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Save Your Atwood Furnace

1L243
Explorer II
Explorer II
I recently had issue with my Atwood furnace AFMD30. My problem started after towing home in a heavy rain. When I got home I washed the RV. After washing I entered the RV I noticed that my furnace fan was on low and appeared to be trying to lite. My Thermostat was off. The only way to turn off the furnace was to pull the 12 volt fuse in the power distribution center.

Looking online I discovered several potential problems but the one that made the most sense was water sitting getting under the furnace circuit board.

I removed the outer furnace cover which exposed the inner workings of the furnace including the circuit board. I removed the circuit board which had a teaspoon of water underneath. The problem is that in some Atwood furnaces the circuit board lies flat on a plastic shelf, water gets under the board and shorts out the board.

If your board looks like this you could have a future problem.


I dried out the area and dried out the board using compressed air.
It did not fix the problem right away so I emailed Atwood who is aware of the problem and has a fix for it. The fix is a new circuit board that flips the board and mounts it at a steep angle. They would provide me with a replacement free of charge but they would not ship it to me without going through a authorized dealer.

I contacted a authorized dealer in my area and told them what Atwood told me, and if they would contact Atwood for a FREE retrofit circuit board. They acted like they were snake bit...FREE! Well, that did not go well. I figured I would recontact Atwood. They reconfirmed that they would not mail it directly. Luckily for me my board had a day to dry out and it started to work normally. My board had not shorted completely out. So I decided to do my own retrofit.

I simply bought a couple of threaded 1/2" rubber inserts to slightly tilt the circuit board. This would get the board out of any future standing water and tilted, any water should run off and not settle.

Fix:


I'm not sure how the water got in maybe from the rain or when I was washing the outside and the water got in from above where the vented refrigerator vent is. My rig is only 3 years old and gaskets are in good shape.

If my circuit board had completely shorted out I would have found a dealer that would work with me on a retrofit Atwood board. If you have to buy the retro fit board it will be around $130.
Part number 95575

Interesting on the retro fit board. They flip the board upside down and at a steep angle. Flipped upside down soldered circuits are facing up! That just does not seem like a good idea to me but what do I know.
2017 Coleman 300tq by Dutchman Toy Hauler. 34.5 feet long and under 10k Gross. 500 watt Solar 2000 watt Inverter, 1999 Ford F250 2WD 7.3 4R100 DP Tuner, S&B Cold Air Intake, Gauges, 6.0 Trans Cooler, Air Bags.
6 REPLIES 6

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Explorer III
Atwood RV Furnace Relocation Kit...plastic bracket and new circuit board

Atwood has supplied them FREE even when warranty has expired
Yes...most 'warranty items' have to go thru a authorized dealer



Kinda Pricy if you have to buy new...course that does include new board
roughly $132

Atwood CB Kit


If your board is OK....lift it up like OP did
Is it time for your medication or mine?


2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
"That was a dumb design."

Very dumb....water intruding in an RV isn't unusual.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

shelbyfv
Explorer
Explorer
Good info, thanks for posting.

wa8yxm
Explorer III
Explorer III
That makes sense.. one of the differences between the OEM Atwood boards and the Dinosaur Board Fan-50.. Standoffs.. Exactly as you modified.. I did not understand why on my furnace (It's side mounted. or on edge) but Now I do. Thanks for teaching me something interesting.
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times

garyemunson
Explorer
Explorer
Wow. That was a dumb design. My 2015 has the board mounted vertically on one side. Somebody was stupid.

kwplot34
Explorer
Explorer
That is a common issue. I purchased a 2 part Encapsulating epoxy, like they use on automotive electronics and encapsulated mine. Water was not an issue after that.