Straylight
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Re: Can't figure out Atwood furnace no ignition
I cleaned the burner orifice last time I was diagnosing: Took off the L-shaped connector between the valve and chamber, removed the pinhole orifice, soaked in alcohol, did some scrubbing with a few strands of stranded copper wire.1.2KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Can't figure out Atwood furnace no ignition
Alrighty, did some more work, no joy so far: Removed burner/valve/etc. assembly and observed spark electrode. In shaded daylight, couldn't see spark when I heard spark click. Separated electrode tips until they were about 3/16" apart. Thereafter observed strong blue spark at the very tip of the electrodes. Checked voltage at end of wire that goes to propane valve, used nearby screw for ground. Observed ~10.9 volts. OK? Checked continuity of each coil; multimeter read 41 on both coils in continuity mode. Reconnected propane, turned on propane at tank (I only have one tank), ran stove and turned on fridge with no issues and with strong flow. Turned thermostat to 90, turned on heat, still trying to ignite and not igniting (repeated sparking for a few seconds, then nothing, then two more tries before hitting lockout). Cycled through to lockout 4 times and no change. The spark really did look better after I separated the prongs a bit (being careful not to bend the ceramic one, just the other one). I thought that might have been it, so I put it back together a little prematurely. I might go back in to vacuum out the pipes and check the combustion chamber again, but nothing looked amiss. Will also re-check the propane hole.1.2KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Can't figure out Atwood furnace no ignition
enblethen wrote: While it is clicking check to see if there is voltage from circuit board to the gas valve. Another is to verify that the two coils on the gas valve have continuity. OK, so checking voltage across the closest coil's positive and ground wires, for the first thing, and then continuity across the positive of one coil to the ground of the other? dougrainer wrote: Your burner is either dirty or the spark electrode is not adjusted to spark between the burner and the electrode. Odds are the electrode is sparking to the top of the combustion chamber which will not ignite the LP. Doug PS, from what you have done, you are qualified to be a Mobile RV tech How do I adjust the spark electrode? The gap at the tip was 1/8" last I checked, which seems to be to spec? And thanks, I went to the University of I Own a Late-Nineties RV and I'm Kinda Broke. You'd be surprised how much you learn there! 77rollalong wrote: try taking off the high voltage lead off where the burner is and placing it close to the metal frame and see if it sparks when it tries to light or not. Had mine do the same last week we had it out, it was a bad Neon (NE2) lamp near the High voltage coil fixed it … Yikes, that seems a little spooky to test out. Would I hear the spark electrode clicking during ignition (as I do) if it wasn't sparking?1.2KViews0likes0CommentsCan't figure out Atwood furnace no ignition
Make and model: Atwood Hydroflame 8525-IV Complaint: Furnace clicks but fails to ignite, then goes into lockout mode after three attempts. Control board has green light, turns to red during ignition attempt and then back to green after failure, then no light when in lockout. Parts cannon so far: New control board (Dinosaur) New ignitor/flame sensor unit (OEM, with new high-voltage cable) New propane regulator Interventions/checks so far: Battery voltage at ~12.7v, and furnace will not light on shore or generator power either. Removed and probed sail switch and found continuity between contacts when sail was depressed by hand (multimeter in continuity mode gave steady beep). Brushed sail switch contacts with wire brush and pencil eraser and reinstalled. No change. Blew out propane line with compressed air, propane tank is full, water heater is currently running on propane and stove has been used repeatedly; note that problem still occurs if water heater is off. Fridge is also running on propane without a hitch. I smell slight propane smell at furnace exhaust when it tries to ignite. Removed and cleaned burner chamber thing; minor rust and deterioration. Any ideas as to what to check next?2.6KViews0likes13CommentsRe: Do your own experiment removing alcohol
I've got another experiment designed around the same hypothesis; my experiment goes like "drive to the Liberty station that sells 100% gasoline" :W As far as uses for the effluent...all I'm saying is that Stolichnaya makes a pretty penny selling water mixed with ethanol...70Views0likes0CommentsRe: E15 gasoline incoming...
I'm not sure about PURELY political---while ethanol gas has well-documented drawbacks in re: maintenance of small engines and health of old engines, it also has well-documented benefits in re: oxygenation and octane boost without MTBE, and on top of that, a valid and apolitical argument can be made that allowing a renewable resource to shoulder 10% of the demand for gasoline is a decent idea. That being said, the EXTENT of certain policies is certainly political. Ted Cruz doesn't give a **** about the health of your engine, and Lindsey Graham doesn't give a **** about lowering MTBE levels; when they lobby the President to side with gasoline (Ted) or ethanol (Lindsey), they are entirely concerned with protecting the moneybag industries in their respective states (Texas and Iowa).671Views0likes0CommentsRe: E15 gasoline incoming...
Yep, the numbers definitely indicate that the US is extremely close to being energy independent. We get the enormous majority of our oil domestically and from Canada. A quick glance shows that we only import about 25% of our oil, and only about 10% of those imports come from Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia isn't the entirety of OPEC, but I can't imagine the OPEC numbers accounting for anything more than 5% of our total oil supply. On top of that (and I'm sure Zeihan covers it), shale oil production in the US is limited only by demand. Entire shale oil operations shut down or start up with oil price fluctuations; the only barrier to more US oil production is whether it's profitable for the companies to turn the lights on that month.442Views0likes0Comments
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