Electric Duo Therm Short Cycling

Questions about repairs and parts for other brands of furnaces and air conditioners. Please note that our speciality is Coleman and Nordyne products, so our knowledge of other brands may be limited.

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grantorino

We bought an older Mobile Home (1971) on some acreage as a vacation spot. I fired up the DuoTherm electric furnace for the first time this last weekend. The furnace had no problem bringing the house up to the temp I set on the thermostat and then shutting off. Then, about a minute or two after bringing the house up to the set temperature, it kicks in again, runs for about 10-20 seconds and shuts off. A minute or two later it does the same thing and the cycle repeats itself. It's almost as if the the thermostat is trying to micro-manage the temperature, turning on and off the furnace in responce to the smallest change in air temperature.

It does a good job keeping the place heated, but I'm worried all this on-off business is going to wear something out.

My best guess would be that there's something wrong with the thermostat, but I've never owned an electric furnace before. The thermostat looks to be of the same vintage as the furnace and is also labeled "DuoTherm". It's just a simple dial that you turn to set the temperature.

I'm curious if anyone has any idea what the issue may be.

Thanks a bunch!
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hvac1000
Posts: 292
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:19 am
Location: Cincinnati ohio

Test the thermostat by disconnecting one of the thermostat wires after the unit shuts down. If it still trys to run after that it is in the furnace circuitry. If it does not try to run it is the thermostat. Many DouTherm parts are hard to come by an might have to be substituted for something else that may work.
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
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