Why no furnace access panel?

[wiredgeorge]

As a former member of the US Army, I can say I don't recall we used Code Red as a training tool. Of course, I was draftee so beneath the notice of the NCOs.

[stubones]

Originally Posted by Army

Ok, I'm concerned about future problems too so a new access seems like a good idea, especially since these furnaces are advertised to be mostly serviceable from the front for convenience. I have an email into my dealers service dept for advice too.

I would put a sheet of paper on the outside wall, and use a good stud finder to find the aluminum rails beneath the outside wall before cutting into anything. Make marks on the paper on the wall where the stud finder finds a "stud" and it will find both studs, aluminum frame members and wires. Good stud finders use short range RF detectors to look into the wall.

Secondly, use a boroscope to verify what you think it the case and look around with the tiny camera on the end of a long flexible wire. I bought one on amazon that has replaced my USB based boroscope since it has a small display and two cameras.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VDZBT65

If you get a boroscope, you can do an exploratory hole in the side wall and look around from outside but from the room you have under the RV, you should be able to see lots around the furnace.

I guess I'm lucky in my raptor, which has the furnace under the fridge accessible in the kitchen at floor level.

[bsmith0404]

Personally, I’d cut the black drain pipe, get it out of my way and then reinstall it with A rubber coupling. The drain for the washer on my Alpine was installed after the furnace and was in the way of removing the furnace. It is now a removable pipe with rubber couplings. BTW, I’ve only had to remove the furnace once in 10 years when the control board went bad 2 years ago.

[Army]

Thanks guys, problem solved.
Got the access panel, cut the hole, was an easy job, nothing in the way, took about 1/2 hour. Sail switch mount plate only allowed the switch to be mounted crooked and it didn't even fit thru the plate hole properly. There was little room for travel on the "sail".
Refashioned it to fit better and all good. Really the hardest part was getting the right access panel, that Keystone should have had there in the first place. The cause of the failure was poor build on sail switch by atwood.

[chuckster57]

Got pics of the mod?

[Army]

Hava picture of the sail switch and poor bracket and 1 of the finished access panel, but can't figure out how to post them without going to a server....