furnace freeze?

[BigSur2]

Guys, had issues last night with regulator freezing up...couldn't get any propane flow at all. Got that resolved. Propane is flowing now but the furnace will NOT fire off. Any ideas, advice, etc????

[CavemanCharlie]

I had a problem with the regulator on my home furnace freezing up the first year the furnace was installed. (Boy it really sucks to run outside at 20 below in your underwear at midnight to dump hot water on the stupid regulator) They were able to fix the problem by adding some sort of a certain antifreeze / water absorber to the propane fuel in the tank. (I'm thinking it was methanol but, I'm not sure) After that it hasn't froze up in years.

You may have moisture in your propane fuel system. Unless you get it out you will continue to struggle. Changing the regulator might do it, and they are cheap. But, if you are still using the same propane tank that has the water in it you might just end up having the same problem again. Do you have the smaller tanks? If you do go get replacement ones from one of those exchange places like Blue Rhino. You may still have to replace the regulator to get the moisture out of it though. Or, maybe your tech guy can disassemble it and clean it.

[BigSur2]

bsinmich wrote:
Most dehumidifiers do not move air outside of the vehicle. They pull air over cold coils and exhaust the same air the out over the condenser coils so it should be slightly warmer but have less moisture in it. The moisture got removed at the cold coil.

Yeah but wouldn't a larger unit in such a small camper almost create a negative pressure on the space......pulling in air from the outside. It's probably not related to flow of propane through the regulator but I've heard of weirder things happening.

In any event, I have a call in to my service tech. We'll see what they say. I'm wondering if I need to replace the regulator and see what happens.

[bsinmich]

Most dehumidifiers do not move air outside of the vehicle. They pull air over cold coils and exhaust the same air the out over the condenser coils so it should be slightly warmer but have less moisture in it. The moisture got removed at the cold coil.

[BigSur2]

By the way........regulator is still freezing up....about to go throw hot water on it for the 3rd time since last night.

Dumb question....would running a dehumidifier in here cause any related issues? This camper sweats like crazy in winter so I'm running a 30-pint home dehumidifier. Does a great job but I can't help to wonder if pulling so much air is causing the heat to overwork...????? I dunno; that's beyond my knowledge...but not my imagination.

[BigSur2]

Sorry Caveman...meant to quote haddy1 on that last post.

[BigSur2]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I suppose it possible that the water in the propane tank that made the ice that froze up the regulator also got to the control valve for the furnace and froze in there as well. But, you'd think it would melt out after awhile if it's warm inside the camper.

Regulator froze last night. Everything gas stopped working so I got a wet rag REALLY hot and compressed the regulator....did this twice. It fixed the problem.

Woke up this morning.....everything gas was working EXCEPT the furnace......hence probably not a regulator issue.

[BigSur2]

Came "home" tonight and after the warm up today, everything is fine.

Some good advice on here..thanks. I will probably dig deeper. Just need to make it through next week and then I'm on travel until Mid- March. I should be good to go.

[NMDriver]

I have had my furnace quit working due to mice eating wiring also. Winter is when they enjoy a nice warm RV as much as we do.

[Ted66]

Westend's post above nailed it. With all other gas appliances functioning as you've stated, it'll be thermo/electrical at the furnace. There are a bunch of fail safes built in to furnaces, and sometimes they fail. No pun intended.

[westend]

I'd suggest you remove the cabinet panel to access the furnace. Check for proper operation of the sail switch, flame sensor, and clean the connections to the circuit board. You could also verify that the intake and exhaust have no debris, blocking air flow.

[CavemanCharlie]

I suppose it possible that the water in the propane tank that made the ice that froze up the regulator also got to the control valve for the furnace and froze in there as well. But, you'd think it would melt out after awhile if it's warm inside the camper.

[haddy1]

BigSur2 wrote:
It was about 12 deg F last night.....not that cold. First time I've had an issue since I've been up here and it's been even colder.

In your original post you stated that the regulator was freezing. Now you say it's not freezing up.

We can't help you fix it if we don't know what's broke.

I've seen regulators freeze up when it's 50F outside. The furnace is a completely different issue.

The best way to test for freezing is to light all of the burners on your cook top. If the regulator is freezing, the flames will decrease or possibly go out after less than 5 minutes.

[midnightsadie]

are double sure your battery is good?

[time2roll]

I don't think there is anything you can do externally.
As long as you have good battery voltage (12+) and propane that is about all you can do.

Take notes on the actual sounds is best I can say.
Such as blower starts, click of a relay, igniter sparking etc.