Propane furnace question

[Mag]

We recently bought a new 3horse goose neck with 10 foot living quarters and took it for the maiden voyage down to Pasco this weekend. Got cold enough to fire up the furnace and after reading the instructions it fired up fairly easily. After cycling off and on 5 or 6 times without a problem it tried to start again but couldn't. The fan starts up, a few seconds later I could here the igniter ticking away but wouldn't fire. It repeated the igniter cycle 2 more times without firing and then the fan shut down. I shut off the power to the furnace ,waited 5 min. or so and tried again. It fired up just fine again. Again ran maybe 6or7 cycles and then wouldn't fire again. Any ideas.

Thanks Greig

 

[Whitmore]

Is there an adjustable jet for the propane to the ignitor??? if so maybe get a little more out of it.



Also if there is a C O detector on it that could be getting a reading and holdind you out.



Not to scare you but to caution you about the need for propper ventilation for this heater, sometimes the setups are not to good, last fall there was a 16 year old girl and her mother that didnt make it thru the night because of the carbon monoxide got them,



Please have this unit checked by a professional... ... ... ... ... ..... we woul;d rather talk to you than about you.



cheers, Kevin

 

[Casey Balvert]

Kevin is absolutely right. Have it checked by a good service facility. Sounds like you have a malfunction. Sometimes air in the propane line will cause that at the start of the season but after a cycle or two it is gone. You definitely have a problem either with your propane supply or a malfunction with the furnace itself. Sounds like its internal safety system is shutting down the gas valve.



Casey

 

[LandShark]

Mag: Check the battery voltage. These heaters use a fair amount of current and will draw down a old battery rather quickly. Failure mode for a low battery is sililar to what you described: Unit will try to light a few times, then just the fan will run. By turning the unit off for a short time the battery voltage will increase to a point to where it could run for a few cycles.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Yeah - what landshark said!



The blower pulls enough "floating charge" off the battery that the fuel solenoid hasn't enough power to open properly - what MIGHT help, is thoroughly checking and cleaning all incoming power connectors to maximize power flow, the primary ones right at the battery as well - and the same with thermostat leads, since proper heater operation requires good current flow thru thermostat leads as well - the voltage/current in the thermostat circuit is VERY low - doesn't take much corrosion to seriously reduce reliability... A good test to see if the fuel solenoid is the problem, is to tap on it during the lighting cycle to see if jarring it provides enough to allow it to fully activate...

 

[Mag]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Gary and Landshark, I was hooked up to 110volts at the time so hopefully I had enough juice.

Whitmore and CBalvert, I've got an appointment with the local Atwood service provider tommorow, will let you know what he finds.

Greig

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

UH-OHHhh- then it may be the dreaded internal circuit board - about $125... .

 

[JWhitcomb]

I know you said you were hooked up to 110 but the heater still works on 12V. If you had just hooked up and it did not light I would still suspect the battery. Try it again when you know for sure your battery is fully charged.

 

[TowPro]

If it is the board check out dinosaur electronics I have used there boards in both a heater and a refer with great results.

Originally posted by Gary - KJ6Q

UH-OHHhh- then it may be the dreaded internal circuit board - about $125... .

 

[LandShark]

I have found in the past that just jiggling the connectors will sometimes revive a heater or hot water heater. The spade connectors sometimes get a bit oxidized and this will clean them enough to work for another season. This is especially true of connectors on the outside walls of the camper.

 

[Mag]

Well I took it in to the RV shop this morning and of course the damn thing worked perfectly. Oh well. At least the tech showed me that the furnace has a built in diagnostic program so if and when it fails again I'll be able to count the red light flashes and have an idea what's wrong