Furnace died. 20 degrees

[bobbyg123]

Atwood furnace died in the middle of the night and we woke up to a 32 degree camper. No idea what caused it. Fuse? Thermostat? Igniter? There's no "clicking" sound coming from the furnace, the fan isn't working either, but there is a "glow" where the brass coil connects to the furnace.

Help!! 🙂

[Old-Biscuit]

opnspaces wrote:
I've never looked in an RV furnace, but I have watched my home furnace and my gas dryer ignite. In both these instances there is a piece of metal that glows red hot to ignite the gas. So I wonder if the RV furnace has the same type of device to light the propane.

If this is so he's getting electricity but the gas valve is not opening.

Don't know what OP is referring to (the glow) unless he has an LED on control board.....but it would be blinking indicating what the error was.

RV furnaces just like RV water heaters use pilot flame or a high voltage spark electrode for main flame ignition.

No glow plugs/coils.

OP is not getting power.......the furnace fan is not coming on.
It has to run first before anything else can/will happen.

[opnspaces]

I've never looked in an RV furnace, but I have watched my home furnace and my gas dryer ignite. In both these instances there is a piece of metal that glows red hot to ignite the gas. So I wonder if the RV furnace has the same type of device to light the propane.

If this is so he's getting electricity but the gas valve is not opening.

[CavemanCharlie]

What do you mean by "There is a glow where the brass coil connects to the furnace." ?

[RoyB]

My furnace 12VDC DC Blower FAN draws 6-8 AMPS on my big trailer. That will run down a small battery bank in a hurry if you are dry camping...

I work hard at having a PLAN-B for the important things like keeping warm haha...

What you don't want to do is run down your battery bank below 50% charge and not have a way to re-charge it... This may do harm to your batteries and may have to replace them,,,

It's all about PLAN-Bs for us...

Roy Ken

[WandaLust2]

A failed "power supply" caused the furnace to not run in our old Class-C. We replaced it and the furnace fired right up.

[2oldman]

Dead battery..if you're dry camping.

[Old-Biscuit]

First off whether you have propane or not will have nothing to do with furnace fan not coming on.........

No 12V DC power to furnace WILL.

There is a small on/off switch---circuit breaker located in furnace compartment.
Need to remove access cover....check if it has tripped. Low battery voltage can cause high amp draw and trip it.

You can also check if t-stat is faulty.....remove cover and then connect the two blue wires together. Furnace fan should come on and fire off....if so t-stat is bad.
If not then.....got to get power to fan blower before any other testing can be done...such as 12V DC at the timed delay relay.

Here is a generic troubleshooting guide.......LINK

Post which model of Atwood furnace for more specific info.

[popeyemth]

Prove you have propane and flow from the regulator by lighting all the stove burners at once,then check for batt charge with a meter then check for 12 volts at the furnace.
Good Luck, Mike

[ScottG]

I remember reading in years past that the regulator on PP tanks will freeze. Folks install a light bulb up under the tank cover to keep it warm enough.

Just a thought - good luck!

Scott