furnance

[bo57ford]

went on a week end trip
turned on the furnace work for about 5 to 10 min with heat
then no heat
I hear the ingnator sparking but dose not light
gas bottles ful stove works
any help i would be thankful
suburan furnance

[Bisker]

I experienced this exact same situation! Here is what I was told the first time... "You slugged your tank, you turned your tank on too fast and the regulator reduced flow thinking it was a leak, turn your tanks on slowly."

Next camping trip furnace worked on day one, then no go. Tried an experiment, turned stove on, burners working fine, turned furnace on, stove flame goes to almost nothing. Turned all gas apps off and furnace fires up! Then ok to use other gas apps. Took trailer back to dealer for unrelated service and told them, here's what they said..."Bad regulator." So, hopefully when I get the trailer back I will have a thermal blast like the surface of the sun.

[ReferDog]

Many furnace units overheat at the heat X due to p#$%@ poor duct installation, air flow. I have had at least two units that air flow was a problem. I makes the overheat switch trip, off goes the gas. Reset and works for a while longer. Most of time it's really hard to fix the problems.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Furnaces are built to purposely be almost impossible to service or test without removing them from the trailer.

There are so many safety features to prevent an accidental explosion that sometimes I think it is a miracle they ever do work.

I picked up a new Flagstaff on Nov 15. Furnace was working great during pickup demo by dealer. Went to a Good Sam group campout that weekend - turned on the furnace, ran 30 seconds of cold air - and turned off. Could hear the igniter, but no heat. Unit shuts off.

Propane good, everything else good.

Lucky it was only down to about 30 degrees for two nights at a FHU 50A site - small electric space heater and 'fireplace' in trailer kept it warm enough for us. Wasn't cold enough to worry about the tanks.

Back to the dealer Tuesday morning. Turns out the 'sail' switch had snapped. This senses exhaust air flow, and if there isn't enough will not allow the propane valve to open.

But the simple fix required removal of the furnace from the unit and testing on a bench.

Here is a YouTube video on some of the key things about fixing a furnace. Personally I would not pull the furnace out of any trailer less than five years old - but I understand you might have to do that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foPtSXWNrXc

Get your installation manual out and check it carefully before trying to remove the furnace.

[bo57ford]

there is no acess from the outside
cant see anything from the inside only the back
of the heat exchanger
dose the exchanger just slide out

[old_guy]

is your battery fully charged?

[AirForceAngler]

Sounds like you may have a vent or orifice blocked. Some of these furnaces will shut off if there's not enough oxygen as a safety feature. Check the exhaust outlet for wasp nests, too.

[bo57ford]

have checked tanks refilled tanks
have to pull unit out to check is it hard to pull out

[DutchmenSport]

Recheck the propane tanks. Loosen the tanks and left them up ... physically, see if they are empty, or near empty. Your stove will still make fire when there's not enough to ignite the furnace.

[Nvr2loud]

bo57ford wrote:
went on a week end trip
turned on the furnace work for about 5 to 10 min with heat
then no heat
I hear the ingnator sparking but dose not light
gas bottles ful stove works
any help i would be thankful
suburan furnance

First check to make sure there isn't a valve closed at the furnace. If no valve closed, check to see if the regulator vent hole is plugged / blocked by debris. Finally, can you see a flame when it is sparking? If you see a flame for the entire time the ignition is on, but then it shuts off... you will need to clean or replace the flame sensor. it will be directly in the pilot flame. Attempt to sand it first, and try again. Some slight bending or adjustment might be needed to get it properly into the flame.

Considering that the furnace attempts to light, it is not an electrical issue and is not a thermostat issue. Either the furnace has no propane, or it is actually lighting and the furnace safety circuit does not sense the flame.