Thermostat Voltage Question

[kampingkoge]

I posted a thread under the Viking forum.  Anyways, looking for a new thermostat to replace the factory crap in my viking and was wondering about the 24volt / milivolt thermostats and a 12volt RV system .... will they work ok and are there any issues with using a 24volt system in an RV.  All thermostats at the local Home Depot or Lowes are of this nature.

[AustinBoston]

I posted a thread under the Viking forum.  Anyways, looking for a new thermostat to replace the factory crap in my viking and was wondering about the 24volt / milivolt thermostats and a 12volt RV system .... will they work ok and are there any issues with using a 24volt system in an RV.  All thermostats at the local Home Depot or Lowes are of this nature.

I read the thread on the Viking forum, and want to suggest a cheaper solution.  

Adjust the latency on the thermostat.

If you open the cover of the thermostat, there is a mechanism (the exact appearance varies) that can only be adjusted when the cover is off.  It controls how much the temperature has to vary before the thermostat turns on and off.  As shipped from the factory, most are set for the most extreme, meaning if you have it where you think you want it, it will turn on when you are freezing and turn off when you are roasting.  By changing the latency to a more central number, the furnace will cycle more often for shorter cycles, but it will not be too cold when it comes on or too hot when it turns off.

By the way, there is no escaping this - either you get lots of short cycles, or you get large temperature changes.

Austin

[kampingkoge]

I read the thread on the Viking forum, and want to suggest a cheaper solution.  

Adjust the latency on the thermostat.

If you open the cover of the thermostat, there is a mechanism (the exact appearance varies) that can only be adjusted when the cover is off.  It controls how much the temperature has to vary before the thermostat turns on and off.  As shipped from the factory, most are set for the most extreme, meaning if you have it where you think you want it, it will turn on when you are freezing and turn off when you are roasting.  By changing the latency to a more central number, the furnace will cycle more often for shorter cycles, but it will not be too cold when it comes on or too hot when it turns off.

By the way, there is no escaping this - either you get lots of short cycles, or you get large temperature changes.

Austin

Thanks for the info ... I will make this adjustment if I keep the current thermostat as I have been having really long runs with the furnace on.  My main problem is the thermostat temp lever, it never stays on the temp I try to set it for.  For instance if it is shut off (all the way to the left) and I attempt to set it for 60 or 65 (midway) it snaps back down to 45 or 50 because of the tension I imagine.  So I have to set it up to like 75 or 80 for it to snap back around 65 ... which of course kicks in the furnace ... just a pain I imagine but my home thermostat doesn't do that.

[Recumbentman]

You will find that most PU campers that replace there thermostat find that the LUX 100 or 500 to be the popular choice. easy replacement.
good luck.  

[PLJ]

I replaced mine at the start of the season with a unit purchased from home Depot. I programmed it (so no levers to play around with) and haven't had any issues with it. I can't remember the exact model number sorry.