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RWWIEFER's avatar
RWWIEFER
Explorer
Mar 23, 2020

Furnace

Newbie to this forum, not new to RVing.
I just purchased a pop up truck camper, 1996 Skamper #080.
Need some help with the furnace. It looks rarely used. Will not fire off/lite., Hookup to house power, has an on-off switch before gas valve (turned on) Gas on and full, cracked gas fitting at valve to verify propane-yes. Turn t-stat up to 90 and a few seconds later the blower kicks on as its suppose to. 6 seconds later the double solenoids both click to ope gas valve (But does light. I can can faintly here the valve close I believe. Re-set t-stat multiply times with no luck. Going through the same procedures with a VOM, I do have 10.9 volts hitting the coils, the wire coming off the circuit board has 13 volts going to the igniter. After the few seconds the only thing running is still the fan. Which manual says it will lock out. Any pointers before taking it to a shop. I am mechanically incline so I can do any of the work myself if needed but don't want to start buying valves etc just yet.
  • Forgot to post the guy on You Tube that has amazing videos on campers.
    http://myrvworks.com
  • Good morning from AZ, sorry I have not replied quicker to what I found. I took the reply's here and looked into each, then I found this guy on You Tube, in one of his videos he made a comment about listening for the spark igniter from the outside exhaust port. And then showed how to test the duel solenoids that open the gas valve, I had the ohms he suggested but I wasn't hearing the tick tick of the igniter. So I pulled the gas valve out and hooked it up to one of my drill batteries as he did and both coils work and air passed through the gas valved. I decided to pull the igniter housing out as he mentioned and there it was, a mud bees nest a crossed both igniter prongs. Cleaned and reinstalled and everything works perfectly.
  • take that gas valve apart and clean or replace. you here the click?? is there gas on the exit side of the valve??
  • If you have trouble reaching the burner orifice, you can sometimes use an air compressor to blow out the debris. Harbor Freight usually carries a narrow extension wand that fits onto the air hose so you can reach into tight spaces. Good luck!
  • anecdotal, but on my furnace the valve body went bad, so I had to replace the whole part. If it is old that could be possible too. Check the spiderwebs first though.
    Have you seen the diesel heaters sold on ebay for about $150? They might be cheaper than fixing the propane one. They should use less battery power also.
  • Thank you, if it matters the furnace is a Everest Star 7900 II
  • The most common problem is a burner tube full of spider webs, mud-dauber nests, or dead stink bugs. Clean that thing out and if that doesn't do it, the most common part to fail is the thermocouple that ensures that the burner lights and stays lit while the gas valve is open. It is a cheap, easily replaced, and generic part. Last one I replaced cost like $5 at Lowes. Before you give up and take it to the tech who will charge you big bucks, it is worth just replacing that thermocouple out of hand.

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