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Runningfawn's avatar
Runningfawn
Explorer II
Nov 15, 2025

Atwood Hydro Fame ii

We have an 1992 Fleetwood Flair with an Atwood Hydro Flame 8535 ii

We are having problems with the sail switch failing!

What hapened is for the last 5 yrs we have had to replace the burner & igintor. Everything ran great up until a monh ago.. We would turn on & it comes on & lights then goes out in seconds. We replaced the sail switch, limit swicth. Seem to fix the problem, after a couple weeks started doing the samething. So Sail Switch limit & Control Board & Theramstat. Again worked for a few days.. So yesterday it is back to not clicking! We have checked wiring made sure clean & clear good air flow Battery is up & have Propane.. What is causing the Sail Switch to keep failing??? Please We need help!!!

14 Replies

  • jkwilson's avatar
    jkwilson
    Explorer III
    Nov 18, 2025

    Many replacement sail switches don’t have sufficient sail area for the spring they use inside the switch. Flow restrictions in ducts or returns can make the problem worse, so be sure nothing is blocked or closed.

     

    The switch is a common micro switch with a sail attached. It’s possible to disassemble the switch and reduce the spring strength or to increase sail area. YouTube has examples of disassembling microswitches.

    Micro switches are specified by operating force in grams-force. If you can post pictures of the actual switch with all text and logos, I may be able to recommend a better switch.

    • Runningfawn's avatar
      Runningfawn
      Explorer II
      Nov 19, 2025

      We found it to be a weak fan motor.. Waiting on part to arrive.

    • StirCrazy's avatar
      StirCrazy
      Moderator
      Nov 19, 2025

      I would caution about alterating the spring pressure from the proper microswitch, the switch and metal strip size are to ensure a minimal amount of air flow is going through the combustion chamber to purge vapours before ignition and insure proper combustion.  It is possible to alter it to much and cause potentialy dangerous issues.

      there is also the issue that to many people change the sail switch for no reason the with in days they are having the same issues.  sail switches are rarley the issue, but seam to be the first thing people recomend to change in my opinion.  

      • Runningfawn's avatar
        Runningfawn
        Explorer II
        Nov 19, 2025

        We found it to be a weak fan motor.. Waiting on part to arrive.

  • way2roll's avatar
    way2roll
    Trailblazer
    Nov 18, 2025

    Another newbie hit and run. Seems like the only action we get around here any more. 

    • Runningfawn's avatar
      Runningfawn
      Explorer II
      Nov 19, 2025

      way2roll. Yes a newbie to this site! Not the only RV group I belong to , so if it takes a few hours or a day has in this post to respond... ya really need to have a little patience for reply! BTW We found it to be a weak fan motor.. Waiting on part to arrive.

    • Runningfawn's avatar
      Runningfawn
      Explorer II
      Nov 19, 2025

      Control board is new also... We found it to be a weak fan motor.. Waiting on part to arrive. So now I will have a like new furance all parts are new.. :)

      • StirCrazy's avatar
        StirCrazy
        Moderator
        Nov 20, 2025

        thats good, when My fan motor was going and I replaced it, the control board died just by chance while I was changing it out, made for a fun day 🤣

    • Runningfawn's avatar
      Runningfawn
      Explorer II
      Nov 19, 2025

      We found it to be a weak fan motor.. Waiting on part to arrive.

       

    • Runningfawn's avatar
      Runningfawn
      Explorer II
      Nov 19, 2025

      We found it to be a weak fan motor.. Waiting on part to arrive.

       

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