Well... I'm reminded of an old Foghorn Leghorn Cartoon show.. Foghorn reads the long term weather forecast. IT is going to be one COLD winter. So he pays a call on "Widow Hen" and tells her I need, I say I need your LOVE to keep me warm"
She says "OK, but......" (I will leave this part out)
At the end of the show he goes back to Widown Hen and tells her "The Marraige is off" She says "What about needing my love to keep you warm" and he replies I got, I say I got MY BANDAGES to keep me warm" It is a very funny cartoon.
You should tell your darling wife that if she were more loving then your love would keep here warm.. (Then you should run like blazes )
Now a serious answer:
For a RV furnace to work several things must happen: First, as you have already figured out, you gotta have (Sing this to the tune of "Cocaine") Some: PROPANE, it's the stuff that keeps your warm, PROPANE. But you said you got that
Then, you need a well charged battery,, Yes, I know it runs on propane, not electric but guess what,, It needs both. If the battery is low, cold air it will blow... Two reasons
Finally, you need to make sure ALL the registers are clear of obstruction, along with the ducts and such.
Here is what happens when the T-Stat calls for Heat
First: There is a control board that, controls everything.. They can go bad (Doubt it but it can happen)
Now: The blower starts, A low battery means it won't blow hard, likewise a bad motor or dirty blower or obstructed ducts or registers, these will all prevent it from blowing full speed.
Then a "Sail Switch" (A switch operated by a plastic sail that is in the air path) closes,, This switch can fail.. It signals the control board (remember that) "Fan up to speed"
now the control board sends power to the gas valve which opens to allow the flow of gas.. If, that is the battery is powerful enough, and it starts the spark generator (Igniter) to generate the electric sparks that ignite the gas. Of course if the gap it too wide or the battery too low.. That's not going to happen.
Finally, once the burner is burning, a flame sensor (Which can fail) signals the control board "WE HAVE IGNITION" and the Control board says "ok, keep on heating"
Finally the T-stat says HOT enough and everything stops.
As you can see. there are several chances for a problem
IN addition, I left out debris (rust or such) in the burner orifice blocking it so that gas can not flow, Since I do not THINK that is your problem.
Now: Problem 2, the 30 year solution, running out of gas at 2am.
You have two tanks, (I think you said you have two) you have some kind of changeover regulator, Many of these are semi-automatic, On a semi automatic regulator you select the PRIMARY tank, and open both tank valves, You can then monitor the gas level in the primary tank by various means, including, a pressure gage (Red/Green) when the gage turns red, or you see by one of the other means that the tank is dry, you close it's valve, switch the regulator over to the other tank and haul the empty to the re-fill, re-connect open valve and test for leaks.. Then when the other tank is empty, follow the same procedure, only switch back to the first tank and re-fill the second.
If you have ONE tank (Class A motor home) you get a Marshall Brass "Extend-a-stay" and install it, you also get a 2nd tank, say a 20 pounder (or even a 10 pounder) which you can use with your grill. 10 pounds will get most class A's through the night and you can refill both in the AM In this case you are going to run out, but you can quickly open the second tank's valve.
One option for measuring the amount of gas in the tank is a special scale that mounts under the tank.. Just so you know. Might be hard to find though
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
robatthelake wrote: 11" water column is correct plus you need to check the battery to be sure you have enough Voltage to turn the Blower fast enough to trip the Sail switch!
When the Furnace does light, does it sound as if the "Fire" is exploding as it lights? If yes the Burner may need to be replaced. It looks like a small metal spoon or bowl with a Screen over it. Theses eventually Rust/Burn out. They are fairly easy to remove and change on that design! While You have the Gas line disconnected Blow out the Feeder line or pour a little alcohol through it!
Be sure to disconnect or Shut Off the Propane tanks before doing any service work and Test the Gas Line Connections with soapy Water before trying to Light It!
As always "Good Luck"
thanks robatthelake for posting. gas tech verified 11 WC when installing new regulator. furnace sounds fine when it lights.. but the hot water heater sounds as you describe, so I need to check that.
and I will check and clean all the gas lines while I'm at it.
wa8yxm wrote: Well... I'm reminded of an old Foghorn Leghorn Cartoon show.. Foghorn reads the long term weather forecast. IT is going to be one COLD winter. So he pays a call on "Widow Hen" and tells her I need, I say I need your LOVE to keep me warm"
She says "OK, but......" (I will leave this part out)
At the end of the show he goes back to Widown Hen and tells her "The Marraige is off" She says "What about needing my love to keep you warm" and he replies I got, I say I got MY BANDAGES to keep me warm" It is a very funny cartoon.
You should tell your darling wife that if she were more loving then your love would keep here warm.. (Then you should run like blazes )
Now a serious answer:
For a RV furnace to work several things must happen: First, as you have already figured out, you gotta have (Sing this to the tune of "Cocaine") Some: PROPANE, it's the stuff that keeps your warm, PROPANE. But you said you got that
Then, you need a well charged battery,, Yes, I know it runs on propane, not electric but guess what,, It needs both. If the battery is low, cold air it will blow... Two reasons
Finally, you need to make sure ALL the registers are clear of obstruction, along with the ducts and such.
