Chinook RV

I have seen numerous variations of the "hinged mounting door" for Wave heaters in various rigs (truck campers, etc.) And I have experimented a bit with mine in my rig. One thing I found is that it is not trivial to consider how the gas line will behave throughout the arc. For example, in my set up I think it could hinge 90º, but 180º might be pushing it (the line has to be able to go "back in" to somewhere when you put it back to the beginning position). You may find it works fine, but you might want to mock it up without gas in the line.

The other consideration is when it would swing 180º, would it overheat the couch or bedding or the sides of the dinette seat (I don't have a dinette layout).

BTW, the Wave 6 has been down to $228 a few times in the past few weeks on Amazon (and also up to like $365... yeah, sure).

As far as the gas line, I don't think it would be very easy to come up through the floor right there, because I be there is stuff in the way (such as the rear axle). However, you could tap the line to the stove (it's behind a panel behind where the oven would be if you had/have an oven). It's best to keep joints below the floor if you can, but that's a personal choice and many people have them in areas like that "compartment" behind the stove. You could also have a T put on below the floor where the two lines already come up (behind the stove on the floor - one goes to refrigerator and one to stove - with a T under the floor and a new line coming up through the floor behind the false wall behind the stove you would have no more "hidden joints" than originally. I think this would likely be best. You can see these lines if you slide under the passenger side of the rig just behind the rear tire and look up.

Another option I have considered (subject to whether the Wave 6 does or does not work well on its side) is mounting it on the wall beneath the refrigerator. It could then hinge 90º to face forward up the aisle. You might need a small piece of heat shielding on the shower wall directly across. And the gas line hinging etc. would need to be played with to make sure it can work. (You'd likely remove that small locker door and replace it with a backing board for the heater.)

Not much heat goes "up and back" from the Wave so I don't think it would heat the refrigerator.

PS: I like to be cozy and I'd say the Wave 3 is fine down to about 45-50º (during the hours that I'm awake; I don't mind sleeping in cooler temps). Just as an aside because it's a little easier to find space for. (I'd still prefer the 6, but that's because I'm reasonably often in places where it gets colder.)

Thanks Blue, good thoughts and suggestion about the Wave-3. I'm not planning on sub-freezing trips, heating up about 15-20º from outside temps of 45-50º would be my daytime need, none at night.

It's only 10" wide and 12" tall so would fit below the door swing under the stove and could be mounted with a couple of inches clearance on either side if swung forward facing the 15" aisle. Good point about clearance to upholstery & bedding, maybe need to restrict the swing some.

Adding a gas line from under the stove to under the rear dinette seat sounds feasible. The gas intake is on what would be the hinged side of the heater so the swing would not need a lot of line if it could just pull out and push back under the dinette seat.

I'd have an RV shop install it, so if it's doable they can work out the actual install. For your under-refer option, I did see a schematic showing a sideways install somewhere.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and expertise on all the topics,

Jeanie,

I can think of one more thing in favor of the Wave 3 for the situation you describe. This presumes you are keeping the stock furnace in place. A friend of mine does it this way: Run the stock furnace for around a half hour or so to warm the place up fast in the morning. This is bearable, noise-wise, and doesn't take too much battery power, if you have it to spare (I think the furnace fan is around 7 amps).

At the same time, start up the Wave 3. After you shut down the big furnace, keep the Wave 3 going.

What this does is warm up the place in a hurry with the big BTU stock furnace, and then you "fill in" with the Wave after that.

'course in milder weather, or in the evening after the sun has been out, you can just use the Wave because it doesn't have to "start from scratch" like in the morning after a cold night.

Just an option to think about if the Wave 3 would be easier to fit, and you have the big furnace.

Wave 3 Heater install completed, by an RV service shop. The Concourse dinette floor plan does not have a large enough area with adequate clearances for a permanent mount, so he installed a quick-connect under the cooktop cabinet. The hose is long enough to place it near the rear pointing forward, so should aim the heat right into the living space. Just got it back so have not tried it out yet.

Nice job. I'd be interested in your thoughts on how it works. Whenever you have time, could you post a pic of inside the cabinet?

If you end up getting tired of the stock legs (they hold the heater pretty far from any wall, plus don't fold for storage), it's possible to make a plywood (or whatever material) back that extends out like an easel when in use, then folds flat for storage. Or other creative idea.

I have a few more options of where to mount one (non-dinette plan), but have been using mine on the legs just to get an idea of whether I would like it long term, and/or where I might like to mount it. If I were to keep it (or a Wave 6) in portable configuration, I'd make an easel type "leg" setup for the above reasons.

Nice clean installation you have.

The inside cabinet installation looks pretty clean. The work order says they removed the stovetop and wall cabinet, cut the LP line and flared both ends, installed T and run LP line. Cut hole in cabinet wall and installed quick connect fitting. Ran LP leak test and gas pressure drop test, put everything back together.

My original thought was to store the heater against the dinette back, secured with a bungee when not in use. As Blue notes, the legs are too long in back so I had my neighbor/boatworks/metal fabricator cut them down, he took about 5" out of the middle. He was concerned it might not be stable enough, but seems to be fine. You can see in the photo of the rear of the heater, they are about the same length front & back now. The heater fits under the rear dinette over the wheel for storage, not sure if it would with the long legs.

Thanks for the pics and detailed description!

I don't want to rain on your parade, but just to mention something so you (or others) know of options. Chinook did a good thing in that they set up the propane systems to not have any "hidden" joints inside the vehicle. Instead, all the joints are both visible, and outside the shell (so leaks will be outside).

Now obviously, there is still a connection wherever the line joins an appliance, but that's the minimum number of joints inside, and they are up where you can see them and get at them.

To give an example, there is a main propane line running under the rig (Concourse) back to the area of the stove and refrigerator, which both use propane. The way Chinook handled it was to have the joint(s) below the body (outdoors: you can see them by sliding under the rig near the exhaust pipe and looking up) and then to have two separate lines come up through two separate grommeted holes in the floor - one line for the fridge and one line for the stove. Thus no "extra" joints (to leak) inside the rig, and none hidden behind a false wall (there is a false wall behind the stove, and it is behind this false wall where the two propane lines (stove and fridge) come into the rig through two grommeted holes; but as stock there are no joints behind that false wall).

It sounds as though your install folks may have removed the false panel and put a T joint in one of those lines behind it. If so, there are now three joints (Tee) inside the rig and "hidden" inside the false wall, where originally there were none. I am using one of the stock propane lines for my Wave (so did not add one), but if I needed a third line in the vicinity of the stove/refrigerator, I would add a Tee to the lines under the rig and then run that third line up into the rig "unmolested" like the other two. That way the new joint is accessible and any leak would be outside the rig, just like the originals.

Not saying you should change yours (unless you want to), but just wanted to mention these factors for the consideration of folks in general who may be doing an install.

Good point Blue on not having additional interior propane connections. My install was done by a shop that specializes in everything from winterizing to upgrades to major accident reconstruction, so am not concerned about the quality of the work. Guess am glad to have a new LP detector tho.

He did say to be very careful about keeping things away from the heater when it's on. That he installs the Wave mainly for hunters and several come back each year with tales of scorched boots and coats that they put too close to dry.