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Tempermental Furnace SOLVED

arnie0311
Explorer
Explorer
After much anxiety and patience with my dealer, they finally figured out the cause of my furnace problem. It was the inflow of air that caused the pilot light to go out. When they restricted the air flow while the unit was on the test bench, it ran fine for hours! Now, all they are waiting for is for an OK from Suburban (furnace OEM) to modify the air flow intake similar to what NASCAR does to the race cars. HOW ABOUT THAT! Thanks to all the RV'ers who responded with suggestions based upon similar expriences.
3 REPLIES 3

wny_pat1
Explorer
Explorer
Daveinet wrote:
Hopefully Suburban will tell them NO, as this would missbalance the system.

and please arnie0311, let us know what Suburban tells the dealership, or at least what the dealership tells you.
โ€œAll journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.โ€

Daveinet
Explorer
Explorer
First of all, your furnace should not have a pilot. Suburban furnaces have been electronic ignitions since at least the early 80s. Secondly, the air flow past the flame and through the heat exchanger is a special balanced system The inlet and the outlet are close to each other, so that any change in air flow on the inlet is balanced on the outlet, so the flow past the flame is always the same, regardless of if the coach is going down the road, or stationary. Hopefully Suburban will tell them NO, as this would missbalance the system.

If it is having trouble staying lit, I would suspect 1 of 2 things. Most common cause of furnace problems is mud spiders building nests in the inlet. However in your case, I would think there may be a clog in the outlet, causing the air flow to not move as intended over the flame. The second possibility would be that the boiler is rusted and no longer burning correctly. Propane has a lot of moister in it, so it tends to cause the boiler to rust. I've had to take my boiler out and take a hacksaw to the slots, to clean the rust out, as the clog up. The symptom was that I was not getting fuel near the sensor that tells it the flame is OK, so it would shut off. Once I cleaned the boiler, it works fine.
IRV2

mguay
Explorer
Explorer
One in how many thousand needs a restrictor plate? Sounds fishy to me! If it were me I would rather replacement than modify. JM2C
2007 Volvo VNL 780 D12/Ultra Shift Singled
2017 Smart Fortwo Prime Cabrio
2014 Dynamax Trilogy 3715FB