Here is what happens when the T-Stat calls for Heat
First: There is a control board that, controls everything.. They can go bad (Doubt it but it can happen)
Now: The blower starts, A low battery means it won't blow hard, likewise a bad motor or dirty blower or obstructed ducts or registers, these will all prevent it from blowing full speed.
Then a "Sail Switch" (A switch operated by a plastic sail that is in the air path) closes,, This switch can fail.. It signals the control board (remember that) "Fan up to speed"
now the control board sends power to the gas valve which opens to allow the flow of gas.. If, that is the battery is powerful enough, and it starts the spark generator (Igniter) to generate the electric sparks that ignite the gas. Of course if the gap it too wide or the battery too low.. That's not going to happen.
Finally, once the burner is burning, a flame sensor (Which can fail) signals the control board "WE HAVE IGNITION" and the Control board says "ok, keep on heating"
Finally the T-stat says HOT enough and everything stops.
As you can see. there are several chances for a problem
IN addition, I left out debris (rust or such) in the burner orifice blocking it so that gas can not flow, Since I do not THINK that is your problem.
Now: Problem 2, the 30 year solution, running out of gas at 2am.
You have two tanks, (I think you said you have two) you have some kind of changeover regulator, Many of these are semi-automatic, On a semi automatic regulator you select the PRIMARY tank, and open both tank valves, You can then monitor the gas level in the primary tank by various means, including, a pressure gage (Red/Green) when the gage turns red, or you see by one of the other means that the tank is dry, you close it's valve, switch the regulator over to the other tank and haul the empty to the re-fill, re-connect open valve and test for leaks.. Then when the other tank is empty, follow the same procedure, only switch back to the first tank and re-fill the second.
If you have ONE tank (Class A motor home) you get a Marshall Brass "Extend-a-stay" and install it, you also get a 2nd tank, say a 20 pounder (or even a 10 pounder) which you can use with your grill. 10 pounds will get most class A's through the night and you can refill both in the AM In this case you are going to run out, but you can quickly open the second tank's valve.
One option for measuring the amount of gas in the tank is a special scale that mounts under the tank.. Just so you know. Might be hard to find though
thanks for posting wa8yxm!
1) got propane and 2 12pks beer. (just in case!)
2) checked 12v supply... disconnected 120v ac cord and tested battery..good, reconnected 120v ac,recheck battery..still good..check incoming 12v supply at furnace ..good..attempted to start furnace while checking 12v incomming supply.. still good..
3) checked all vents and registers ..clear, checked air flow while I was at it very good. still no heat.
4) since I still havent got to sail switch to check it, next on list
I think this will be the problem since the ingitors dont even try to fire and this switch is next in line to complete the secquence. I think this because when it does fire, I hear a faint click (gas valve opening?), then ignitor fires and then a sound like my blowtorch makes when lit,(simular, that is) and then we get heat. I dont think the board would fail and then work several times over..could be wrong though. then it will cycle several times before turning into a air conditioner again.
Problem 2, the 30 year solution
we had the automatic switchover one installed. tech was suppose to only open ONE tank and stated that is what he did...should have checked because he opened both tanks and the regulator worked perfectly!! now to find those guages you mentioned...
BY THE WAY mentioned your suggestion to DW, you know about the loving...does loving have anything to do with a broomstick? if so she was in a REALLY loving mood!!!
ROFL.. You forgot the last step in the mentioning to the DW.. The RUN LIKE BLAZES!!!!! (That way you see the exercise of all that running keeps you warm,, I'll bet you thought I was joking... Well.. I was)
Something further to check-on an older trailer, check all your electrical connections to igniter, circuit board etc. There may be some corrosion, or possibly a loose connection.I had the same kind of problem on a 2003 model year trailer-no heat and fan running continually. I had no multi-meter with me to do any proper trouble shooting, so pulled off all connectors and re installed each one, and the furnace worked properly. May be worth a try.
If you haven't found the problem already, I had a friend of mine with a similar problem. The furnace would run fine for a few cycles and then it would start blowing cold air (almost always in the wee hours of the morning). When this would happen, Dale would turn the thermostat to the Off position, wait a few minutes and then turn it back to the Heat position and the furnace would work correctly again for a few cycles. In the end, it turned out that the thermostat was short-cycling the furnace (The thermostat would shut off, then call for heat again before the furnace had completed it's cool down cycle). Once he turned the thermostat off, the furnace would complete the cycle and was ready to heat again. Dale's fix was to replace the thermostat with a digital one, but an adjustment to the heat anticipation setting on the thermostat would have done the trick.
To test if this is the issue, next time the heater is blowing cold air, turn off the Thermostat, wait for 2-3 minutes and turn it back to heat. If this fixes it for a few cycles, you may be going in the right direction. At least it is a cheap and easy test.
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