Wave 3 and Reefer questions

[RaiderRed]

Just got back to the Mile High City after a week in the Yellowstone country. Very smoky up there due to forest fires, and crowds were very heavy for this time of year. I tried out my new Wave 3 heater and it worked fine. Really an improvement over the stock heater, and I dont have to worry about draining the battery like I did last year in hunting season in Colorado. I do have a few questions for the experts here:

Wave 3- first night out I was paranoid about get an OD of CO2 so had way too much venting. I think I had more cold air coming in than I had hot air coming our of the Wave 3. Low temps were in the upper 20s every night. After the first night, I cut way back on the venting and the results were much better. I have 2 CO2 detectors just to be safe. I vent the turnbuckle access door about an inch and the roof vent is open a couple of inches at least. The heater sits on the floor just below the stock heater so the access door is right behind it. After the first night, temps in the camper ran in the mid 50 degree range, running the heater on low. On high, I think it would be closer to 60 degrees which I can live with real easy. How much venting are other Wave 3 heater users doing by comparison?

Reefer- works well, maybe too well. Runs cold,usually about 32-34 degrees even when set as low as I can set it. Any suggestions to correct this? Also, the flame blows out when running at highway speeds, despite having the wind shield that is available from the dealer. I even installed my own wind shield behind the vent, to block off some of the air, but it still blows out all the time. Finally I took my homemade shield off and just went with the dealer shield, but still had the problem. I ended up just running it on DC whenever on the highway, but have to remember to turn it off when stopped for any length of time to avoid battery drain, and lighting the propane system. Maybe the only answer is to continue to run it on DC whenever on the highway, and remember to switch to propane when stopped. It would be nice to just run it on propane all the time, though. Any thoughts?

 

[MarkBC]

Wave 3- first night out I was paranoid about get an OD of CO2 so had way too much venting. I think I had more cold air coming in than I had hot air coming our of the Wave 3. Low temps were in the upper 20s every night. After the first night, I cut way back on the venting and the results were much better. I have 2 CO2 detectors just to be safe. I vent the turnbuckle access door about an inch and the roof vent is open a couple of inches at least. The heater sits on the floor just below the stock heater so the access door is right behind it. After the first night, temps in the camper ran in the mid 50 degree range, running the heater on low. On high, I think it would be closer to 60 degrees which I can live with real easy. How much venting are other Wave 3 heater users doing by comparison?

I'm not an expert...but I use my Wave 6 with less venting than you're using...and have not set off the CO detector (it's CO, by the way, not CO2).
With the Wave 6 on medium (4500 BTU, I think) I have the turnbuckle vent open about 1 inch and the roof vent open maybe 3/4 inch.
I don't want to give you advice on what's really a safety issue...but I wouldn't do it the way I do it if I didn't think it's safe, and I haven't died nor lowered my IQ significantly as a result of doing it how I do it.

 

[home skillet]

I seem to remember a recommendation (maybe a thread here on WTW) that you should vent 1 sq. inch per 1000 BTU. So a 12 inch wide window open 1 inch should be more than enough. I use this technique and have never set off my CO detector.

Home Skillet

 

[Overland Hadley]

How you vent will also have an impact on how much air circulates.

Two openings, one low and one high will move much more air than a single opening in a window.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Just got back to the Mile High City after a week in the Yellowstone country. Very smoky up there due to forest fires, and crowds were very heavy for this time of year. I tried out my new Wave 3 heater and it worked fine. Really an improvement over the stock heater, and I dont have to worry about draining the battery like I did last year in hunting season in Colorado. I do have a few questions for the experts here:

Wave 3- first night out I was paranoid about get an OD of CO2 so had way too much venting. I think I had more cold air coming in than I had hot air coming our of the Wave 3. Low temps were in the upper 20s every night. After the first night, I cut way back on the venting and the results were much better. I have 2 CO2 detectors just to be safe. I vent the turnbuckle access door about an inch and the roof vent is open a couple of inches at least. The heater sits on the floor just below the stock heater so the access door is right behind it. After the first night, temps in the camper ran in the mid 50 degree range, running the heater on low. On high, I think it would be closer to 60 degrees which I can live with real easy. How much venting are other Wave 3 heater users doing by comparison?

