My on going war with the Installation of a suburban furnace, using Cinnabar engineerings fantastic instructions and photos

thomas g. warner

New member
Mar 24, 1998
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Has anyone on the net installed a suburban furnace in their coach to replace
the solaire???

I am still stuck to this tarbaby called the installation of the GMC
Motorhome Part number 713690, suburban SAR furnace, and wasting a lot of
time. I bought it from Cinnabar based on their description of it in their
parts Book. They describe the suburban kit as "This AGA and CSA certified
electronic ignition suburban furnace kit was specifically designed to
replace the Sol-Aire furnaces that were installed as original equipment in
GMC interior models from 1975 through 1977. It will fit all GMC interior
models from 1973 through 1978, and it conforms to the curvature of the GMC
Motorhome body. The kit comes with complete installation instructions and
photographs".

All I can say to that optimistic statement is........ hogwash!

If you go to http://home2.photoisland.com, you can see why it isn't going to
happen. Guest log in ID is warbucks13477 and guest password is g1234.I did
the pics fast so they are not titled very good but have to say that the
$288 (walmart)Olympus D-240R makes wonderful pics and is easy to use.

I don't know if my coach is one of a kind (1976 Palmbeach) but it has an
aluminum Z channel installed across the back of the coach startting from
somewhere behind the sink module and ending near my sofa. Can it be cut
out?????? Think the sink module is attached to it but cannot tell yet. I
know that the gas lines are attached to it in back of the sink. What do
you do with it since the intake air and exhaust of the furnace run right
through it if you install it like cinnabar says?????

They just do a terrible job of giving "complete installation instructions"
to install it.Notice that the gas lines ran over the top of the much lower
solaire and have to be moved and re-routed to fit the taller Suburban. When
you do this there is no room to install the gas shutoff to the furnace and
still get at it through the front doorto turn it off. In addition the power
to the solaire is on the left side of the furnace and on the suburban on the
right side. The small pigtail connector furnished with "the specifically
designed" kit with about 10" of wire will not reach the new furnace. A minor
irritation but no less an oversight.


Cinnabar does furnish 4 photos in the "kit", but no shot of the problem area
of the aluminum Z channel. All pics show you how to route the 4" hot air lines.

In addition they fail to tell how to route the 4" ducts under a floor
designed for 3.5" ducts or how to connect a 4" duct to a 3.5" register outlet.

Final irritation. Can't find anything but 4" aluminum covered duct here yet
and its very flimsy. Called Cinnabar to order duct like they used in the
"complete installation instructions", and like the original. I was told to
buy it at my local hardware store. Yeah right!!! I have checked at every
store in an area of 30 miles. No one stocks it. She told me it comes in
25' rolls so told her to send me a box. They don't have it in their inventory.

Anyone gone through this yet? How did you install it. Tell you that
Hydroflame furnace is looking better and better all the time.

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Tom..
As I have written several times, the Hydroflame (available at Whitney} is next to a
piece of cake to install. It's vert. dimension is much less than the OEM so there
is lots of room. The cut out in the side of the coach fiberglass removes tho old
intake/exhaust holes. You do have to adapt the new 4" to the existing ducts but
that is easy enough to do with a little sheetmetal work. It took me about 5 hours
for the complete job and I didn't have any help from previous installations. I'll
be glad to send pix if anyone wants to go that route.
Gary
North Bend, Oregon Coast

> Anyone gone through this yet? How did you install it. Tell you that
> Hydroflame furnace is looking better and better all the time.
>
> >
> >
 
Gary I think you ouught to post them on one of our sites so others can make
an intelligent choice relative to which one they want to install.

>Tom..
>As I have written several times, the Hydroflame (available at Whitney} is
next to a
>piece of cake to install. It's vert. dimension is much less than the OEM
so there
>is lots of room. The cut out in the side of the coach fiberglass removes
tho old
>intake/exhaust holes. You do have to adapt the new 4" to the existing
ducts but
>that is easy enough to do with a little sheetmetal work. It took me about
5 hours
>for the complete job and I didn't have any help from previous
installations. I'll
>be glad to send pix if anyone wants to go that route.
>Gary
>North Bend, Oregon Coast
>

>
>> Anyone gone through this yet? How did you install it. Tell you that
>> Hydroflame furnace is looking better and better all the time.
>>
>> >
>> >
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Ok, will get them together and off to Gene in a day or two.
Gary
North Bend, Oregon Coast

> Gary I think you ouught to post them on one of our sites so others can make
> an intelligent choice relative to which one they want to install.
>

> >Tom..
> >As I have written several times, the Hydroflame (available at Whitney} is
> next to a
> >piece of cake to install. It's vert. dimension is much less than the OEM
> so there
> >is lots of room. The cut out in the side of the coach fiberglass removes
> tho old
> >intake/exhaust holes. You do have to adapt the new 4" to the existing
> ducts but
> >that is easy enough to do with a little sheetmetal work. It took me about
> 5 hours
> >for the complete job and I didn't have any help from previous
> installations. I'll
> >be glad to send pix if anyone wants to go that route.
> >Gary
> >North Bend, Oregon Coast
> >

> >
> >> Anyone gone through this yet? How did you install it. Tell you that
> >> Hydroflame furnace is looking better and better all the time.
> >>
> >> >
> >> >
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> >
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