Removing Coleman thermostat for microair

[lestahhh]

Hi all. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a microair purchase despite price. Figured it's a worth investment considering we have an infant with us and we leave our dog in TT. I tried to make the switch tonight bc I've read it's an easy swap. Well, turns out the Coleman thermostat has the wires soldered into place! Picture attached. I've never dealt with this before. I've swapped thermostats at home that has the push button releases. Any help on how to get them disconnected?

The microair website says I need the 352 thermostat for my Coleman btw. I have the Springdale 295BH.

Silly question btw, do I need to absolutely turn off the fuse for the furnace prior to swaps? I ask bc in one video a guy said to do so but his setup was completely different than mine (big 5er and bigger thermostats). I ask bc the previous owner did some rewiring or something so he told me the fuses don't match the labeling. And couldn't remember the setup off his head at the moment when transaction was made. So if I do have to turn off power to it, I'd have to just pull main breaker. Right? I am connected to shore power btw and have solar inverters going on too if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any help!

[JDDilly]

It is always a good idea to shut down all power before working on things like this. If you happen to short out a couple wires, who knows what damage could occur. Better safe then sorry.

[sourdough]

I know nothing about that particular thermostat and going to bed so don't have time to pull the schematic. Pull the manual and schematic; see what lead does what. I'm hoping that little fuse in the pic will remove the power from your thermostat leads, a wiring diagram will tell you for sure, but I would remove it since you will have to unsolder those leads.....or cut them off.

If the PO did some "rewiring" but can't remember, first that's a red flag to me unless he was on top of his "electrical game". Secondly you need to use a meter and read the incoming voltage to the thermostat and pull fused until you kill it or shut down 12vdc to the trailer. The proximity of those wires to each other will probably result in a blown fuse (who knows which) if you don't. It would also be a good time to use that meter, pop fuses and determine which one feeds it then label correctly.

[chuckster57]

The other end of the wires will have connectors to the trailer wiring.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

The other end of the wires will have connectors to the trailer wiring.

Yep…I imagine if you remove the thermostat from the wall you will see the connections …it’s just how the factory connects short leads to the circuit board

[lestahhh]

Good morning everyone. Thanks for your input. I'm attaching a picture of this setup. I see the connections, so just undo them and connect leads to microair right?

About the power, is it necessary to shut off power? Or not for an RV?

[xrated]

Originally Posted by lestahhh

Good morning everyone. Thanks for your input. I'm attaching a picture of this setup. I see the connections, so just undo them and connect leads to microair right?

About the power, is it necessary to shut off power? Or not for an RV?

I you are going to throw that thermostat in the trash, I would just snip one wire at a time from the old thermostat that you have pictured, and move it to the correct terminal on the new MicroAire thermostat. Hopefully you have some wire strippers for small gauge wire (probably a 20 or 22 ga.....maybe as small as 24 ga). If not, a small pocket knife will work, Just be sure to try and NOT KNICK the wire itself....as that will be the place that the wire breaks when traveling on the bumpy roads.

If you are going to save the old thermostat, try to pull as much wire out of the wall as you can and take the existing connections apart and move them One for one. If you are very careful doing that, you should be perfectly fine swapping them. If you're not so careful, you might blow a fuse and have to find and replace it.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by lestahhh

Good morning everyone. Thanks for your input. I'm attaching a picture of this setup. I see the connections, so just undo them and connect leads to microair right?

About the power, is it necessary to shut off power? Or not for an RV?

With any "solid state device" I would always ALWAYS remove all power before disconnecting the first wire and NEVER reapply power until the complete wiring change has been completed....

Transistors, micro chips and "mini-micro components" are easily damaged by a "stray spark inadvertently touched to the wrong component".... A $200 thermostat is just as easily damaged as a 10 cent 5 amp fuse, just much more expensive to replace....

Remove all power, battery and shore power before you go any further than what's shown in the photo !!!!!

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

With any "solid state device" I would always ALWAYS remove all power before disconnecting the first wire and NEVER reapply power until the complete wiring change has been completed....

Transistors, micro chips and "mini-micro components" are easily damaged by a "stray spark inadvertently touched to the wrong component".... A $200 thermostat is just as easily damaged as a 10 cent 5 amp fuse, just much more expensive to replace....

Remove all power, battery and shore power before you go any further than what's shown in the photo !!!!!

Yes very important…also if power is still applied while your making connections you can cause the ac unit and furnace to be clicking on and off if you have it either in heat or cool or fan “on”….while your holding it (if it’s the wire lead style connections)

That’s not very good for the equipment …particularly the ac compressor

And it’s just the proper way of doing it… it’s like wiring a electrical outlet with power still on…yes you can do it if careful…but why take the chance

[Crusty]

Originally Posted by lestahhh

Hi all. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a microair purchase despite price. Figured it's a worth investment considering we have an infant with us and we leave our dog in TT. I tried to make the switch tonight bc I've read it's an easy swap. Well, turns out the Coleman thermostat has the wires soldered into place! Picture attached. I've never dealt with this before. I've swapped thermostats at home that has the push button releases. Any help on how to get them disconnected?

The microair website says I need the 352 thermostat for my Coleman btw. I have the Springdale 295BH.

Silly question btw, do I need to absolutely turn off the fuse for the furnace prior to swaps? I ask bc in one video a guy said to do so but his setup was completely different than mine (big 5er and bigger thermostats). I ask bc the previous owner did some rewiring or something so he told me the fuses don't match the labeling. And couldn't remember the setup off his head at the moment when transaction was made. So if I do have to turn off power to it, I'd have to just pull main breaker. Right? I am connected to shore power btw and have solar inverters going on too if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any help!

It depends on how many times you want to replace the controller board.

Pulling the fuse FIRST would prevent the problem.

[Old Mustanger]

Did you download the manual for the Micro-Air thermostat? Mine gave instructions for disconnecting the old thermostat and connecting the new one Admittedly my setup is much simpler but I'm betting that the 352 manual will tell you what to do.