Reefer- works well, maybe too well. Runs cold,usually about 32-34 degrees even when set as low as I can set it. Any suggestions to correct this? Also, the flame blows out when running at highway speeds, despite having the wind shield that is available from the dealer. I even installed my own wind shield behind the vent, to block off some of the air, but it still blows out all the time. Finally I took my homemade shield off and just went with the dealer shield, but still had the problem. I ended up just running it on DC whenever on the highway, but have to remember to turn it off when stopped for any length of time to avoid battery drain, and lighting the propane system. Maybe the only answer is to continue to run it on DC whenever on the highway, and remember to switch to propane when stopped. It would be nice to just run it on propane all the time, though. Any thoughts?

Mr.Rider,we were in Ystone last Tuesday/Wednesday,may have seen you.Yes lots of smoke/people.Will go back through on the way home.Now in Minnesota for some camping and other activities.Our rig,red Tundra with red canoe on top.
Frank

 

[Walldiver]

On the reefer pilot light going out when in transit, I have not had mine ever go out when traveling and I run it on propane all the time.

 

[Lighthawk]

On the reefer pilot light going out when in transit, I have not had mine ever go out when traveling and I run it on propane all the time.


x2

 

[craig333]

You want to do the relighter mod. Search the site.

P

 

[RaiderRed]

Casa, yes we were there on Tuesday and Wednesday,along with a few hundred thousand of our friends. Did you notice how every time a buffalo appeared, it caused massive traffic jams. Buffalo seem to be taking over the entire park. A few years ago, you mostly just saw them along the north edge. Now they are everywhere. At one place, a whole herd stood in the middle of the road for about 20 minutes. A ranger tried to run his flashing lights and blow a horn to get them to move, with very limited results. Finally they wandered off to the side of the road and let the long line of stopped cars move along. We got one of the last campsites at Grant Village, in the last campground that had space, on Tuesday night. On two calls before we left I was assured that the park would be almost deserted and it was not necessary to make a reservation for a campsite. Wrong! The park was a total zoo, just like in July. So much for my idea of going in the fall to avoid the crowds.

 

[ski3pin]

On the reefer pilot light going out when in transit, I have not had mine ever go out when traveling and I run it on propane all the time.


Just a suggestion, my buddy Barking Spider was having trouble with his pilot light going out. We discovered the point of his thermocouple had moved back just a bit and was no longer well into the pilot light flame. The thermocouple would turn off the propane supply and the pilot would go out. We repositioned the thermocouple. He reported that on the last trip, no problem.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Casa, yes we were there on Tuesday and Wednesday,along with a few hundred thousand of our friends. Did you notice how every time a buffalo appeared, it caused massive traffic jams. Buffalo seem to be taking over the entire park. A few years ago, you mostly just saw them along the north edge. Now they are everywhere. At one place, a whole herd stood in the middle of the road for about 20 minutes. A ranger tried to run his flashing lights and blow a horn to get them to move, with very limited results. Finally they wandered off to the side of the road and let the long line of stopped cars move along. We got one of the last campsites at Grant Village, in the last campground that had space, on Tuesday night. On two calls before we left I was assured that the park would be almost deserted and it was not necessary to make a reservation for a campsite. Wrong! The park was a total zoo, just like in July. So much for my idea of going in the fall to avoid the crowds.

I don't really like to reserve camps,but I always start in Y-stone with a couple nights of a reserved site,usually at Madison.You were lucky to get a spot.When we came in from West the sign read all lodging was FULL.The Pebble camp filled by 8:10 AM.That's really early for that camp.What does your truck look like?
Frank