Forum Discussion

lookatdirt's avatar
lookatdirt
Explorer
Aug 09, 2014

New member/new camper question

Well, I finally pulled the trigger and picked up a new to me 2001 835 Lance truck camper.

Just been fiddling around with it in the driveway and everything seems to work as it should. The only question I have is a dumb one. I figured out how to operate the stove, fridge and hot water heater, but have not tried the propane heater.

I went online and downloaded the manual for this model, but it says to refer to the manual that came with the heater, which of course I don't have. The camper has an Atwood thermostat.

All of the other propane appliances require turning on the propane and ignition, using the sparker on the fridge and stove and manually lighting the oven and hot water heater. They all work great.

Question- how do I fire up the heater? Does it have automatic ignition? Just turn on the propane, set the thermostat and stand back? I tried that but nothing happened. Its pretty hot here in SoCal right now though. I tried it during the relative cool of the evening but...nothing.

I feel ridiculous asking this question. Please take pity.

it's my first RV anything! Thanks for your time!
Truck Campers
  • Reddog1's avatar
    Reddog1
    Explorer II
    Aug 09, 2014
    Great. I am sure you have heard it before, there are no stupid questions. If it were not for the questions, Forums would die.

    Make sure you visit the other RV.NET Forums, especially the Tech Forum. Lots of info there.

    Wayne
  • lookatdirt's avatar
    lookatdirt
    Explorer
    Aug 09, 2014
    Yes! It works. I didn't notice the on/off switch at the bottom of the thermostat.

    Thanks again for the help. I have already picked up a ton of great information just lurking around the site.

    Pleased with the camper so far. It's pretty clean. Wife and I took an overnighter in it a couple weekends ago and loved it. The heater was the last piece of the puzzle. Looking forward to a bunch of camping in the desert this winter.

    Knew I wanted a truck camper for a while, been looking for quite a few months and finally found it.

    Expect more stupid questions in the future!
  • Reddog1's avatar
    Reddog1
    Explorer II
    Aug 09, 2014
    I really doubt you have an issue with the furnace, although it is possible. The most common issue is with wasp, or related bugs building nest in the exhaust. That is another discussion.

    If you do not get a resolution on the TC Forum, I will move your Thread to the Tech Forum.
  • lookatdirt's avatar
    lookatdirt
    Explorer
    Aug 09, 2014
    O.k. The furnace is also an Atwood. Yes, I have AC on the roof. Its operates independently of the thermostat, as far as I know. All the AC controls are on the unit itself. I'm not close enough to shore power to run the AC at the moment, but have run it and it blows cool.

    I've got the interior of the camper down to 70 right now, and set the thermostat to 90 just to see if it would fire. Nothing. I'll wait a while and let the camper interior cool down a bit more and try again. I'm assuming that if the heater is operating as it should, then the fan should kick on?

    Thanks for the reply.
  • Reddog1's avatar
    Reddog1
    Explorer II
    Aug 09, 2014
    Welcome to the forum.

    You posted the thermostat is an Atwood. Are we to assume the furnace is also an Atwood?

    Typically, if you turn the heater on, it will ignite when reaches the temperature the thermostat is set at. You may have to turn the A/C on to lower the temp down low enough for the heater to run. If the thermostat controls both the A/C and heater, I do not know what to say. Obviously I am assuming you have A/C.

    It is possible there is an override setting that will turn the furnace on regardless of temp.

    Wayne

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