Furnace will not run

Oilman

Member
Need a little help! We stored our Big Horn in Tennesee at a friends lot for 2 months, picking up today and heading South. Arriving at our evening stop campground in Atlanta, the furnace will not come on, also the air conditioner. ( AC not needed, but furnace would be nice). Have checked the breakers, the pole outside? I am stumped and out of things to check. Advice would be appreciated!
 

jjriker

Well-known member
Re: Oilman67

My husband wondered if you had checked your battery connection, and whether your propane tank was open. Can you run your stove? Also, another thought... is the battery disconnect switch turned on.

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Oilman

Member
Re: Oilman67

Thank you for your response. The stove does work. What is the battery connection? We did have the battery disconnected in TN, but re-connected before leaving TN to lift the fifth wheel up to accept the truck connection. What else is there to check on the battery?
 

jjriker

Well-known member
Re: Oilman67

Yeah, it doesn't sound like either of those issues, since you used the battery and the stove works. Hopefully you will get some other suggestions soon. :) Hope it's something simple!!
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Re: Oilman67

Dennis, I moved your post to the appropriate forum and changed the title.
Your battery may not have enough charge to run the furnace. Have you checked it?
Also you might want to check the volt fuses.
Do you hear any noise from the furnace at all?

Peace
Dave
 

Oilman

Member
Re: Oilman67

It's a brand new battery. Installed early last fall. I'm connected to 50 amp. currently, is a good charge in the battery still necessary? There are no sounds coming from the furnace or the A/C.
 

hriker

Well-known member
Thinking about the ac and heat being related. Have you checked the thermostat? Have any wires disconnected? Pop off the cover and make sure one didn't come disconnected in your travels today.

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danemayer

Well-known member
Re: Oilman67

It's a brand new battery. Installed early last fall. I'm connected to 50 amp. currently, is a good charge in the battery still necessary? There are no sounds coming from the furnace or the A/C.
Are any interior 12V devices working? Lights? Refrigerator?
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Since the furnace and AC are connected, the suggestion from Harry is a good one.
Pull the thermostat and look for a wire or plug problem.

Peace
Dave
 

priorguy

Well-known member
You might have to pull the t-stat off the wall. Mine has a spaghetti bowl of wires and nuts in behind it. Something on the backside might provide access too. On mine it's the tank level display. Good luck and stay warm.


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Oilman

Member
Checked the wires in the thermostat and everything is in place and tight. Is there a breaker for the furnace and A/C? I checked in breaker box and there is no breaker for the furnace! There is one for the A/C and it's ok. Is there a tie in with a GFI somewhere?
 

hriker

Well-known member
Oilman have you check the the 12 volt fuses. They have red lights that lumimate if a fuse is burned out. If one is lite you will need to replace the fuse. Thermostat runs on 12 volt.

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danemayer

Well-known member
If you have the Dometic Single Zone digital thermostat, and it has power and is operating normally, there should be numbers in the display.

When the thermostat calls for furnace or A/C operation, it signals a control box that's usually located on the underside of the air conditioning unit. Drop the return air filter to get to it. When heat is called for, the relay inside should click, and then the furnace blower starts up. Maybe there's a connection problem there.

There's 110V also going to that box, so take care what you touch.

The Air Conditioning has a circuit breaker. The furnace has a 12V fuse.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Oilman have you check the the 12 volt fuses. They have red lights that lumimate if a fuse is burned out. If one is lite you will need to replace the fuse. Thermostat runs on 12 volt.

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When checking fuses, the red light illuminates ONLY when there's a load on the circuit. If it's trying to run the furnace and the fuse is blown, it should light. If the thermostat is off, the light won't indicate whether blown or not. You'd need to remove the fuse and check continuity with a meter.
 

hriker

Well-known member
Dan I didn’t know that about needing to have a load on the fuse for it to illuminate . I learned something new. Thanks.

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Hello;

Let me give you one more area to look into if it wasn’t an electrical problem. When we opened our RV last spring the furnace worked fine. Then in the fall it would not work. I had an RV Technician look into the issue and we found out that the main propane regulator was not working to it full capacity. The stove and hot water heater worked fine but when the furnace called for propane, there wasn’t adequate flow.

Turn on the furnace and go outside by the furnace exhaust and listen first for a clicking sound so you know you have power. Then listen for a whooshing sound. This is made when the furnace is trying to lite the propane and it goes out. It will try three times before the furnace safety will shut down the furnace.

We changed the main regulator and have not had an issue since.

Hope this helps,

Pat & Leona Skanes
Member Number: 1833
Region: Canada
Chapter: Ontario

2011 Landmark
Grand Canyon
2013 Ford F350 SRW, 4X4
 
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