Hydro Flame update

[Airbag]

Well it's late and I'm done with the screw drivers in the garage disassembling the heater and now it's time for another kind of screwdriver.

If anyone one is running one of these older units and has not look at the firebox I strongly recommend doing so and soon or having a monoxide detector in the bus. Mine has some bad cracks and alot of rust inside. You can see a couple of spot welds that have blown out letting combustion products into the cabin. The pile of rust on the floor is what came out of the firebox. I wonder if mine has been repaired for you can see the outer cans have regular welds and the middle can has a friction welded seam. Odd

[Tenor]

Definitley time for a new one!

Glenn

[Airbag]

Definitley time for a new one!

Glenn

You are right! The only real choice for my space is the suburban furnace. I sure hate to lose the quality of the older one with its metal blower and squirrel cages. The new ones are all plastic "yuck". Not much choice for I haven't found a new firebox for the HF.

[Tenor]

Airbag,
I just put in 2 suburban sf-25's into my bus and they put out the heat!  My 2 year old assistant dropped a 3 inch screw into a blower, and that's how I found out that the squirrell fan's were still steel!  I like having 2, since I basically have 2 zones and redundancy.  The other nice thing about them is that the exhaust/intake is a small hole in the side of the bus.  I've built cabinetry to allow for maintenance/repair.  Just some info for ya fwiw.  Good luck!

Glenn

[wvanative]

Hey Tenor, you got picture's LOL you know how most of us busnuts are addicted to pictures of anything on, in, or on top of a bus. Man you should be horse whipped with a wet noodle for coming on here and talking about your bus without pictures. But if you post a few pictures I'm sure the punishment can be commuted by the supreme court of bus judges.

WVaNative

[Airbag]

Airbag,
I just put in 2 suburban sf-25's into my bus and they put out the heat!  My 2 year old assistant dropped a 3 inch screw into a blower, and that's how I found out that the squirrell fan's were still steel!  I like having 2, since I basically have 2 zones and redundancy.  The other nice thing about them is that the exhaust/intake is a small hole in the side of the bus.  I've built cabinetry to allow for maintenance/repair.  Just some info for ya fwiw.  Good luck!

Glenn

That's good to hear, I checked with my local RV service center and they get almost 1K for a 30btu unit. Same heater on e-bay 499 go figure. Thanks for the info Glenn

[CAROLINABOY]

CAMPING WORLD MAY BE CHEAPER??

[Airbag]

CAMPING WORLD MAY BE CHEAPER??

Their club price is about sixty dollars more than the e-bay store after shipping. Probably a safer bet though. Warranty is most likely through the manufacturer?

[JohnEd]

Airbag,

I am disappointed.  You mean Hydroflame no longer sells replacement heat exchangers to fit your unit?  I know mine won't last forever and I like it.

I thought the Suburban was the furnace that installed from the outside of the coach.  Needed no convenient access from the inside.  The distribution plenum is installed and hoses connected from the interior but then the  furnace slides into the plenum from the outside.

A friend had the Sub in his 5th wheel and it was a bummer.  That thing made so much noise that you had to turn the TV way up to hear the TV over the racket.  I ran the air intake to the other side of the cabnet and cut a hole so the air intake was from the outside door area.  That is the coldest spot and it also let the "induction roar" dissipate into the interior of the cabnet.  It was still unbearable, although very much improved.  I got it quiet by gluing monster sized washers on the furnace plenum and gluing 1X2's on the inside surface of the cabnet walls.  After all that it was whisper quiet.  Do this(soundproof) to the furnace and enclosure "before" you seal everything up, no matter what model you go with.

The RV mfrs used a lot of clothes dryer exhaust duct to distribute the air.  That stuff has a corrugated interior and severely impedes air flow.  A better choice would be the flex duct that is sold for homes.  It is also insulated and has nice fresh silver coating on the outside.  The trick is to make the run fast at one end and then pull hard on the interior Mylar plastic interior duct from the free end to get out all the kinks and folds.  HVAC guy showed me that.  Maybe Nick has more to add.

HTH

John  

[Airbag]

Airbag,

I am disappointed.  You mean Hydroflame no longer sells replacement heat exchangers to fit your unit?  I know mine won't last forever and I like it.

I thought the Suburban was the furnace that installed from the outside of the coach.  Needed no convenient access from the inside.  The distribution plenum is installed and hoses connected from the interior but then the  furnace slides into the plenum from the outside.

A friend had the Sub in his 5th wheel and it was a bummer.  That thing made so much noise that you had to turn the TV way up to hear the TV over the racket.  I ran the air intake to the other side of the cabnet and cut a hole so the air intake was from the outside door area.  That is the coldest spot and it also let the "induction roar" dissipate into the interior of the cabnet.  It was still unbearable, although very much improved.  I got it quiet by gluing monster sized washers on the furnace plenum and gluing 1X2's on the inside surface of the cabnet walls.  After all that it was whisper quiet.  Do this(soundproof) to the furnace and enclosure "before" you seal everything up, no matter what model you go with.

The RV mfrs used a lot of clothes dryer exhaust duct to distribute the air.  That stuff has a corrugated interior and severely impedes air flow.  A better choice would be the flex duct that is sold for homes.  It is also insulated and has nice fresh silver coating on the outside.  The trick is to make the run fast at one end and then pull hard on the interior Mylar plastic interior duct from the free end to get out all the kinks and folds.  HVAC guy showed me that.  Maybe Nick has more to add.

HTH

John  

I am saddened by this also. Mike at az salvage was supposed to call me today said he had two DC82,s used and the combustion chambers were removed. I was hoping he had some low time units. He never called I plan to give him a call tomorrow but I expect the worst. The suburban NT30 looks like a close copy of the Hydro Flame that I have. I would sleep better knowing the firebox is new. Atwood is Hydro Flame now and they sell nothing like this only the wide pancake models that require the huge cut-out. I never did call Atwood I just assumed they would not be making the part, I will call them.


Suburban NT30

[Tenor]

Sorry about the mess, but I've been doing the woodwork this winter.  The pictures I took tonight in the dark, and it's -3 outside.  You can see the front furnace on the road side of the bus.  I also have a heater core run from the DD and a second smaller one run from the genset.  The other furnace is in the bunk/bathroom area under the bunk, against the rear main bedroom wall.  It heats both areas nicely.  Thanks for the help with posting pictures everyone!

Glenn

[Tenor]

Here is looking forward.

[Tenor]

Bathroom looking rear.  Trying the Photobucket thing.

[belfert]

Make darn sure you have a CO detector in your bus!

On my first big trip one of my friends left one of those ventless propane heaters running overnight in the bus.  The CO detector went off around 3 am.  Any heat from the heater went out the windows when we opened them.

[JackConrad]

Make darn sure you have a CO detector in your bus!
On my first big trip one of my friends left one of those ventless propane heaters running overnight in the bus.  The CO detector went off around 3 am.  Any heat from the heater went out the windows when we opened them.

CO detector is important, not only for your CO producing equipment, but also to detect CO entering your coach from neighboring RVs.  Jack