Thermostat Failure 2015 Hawk

[Dphillip]

We had our 2015 Hawk out for Labor Day weekend in Moab Utah and during one chilly morning the furnace wouldn’t kick on. I turned to my number one trouble shooting resource the WTW search feature. One member suggested to bypass the thermostat by touching together the two wires going into the back of it. I tried this and the furnace kicked right on. Apparently the Thermostat has failed after only 3 years and less that 30 hours of furnace time.
My concern is, do I replace the failed White Rogers thermostat with another one which would make removal
and replacement really simple or install a Honeywell unit that FWC has been installing on the new campers? It seems like the Honeywell model would be the way to go but looking at the installation instructions online the wiring might challenge me a little.

Any thoughts from experts?

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

Is it a digital unit or the old school style? FWC swapped back to the old school ones due to issues with the digital/batteries

 

[Dphillip]

It’s a digital unit made by White Rogers.

I was under the impression FWC switched to a Honeywell digital?

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

Have you changed the batteries in it yet? I have a 2018 hawk and it has the old school style (forget the brand). There is a big thread about why they switched back to the old style on here somewhere.

 

[trikebubble]

I have a 2017 Hawk, it came with the old style non-digital thermostat in it. Works 100% of the time, no issues at all. Maybe consider swapping out to this style.

 

[Dphillip]

I did try new batteries and it made no difference.

I think an email to FWC may be in order to determine what style thermostat they’re installing in new units.

 

[Old Crow]

This Thermostat Warm-Up thread essentially says the White Rogers 1E78-140 has a problem with displaying the correct temperature when it's turned on in cold weather and the Honeywell TH1100DV1000 doesn't have that problem.

I'm surprised to see the posts about the old-style (Atwood mechanical) thermostats in 2017 and 2018 campers as I've not noticed them in photos. I notice them in photos of ATC campers so I'd think they'd jump out at me. So far I've been unable to find a thread on it but as we all know, info is sometimes buried in places we don't expect.

Also-- I just went through the photos of each camper model on the FWC web site and they all have digital thermostats. It's kind of tough to tell but to my eye they appear to be the Honeywell model on all but the Grandby Flatbed and I can't see one on the Fleet Flatbed. The Grandby Flatbed one appears to be a 1E78-140.

Dphilip, I was just about to post when I saw your latest pop up. It will be interesting to see what FWC has to say.

 

[Dphillip]

Email has been sent.

Also, the Thermostat Warm Up Thread you posted was really a good read. That’s for posting!

 

[rando]

Replacement with the newer Honeywell digital thermostat is about as cheap and easy as it gets. Unscrew the old thermostat, move the wires to the new thermostat (they connect to the same terminals - W and C, polarity doesn't matter) and screw it where the old one was:
https://amzn.com/B00H6ARNXO

I have this thermostat, and besides having to replace the batteries every year or so, it has been flawless. I have considered switching to the programmable version:

https://amzn.com/B00HX1ZNJ2

As I set the thermostat to ~45 a night to stop things from freezing but then want it to warm up to 55 in the morning to make coffee. It would be nice to do this automagically.

 

[trikebubble]

This Thermostat Warm-Up thread essentially says the White Rogers 1E78-140 has a problem with displaying the correct temperature when it's turned on in cold weather and the Honeywell TH1100DV1000 doesn't have that problem.

I'm surprised to see the posts about the old-style (Atwood mechanical) thermostats in 2017 and 2018 campers as I've not noticed them in photos. I notice them in photos of ATC campers so I'd think they'd jump out at me. So far I've been unable to find a thread on it but as we all know, info is sometimes buried in places we don't expect.

Also-- I just went through the photos of each camper model on the FWC web site and they all have digital thermostats. It's kind of tough to tell but to my eye they appear to be the Honeywell model on all but the Grandby Flatbed and I can't see one on the Fleet Flatbed. The Grandby Flatbed one appears to be a 1E78-140.

Dphilip, I was just about to post when I saw your latest pop up. It will be interesting to see what FWC has to say.

Here's the thermostat in our 2017 Hawk. Maybe it's just the Canadian ones that get the old-style one? Works like a charm though.

 

[patrkbukly]

The only time my Honeywell in my 2016 Granby did not come on....I turned off main camper power switch for 10 seconds, then on again, then the thermostat and walls....turned right on.

