Sol - Aire is crap

Mar 25, 2020
108
0
16
Has anyone welded an extension on the exhaust to get the heat and exhaust
away from the side of the coach or rerouted the intake air so not to pick up
exhaust ?

I can come up with another stainless cover for the exterior but still want
to solve the exhaust/intake issues.

Dean The Resourceful Norse Hanson

75 Avion.
 
I think if the inlet/outlets on the rv furnace need to be reconfigured that
the designers and builders would know about the issue and make corrections.
There is way plenty to do on a GMC motorhome without re inventing the wheel.

My 2 c

Sully
Bellevue wa

> Has anyone welded an extension on the exhaust to get the heat and exhaust
> away from the side of the coach or rerouted the intake air so not to pick
> up
> exhaust ?
>
> I can come up with another stainless cover for the exterior but still want
> to solve the exhaust/intake issues.
>
> Dean The Resourceful Norse Hanson
>
> 75 Avion.
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>
 
Dean,
Not sure why you want to relocate the exhaust/intake for your Sol-Aire. The outside air intake is for combustion air ONLY. It is totally separate
from the interior air that is heated and circulated by the furnace. In fact, the intake and exhaust ports are actually further apart than those on
other furnaces like the Colemans. If you're getting CO or fumes inside your coach, you may have the leaking (rusted out) heat exchanger everyone
talks about around here. OTOH, I just had my functioning Sol-Aire out and partially apart (shortened the plenum 3/4" to make room for a catalytic
heater, a "PLatinum Cat", the one that's vented, in front of the Sol-Aire.). I can say the old Sol-Aire is solid and well-made, and the heat
exchanger is made of fairly heavy-gauge steel. That said, I can't understand why they made the plenum chamber out of beautiful stainless steel, and
the heat exchanger out of plain steel. And yes, I do have a working CO detector.

I did have a problem with the exhaust port however. Seems the previous owner (before I bought it in 1996) of my coach used it for skiing in Jackson
Hole, and it must have been cold. Looks like he had the old Sol-Aire cranking full blast 24/7, as it actually melted about 1/8"-1/4" of the
fiberglass right around the exhaust port. Of course this might have been due to mud-dauber wasp nests too. Anyhow, I removed the flue adaptors,
cleaned them up and lined the exhaust area (on the outside of the body and within the louver) with aluminum, formed to fit snugly into the adaptor and
sealed to it with hi-temp (700 degree) Permatex. Incidentally, the exhaust flue pipe is supposed to have air drawn in over it from the cabin by the
circulating fan, but it must be positioned properly vis-a-vis its flue adaptor.

My 2¢, HTH
Rick Staples
--
Rick Staples, '75 Eleganza, Johnstown, CO

"Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the Wise to the Wise, and all paths may run ill." -Tolkien
 
If you insist on using the Sol-Aire be sure you have a working CO detector in the coach and test it each time you need the furnace. Sol-Aire
essentially got sued out of business for asphyxiating people with leaky burner chambers in their furnaces.
The RV furnaces have the burner chamber under pressure, unlike a home forced air furnace which runs the burner at less than outside pressure. Newer RV
furnaces use stainless steel burner chambers which resist rust and corrosion. Sol-Aire used mild steel in their chambers and holes were a fairly
common problem.

--johnny
--
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell