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Old 12-16-2012, 06:47 AM   #1
Smitty43
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Heating Air Ducts

I have a 2011 3200RL and when I run the furnace most of the heat comes out of the bathroom and bedroom heating ducts, very little from the one in the Living room. I have tried to buy registers that hace a control knob on them but the plastic ones the heat warped them so bad they were useless. I ended up blocking off the ones in the bath and bedroom and still get very little air out of the registers. Anyone have this same problem?---Smitty
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Old 12-16-2012, 07:46 AM   #2
turbopilot51
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Originally Posted by Smitty43 View Post
I have a 2011 3200RL and when I run the furnace most of the heat comes out of the bathroom and bedroom heating ducts, very little from the one in the Living room. I have tried to buy registers that hace a control knob on them but the plastic ones the heat warped them so bad they were useless. I ended up blocking off the ones in the bath and bedroom and still get very little air out of the registers. Anyone have this same problem?---Smitty
I also tried tried the plastic registers with the same results. The heat is just too much for them to handle. I found some metal registers on Amazon that fit perfectly. Just had to drill holes to secure them to the floor. I know that others have dove into their rigs straightening out the maze of heating ducts. If I had the place to work on mine out of the weather I would do the same thing.
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Old 12-16-2012, 07:49 AM   #3
SteveC7010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty43 View Post
I have a 2011 3200RL and when I run the furnace most of the heat comes out of the bathroom and bedroom heating ducts, very little from the one in the Living room. I have tried to buy registers that have a control knob on them but the plastic ones the heat warped them so bad they were useless. I ended up blocking off the ones in the bath and bedroom and still get very little air out of the registers. Anyone have this same problem?---Smitty
If you would use the Search function here, you'll find a number of threads on this exact issue. People have discovered crushed, damaged, or otherwise blocked ducting in their heating systems. The how's, why's, wherefore's, and fixes are already extensively discussed.
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Old 12-16-2012, 08:07 AM   #4
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Cleaning and inspecting the ducts for openings is important. Construction debris and open tape joints are very common. A good flashlight and small mirror will help you see down the ducts. I use the hose from a shop-vac and push it down the duct carefully to remove debris. Check the furnace itself to be sure that all ducts are connected and extra ports on the heat exchanger are covered. As for blocking registers ... the furnace can overheat if you restrict air flow too much so be careful. Sealing the duct just past the last vent will also increase flow. (as long as the so called under-belly heat is not coming from this point) I replaced the flexible vent prone to kinks with metal elbows and vent pipe where I could .. this helped the most but this will depend on your model. If you are looking for metal adjustable registers, the ones made for Mobile homes will fit and are sold in Home stores. Hope this helps, Hank
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Old 12-16-2012, 05:08 PM   #5
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As said above, be REAL CAREFUL about blocking heat vents. That can easily cause furnace heat exchanger to crack, letting deadly gases into your RV. It is not uncommon for a few folks a year to die from cracked heat exchangers!
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Old 12-16-2012, 07:27 PM   #6
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I had the same issue with my trailer. This is rather common as the airflow shoots right past the mid point registers and blasts out the end when it hits a stopping point. I made a scoop of sorts with foil type duct tape that lips up over the floor slightly on the downstream side of the register opening and goes down to the duct floor at about a 30 deg. angle. I made it about 40% the width of the register opening (the actual duct is almost 2" wider) and now I get equal flow from both vents in question. Red Green would be proud! I also removed all my A/C registers (the center part that swivels, not the outer ring) as they were highly restrictive, to the point they almost hissed with the A/C on. I now get almost twice the airflow and much quicker cooling.
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Old 12-17-2012, 05:44 AM   #7
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Smitty43 -

As Turbopilot51 mentioned, I am one who dove into the underbelly to look at the heating ducts. If you look back at some of my posts, you will read what I found, what I did, and pictures.

To try to summarize - Keystone does not seem to "cut to fit", rather install what is there. I found 12' ducts for a 6' run, with the extra horseshoed and wrapped around itself. I found that the rear living area ducts were crushed under the fresh water tank and also kinked because of too much length. I also found one of my ducts with ATF-soaked insulation because on of the hydraulic pistons had either had a pressure leak or "exploded" probably at Keystone's manufacturing plant (from all appearances). With some duct-trimming and rerouting, I was able to get plenty of heat to the living area and also relieve some of the heated air to the bedroom and bath. However, just trying to block the bath and bedroom vents, without fixing the duct work, could result, as mentioned, with an over-heated heat exchanger.

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Old 12-17-2012, 05:07 PM   #8
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X2 on what Ron said about not blocking ducts. I should have stated that in my case it was a simple airflow dynamics issue (which I've had on two trailers now) and not a duct issue. In fact in both my cases it was the upstream register of two in series on a common manifold leg that was producing little to no air, and I visually verified an unrestricted duct before any mods were performed.
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Old 12-18-2012, 05:33 AM   #9
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SMITTY43 Hi. most have told you not to block the vents and they are right. esp. if it cracks the heat exchanger. co is deadly.. if the weather warms up you will need to explore the under belly of the beast. At least you will be out of the weather. it will be time well spent starighting out the duct work a battery powered nut driver or drill motor with a socket adaptor will make your life better.(lots of screws). but when you are finished the heating system will work much better. take your time and wow you are useing duct tape for a duct! amazing
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