Ice Castle Heating Question

[Drama King]

I just picked up an Ice Castle 8x16 Gambler fish house. Working on getting it all set up in the shop this week, and am noticing that it is taking a long time to heat. It came standard with a 20,000 btu furnace. I had the heater as high as it would go for over an hour and the temp in the house was peaking out at around 60 degrees. Anyone having the same problems? This is the first Ice Castle I have purchased. Maybe it just takes a longer time to heat than I was expecting!

Any input would be great!

[BartmanMN]

Read through this thread. Someone else had similiar results.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...r_i#Post3150672

[stealth3350]

turn on all the burners on your stove allso and leave the fan vent closed.. helps warm it up faster fyi

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

It shouldn't take that long. Refer to that other post for info.

As mentioned, the burners on the stove really help kick out the heat. Between those and the furnace, I get my house up to temp in 10-15 mins no matter how cold it is.

[outkast7222]

It also takes more to get it up to temp with it raised up in the air. Also mine seemed like the first time or two it was lit it didn't get up to full temp out put like the burner was plugged up.

[Drama King]

I have been on and off with Ice Castle through phone calls today. They say that it shouldn't take that long. The shed that my house is in, is at 28 degrees, I fired up the furnace over an hour and a half ago and it was a chilly 58 degrees the last I checked. I am debating on swapping out the 20,000 btu furnace for a 30,000 btu. I don't want to spend half the day warming up!

I did turn the burners on, and that helped significantly, but I don't think that should be required to heat up a new house IMO.

[BartmanMN]

Have you tried taking the thermostat off to see if it could move the dial more with it off like the others?

[alleyesonme]

after reading this post i too bought a new gambler this past august and heading to upper red in a few weeks so i gave it a test run last night it was 5-10 degrees with wind chill and house up in the air. set the t stat to 70 and it took roughly 15-20 min for the thermometer to say 70 degrees with no fans running. sounds like you have heater issues. i did swap out my regulator that came on the house for a dual auto change over. but i have also heard of another i.c. owner having issues with his heater as well. good luck i hope they fix this for you.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I have been on and off with Ice Castle through phone calls today. They say that it shouldn't take that long. The shed that my house is in, is at 28 degrees, I fired up the furnace over an hour and a half ago and it was a chilly 58 degrees the last I checked. I am debating on swapping out the 20,000 btu furnace for a 30,000 btu. I don't want to spend half the day warming up!

I did turn the burners on, and that helped significantly, but I don't think that should be required to heat up a new house IMO.

20k is fine for your house. Something is wrong with the system.

[Whisker Warrior]

I just bought a new Stinger model and the guy was telling me that i had to be careful when turning on the tank and if i opened it too fast that it messed with some internal valve that would slow the gas flow down that gave the impression that it was a heater problem. Said to close tank shut off furnace then go inside and open release valve on line then go about turning furnace on but careful to slowly open tank valve. Hope that made sense...im at work and its been a long night

[SwivelDigger]

My brother bought a stinger model. When he got home he decided to light up furnace and start putting some stuff in the new house. Got it lit,went in his garage to get some gear and when he came out he noticed smoke coming from front of house. After a little investigation he found that ice castle never put the vent thru the wall for the heater. Now it's back at place of purchase to have an ice castle tech come and put vent in. Scary deal if he would've just brought it out on lake without firing up heater first.

[boXCar JiggY]

OF cours due to the reference post, I had a the same prob, they opted to change it out for free an put in a new 20000, for a 100 bucks an labor they put in a 30000. I took the 30000. hs to be something wrong with the system, thousands of others are heatin on the lake all winter long. I pick mine up on this saturday. Good Luck

[Fishalittle]

I am going through the same thing with my new one right now.....I am wondering if they got a bad batch of heaters? Runs non-stop and only gets to 60 degrees? Mine was built in May....how about you guys?

Not sure if I am going to upgrade or not.....they told me the 30000 is louder? Any feedback from anyone that has had both?

[Drama King]

I am heading to the factory to have them swap in a 30,000 for around $150. I'd rather be overpowered for heat, than have to worry about it. With tip-ups, etc.. there will be people coming in and out. I haven't heard about the noise on the 30,000 but the 20,000 was very quiet, i don't think the noise on the 30,000 will be an issue. I will keep you posted once I get the new one in.

