Propane smell when furnace is running - Suburban SF-30F

Mine does the same thing with the WH running. I think you're smelling the exhaust.

If the furnace is working and you've checked for leaks it may be contaminates burning off the heat exchanger. Our furnace smell very strong for about an hour when first lit for the season. It is very strong, take your breath away strong, so we open the window and turn a vent on. Usually has a slight smell for a few more cycles and then usually gone by the next day.

Verify the smell is propane, go out to the tank, disconnect the hose and smell. If the smell is the same, you'll need to keep looking for a leak.

Does it set off your gas detector??

You might want to verify no rotten rodents in the ducting also.

I hope you don't have a hole in your heat exchanger.

The heater works -- but we've been running it for days and the smell is still there. I suppose it could be exhaust, but we've been RVing for 25 years and we're pretty familiar with the smell of propane. It does not set off the gas detector, but the smell in the RV is strong enough to be annoying. We're leaning toward the heater itself as we're almost out of ideas. However, I sure as heck don't want to spend $500+ on a heater unless I'm SURE. Thanks for the suggestions. How can we tell if there is a hole in the heat exchanger?

Man, you need to get someone in there with some detection equipment if you are sure it is propane.

i could understand exhaust, but propane i don't know.

You said the trailer is only ABOUT a year old. . . Find out how old, and IF your the original owner you may be able to get it replaced under warranty if it needs to be...

Call the dealer, or manufacturer.

Don't mess with possible propane leak, or smell

The trailer is 14 months old, I was just generalizing. :) We're the second owner. Maybe we're wrong, maybe it is exhaust -- now I'm starting to second guess. It's pretty strong and it only happens when we run the heater.

The heater is now sitting on our dining room table. This is how much it's bugging us! Any advice on what we should look at? I have a Symbion Portable Propane Natural Gas Leak Detector in my Amazon cart ($23). Anyone ever used one of those?

Take your rig into a commercial propane outfit - ask for refill of the tank and explain that you occasionally smell propane ... chances are they will spend a few minutes and find/fix the problem at no cost.

Get a mirror and look down the ducting that all is clear.
Does the burner cycle during the heating process?
Do you have a CO detector tested with new batteries?

I have a sniffer leak detector and they do work well in still environments. Your issue is while running so the leak detection could prove difficult.

Check on the furnace warranty. and +1 to have a professional confirm the odor.

SwanInWA wrote:
The trailer is 14 months old, I was just generalizing. :) We're the second owner. Maybe we're wrong, maybe it is exhaust -- now I'm starting to second guess. It's pretty strong and it only happens when we run the heater.

The heater is now sitting on our dining room table. This is how much it's bugging us! Any advice on what we should look at? I have a Symbion Portable Propane Natural Gas Leak Detector in my Amazon cart ($23). Anyone ever used one of those?

When I had a problem with my SF-30 I discovered that most HVAC guys I spoke with knew these RV furnaces. My point is that you might make some calls and see if you can find someone who can check out your unit.

Option 2 might be to contact a portable Rv repair tech, explain the problem and invite him to re-install the unit.

Option 3 is to spend some time with the unit on your "workbench". Clean the unit, shake out any heavy baked bug stuff from the exchanger and look for holes See if you can rig up a pressure test of the heat exchanger. Maybe use a vacuum cleaner (blowing and/or suction) against the exhaust or intake while blocking the other to see if you can discover a leak. Be mindful of the sail switch and other components so you don't damage them.

Good luck