2020 Cougar 22RBSWE Heater weirdness

inteus · 02-25-2020, 02:46 PM

I have a brand new 22RBSWE that I took out for the first time this weekend. The only thing I found "wrong" with the trailer is that sometimes, when the heater blower turned on, something beeps loudly. I assume its coming from the fuse panel, but there's no warning lights or anything and the heater works fine.

Has anyone else run into this? I hate to say its a problem, since the heater works flawlessly (as far as I can tell).

**flybouy** · 02-25-2020, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inteus

I have a brand new 22RBSWE that I took out for the first time this weekend. The only thing I found "wrong" with the trailer is that sometimes, when the heater blower turned on, something beeps loudly. I assume its coming from the fuse panel, but there's no warning lights or anything and the heater works fine.

Has anyone else run into this? I hate to say its a problem, since the heater works flawlessly (as far as I can tell).

Could it be the smoke or LP/CO leak detector? It's not uncommon for the smoke detector to go off as dust and dirt accumulation and the oils that protect the metal of the furnace burn off for the first time. If it's the Carbon Monoxide or LP detector them you have a serious problem and should not run the furnace until it's repaired.

inteus · 02-25-2020, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flybouy

Could it be the smoke or LP/CO leak detector? It's not uncommon for the smoke detector to go off as dust and dirt accumulation and the oils that protect the metal of the furnace burn off for the first time. If it's the Carbon Monoxide or LP detector them you have a serious problem and should not run the furnace until it's repaired.

I checked the CO/LP detector and it wasn't that. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the smoke detector, as the beep only came when the blower turned on, before the furnace lit. I will test it again though to make sure.

**flybouy** · 02-25-2020, 03:54 PM

Are you operating on shore power (plugged into 120vac) or running on the battery?

inteus · 02-25-2020, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flybouy

Are you operating on shore power (plugged into 120vac) or running on the battery?

Forgot to mention, this was on shore power.

mikec557 · 07-25-2020, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inteus

I have a brand new 22RBSWE that I took out for the first time this weekend. The only thing I found "wrong" with the trailer is that sometimes, when the heater blower turned on, something beeps loudly. I assume its coming from the fuse panel, but there's no warning lights or anything and the heater works fine.

Has anyone else run into this? I hate to say its a problem, since the heater works flawlessly (as far as I can tell).

Inteus, did you ever solve this mystery? Did it simply "go away" on its own? I have a 2020 26RBSWE that is doing the same thing. I think the single, one second long beep, is coming from the furnace when it starts up. But the furnace is located next to the breaker/fuse panel, and the charger/coverter is located right behind the breaker/fuse panel... so I can't be positive the sound is coming from the furnace.

What did you find?

QCMan · 07-26-2020, 03:46 AM

Hi. This thread got me wondering if I was going to go buggy from the beep on the heat. Must be a Western edition thing as it got down to 70 here last night and I fired up the heat to check for a beep. My hearing is not perfect but I did not hear anything but normal heat noises and after ten minutes of smelly heat I turned it off. Amazing how much we pay for that nasty new heat smell! LOL. Please let us know how yours works out as it seems like many will have this issue with the WE.

**flybouy** · 07-26-2020, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QCMan

Hi. This thread got me wondering if I was going to go buggy from the beep on the heat. Must be a Western edition thing as it got down to 70 here last night and I fired up the heat to check for a beep. My hearing is not perfect but I did not hear anything but normal heat noises and after ten minutes of smelly heat I turned it off. Amazing how much we pay for that nasty new heat smell! LOL. Please let us know how yours works out as it seems like many will have this issue with the WE.

I know Chuckster saya he runs the furnace and clears the air when he preps a new unit. I doubt all techs spend the time to do that, especially now days when RV sales are exploding and the "time to get them out the door" get's compressed.

I can tell you that if it's a $700 RV furnace or a $30K commercial unit if it's got a heat exchanger (gas or oil fired air circulated over the heat chamber) there will be a smell of burning dust every heating season. The smell will include the protective coating of oil to prevent rust when new.
Asa for the "beeb" I would hazard a guess that it's being generated by a piezoelectric speaker and may be part of a diagnostic alarm . But that's a guess. If it's that annoying I'd do a search on the manf site and a visual search to find it and muffle it with a little piece of foam and tape.

QCMan · 07-26-2020, 12:35 PM

Some beepers are useless and I do not know what its main purpose is but if all it is there for is to beep to let you know that you put the heat on it needs to be deactivated IMHO. Then again, if your battery is weak, the draw in the 12 volt system might trigger an alarm for low voltage even if you are plugged in or your system might have a loose connection causing excess draw. Keep us posted.

mikec557 · 07-26-2020, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flybouy

...
I can tell you that if it's a $700 RV furnace or a $30K commercial unit if it's got a heat exchanger (gas or oil fired air circulated over the heat chamber) there will be a smell of burning dust every heating season.
...
As for the "beeb" I would hazard a guess that it's being generated by a piezoelectric speaker and may be part of a diagnostic alarm . But that's a guess. If it's that annoying I'd do a search on the manf site and a visual search to find it and muffle it with a little piece of foam and tape.

Call me old fashioned but I kinda like that burnt dust, start of the cold season rv furnace smell. LOL

I'm crossing my fingers on a bad battery to chassis ground performed by yours truly. I did a big re-wire project installing an inverter with shore power bypass, a solar charge controller, a battery monitor system and a couple other minor items. In the process I had to relocate the battery to chassis ground, and just the other day I recalled that I wasn't pleased with it but had to move on with my project list so we could get on the road.

