DonMichUP
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Re: Problem with Atwood furnace
Yeah, they sure were helpful. I do have some 4/0 and 2/0 cable laying around not being used, but that's overkill. The new board has a fuse on it, and if I remember correctly, Joe said that that should prevent the problem I originally had with the ground wire getting too hot. Unless some dummy in the past did indeed wire a battery backwards to the 4 pin 12V inlet on the Alaskan. Regardless, I'll keep an eye on things.701Views0likes0CommentsRe: Problem with Atwood furnace
Bad news: the wire from West Marine is back ordered 28 days, so I cancelled the order. They were nice about it, but now I'll have to find another source. The good news: I HAVE HEAT! As mentioned before, the usual parts checked out ok, as did the board. But I replaced the motor, sail switch, electrode, and burner gasket anyway. I couldn't get the limit switch out because I didn't have a small enough square bit, so have one as a spare now. I then replaced a section of the wiring with appliance wiring rated at 105c. I also bypassed the molex connector, and applied duct tape to the sharp edges of the furnace case to prevent abrasion/cutting of the wires. After all that, the furnace still wouldn't ignite, so I called Dinosaur Electronics and asked if a board could test good but still be bad. GREAT people!! Joe there walked me through some tests with my multi meter, and sure enough, the board was bad. So I ordered a Fan 50 Plus Pins from Amazon and paid an extra $10 for Saturday delivery (today). I connected the wiring as per the instructions -- which were a bit confusing because my old board didn't have "power" and "blower" connection terminals on it -- but I got it right and now I have heat :). I know this is a bit lengthy, but hopefully it will help someone else who may encounter a similar problem. #1 solution is that, yes, a bad circuit / ignitor board can test good. Joe said if the person testing the board had wiggled the wires around some, they probably would have seen that it was bad. I want to thank everyone for their input and suggestions. It has helped a lot, and this experience has helped me maybe help someone else some day :).699Views0likes0CommentsRe: Problem with Atwood furnace
Well, I have the parts. Now to get it all together! Having a hard time finding wire though. I want to go 10 AWG, XLPE (cross-link/Polyethylene, aka "thermoset" insulation). I cannot find anything around 100 strand though. The best I can come up with is "50' solar cable Bulk Black copper #10 AWG 1000 volt PV Wire with Tough XLPE insulation" on Amazon, and it has only 19 strands. I did see on NAPA's website that they have a 10 AWG primary wire, but I can't find out if it has XLPE sheathing nor how many strands it has. It's rated to 250 degrees though, so maybe? It's located here. Your thoughts enblethen? Chum lee? Anyone? :)699Views0likes0CommentsRe: Problem with Atwood furnace
That seems like the logical answer road-runner. The "Field Plug Assembly" is another molex connector of course, but hopefully it'll do ok. Maybe I should apply some dielectric grease? I'll also make sure that the clamp isn't holding the wires too tightly. Instead of the molex connector, I was considering just joining the wires using butt connectors. But, the entry into the furnace where the molex was and is supposed to be has sharp edges, and that would eventually wear through the wire insulation. Good luck with your water pump problem. Sometimes I think they put too small of wire gauge in these things. I'm considering using a thicker gauge from the inverter to the furnace actually.698Views0likes0CommentsRe: Problem with Atwood furnace
I want to thank everyone for their input on this issue. Yeah Puddle Pirates, that's what I was thinking too. I finally got the furnace out and apart. NO easy task for any of it. The gas valve coils checked out ok. The sail switch seemed to be ok. The ignitor seemed to be ok, but not sure how to test that really, nor how to test the motor. By what I've researched, even though there's no house battery, and I don't think it ever had one, someone could have wired an exterior battery or generator the wrong way at some point before I acquired the camper; reversing the hot and ground coming in to the camper. Either that, or, yeah, a bad plug. And/or maybe a bad motor even, as someone said. Anyway, since the furnace is at least about 19 years old -- although I don't think it was used much as the burn chamber looks hardly used -- and since I have it all torn apart, I decided to replace some things because I sure don't want to have to go through all this again. So, I'm awaiting a sail switch, a motor, a field plug assembly, a limit switch, an exhaust wall gasket, and an electrode. I'll double check the tracing of the wiring going from/to the inverter in the mean time. But once done, it should be like a new furnace. I'll update once I get it all put back together and it's running.329Views0likes0CommentsRe: Problem with Atwood furnace
Yeah enblethen. The ground wire is factory, so I don't know. I'm going to need to go to an RV dealer for another molex connector and have them bench test my board, so I'll ask the RV service techs about this. Weird though how the wire is only affected about 8" forward (towards panel) of the connector and about 2" back (towards furnace) of the connector. And of course the connector itself. I'm wondering if the connector went bad, and/or a bad factory crimp that has finally manifested itself(?). Anyway I'll see what the techs say and let yas know.330Views0likes0Comments
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