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davidkingham's avatar
davidkingham
Explorer
Mar 09, 2023

Burning electrical smell from furnace

I've been dealing with this issue on and off for years, and I can't seem to find the cause. This all started when I replaced the thermostat years ago, and it has continued even with new thermostats.

There is a very strong burning electrical smell (ozone, I believe) coming from the furnace intermittently. Sometimes I can use it for months and never smell it; sometimes, it only happens occasionally, and right now, it's super strong. It seems to be the worst when the furnace has not been used for a while. No, it's not the dusty metallic smell you get when the furnace hasn't been used; this is most definitely electrical; I've shorted enough wires working on cars that I know it well.

A couple of years back, I pulled the furnace and replaced every single component, circuit board, safety switches, etc. The only thing I didn't replace was the blower motor. So this year, I thought surely it has to be the motor, so I replaced that as well. It seemed to help at first, but that could have been coincidental.

I have inspected all the wires and have found zero signs of shorts or melted wires. Where do I go from here? Thanks!
  • could be a dead rodent cooking. sure its not batteries cooking. wish could help lot of could be,s
  • I'm trying to come up with an idea where you might be getting the smell. Maybe check around where the furnace is in the coach for something else that might be burning. Could it be happening only when you are running an inverter?

    Check the water level on your battery(ies). If the water is really low and if your batteries are hidden inside the RV like behind a panel you might be smelling that overcharge.

    Start paying attention to what the system was doing in the ten minutes before the furnace started. Could the smell possibly only occur when you are on shore power but never occurs on batteries alone? If so could your converter/charger be having the burning smell and the furnace happens to suck the smell into the intake?

    Do you ever get that smell when the furnace is not running? Could it be the back of the refrigerator overheating and burning the wood behind the refrigerator? Next time you smell it go outside and open the refrigerator panel and the water heater door and see if the smell is there too.

    Good luck with it and welcome to the forums
  • Welcome to the forum David.

    Everyone else: This is his first post. Please be kind and helpful.

    As my boss told me a few months ago: "Do me a favor today and please don't be your usual self."