Atwood furnace not igniting

[ScottnDana]

We have a Jayco Jay Flight slx tt. The atwood furnace quite igniting on our last camping trip. The fan (blower) will come on and run for 30 seconds and shut off, (no ignition no heat). Propane tank full, batteries charged, connected to land power but still no change.

Any thoughts are welcome

Thx

[DutchmenSport]

That fixed it. Furnace continued to cycle on-off all night long.

I suggest you start with that Sail Switch. Simply remove it, remove any dust or lint hanging on to it, and put it back. See what happens. Costs nothing except a few minutes of your time.

FYI, if your's is an Atwood, look at the motor board and find the red LED light. Remove the outside panel. You will probably need a Robertson screwdriver (one with the square head).

Here's the codes from my manual:

If the red LED light is:

1) off, no light, no flashing, everything is operating normal
2) on Steady, no flashing - Internal Circuit Board Failure
3) one flash every 3 seconds - Limit Switch / Airflow Problems (Sail Switch)
4) 2 flashes with 3 second pause - Flame Sense Fault
5) 3 flashes with 3 second pauses - Ignition Lockout Fault

[DutchmenSport]

OK, I stand corrected. Shortly after I posted above, the furnace quit firing. I was very disappointed. Turned on some electric heat so we could stay in the camper tonight. About 8:30 (after dark), I decided to pull out the paper work on my 5er. Turns out my furnace is an Atwood.

Looked over the documentation and I saw a section there discussing error codes, a light flashing? I went back outside and opened the outside panel again and sure enough a red light flashing about once every 3 seconds. .... code for that ... Sail Switch! Real easy to see that red flash after it got dark.

Well, I read more in the manual and couldn't figure out where that Sail Switch would be located (I'd never done this before). Figured I might have to still take the camper in to do the service. Went to bed about 9:00 pm happy, I'm pretty certain it was the Sail Switch, unhappy thinking I might have to tear the whole furnace apart to get to it. Told my wife, I'm not tearing it apart, we'll wait till December for the dealer.

Went to bed.

Woke up from a dead sleep and thought... YouTube ... yea! Did a search on YouTube and sure enough, found a video on the Atwood furnace, perfect video showing exactly where the Sail Switch is and how to remove it.

Went outside, it's now 11:30 pm. The cover was not screwed back on, just in place. Removed the cover, and right there in front ... yep... there it was.

Got a small Philips, removed the 2 screws. I didn't even unplug the wires, just left them, and the Sail Switch slid right out! OMG... so easy!

And sure enough, just as the video showed, it had hair and lint caught around it. I carefully pulled out what I could and simply blew with all my might on the rest and it blew right out. Reinstalled, flipped that reset switch and fan came on, and about 30 seconds, she fired up.

I then went inside and immediately turned the thermostat down, and the fire went out, and then the fan shut off about a minute later. All well so far. I then turned the thermostat back up and she fired! Just fine!. I repeated this 3 times and she fired back up each time.

Well, it just made me a believer again in the power of YouTube being a life saver and a life changer! I didn't even have to purchase a new part!

Wow! Unbelievable. Now, if this furnace is still running and the camper is warm tomorrow, well, I'll follow up with one more post.

For the OP: Here's the video: Click here.

And here's the second video that better matched my furnace. The Sail Switch is right in front on mine, just exactly like in this video...click here.

For the OP, my advise still stands. Start simple, clean out the bugs and dirt, check things out second, like the Sail Switch, replace things third choice, RV tech or service repair as a last resort!

Good luck!

[AJR]

Out dog flea collar strips in the bottom of the bay. It works.

[kellem]

Mine happened to be a funnel spider in the orifice, seriously.

[Old-Biscuit]

opnspaces wrote:
two thoughts. low battery charge so the fan doesn't spin fast enough to lift the sail switch. Or a sticky sail switch.

THIS^^^^^^

Sail Switch has to close in order for DC to go to cicruit board.

1st component to check...sail switch operation

[DutchmenSport]

It's interesting that you would post this question at this time. Our furnace went out last night. When a tank runs out of propane and I switch over to the other tank, or get a tank refill, it has always taken my Dometic 36,000 BTU furnace to fire on the 3rd attempt. After that, it runs OK. Except last night/this morning.

At work I did a little searching and remembered this thread from just a few days ago and subscribed to it so I could read through it more careful later, which I did a bit earlier. Click here. Lots of suggestions what could be wrong.

I called my dealership and found out the earliest I could come in for a repair would be the second week of December, so I was determined to figure this one out myself.

On the way home from work, I thought about it, rather disappointed at the long wait time for a repair. And by now, I read every word on that thread linked above.

I thought to myself, well... it don't work right now, the most I can do is fiddle with it and hope I do something right. Otherwise, December is a long wait!

I got home and removed the outside cover and found a LOT of dirt (loose stuff) and bugs in the bottom of the furnace compartment. I got my leaf blower and blew the stuffings out of everything. It was then I noticed the rocker arm (reset) button, and thought to my self? Why not. I flipped it off and back on, turned the thermostat back on and wholla! It fired up ... first time!

I let it run and cycle a couple times, took some pictures, and put the cover back on as we're expecting rain tonight. So far, so good.

Diving in and just doing a good cleaning and blow out, just saved me a month of agonizing wait, and maybe a couple hundred bucks for 5 minutes of work, and flipping a switch off and on!

Pull your cover, see if there are bugs and spiders in there. If so, blow it all out, see if that helps. Do the easy stuff first, progress to the harder stuff mentioned in the other thread in ascending order if difficulty and expense.

[opnspaces]

You can also try this link to see if there is a service manual.
Manual

[opnspaces]

What year is the trailer? It would help to get a model name or number off the furnace as well if you can find it.

[opnspaces]

two thoughts. low battery charge so the fan doesn't spin fast enough to lift the sail switch. Or a sticky sail switch.