Forum Discussion

Bigdog's avatar
Bigdog
Explorer
Apr 05, 2017

furnace, no heat

Got to our campground this last weekend and set the thermostat for the night. Woke up several times and heard the front funace running,which was fine as it was cold and windy. The next morning I found the furnace fan was still running, but no heat. I turned it off and then set the thermostat to 80, the furnace came on, but never fired and just kept running instead of shutting off after a few minutes.. Not a factor of no propane as the fridge, the water heater and the stove all worked fine and they're on the same pipe.
Rear furnace is working fine.

4 Replies

  • JaxDad's avatar
    JaxDad
    Explorer III
    RoyB wrote:
    Nose your truck up to the trailer battery and use jumper cable and see if that makes it work...

    Roy ken


    What trailer?

    His signature, right there in his post, says he has a DP motorhome.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    The rule of thumb for propane furnace operations if you are running off the battery (No hookups) is ONE NIGHT ONE BATTERY. Since you have two propane furnace furnaces perhaps your battery is too low to run the furnace fan at the proper speed...

    The furnace fans all run from 12VDC so thay can be used when you do not have electric hookups...

    If the furnace fan runs to slow then the sail switch doesn't work properly and this shuts off the propane flow to the furnace... ???
    Something to check out at any rate... Battery may be run down below the 12.0VDC reading. A typical fan blower will draw 5-6AMPS DC current and if you have two fans running that is 10-12AMPS DC being drawn from the battery all night long...

    Nose your truck up to the trailer battery and use jumper cable and see if that makes it work...

    Roy ken
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer III
    As I understand things, this generally means either the sail switch isn't activating or the burner isn't lighting.

    For the first problem, the cause could be something causing low airflow in the combustion side of the furnace (a blockage, for instance), low voltage at the furnace leading to too-slow blower motor operation, or a dirty, sticky, worn, or broken sail switch.

    For the second, it's typical propane appliance sorts of problems and solutions: igniter adjustment, burner adjustment or blockage, flame sensor problems, etc.