hi all,I have a old , from a 79 cawmper, a suburban 1600 btu . if I can read it correctly model nt l6 mec . I cannot find any information on this or diagrams. I opened up the hole where you light the pilot and it was filled with insulation from a mouse nest. so I assume the mouse can get thru the outside exhaust and into it easily. my question is, can I just put an air hose into the hole and blow all that out the exhaust, seems easier than taking the whole thing out. thanks you . attached is the best pic i could get of the plate. this is link to pic. https://ibb.co/g5fHcGthanks for the replies! I cant find any info on the old unit which barely has been used

you are better off replacing it than trying to repair it. That old it more than likely is rotted and will leak

blackturbo wrote:I have a old , from a 79 cawmper, a suburban 1600 btu . if I can read it correctly model nt l6 mec .It would be a 16,000 BTU furnace and I agree - replace it, a furnace this old isn't worth trying to repair.

https://ibb.co/g5fHcGYes, I would try that to get the stuff away from the pilot "flower" and see if you can light the pilot. If you can get the pilot to stay on long enough, turn the knob to "on" and maybe the main burner will light and burn up all the nesting material too. Be sure to let that little round door cover the hole after you get the pilot lit or it will go out again. You can hear when the main burner comes on after you turn the knob to "on" from "pilot"One trick to get the pilot to stay on is to also put your flame to the thermocouple sticking out beside the flower. The pilot flame is supposed to get over onto that thermocouple and heat it up but might not if the pilot flame isn't quite right. Your lighter's flame on it will "fool it" so it works.We recently had a 1981 camper with one of those old furnaces and had some trouble at first getting it to work--had to take it apart and soak the gas lines in mineral spirits. That made the difference.

You will have to take the furnace out and disassemble it to get all the rodent trash out. Odds are you have the cast iron burner assbly. Those burners have half moon slits for the burner flame. after 40 years, that burner will need to be pulled and the slots cleaned out due to rust and debris. You use a standard hack saw blade to clean out those slits and then use compressed air to clean out the burner and furnace housing. Doug

suburban 1600 btu furnace | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Dec 30, 2017
SidecarFlip wrote:

Then...it smelled like you....:E

NOPE, our 3 small dogs fit perfectly on convertible rear "seat"
Even we keep them clean, they still smell like ,.... dogs.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Dec 30, 2017
Kayteg1 wrote:
Those old furnaces are bulletproof.
The only thing that can fail is power generator, what is like $5 part, so unless corrosion eat them, they will run forever without spending $120 for computer board. Lighting up the pilot is only inconvenience.
Any smell will go out eventually.
Couple years I bought convertible that had heavy cigarette smell inside.
3 days with open doors on driveway cured 95% of it and with time all went away.

Then...it smelled like you....:E
dougrainer
Nomad
Dec 30, 2017
Kayteg1 wrote:
Those old furnaces are bulletproof.
The only thing that can fail is power generator, what is like 5 part, so unless corrosion eat them, they will run forever without spending 120 for computer board. Lighting up the pilot is only inconvenience.
Any smell will go out eventually.
Couple years I bought convertible that had heavy cigarette smell inside.
3 days with open doors on driveway cured 95 of it and with time all went away.

Yes, they are bulletproof. But, good new is, they do NOT have an Ignition module. So, like you stated, clean it out and the furnace will only smell for a few days. Doug
dougrainer
Nomad
Dec 30, 2017
shastagary wrote:
manual link for suburban furnaces suburban service manual

problem is, the OP has an OLDER Suburban with pilot ignition. The link is for models from about 1981 and newer with DSI. Doug
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Dec 30, 2017
Those old furnaces are bulletproof.
The only thing that can fail is power generator, what is like $5 part, so unless corrosion eat them, they will run forever without spending $120 for computer board. Lighting up the pilot is only inconvenience.
Any smell will go out eventually.
Couple years I bought convertible that had heavy cigarette smell inside.
3 days with open doors on driveway cured 95% of it and with time all went away.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
blackturbo wrote:
... yes i know we can buy new, but this one, i never think was used. as the trailer sat in one place all its life to be only used seasonly. so its worth repairing and cleaning out.

Even if you do manage to clean out this furnace it will never be truly "clean". A few years ago I discovered a mouse (or mice) had managed over the winter to get into 2 of the 5 heating ducts in our K-Z Spree :M but after I cleaned out those ducts the smell was still palpable. :E The solution was to replace those ducts entirely but had the mess been in the furnace itself there's no way it could have been cleaned sufficiently, I'd have had to replace it.
blackturbo
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
Ok thanks for the fast replies, yes i know we can buy new, but this one, i never think was used. as the trailer sat in one place all its life to be only used seasonly. so its worth repairing and cleaning out. I will let you know what happens :) thanks for the info
shastagary
Explorer
Dec 30, 2017
manual link for suburban furnaces suburban service manual
dougrainer
Nomad
Dec 30, 2017
You will have to take the furnace out and disassemble it to get all the rodent trash out. Odds are you have the cast iron burner assbly. Those burners have half moon slits for the burner flame. after 40 years, that burner will need to be pulled and the slots cleaned out due to rust and debris. You use a standard hack saw blade to clean out those slits and then use compressed air to clean out the burner and furnace housing. Doug
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Dec 29, 2017