Heater Help for newbie

enblethen wrote:
Maybe this will help.

SF service manual

Thank you for this. Im afraid that this may be starting to get over my pay grade.

Maybe this will help.

SF service manual
Is there any heat from exhaust port?
If no would indicate that the gas valve is not opening.
If yes, the flame sensor is not seeing the flame and shuts down.

Good afternoon guys. I have to bump this back up to the top. I apologize for the delay in getting back to you all. Today is the first time that I have had the opportunity to get back out to the trailer.

My Heater made by Suburban. Im honestly not sure which model. My Manuel says its for Gas Models SF20Q-SHD2542Q

I also called the dealership asking the Tech to walk me through some trouble shooting and he wasn't much help. Pretty busy I imagine.

Recap:
-The propane is getting to the trailer with no air in the lines. All burners on the stove run fine at the same time.
-I have plenty of power. Im plugged into 30A in storage.
-When I turn on the furnace, the fan starts automatically. When I run outside I can hear the ignitor cycle on and off 3 times and I can smell propane coming out of the heater unit. After 3 attempts the fan will blow for an additional 3-5 minutes and then the whole unit will shut off and I'll have to reset.

There has to be something stupid that I am missing on my end. The unit is brand new and I just took delivery of the trailer in June of this year. Never tried to run the unit before.

I unscrewed the cover below the oven and tried to see if I could get a peak. Its tucked up under there good and I can't see anything except a few wires. All connections are hidden. On the exterior I only have the combustion chambers visible.

AG

When you get the furnace running do not put a lot of faith in it.Get a small electric backup.My experiance with furnaces is mixed,great when its 50 degrees terrible when its 30 degrees.The fan motors are made for intermittant duty and have a short life under continues duty cycle For me that was about a month.

... The blower runs for about 5 minutes an then turns itself off. Never any warm air coming out the vents?...

Could there be something blindingly stupid that Im just missing?

Well I'll raise my hand and say yes it's possible I've been there done that! :B

What temp do you have the thermostat set on?
Is it set for 'lower' than the ambient temp in the TT?

>If the thermostat is set for 'higher' or even just 'near' the temp in the TT the furnace will come on, recognize it doesn't need to be on, and shut off. Been there done that and felt really stupid. :W

Just a note. something I didn't know when a newbie and would send me off into oh my god its broke: The Delay.

There are delays on the heater and air cond. It does not come on the instant you push that lever on. There is a delay and the time of the delay varies from RV to RV. Mine is s real real long time.

If you are turning it on and off, and on off, while you are trying to troubleshoot this you will never figure it out because of the delay switch.

Flipping it on and off back to back just screws up the delay. It will just compound trouble shooting because you do NOT know if it's not coming on because of the delay.

1.Shut it off and leave it alone to let the delay reset.

2. Check that you have the thermostat set for 'way' 'lower' than the temp in the TT when testing it.

3. WAIT for delay switch time to clear and the furnace to come on.

BTW: RV furnaces blow cool air for quite some time before you will feel warm air coming out.

Patience. Wait for the delay and wait for it to get warm and make sure you have the thermostat set for lower than the TT temp.

You have a new TT I doubt anything is broken. BUT be sure you have a good battery and charged and it's hooked up properly because the furnace thermostat NEEDS 12V to function.

No 12V or low voltage to the furnace will let it turn on but when it reaches the temps set it will turn off and never come back on again.

You did not post make and model. This would help on telling you where it is at.

This is a sail switch. the only portion that will be visible is the small box. The lever sticks into the air chamber.
Many times you can blow out the switch with compressed air. I have used can computer air.
sail switch

Thanks for all the replies. Can someone show me a picture of what the sail switch looks like?

If you are camping at a hook up site plan on taking a couple of oil-filled electric heaters along with you just in case you lose the propane heater for good...

We use the 20A SOURCE on the camp ground pedestal to run our couple of electric heaters. The 20A circuit doesn't take anything away from the 30A circuit. The propane heater for us is way to loud to live with. Wakes me up everytime it kicks in with the very loud 12VDC Blower fan running...

make sure you have 12VDC power to the heater and thermostat as well... The electric start for the heater requires 12VDC as well as the thermostat...

Since the blower is running that says there is 12VDC to that point for sure...

The propane heaters have a safety sail switch associated with the electric start circuit. This is to turn off the propane in the event your blower quits working. This sometimes gets dirty and doesn't work. Find it and work it back and forth... Squirt some WD40 on it perhaps... Don't let the WD40 get into the propane flame line...

Glad you thought about running the stove top to make sure the propane side is working... Almost has to be 12VDC electrical now at the propane igniter...

Roy Ken

The fan always blows cold air to start. You probley will not hear the igniter over the fan. I suggest giving it a full five minutes frst time. Your LP tanks are full and open? Takes time for LP to travel. Does the stove light? Let us kow