[aczr2k]

Another thing to check is the propane to tank connection, my buddy has a new Ice Castle and had problems with the plastic quick connections at the tank. Take those off and replace them with the old style brass use a wrench to tighten. His dealer has replaced many of them. The issue is they don't screw in far enough to get full gas flow out of the valve and its worse in very cold weather. He had the same symptoms, low heat output, now it acts like it should.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I am going through the same thing with my new one right now.....I am wondering if they got a bad batch of heaters? Runs non-stop and only gets to 60 degrees? Mine was built in May....how about you guys?

Not sure if I am going to upgrade or not.....they told me the 30000 is louder? Any feedback from anyone that has had both?

No question that something is wrong with the system, whether it is propane delivery, or the actual furnace. I have a friend with a 20' Ice Castle and a 19,000 btu Atwood furnace. He has no issues keeping it 80+ degrees in there in the coldest of temps.

Depending on which 30,000 btu unit Ice Castle is switching them out for, it may sound like a jet engine. Some of them are VERY loud.

I would be holding Ice Castle accountable and ask them to fix your current system. The 20,000 btu unit will for sure heat it hotter than you want.

[boXCar JiggY]

They dont screw in far enough? that would lead to a leak, an would quickly smell it, I dissagree with that. Bad batch of heater, bad installation ect. Now they didnt tell about a 30000 being louder, hope it aint to loud. They better put research an development on this issue an find the problem, sounds like its a common accurance.

[JakeJ_Mn]

You definitely have a problem with your system. I have a 8x20 wheelhouse with a 20,000btu furnace and I can heat the outside. This morning it was 25 below here - when I opened the house my temp inside was at 10 below. It only took about 25 minutes to get the house to 75.

I would take it to Ice Castle and make them fix the problem. You don't need a 30,000 in that size house.

[mmartin]

They dont screw in far enough? that would lead to a leak, an would quickly smell it, I dissagree with that. Bad batch of heater, bad installation ect. Now they didnt tell about a 30000 being louder, hope it aint to loud. They better put research an development on this issue an find the problem, sounds like its a common accurance.

Yes a 30000 sounds like a jet taking off. My buddy has a 30000 in his and I could hear it start up in my house on LOTW from 50 feet away. First time I heard it I thought they were taking off!

[boXCar JiggY]

well that would suck then, wouldnt it.

[aczr2k]

They dont screw in far enough? that would lead to a leak, an would quickly smell it, I dissagree with that. Bad batch of heater, bad installation ect. Now they didnt tell about a 30000 being louder, hope it aint to loud. They better put research an development on this issue an find the problem, sounds like its a common accurance.

The issue is the quick connect style don't open the internal valve far enough. He was told this by a propane guy before he went back to Ice Castle. I was told the same thing from another propane place last week when I picked up hoses for our new wheelhouse. Sealing isn't an issue, both ends will seal equally. Look at the quick connect plastic fittings that screw on the outside and the "old" style brass fittings that screw on the inside there is a difference. Believe me or not I really don't care. I know which ones I'm using.

[FIRECAT]

I agree aczr2k I had the same problem, Also the 30,000 in my castle doesn't seem any louder than the 18,000 I had in my other one.

[FishFindHer]

We also have issues with our new 8X16 walleye tracker. We replaced the regulator, but I don't think it's helped much. Without turning the stove burners on, it takes well over an hour to heat up, and then it seems to peak out at like 60 degrees. I know it's been super cold lately, but that doesn't seem right...

[mmartin]

might want to try opening the valve on your tank slow. The newer ones have a pretty sensitive pressure valve in them that will restrict the gas flow. I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. closed the valve and opened up slow and worked like a champ.

[FIRECAT]

FishFindHer: I also have a Walleye Tracker 8x16 30,000 BTU, as cold as it is today I could have it at 70 degrees in 30 minutes. I put in a digital thermostat and that seems to work nicer then the factory one. I also had problems when it was new, it would only suck the tanks down halfway but a different regulator fixed that.