Impressed with my Newmar Motorhome in Cold Weather

[NWIP]

I did 21 days when I got our 2017 DS. The first week I didn’t have Oasis burner on except sparingly, then it got cold and I realized the heat pimps couldn’t keep up. Temps were now never getting out of the 20s and single digits at night. I didn’t do elaborate testing like @Neal but came up with 40gal over a 10 day period. That is pretty close to @Neal computation.

 

[jmltech]

Glad to hear about the Newmar’s in cold weather. Insulation is something I wished I paid more attention to when we purchased our Tiffin RED. Besides the freezing cold tiles, it is very drafty, especially on the cab area going down the road in winter. I do plan on taking another look this spring for any more openings I missed earlier.

 

[Neal]

I decided an alternate strategy going back to turning the diesel burner on 10 minutes prior to a shower and let the electric burners ACI/II do the job for the furnace. Just like @NWIP outlined above they couldn't do the job. It was 31 out (gets down to low 20's at night here) and no heat was coming out of the blowers. Burner ON and all is well again.

My fear is the OASIS diesel burner can run you dry, I'm not sure there is any safety protection built in to prevent that but I'm going to ask ITR and see what they know.

Moral is you're going to need a deliberate plan for use of the diesel burner and not just leave it on. Know when it's needed and use it then. I would hope that it would only come on when needed i.e. allow the electric burners to do the job until they can't and then come online. Not how it's working out. I have a long stay at a CG coming up where I intended to turn electric burners off and only use diesel burner as I have to pay for electricity usage - that plan is off after this test.

 

[Neal]

From Kevin at ITR inquiring about OASIS potential of running diesel dry:

Newmar makes sure that doesn’t happen with any of their motorhomes, they all have dip tubes that only down to a quarter tank before they will start to peter out, just like the gen

 

[sheridany]

@Neal Does the T stat control the temp off/on so that its not on full-time and you can control the burner usage? Point well taken....Plan Plan Plan.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

From Kevin at ITR inquiring about OASIS potential of running diesel dry:

I can now confirm that, @Neal. This discussion prompted me to check our coach and the gauge shows just over 1/4 full...and...the Oasis burner does NOT come on. Glad this discussion prompted me to check.

The electric elements have been keeping the coach at 50 degrees as I have it set for (I monitor with wireless thermometers), but our overnight outside temps have been about 30 degrees or higher at their lowest. Since we can get an occasional "arctic blast" that can drop temps into the teens, I want to have the burner option available.

Been meaning to get the fuel tank filled, but procrastinated because I didn't want to unhook the coach from power, take it off the jacks and drive to a fuel station. Fortunately, a local fuel dealer will deliver Diesel #2 right here to the property, so I don't have to move the coach. Just called and they will be here Monday morning.

Thanks, again, for the timely reminder.

TJ

 

[Neal]

@Neal Does the T stat control the temp off/on so that its not on full-time and you can control the burner usage? Point well taken....Plan Plan Plan.

Yes, all that is normal and the diesel burner will run whenever it's needed and not all the time. I just wish it had a better balance for the electric burners doing the job such as "you need a little" "you need a lot"

 

[Hawkeye]

Neal, We stayed at Page a month ago also, very pretty area, you need to venture over to Zion and Brice, since you are in the neighborhood. Why are you even using the diesel burner when you don't have to pay extra for electricity? We are in Lake Havasu for the winter and pay extra for our electricity, so we are using the diesel burner because I believe it is more efficient.

 

[boomer]

Yes, all that is normal and the diesel burner will run whenever it's needed and not all the time. I just wish it had a better balance for the electric burners doing the job such as "you need a little" "you need a lot"

Would be really nice if the Oasis would use electric as long as it can, using the burner as the supplement. Always wondered why the burner was primary

 

[Cinergi]

WRT keeping the tank full, I used a 5 gallon can and fuel pump to occasionally put 5 gallons into the tank so I wouldn’t have to break camp and go fill up somewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk