RamblinAnne
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Re: Atwood Hydroflame 8531-IV Not Cycling
Oh gosh you guys. After taking apart the entire furnace and thermostat and inspecting every little piece, it turned out to be a loose wire connection. One of the ones that goes in the bundle plug that you access from the inside of the camper (under the dinette). Thanks so much for your input and hopefully this can help someone else solve a similar issue, as I see several posts about it with no conclusion.510Views0likes0CommentsRe: Atwood Hydroflame 8531-IV Not Cycling
RamblinAnne wrote: Kayteg1 wrote: Try to eliminate thermostat failure by jumping the wires. okay! Not exactly sure what jumping the wires means but I just took my multimeter to it and when the furnace is off, I have a solid 13+ V going to it. When I turn it on however, it drops down to 0.01 volts and keeps slowly dropping off. Is this a thermostat failure or a wiring issue? Sorry should have been more clear- when the thermostat is switched OFF- steady 13+ volts. When the thermostat is switched ON but does not signal furnace to come on (because I have to wait awhile to be able to manually switch it off and on again) that’s when I see a drop off in voltage. When thermostat is switched ON and furnace is running, a solid 11+ volts.510Views0likes0CommentsRe: Atwood Hydroflame 8531-IV Not Cycling
Kayteg1 wrote: Try to eliminate thermostat failure by jumping the wires. okay! Not exactly sure what jumping the wires means but I just took my multimeter to it and when the furnace is off, I have a solid 13+ V going to it. When I turn it on however, it drops down to 0.01 volts and keeps slowly dropping off. Is this a thermostat failure or a wiring issue?510Views0likes0CommentsAtwood Hydroflame 8531-IV Not Cycling
Hey friends- hoping someone can help with this. I am having an issue with my Hydroflame 8531-IV furnace on my Bigfoot truck camper. I turn it on and heater kicks up and starts heating no problem. Runs for a good long while until it comes to temp without any issues. Once it comes to temp, it cycles off as normal. However, after the temp drops back down, the heater never cycles back on again. If I turn the heater off then back on manually, it’ll come back on but never automatically as it’s supposed to. I took the furnace apart and inspected the sail switch. It was not dirty and appeared to be in working order. The circuit board shows a steady green light which signifies that it’s not an airflow issue. Does anyone have any idea what may be causing this?2.8KViews0likes10CommentsRe: Help! One of my jacks won't retract or extend!
Well Jim, it's true. You must have a very big bootied camper because no matter what I did, I couldn't get the camper to stand on 2 rears and 1 front jack. The weight kept shifting forward. I was able to get the camper on the truck (yay!). It was panic-inducing but I did it. I didn't have a hi-lift jack (though I did just order one along with two new 4800 happijacs to replace the two fronts) so I used a car jack and a long piece of lumber to jack up that front corner. Got the bad jack off. Was going to swap with a rear but I REEEALLY did not like the idea of the camper being on 3 jacks. So I fiddled with the jack gears a bit and was able to get them to turn, not with the manual crank (that pin had broke) but I used a ratchet coming in from the top. I wasn't able to lift it or anything with this method but once I jacked it up to the right height using the 3 good jacks + the car jack, I was able to lower the leg down enough so that it was at the right height. Then removed the car jack so that I could back my truck in (dually would have hit the jack). Once the truck was backed in to the right spot, I put the car jack + beam back in place and retracted the bad jack leg with ratchet method and slowly lowered with the 3 good jacks + car jack. Woof! What a process but I got it on there. I feel SO much better. So yes, I just ordered two new 4800s for the front + 2 motors. Hoping the rears will last me awhile longer but we will see. Thanks to everyone for all the quick replies. You guys always save the day.1.9KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Help! One of my jacks won't retract or extend!
Grit dog wrote: Unless you know how to repair it, want to tear it apart and learn the quickest and easiest way I surmise is buy a new jack, jack up that front corner and replace it. Or jack up 2 corners and swap one from the rear. That’s a bit more risky as I’ve not loaded ours with only 3 jacks. I just know it will float a rear jack regularly and seems to support well that way. When you say "jack up that front corner", how do I go about doing that? What kind of jack do I need to lift just that one corner? Is it better to just raise the other 3 to get that one off the ground and support it underneath with my telescoping jacks? These things are rated for 6,000 lbs but they scare me a bit. Especially because I have them in their extended-most position.505Views0likes0CommentsRe: Help! One of my jacks won't retract or extend!
Thanks for your responses guys.. I've calmed down a bit but I have couple of questions. For the record - I'm at work, where I live on-site. So I DO have the time to keep the camper stationary and work on it but I have a real paranoia about not being able to pick up and go at any moment. So the sooner the better for this. 1- if I take the busted jack leg off AND another to swap it out, am I okay to have it sit like this? With two legs off? I have those EAZlifts underneath like I said, but is this enough support? They only hold up the flat belly of the camper and don't go back to the overhang or out to the side as far as the jacks do. I'm guessing the best jack to take off to replace would be the back-left (the front-right is the busted one). 2- Am I REALLY okay raising up the camper on 3 legs only? 3- I might be too chicken to risk this and since I seem to always have issues with the front jacks, I might just need to suck it up and replace them. But I have concerns about sticking with HappiJac. Should I just invest in a whole new system? Or should I just buy two new front happijacs? Cost is definitely a concern and while I technically can afford a new system, I am really trying to save money. What do you guys think? 2 new Happijacs? 4 new Reico-Titans (I've heard better things)? Stable-lift (don't love the look or the price but intrigued by ease of loading)?506Views0likes0CommentsHelp! One of my jacks won't retract or extend!
So I've had issues with my happijacs since day 1. It's partially my own fault - I never properly cared for them. One in particular always seizes up and I have to bust out the manual crank. It's a pain but it works. Except for today. When going to raise the camper up so that I could load it on to the truck, even the manual crank failed. I was going at it and I felt the gear slip and now it just spins and spins and does not lower down or raise up. What do I do?? I took the motor off but can't really get to the actual jack mechanism without taking the whole jack off the the camper. Which I can't do since the camper is not supported by the truck. (I do have it supported by some homemade saw horses - 2 EAZlift telescoping jacks with some 2x4s going across to support). Most importantly, I want to get the camper back on the truck ASAP. I will feel a lot more comfortable working on the jacks once the camper is on the truck. My biggest fear is being stuck somewhere and not being able to take my home with me so first things first, I gotta get the camper on the truck. But how do I do this with only 3 working jacks?? (It's the front right jack that isn't working). Any prompt advice would be much appreciated! If you can't tell, I'm slightly panicked by the idea that the two pieces of my home won't come together. Thanks everyone!9.2KViews0likes30Comments
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