Tomorrow I'll get some good, rough, sandpaper to scour more paint off the frame and make a better connection. With some luck that may be it.

mikec557 · 07-26-2020, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QCMan

Some beepers are useless and I do not know what its main purpose is but if all it is there for is to beep to let you know that you put the heat on it needs to be deactivated IMHO. Then again, if your battery is weak, the draw in the 12 volt system might trigger an alarm for low voltage even if you are plugged in or your system might have a loose connection causing excess draw. Keep us posted.

QCMan

You may be on to something re batteries. While my batteries are strong as an ox, I may not have a good connection. See my explanation above.

Thanks
Mike

inteus · 09-11-2020, 06:45 PM

I was camping just this week when it happened again. I traced the beeping to the fridge, which is just above the furnace. I'm not an electrician or anything, but I think the furnace takes too many amps when starting? The whole area lost power the other night due to a safety power shutoff (California), and while on battery power, my batteries were low and when the furnace kicked on, the fridge alarm started to go off. It was really annoying. I had to turn the furnace off and use a heavy blanket.

Now that I've followed the alarm noise to the fridge, I think there might be a wiring issue and will be calling the dealership on my next day off.

mikec557 · 09-11-2020, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inteus

I was camping just this week when it happened again. I traced the beeping to the fridge, which is just above the furnace. I'm not an electrician or anything, but I think the furnace takes too many amps when starting? The whole area lost power the other night due to a safety power shutoff (California), and while on battery power, my batteries were low and when the furnace kicked on, the fridge alarm started to go off. It was really annoying. I had to turn the furnace off and use a heavy blanket.

Now that I've followed the alarm noise to the fridge, I think there might be a wiring issue and will be calling the dealership on my next day off.

I think you're right about the furnace pulling too many amps, but maybe not so much related to low batteries. I have the same issue on a 2020 26RBSWE. My battery set up is two 100Ah lithium BattleBorn batteries. They are almost always full. So I don't think the issue is low battery power.

At first I couldn't be sure where the beeping was coming from. But it's definitely coming from the fridge alarm in the eyebrow area.

Here's what I have discerned about mine. From the 15a fuse in the breaker panel, that 14ga (I think) wire runs to the stereo, then to two USB ports in the outside kitchen, then to the furnace (control board, igniter, blower, etc) and then to the small terminal block that powers my fridge. When our furnace starts the fridge does one of two things. Sometimes it beeps for a second or two and stays on. Most mostly it kicks off and then sounds a repeating beeping alarm to tell me the fridge is off. If I cycle the fridge on/off button (the furnace is now running) the fridge starts right up like nothing is wrong.

I'm going to run a separate 12 or 14ga wire from the breaker to the fridge, ie, take it off of the over-shared circuit. Then I'll cycle the furnace and see if I've eliminated the issue. But it will be 5-6 weeks before I can do that.

**JRTJH** · 09-12-2020, 07:39 AM

mikec557,

I believe your trailer power distribution center is located adjacent to your furnace/refrigerator cabinet. If so, there should be a 12 VDC fuse position that is not used on the vertical fuse panel. You can take a short (5-6 foot) 12 ga wire and "build a separate refrigerator 12 volt circuit" using that empty fuse spot. That would completely separate your refrigerator and furnace power supply source.

If you do that, don't forget to mark the new circuit as "Refrigerator power" so any future serviceman will see the modification. Even though Keystone doesn't provide wiring diagrams, most people who work on them have "learned the factory wiring locations" and if you change that, that person may not "see the obvious" and could spend hours troubleshooting "the way it used to be".... BTDT !!!!!

mikec557 · 09-12-2020, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

mikec557,

I believe your trailer power distribution center is located adjacent to your furnace/refrigerator cabinet. If so, there should be a 12 VDC fuse position that is not used on the vertical fuse panel. You can take a short (5-6 foot) 12 ga wire and "build a separate refrigerator 12 volt circuit" using that empty fuse spot. That would completely separate your refrigerator and furnace power supply source.

If you do that, don't forget to mark the new circuit as "Refrigerator power" so any future serviceman will see the modification. Even though Keystone doesn't provide wiring diagrams, most people who work on them have "learned the factory wiring locations" and if you change that, that person may not "see the obvious" and could spend hours troubleshooting "the way it used to be".... BTDT !!!!!

Thanks JR. You're right about the layout, and I will definitely mark the new fuse location. I'll report the results of my plan, I only wish I could do it now instead of weeks from now.

Thanks again

**JRTJH** · 09-12-2020, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikec557

Thanks JR. You're right about the layout, and I will definitely mark the new fuse location. I'll report the results of my plan, I only wish I could do it now instead of weeks from now.

Thanks again

Keep us "in the loop" your experiences will definitely help other members who face the same problems. In fact there are two or three other threads about "beeping furnaces or furnaces that cut off at strange times" currently open on the forum.... You're not alone in your search for answers and fixes !!!!!

mikec557 · 09-19-2020, 02:46 PM

Well, I re-did my battery to chassis ground. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but it is now improved to the point it can't get any better. See pics.

Sadly, it had no effect. We're going to move from this campground to a friend's house in a couple days. Either before or after that move I'll try calling ASA Electronics and see if they have any ideas. I'll post whatever they tell me.

Edit:
Pardon this post. Found an open tab in my browser, somehow hit post instead of delete. And now I can't delete the post....

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