using your Montana occassionaly and not worried what will happen then the remote could be okay. But we live in ours and just simply could not tolerate the remote system. Since we installed the Comfort Control system we couldn't be happier. We love our Montana. We have had no major problems. I truly believe that Keystone should take the romote system out of the Montanas and any other model they manufacture. After all of these months of input on this forum there obviously is a problem with the system. I just do not understand why Keystone and Dometic can't see what is happening.

This could go on, and on, and on. But still~the romote does not do what it is supposed to do. Maybe the final solution would come if the manager, president , owner, whatever of Keystone and Dometic lived in one of their RV's for a few months in Alaska or some other cold climate region.

[Gypsy]

I'm still having problems with the remote control system after it was replaced a couple of weeks ago. Now Dometic is telling me I have to take the Montana to an authorized dealer (again) to test it, as I don't think they believe I'm still having problems. I sure wish I could talk them into the Comfort Control replacement. I'm tired of dealing with this issue!

[mjcjtroy]

Gypsy~ Don't give up!! It will be worth it when you finally get the Comfort Control system. You shouldn't have to keep going to your dealer. Just keep calling Dometic and your dealer and Keystone. That's what we did until they finally authorized a dometic repair person to change ours for us. Some people are more mechanically minded and can do it themselves. We couldn't so we didn't give up until the problem was solved. If the romote was a good system there certainly wouldn't be 16 pages of comments on this forum. It's time for Keystone and Dometic to admit there is a real problem. The word will get out and people will stop buying their product.

[Gypsy]

Thanks for the encouragement, Mike and Carole. The problem is compounded by the fact that I'm a full-timer and I don't typically stay in one place for very long, so it's hard to keep going back to the same dealer. I'll keep trying!
Sharon

[jpf]

Hope those experienced are still following this thread.....!
Were having a related issue with our new 3400RL. Any advice appreciated. We picked it up in NV (reside in No Calif) on the 5th of May, AC & furnace fan worked, remote beeped acknowledgement. On the road next morning near NV, no AC, furnace fan shut down after 3 minutes operation (Tested 5X). Took it back to the dealer and everything worked well. Yes, we read the manual thoroughly, but I don't think they believed us. Back on the road still in NV next morning, no beeps and apparently no communication between the remote and receiver sensor. Replaced remote batteries (2X), checked fuses and breakers in the bathroom, and since it was not too hot or cold (had the fireplace to take off the morning chill, and luckily had ordered the bedroom A/C which cooled the inside pretty well) decided to deal with it when we got back to Calif.
Were home now and still no communication between remote and sensor, have an appointment at the nearest Dometic warranty provider.
Anything else I could try before taking it in....???

[mazeeff]

quote:Originally posted by jpf

Hope those experienced are still following this thread.....!
Were having a related issue with our new 3400RL. Any advice appreciated. We picked it up in NV (reside in No Calif) on the 5th of May, AC & furnace fan worked, remote beeped acknowledgement. On the road next morning near NV, no AC, furnace fan shut down after 3 minutes operation (Tested 5X). Took it back to the dealer and everything worked well. Yes, we read the manual thoroughly, but I don't think they believed us. Back on the road still in NV next morning, no beeps and apparently no communication between the remote and receiver sensor. Replaced remote batteries (2X), checked fuses and breakers in the bathroom, and since it was not too hot or cold (had the fireplace to take off the morning chill, and luckily had ordered the bedroom A/C which cooled the inside pretty well) decided to deal with it when we got back to Calif.
Were home now and still no communication between remote and sensor, have an appointment at the nearest Dometic warranty provider.
Anything else I could try before taking it in....???

I'm not sure if folks are aware that the remote unit has a mode of operation that eliminates the remote. If you simply hit the "cool" button on the wall unit, the unit will select 68 degrees and turn the A/C on. Have you tried this? It would help eliminate the remote as the problem. Of course, a selection of 68 degrees will likely result in a inside temp of 58 degrees (the 10 degree problem, this thread is all about!), but that is a different issue! The same override is available for the "furnace" button, but I don't recall what the override furnace temp is set at. May be the same as A/C with 68 degrees.

[jpf]

Thanks, was aware of the alternate wall sensor on off for the heat and air, unfortunatly neither turns on either function. Called the dealer tech in NV again, he suggested removing the plastic sensor cover and unplugging and replugging the "telephone" cord, sort of cold start procedure. He thinks if that doesn't do anything the overhead circuit board that controls the A/C & furnace is probably bad.
Went to the storage unit and tryed that to no avail.....:-(

[Roman4]

JPF:
Within a couple of days of purchasing our 3475RL with the remote thermostat, the thing quit responding to any imputs. A phone call to the dealer's tech resulted in a recommendation that I pull the 12-volt fuse controlling the furnace, leave it pulled for a minute or so and then replace it. I did so, and it apparently re-set itself in some manner so as to begin working again.

By "working again" I do not mean working perfectly. It still had the ten-degree differential problem. However, at least it did start responding to the remote.

Roman 4
2005 Montana 3475RL
2005 Ford F-350 PSD

[mjcjtroy]

It is really nice to hear that some of you have figured out how to temporarily solve some of these problems with the remote system, but the fact is that when you pay as much as we do for a new RV we shouldn't have to deal with this. These RV's are under warrenty. If something doesn't work it needs to be taken care of by the manufacture and the dealer.