Furnace Problem

Ok this may sound funny but I had to use my furnace in my 2009 3300SK lastnight in Southern California. I have used it may times before with no problems but lastnight it would kick on and then shut off. In the morning I went outside to see if I was out of gas and I wasn't. Could this be a ignitor problem? I had to change out one in my flagstaff but I do not want to start ripping stuff apart. It just seems that it's not getting any fire to light or gas to light?

it could be an ignitor problem but it's sooooo new I doubt it. Sometimes when the gas has been turned off for a period of time, the lines need to be bled and then the unit will get the fuel it needs. Also, debris can get in the way of ignition. A Heartland rep will weigh on this, I'm sure... take it to the dealer if needed!
Thank God for heating blankets!

I have run across a regulator and supply hose problem on my unit (both regulators and supply hoses). If you are not getting the proper pressure to the furnace it will not ignite even if you have ample propane. Trouble shooting propane problems is something I usually leave to the experts due to the inherent danger involved.

ppenka said:

Ok this may sound funny but I had to use my furnace in my 2009 3300SK lastnight in Southern California. I have used it may times before with no problems but lastnight it would kick on and then shut off. In the morning I went outside to see if I was out of gas and I wasn't. Could this be a ignitor problem? I had to change out one in my flagstaff but I do not want to start ripping stuff apart. It just seems that it's not getting any fire to light or gas to light?

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I probably am not going to say this right...but, it sounds like you have a microswitch problem on the exhaust. The flue has a flutter valve that opens when the heater turns on...and closes after cool down. If this switch is not operating properly, you will get turn on, the fan will run and the heater possibly might ignite. If the switch does not make contact the heater will shut down. This thing is there to keep you from setting your trailer on fire...and to keep noxious gasses out of your RV. So, if that switch is bad, you get a partially working furnace.

Also make sure that the flue is not blocked and that it will open and close manually.

You did not say whether your heater had a pilot light or not. There are times that the orifice on the pilot light gets partially blocked and will not have enough flame to light the main burner. Just clean the pilot light orifice and it should work.

On the microswith above, it will have to be replaced...but, you should be able to jump around it in the circuit to test it out.

Finally, make sure that you have 12 volts going into the furnace. In my old airstream, I had a high impedance short in one of the 12volt lines...if you measured it...you got about 7 volts. And you will get the same symptoms as if the flutter valve switch is not making contact.

Best of luck with it...these furnaces are not easy to work on.

I didnt think the furnace had a pilot light.

There was at least one other thread where there were problems with the hot water heater and one solution was not to turn on the propane valve too fast, or it might block the flow of propane. Turn the valves off and turn them on slowly and see if this might solve your problem.

Hi ppenka,

I had a problem like you described, my heater worked fine for 6 mos. then it would start blowing and after a couple minutes shut off. The dealer checked it out and found a defective thermostat. Hope this helps & happy camping.

Cliff

I had the same thing to happen and although my tank had gas in it, switching to the other tank caused my furnace to begin working again. I'd try that first since it is easy.
If I'm not mistaken, the switch Lefty is referring to is called a sail switch. You could have a small obstruction in the vent. Dirt daubers and wasps sometimes build nests around that area. Even a spider web will prevent proper operation. Check for those.
And as mentioned before, some have had defective regulators. The newer OPD valves in the tanks cause funny problems sometimes.

My BC is in the shop right now for the same thing. I will keep you posted on what they say is the problem.

Kevin

jmgratz said:

I didnt think the furnace had a pilot light.

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You could be right. It's been a bunch of years since I had to work on any type of RV heater...I may be remembering wrong.

Nothing new for me. Ok, strike the part about the pilot light...I ws having a senior moment.

Thanks to all for helping me out. I did take some time last night and tried to troubleshoot the problem. This is what I did. I turned off the gas and ran my stove top to bleed all the lines. I turned the gas back on to make sure that the bottle was ok and well it was. Ok out came the tool box. After removing numerous pannels on the inside to check for obstuctions I moved to the outside pannel. Well as we all probably have found out, you really can't work on these things. All I did was reset the switch on the outside ofthe heater, turned the gas back on. Made sure everything was clear with no obstructions on the exhaust and inlet. Turned the switch back on and it worked. All I have to say right now is that in kept myself and Ripley "the Puggle" nice and warm lastnight. Taz Devil let me kow what your dealer said. I have a feeling this will not be the only time this happens to me. Like all of you said in your posts, this isn't something that I think I can tackle myself since it still new. I just have to find someone here that will cover this and come out and work on it so I don't have to pull it to a dealer. I'm fulltime in the Sundance.

I have turned this over to our service department. They should be getting in touch with you soon.

Dave