Furnace Issue

[gonervn501]

Sorry if this is long. We decided to take our new Allegro Open Road 37PA out for a New Years Eve and Day. It was going to be a little cold but figured we would get to spend the first night in it and put some things away. I had tested the furnace and everything seemed fine.

On the way down I had the inverter on for the fridge and both furnaces. At least the front one turned off occasionally but I wasn't sure what I had the thermostat set for, so I didn't think much about it.

We got to the campground setup, plugged in the 50 amp had turned off the inverter and turned on the furnaces. They would run for about 5 minutes and shut down. I checked propane it was fine and couldn't find anything else wrong. After trying things for a couple of hours we decided to drive the two hours home. It was going to be in the upper 20's and decided we would most likely be cold even with the fireplace and a small ceramic heater running. I did try running one furnace only turning the thermostat up, but it continued to shut off.

On the way home I had left the front furnace on but not the converter and surprise it ran fine. In fact it was 75 in the coach. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[gonervn501]

I went out this morning to try to recreate. I had to use the gen since I didn't have shore power. Everything worked fine. The only difference is that I turned the Magnum Energy ME-RC standard remote to charge. I didn't have this on at the CG, but the manual says when I connect shore power or gen it will automatically go to charge. Today if stayed on charge for awhile then turned off and showed absorbing.

Still going to bring home to check with shore power, but didn't have time today.

[Roadpilot]

You have a Class A DP. It should be fine to run the inverter while driving. It shouldn't run down the batteries. That's what the alternator is for. The batteries should have been fully charged when you got to the CG.

On the 3 DP's I've owned I always left the inverter on all the time - even when plugged into shore power. I suspect the Allegro is the same. They all had a pass thru relay so that if the pedestal went away, the inverter picked up the slack.

If you are able to recreate the problem, check the 12 volts to the furnace and confirm propane is on and doesn't have to be bled.

[Jbrowland]

Any time my furnace gives me issues I usually find that my coach batter is dead or close to it.

[pianotuna]

The furnace runs on 12 volt.

If the inverter is on with the converter active it may drain the battery bank rather quickly.

[Georgew48]

It seems like a lot of converter/inverter mix up going on here. The only time I turn my inverter on is when I am not hooked up to shore power or don!t have the generator running. My inverter is only used for the residential refrigator when driving or boon docking with out the generator or shore power. The converter is always on anytime I am hooked up to power, using the generator. The inverter turns battery power into 120 volt for the refer. The converter is used to turn 120 volt power to 12 volt and keep the batteries charged. Anything in the croach that is 12 volt runs off the converter or the batteries. The engine alternator provides the 12 volts while driving if you are not running the generator.

[gonervn501]

The outlet temp was fine. I'm going to check it this weekend. As for the inverter type I will have to look it up. I can't remember since this is a new coach and don't have everything in memory yet. Thanks for the input. I will post again when I text.

[nevadanick]

I never turn the inverter off in my Tiffin.

[midnightsadie]

X 2 by running the furnace while traveling you could have run the battery down, a furnace will eat up a 12v battery .

[Golden_HVAC]

If it is working fine now, why worry about it?

Test it in your driveway. It should be working fine. But if it cycles off at 5 minutes, that is a problem. I think it is not related to the inverter use at all. You should have 12 volt power to the furnace with the engine running.

Check the outlet temperature of the furnace. If the air is coming out very hot, it can cause the furnace to shut off on high outlet air temp. The air should be between 95 and 130F. Anything above 130F, check for a blocked vent, and open everything as much as possible.

The problem should duplicate itself in the driveway. At 20F, three electric heaters should keep the RV warm, even without any furnace run time. Run them a little bit, and you would have been fine.

Another possibility is without the inverter set to charge the battery, you might have had low voltage to the battery, and to the furnaces. Your batteries should be fully charged, but if you have not left the RV plugged in while in storage, it will have dead batteries at the start of the trip.

Some inverters require them to be on to charge the battery. It would help to know the inverter type, and if you had it 'off' or 'Charge only' or inverter.

Mine will charge if set to charge only or invert. But will not charge the battery if 'off'.

What does your battery level read? Full? 1/3 empty?

Good luck,

Fred.