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Re: [VAC] Suburban furnace



On our summer tour looking at airstreams for sale, missing heaters was
one of the most common letdowns we encountered.  Usually the seller
regretted ripping them out, too.  While at the time it may have made
sense, their travel agendas would change and now included the mountains,
or winter trips south, or they wanted to use the trailer to put up the
visiting relatives at Christmas!  

As a buyer, it was disappointing to to see this "storage" cabinetry
where the furnace should be.  Looking back, the best bet would have been
to have installed a replacement furnace or heater behind the existing
grills or doors if the old unit could not be fixed.   We love our '65
Hydro-Flame furnace, and after 5 years in a non-A/S with one of those
nasty little Olympian Catalytic heaters, it's wonderful to have our 1965
technology warm heat.  

3 things we hated about the Cat heater, the pain in the butt it was to
light each morning, the way the heat rose straight up, cooking the
cabinet face, yet you were cold standing in front of it 3 feet away, and
the condensation it created on the windows.  

Well, the best advice I can offer is if you don't want a built-in
heater, at least keep the parts so you or the next guy has an option to
put them back in.  (They just don't make the grills like they used to).
Good luck,
RJ
'65 Caravel