My on going war with the Installation of a suburbanfurnace,using ...

[philip l. stewart]

>
> > Cinnabar did one thing for the furnace. They installed a heavy gauge plate
> > across the back, since the furnace can not be installed flush with the
> > outside wall as required by suburban installtion directions.

And then Arch wrote:.

> The only thing that might be different from a
> standard installation is that I jacked the back end up 1/2 inch. I cant
> believe
> that it cant run when it is that little out of level!

So I add the following:
Now my experience with another Suburban appliance, there 6 gallon propane fired
water heater, makes me believe that that at least the the water heater can be
mounted off level and work just fine. I haven't seen the furnace exhaust so my
water heater experience may not be relevant. But when I installed it a few years
back the Suburban instructions directed that the tank cabinet be mounted flush
with the outside wall as apparently the furnace directions call for. Anyway,
because of the GMC's curved sides mounting the water heater flat on the floor and
against the outside wall would leave about a 1" gap at the bottom between the
water heater's cabinet and the wall. But when I made some wedge shims to raise
the rear of the cabinet up off the floor about 1" the face of the cabinet aligned
nicely with the curved wall. I called and talked with a Suburban tech. rep at the
factory and asked what he thought about my tilting the the heater up by this
amount. While he wouldn't deviate from the Suburban printed directions (makes
sense given corporate liability in matters like these) he didn't disagree with me
either that the coach didn't have to be perfectly level either for the propane
burner to work and the exhaust gases to vent to the outside. In fact the
operating instructions don't call for the coach to be leveled before igniting the
burner. Now I wouldn't take this to the extreme and say the unit would work
properly if turned on its end either. At least in my case after considering what
actually happens in a non-perfect world of RVing and camping in unlevel
situations, I concluded that small deviations from the printed instrcutions should
work out OK. Of course this was just my experience and there's no gaurtentee
anyone else would have the same. I just thought I would share them with the group
for whatever they may be worth.
Phil Stewart
'76 Transmode, TN

 

[thomas g. warner]

Arch you said it much better than I could have "I honestly dont understand."

The sides of the GMC coach are curved and the back of the suburban furnace
is flat. How did you seal the two together so that the inside of the
furnace will be properly cooled? Thats what the plate is for that cinnabar
installs. Read page 1 and 2 of the suburban installation manual for
installing the furnace against a wall(the one furnished by suburban and not
Cinnabar).

As for my statement about the gas shutoff, cinncabar never even mentioned it
in their instuctions. If you connected it to the furnace cabinet , well its
your choice but it is not something that I would recommend. In my coach the
gas line comes up throught the floor behind the kitchen sink cabinet and
over the top of the old furnace. There is a T connection so that gas can be
routed to the gas stove. There are special heavy duty double flared gas
connectors on my coach installed at the time of manufacture. They were
installed and are securely supported to minimize the chance of vibration in
the coach to cause leaks. If you have removed the aluminum channel, and
connected the line to your furnace cabinet than in my opinion you defeated
the purpose of the fittings and original installtion. But again its your choice.

The codes for 1 inch clearance of heat duct thru cabinetry are referenced on
page 2 of the suburban installation manual, unless UL approved. Again you
can ignor them if you chose.

The codes for modular homes and RVs are entirely different due to the
vibration and stresses that are encountered in our coaches. Again compromise
if you want Arch.

And lastly I have seen many of these weekend "No where near as hard as you
have made it out to be" jobs done by people that try to over simplify
everything, and I just walk away shaking my head at the butcher job they
have done. I am not saying that you did that in your coach, maybe you are a
much faster worker than I am. My family will use this coach and safety is
upper most in my mind. I want to only install this thing once, and after it
is installed be able to easily maintain it without pulling half of the coach
apart to change a fuse. You probably installed the furnace flat on the
floor. Wait until you have to remove it? When done I can remove and
reinstall the furnace in a few minutes all thru the front door and without
getting a hernia.

Arch I believe you told us you have a gutted transmode, or at least it was.
Please don't keep comparing installing something in it, as compared to a
finished coach. Not the same! Not by a long shot.

Hope this helps clarify the problems I observed with MY Suburban furnace
installation. Am I mistaken? Thought one of the intentions of this forum was
to pool our talents so that everyone would not make the same mistakes again.
When I get done I will document the installation of the suburban furnace in
my 1976 Palm Beach so that the next person will not have to go thru the
problems I have had. But if someone wants to go thru the learning curve
again, be my guest. Its your coach do what you feel comfortable doing.



>In a message dated 01/20/2000 4:51:49 PM Central Standard Time,

>
>> Cinnabar did one thing for the furnace. They installed a heavy gauge plate
>> across the back, since the furnace can not be installed flush with the
>> outside wall as required by suburban installtion directions. Without this
>> plate the control board will burn up and the furnace will overheat and
>> malfunction. Bottom line you cannot buy an off the shelf Suburban furnace
>> and install it in the GMC motorhome, unless you add this plate.THIS IS VERY
>> IMPORTANT.
>>
>Tom
>
>You were doing so good. Now you have reverted back to your old fear
>monger tactics. First, I put a shutoff valve on mine. I had no problem doing
>it.
>You can put one in any where you want to. Second, I tagged my copper line
>to the cabinet. I dont see this as a problem. Third, I dont know where you
>got these codes! Every mobile home or modular home would not pass this
>test. Most line the floor joists with aluminum to create a duct. The ducts are
>in direct contact with wood. The furnace pumps out air at 114 degrees tops.
>The limit switch shuts it down at 117 degrees tops. This is well below the
>450& degrees it takes to get wood to burn. Even paper does not ignite until
>451 degrees. You have not answered any of my posts but I have explained
>how I got heat to the bathroom. Forth, I dont doubt that you can not find any
>numbers on your furnace. Thats how fear works. Keep you off guard and not
>sure. When I rebuild my sons 49 Packard I bought 1 wheel bearing seal from
>a well known restoration house for $12. They had ground the numbers off of
>it. Went to my local bearing supply house and got one for $3.25 Chicago
>Rawhide all the way. Fifth What the hell does this plate do? I installed an
>off
>the shelf Suburban furnace. The only thing that might be different from a
>standard installation is that I jacked the back end up 1/2 inch. I cant
>believe
>that it cant run when it is that little out of level! I will admit that I
>have not fired
>it up but my local dealer looked it all over ----I even explained the 1/2
>rise to
>him and his only comment was that I should have used a union in the pipe
>so that it could be taken out easier. This was a one week end job. No
>where near as hard as you have made it out to be. I honestly dont understand.
>
>Take Care
>Arch 76 GB IL
>
>