Furnace help needed

1st: Go ahead and "OUT" the dealer who won't help! You are doing yourself and everyone else a disservice if you don't. These type of dealers need to be identified for consumers and manufacturers who don't know about them! Keep hammering Atwood for a solution, which very well may be a replacement! When we purchase a new product both the dealer and the manufacturer need to be held accountable if there is a problem that is not attributed to an external issue or cause.
Best of luck.

Our Atwood furnace had smoke coming out of it the first time I turned it on, we did not use it anymore that first trip. It didn’t set off the propane or CO detector but the smoke detector was beeping before I realized it was even smoking.

I ran it when we got back home and the smoke stopped, but I was at over 5 hours of constant run time before I couldn’t detect any odors from it. I tried it again the next day and the odor was back, it was almost like a chemical smell.

After running it all day again at home the odor is gone, and I have run it on several trips without any problems.

Thank you very much. I will provide more data when I get some.

If I find anything that might help i'll post it .

bukhrn wrote:


calewjohnson wrote:

It is not a burnt rodent or bug smell, I do have screens on the outside vents to keep critters from crawling into the exhaust port.

What I do smell, I initially thought it was propane, but it was not that pungent, irritating propane smell. It seems to linger from around the furnace like it is a heavy exhaust.

I cannot figure out how to run the fan without heat, if I could do this, then I think my problem may be fixed, like I said, it just seems to linger after the furnace then fans turns off.

Thanks again.
Mine has a switch for Heat-Off-Cool, it also has a 3 position switch for the fan ON, Auto,OFF. If yours has this, just turn the fan switch to on & the heat switch to off.

Mine has Cool/Fan/Off/Heat. In fan mode, the A/C fan runs.

I did turn the furnace on and sat outside for about an hour. It ran the whole time, it also uses a tremendous amount of fuel. Anyway, it seems to have done the trick. Thanks all for their inout.



"I had the same thing happen to me . It finally went away after running it for two days non stop . I just vented the windows and let it run".

http://www.rv.net/FORUM/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22538568.cfm

My original Duo Therm furnace in my 1969 Avion camper smelled for a while when it was new. It was the paint burning smell, until it was finally gone. I can't imagine that the newer furnaces would do that. Is this furnace brand new, or a fairly new, "used" furnace?

There is a recall on some RV's due to improper installation of the furnaces. You may want to check it out. The exhaust port hole was not cut out, so the exhaust was venting out side.

You have a 2004 listed in your signature, but you asking about a newer trailer.

The entire furnace is clear of any obstructions. Thank you for the idea.

Have you checked the exhaust for obstruction? Could be it's not venting properly.
Wasps/spiders may have taken up residence...

B

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll let you guys know more data when I get some. I'll be calling Atwood today.

You said you took the heater out of the camper and can still smell the burned smell, correct? That rules out a lot and isolates it to JUST the heater.

Doing the sniff test; is the smell coming out the vent that goes into the camper to heat it?

How about sniffing the exhaust vent? Perhaps the exhaust fumes are getting into the chamber/exchanger and mixing, then going into the camper.

I would recommend buying a CO sniffer at the local hardware store; the type of sniffer that has a digital read-out. Put the sniffer at the exhaust and see what that reads. Then put the sniffer at the duct and see. If the smell is unburned hydrocarbons, you'll know it for sure this way if exhaust gas is getting into the duct.

My bet; you have an internal baffle that wasn't installed right in the exchanger and exhaust odors are getting into the heater output duct. If it were me, having the heater already removed, I would not put it back in but I would call Atwood again and arrange to mail or UPS it to them and insist they replace it. You may have to bite the bullet on the shipping, but my bet is that they would cover the cost.

I've dealt with Atwood directly on a camper jack. They mailed me a replacement AND a return shipping label on just my say-so of the problem. Good folks if you talk to a technical person or engineer. At least for me.