Cold in Western WA!

[RottsNScotts]

Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing well!

Today's problem...(do you notice I am posting less frequently? I am starting to get it!)

Furnace was running fine until late last night then it stopped. Checked the propane, both at the tanks and by running the stove; it was fine. When I turn the furnace on with the thermostat in the bedroom set for a higher temperature than is in the room, nothing happens! And I mean nothing at all, no noise, no blowing, nada.

I looked at the fuse box - not that I know what I am looking at! - and none of the red lights are on but I do notice that the blue 15 fuse at the bottom of panel is a darker blue than the other blue 15 fuses. Does that mean anything?

Thanks for any help in advance!

Janet

 

[CCH]

The thermostat in the bedroom only controls the bedroom AC. Any and all heat is controlled by the thermostat in the living area. Have you tried cranking that thermostat way up to see if it turns on?


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[jleavitt11]

The thermostat in the bedroom only controls the bedroom AC. Any and all heat is controlled by the thermostat in the living area. Have you tried cranking that thermostat way up to see if it turns on?


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That's not true. The thermostat in the bedroom controls the AC and the heater. The one in the living area only controls the AC in our Cyclone.

 

[danemayer]

That's not true. The thermostat in the bedroom controls the AC and the heater. The one in the living area only controls the AC in our Cyclone.

I think it varies by model and when built.

 

[wdk450]

I would fool with the 2 thermostats 1 at a time and listen to try to to detect an audible relay "click" in either AIR CONDITIONER CONTROL BOARD (part of the air conditioner) which controls the furnace operation when you set the thermostat to provide heating. If you can make fan or AC work on both air conditioners, then you know that the thermostats are communicating with the AC control boards, and the thermostat circuits have 12 volts DC power.

Looking at the Suburban brand furnace diagrams, the 12 volt DC only models have a thermostat 12 volt input (via the control board relay on the AC unit) AND a higher current (6-10 amps) 12 volt DC connection to run the fan and gas ignition module.

You might try carefully pulling out and re-inserting each 12 volt fuse carefully to see if there are any intermittent electrical connections at the fuse. If you know how to use an electrical multimeter on the ohms/continuity functions you can double check that none of the fuses are blown. If you have electrical contact cleaner/restorer spray on hand this might help improve a poor connection at the fusepanel/fuses.

Good luck, and I hope you have an electric space heater (and maybe an electric blanket) until this gets fixed.

 

[RottsNScotts]

I THINK I have figured out what happened.

If my propane gets too cold, my furnace doesn't work; the stove is more forgiving. I have my propane tank wrapped as I did last year but apparently the wind was strong enough and just the right direction. The furnace started working again right after I made an appointment with a mobile tech! Fortunately, that isn't until Thursday so I have tonight to see if that was the problem.

If it occurs again tonight, I will bring the tank in for a little bit then put it on the other side of the trailer to see if being shielded from the wind helps. I WOULD switch which tank I was using except the other one is waiting to be refilled! VBG

Will let everyone know how it goes!

And, yes, I DO have portable heaters AND and electric mattress pad AND 2 dogs! VBG

My furnace runs off my bedroom thermostat.

Thanks!
Janet

 

[danemayer]

As your tank level goes down, and the temp drops, you can lose gas pressure affecting how well things run. But I'm pretty sure you have to be down to maybe 20% tank level and it has to be pretty cold. Unless you're below 15 degrees (F), I'd be looking for another explanation. I've had furnace keep running on one tank, well below 0 (F), until the tank was almost completely empty.

 

[SNOKING]

I THINK I have figured out what happened.

If my propane gets too cold, my furnace doesn't work; the stove is more forgiving. I have my propane tank wrapped as I did last year but apparently the wind was strong enough and just the right direction. The furnace started working again right after I made an appointment with a mobile tech! Fortunately, that isn't until Thursday so I have tonight to see if that was the problem.

If it occurs again tonight, I will bring the tank in for a little bit then put it on the other side of the trailer to see if being shielded from the wind helps. I WOULD switch which tank I was using except the other one is waiting to be refilled! VBG

Will let everyone know how it goes!

And, yes, I DO have portable heaters AND and electric mattress pad AND 2 dogs! VBG

My furnace runs off my bedroom thermostat.

Thanks!
Janet

Sometimes the small regulator(referred to as the Red regulator in the past) on the off side from the main regulator/switch off can have issues.

 

[RottsNScotts]

It WAS the tank on the off (driver's side), opposite the main one and I have had problems from that side on other occasions.

As long as I was going for propane for the other tank today anyway, I took both. The tank that was supposed to be running only needed 2.5 gallons so was not that low.

I did get water heater blankets for both tanks; will see if that helps.

Thanks all!

Janet

 

[WillyBill]

It WAS the tank on the off (driver's side), opposite the main one and I have had problems from that side on other occasions.

As long as I was going for propane for the other tank today anyway, I took both. The tank that was supposed to be running only needed 2.5 gallons so was not that low.

I did get water heater blankets for both tanks; will see if that helps.

Thanks all!

Janet

Hi Janet,

Please let us know your opinion on the tank heaters. I've had them in my "Cart" for a while but am sitting on the fence. Please also include price and source info if you don't mind. Thanx!

WB

 

[jbeletti]

Great to hear from you Janet!

Sounds like you have found your issue. I had the same thing happen to me a number of years ago. At the suggestion of a friend (Terry H), I pulled the tanks out, left them in the sun for a couple hours, returned them and viola!

 

[RottsNScotts]

Hi Janet,

Please let us know your opinion on the tank heaters. I've had them in my "Cart" for a while but am sitting on the fence. Please also include price and source info if you don't mind. Thanx!

WB

Sorry for the late reply!

I did not get actual tank heaters. I got the Frost King Universal Plastic Water Heater blanket from Lowe's. I had no way to cut it so I just folded it in half and wrapped the propane tanks by tucking it in around the edges. Have to push on the compartment door to lock it but it works.

So far, it is working and we got down to 24 degrees this last week.