Has anyone replaced their thermostat with an IR remote control one so that when I am up top in bed and wake up cold I can just turn on from bed??

If so where did they get it...Lowes/Home Depot?

 

[Dphillip]

Just received an email from FWC and they are installing White Rogers non digital thermostats in their new campers. To buy from them would be 12 dollars plus shipping.

Hey Rando, on my current thermostat there is a wire going to a W terminal and a wire going to a RC terminal. There is also a jumper wire going from the RC terminal to the RH terminal.

The Honeywell unit you mentioned has a R and a RC terminal but no RH. It looks like there is a jumper between the RC and the R terminal. Is it safe to assume R and RH are the same?

Thanks

 

[Wallowa]

Just received an email from FWC and they are installing White Rogers non digital thermostats in their new campers.

Obvious question to ask them is why they went to non-digital White Rogers? Less expensive or better? If better , how so?

Phil

 

[Dphillip]

The email response was pretty short and to the point but they did say the digital thermostats didn’t work out for them.

 

[rando]

Rh and Rc are just the R wire (24Vac) from the furnace and AC in systems with both. The Honeywell is heat only so it only has one 'R' terminal and just connects it to the W terminal to turn on the furnace. The third terminal 'C' would power the thermostat in a residential install from the 24Vac transformer so you don't have to use a battery - it is not used on the camper install.

Strange they don't think these worked for them, mine has worked perfectly. The nice thing is that it is push button and backlit - so you can adjust it at 0:30 without turning on the light - or seeing I can reach mine from bed, just push the top button 10 times to turn up the temperature 10 degrees before we get up without having to see it at all.

 

[Wallowa]

Rando wrote..

Rh and Rc are just the R wire (24Vac) from the furnace and AC in systems with both. The Honeywell is heat only so it only has one 'R' terminal and just connects it to the W terminal to turn on the furnace. The third terminal 'C' would power the thermostat in a residential install from the 24Vac transformer so you don't have to use a battery - it is not used on the camper install.

Strange they don't think these worked for them, mine has worked perfectly. The nice thing is that it is push button and backlit - so you can adjust it at 0:30 without turning on the light - or seeing I can reach mine from bed, just push the top button 10 times to turn up the temperature 10 degrees before we get up without having to see it at all.

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Strange indeed...for FWC to say they "didn't work out for them" imparts zero information and certainly doesn't answer the question...

How many hundreds [++] of Honeywell thermostats did and are working just fine...obfuscation raises doubts on credibility.

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

Wallowa, what has been determined and confirmed by FWC and many others on a very long thread, either here somewhere or on the FB group was the digital ones had issues because of the batteries dying rather quickly in the cold temps, which is where you'd likely be if a furnace was being used.

When I went to pick up my 2018 hawk, I asked about this immediately when I saw the old style and that's how it was explained to me.

 

[Wallowa]

Wallowa, what has been determined and confirmed by FWC and many others on a very long thread, either here somewhere or on the FB group was the digital ones had issues because of the batteries dying rather quickly in the cold temps, which is where you'd likely be if a furnace was being used.

When I went to pick up my 2018 hawk, I asked about this immediately when I saw the old style and that's how it was explained to me.

As recall it takes about 30 secs to change those batteries...pop off cover and put in new batteries and snap cover back on...I replaced those batteries in our Hawk we bought in Feb '16 only last month...hardly an issue to go to a new supplier; at least in my opinion...

Oh, I may have missed that discussion since I am not "on" FB...

Phil

 

[rando]

I got more than a year out of my first set of 2xAA's. It they were concerned, I am not sure why the didn't just install a couple of lithium AA's - probably get 2-3 years using those.

Here is hoping that FWC switches to the smaller and lighter TRUMA combi heaters someday. The less Camco/Attwood/US RV Junk in these campers the better.

 

[Wallowa]

I got more than a year out of my first set of 2xAA's. It they were concerned, I am not sure why the didn't just install a couple of lithium AA's - probably get 2-3 years using those.

Here is hoping that FWC switches to the smaller and lighter TRUMA combi heaters someday. The less Camco/Attwood/US RV Junk in these campers the better.

OK...got to ask..Why are Attwood products junk?

And the Truma unit has 2.64 gals hot water [combo] as opposed to Attwood water heater of 6 gals..did not look at the Truma combo units size, weight or cost vs Attwood heater and hot water units.

Always options and choices....

Phil