Atwood furnace filter - where is it?

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dvsmith86

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Atwood furnace filter - where is it?
2000 Southwind 34N Class A with Atwood furnaces, center and rear.
I looked in the Atwood literature and do not find any provision for a filter.  I assume (yes, I know) the filter would be on the cold air return side.  I looked on both sides, and I do not find any filter in the system.  Am I missing something?  Help!
 
I would be very surprised it there isn't a filter for the furnace.  Usually the filter is located above the furnace, under the fridge or what ever else is above where the furnace is located.  Determine where the furnace is by looking for the combustion inlet and exhaust then look inside for what ever is above the furnace and the return air vents will be in that area.  The filter should be in that area.
 
Most RV furnaces don't have filters on the cold air return.  We cut a piece of furnace filter to fit the grill in front of our furnace.  The return is in front of the furnace.  Ours is under the refrigerator, but yours will be wherever the furnaces are located.
 
The furnace itself has none. The RV builder may install one in the ducting he installs, but most do not. Most don't even make a p[rovision for one, butyou can usually add it yourself, as Ned did.
 
Gosh both our Bounders had a filter and a friends Southwind had one too.  Our Eagle also has a filter.  In all cases they were provided by the manufacturer.
 
I have a 14x20 filter under the bed for the ceiling ducts, but nothing I know of for the furnace floor ducts.
 
My 04 American Tradition does not have them. Must have"'economized" them out of the Tradition. Don't know if newer Eagles have them or not.

Neither did our 02 Dolphin or our 96 Southwind have filters as such. Just a decorative fabric screen over the intake area to hide the hole.
 
I installed a filter in the furnace return in my Bounder.  If you've ever been owned by a Shepard Husky mix you will understand why.
 
Maybe they decided a filter isn't necessary.  However, I met a guy at an ACA rally that swore his 98 Eagle did not have a filter.  I told him to go open the compartment where the furnaces are and look up.  He found the filter was there and the access to it from the inside. 
 
In reviewing the Atwood furnace manual, they do recommend not using a filter in the return air passages.  However, I feel the use of a non-restrictive filter has benefits that outweigh that recommendation.
 
Suburban has the same recommendation.  With a cat in the MH and my allergies, it made semse to me to have a filter so we got a non-restrictive one that can be cleaned and cut to fit.  I helps with both situations, the cat fur does not get into the furnace and ducts and my allergies are better.
 
I met a guy at an ACA rally that swore his 98 Eagle did not have a filter.  I told him to go open the compartment where the furnaces are and look up.
You guys have the basement furnaces. Mine are upstairs, one  under the sofa and one under the fridge. I've worked on both and neither has a return air filter. Don't know the rationale, eithe rpro or con.
 
RV Roamer said:
You guys have the basement furnaces. Mine are upstairs, one  under the sofa and one under the fridge. I've worked on both and neither has a return air filter. Don't know the rationale, eithe rpro or con.

That could very well make a difference.  All three of our MH/s the furnace was in the basement.
 
I've never seen a furnace filter in any of the 13 RV's we owned.  :eek:

Our Winnie has a filter for the basement air, but no furnace filter.
 
It's possible that the basement furnaces, having a cold air return on top of the furnace, uses a filter to keep things from falling into the furnace.  A floor mounted furnace doesn't have that problem.
 
Voyage1 said:
I've never seen a furnace filter in any of the 13 RV's we owned.   :eek:

Same with the couple of RV's I have owned. But I wondered why. I mean there's an air filter in every home's central heating air intake, so why not in RV's?  What's the major difference?

                                                 
-Don- SSF, CA​
 
RV furnaces are sensitive to restrictions in the return air path.  I had a Suburban furnace in a 5th wheel that refused to light unless I was plugged into shore power.  The culprit turned out to be the return air path - there wasn't one.  The furnace was mounted under the sofa and the manufacturer was relying on the normal gaps between the sofa and it's surroundings for the return air path.

When I was on shore power the converter kicked the voltage up and the fan turned fast enough to trip the airflow switch.  Same thing happened anytime I removed the sofa to troubleshoot the furnace - it lit consistantly and ran fine, even on battery power.

But put everything back together and the furnace refused to light unless the rig was plugged into AC.

I suspect the same thing will happen if you put any kind of restrictive filter in the furnace's return path.  A loose wound fiberglass filter may work, but I wouldn't use any of the pleated paper filters.
 
"RV furnaces are sensitive to restrictions in the return air path. "

Thanks, but do you know why a RV furnace  needs less air restrictions  than a home furnace?


-Don- SSF, CA​
 
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