furnace problems

[rkelly4]

I have a 10,000 btu gravity fed furnace in my eight foot camper that blows out sometimes when the furnace kicks in. It also makes a growling noise at times when it is running. I have cleaned the lines and furnace the best i can and tried adjusting the pilot light to no avail. I have a line that is kinked but was like that when i bought it and it worked fine then. I am going to change the line but any other ideas would be appreciated.

[Ex-Tech]

I assume since it is a gravity type heater, it has no blower. (?) so no sail switch or blower motor.
If not, then I would check your pressure.

[RoyB]

This is not a new idea - I think many of the big motorhomes may do this already... They may use a tap from the motorhome motor to route hot water thru the living areas...

It just bugs the **** out of me for most of that heat produced from the propane furnace is routed to the outside so it can be safe to live with... I have actually seem flames come out the port just inches down from my window flap material on my POPUP...

[RoyB]

I think I can do this for about $250 or just alittle more with the high cost being the good quality 12VDC hot water pump and a hot water heat register with a built-in 12VDC fan. Lowes would have all the other hookup items...

If I had to replace the trailer propane furnace this would actually be a cost savings... Havent priced out a propane furnace but I suspect they will be around $500 or so maybe more...

The only downside would be to keep the water heater lit I guess... Once the water heats up I don't think my hot water heater cycles all that much...

All I know is I certainly don't need to use one of those 19,000BTU units to heat up my small 12-foot floor space POPUP trailer.

The propane heat bothers both of us as well - it has a certain smell to it...

food for thought

Roy Ken

[midnightsadie]

now thats pretty nice system not hard to build and does the job.

[RoyB]

We actually hate our propane fired furnace in our off-road POPUP trailer. It puts out way too much heat, is uncontrollable for heat settings, and of course drives us nuts with the GRRRR fan noise that goes along with it. I tell everyone it sounds like sitting the last roll of seats in a MD80 airplane.

I am seriously thinking of replace the propane heater with a water heater based heat source. A couple of posts have done this with the smaller trailers and it works like gang busters...

This is the basic concept idea... I think this is a 4000BTU heat source..


This is what someone installed doing the same thing


Removing the propane heater would free up enough room for me to use one of the hot water heater unit that has the 12VDC fans already built into it


Certainly should be quiet operations... You would have to keep the hot water heater running to get your required heat.

Roy Ken

[snowdance]

I would take a good flash light and look down into the heater from the outside. You may well find mud dobber or wasp nest. They love to build in those...

[enblethen]

Sounds like a failing motor. Voltage drops enough for sail switch to open. Growling is the nearings/bushing allowing fan to rub on housing.

[lakeside013104]

I assume it is an LPG furnace? If so, for safety concerns, you best have an LPG tech inspect it's operation. In any event, if you smell LPG, shut off the supply tank. Good luck.

Lakeside