FIXED (bad board) - Suburban furnace won't start

[rdickey]

We have a new landmark fifth wheel and the last few days the furnace would shut off unexpectedly. Now it just won't even start. The battery is fine, and when checking the furnace it makes 3 clicks but the fan never starts. We have plenty of propane. Everything else works in the fiver, stove lights and all circuits are good.

We are out of ideas. It's 15 degrees outside and we have 3 space heaters keeping us warm. It would be nice to fix the furnace because we are full timing with kids and dogs (and a fish). Every time we leave we turn off the space heaters and come back to a 40 degree camper

Any ideas? I appreciate any help we can get!!

 

[wdk450]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

I looked at the "Tools" and "Manuals" tabs at the top of this forum page to get to the manual on the furnace. Unfortunately, the manuals we have lack any troubleshooting sections. So I went to Google search and found this video which had a solution I haven't heard before: If your tank is low in liquid propane and you are experiencing low outside temperatures, the liquid propane within the tank may not be able to "boil off" adequately. I would suggest trying switching to a full propane tank, and checking your battery voltage (low battery gives low ignition spark). Here is the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMxqzRDt2Ng . I hope this helps!

 

[rdickey]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

Thank you Bill- I sent the video to my husband. He's at the camper and is trying to solve the furnace problem. He's a fan of youtube videos. Ha. The day the furnace quit our propane tank was maybe half full. So we took it to Tractor Supply and the guy said it had some air in it, so he released it? Took about a minute. Then he filled the tank. The furnace still won't work. The temps outside have been below freezing for about a week now and the furnace was working overtime to keep up. The hubs is checking the battery output. He is about to go to work and I will take over the project. So my questions might get a lot dumber in an hour...

 

[DougAndJudy]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

We had trouble with ours last year. It turned out to be the furnace motherboard. A mobile service tech replaced the board in about 15 minutes. Cost us for the service call, but Heartland (or Suburban) covered the part through the service tech.

 

[danemayer]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

Hi rdickey,

A couple of things:

First, switch the thermostat to OFF and press the + or - button to check the temperature the thermostat is reading. The turn the heat ON and adjust the set point to a temp that's higher. If you have a heater in the basement, rising hot air can confuse the thermostat.

Second, when the thermostat calls for heat, it signals a relay that's usually installed on the underside of the Air Conditioner. You should hear a click within a second or two of turning the thermostat to Heat. If no click, you may have a problem with thermostat wires being loose, or the furnace fuse being blown.

If you hear the click, I'd check for voltage during startup at the red wire going into the furnace.

 

[rdickey]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

Doug and Judy- That's a bummer you had to pay for the service call even if the part is warrantied. But I'm glad yours was fixed so fast! I'm hoping that's not the problem and we can fix it without a service call. But my intelligence level is a lot lower than the knowledge required to troubleshoot the furnace.

Dan and Ann- before it totally quit it was registering a temp of 50 when it was set to 80. I know the furnace clicks when it is turned on, the thermostat wires are so far intact but the fan does nothing. The current guide I'm using is suggesting a low voltage on the battery or a blower problem. It's just raining ice right now so I don't want to go back out again just yet. Space heaters are working well. Haha.

 

[rjr6150]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

Becky
See below this is flow chart to trouble shoot a Suburban furnace.

[PDF]Suburban Furnace Service Manual - BR Wholesale RV & Marine
www.brwholesale.com/.../Suburban/Furnaces/Furnace_Service_Manual.pdf
Trouble Shooting Flow Chart (Furnaces Equipped with Time Delay Relay) . ... Suburban DYNATRAIL furnaces installed in recreational vehicles are classified as ...

Also sent you a pm

Randy

 

[mikeandconnie]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

We also had to replace the mother board last winter after a few weeks of use. I was away and the wife called a mobile tech that replaced it with a improve board.

 

[wdk450]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

Becky:
You paid a pretty penny for that new Landmark and you DO have a WARRANTY which should cover this. Also Heartland is unique in allowing you to use any RV servicer you like for warranty service; just call Heartland service in advance. This includes mobile, on-the-site, independednt RV servicers. Just be aware that by policy Heartland will not pay the mobile servicer's travel charge. You would have to pay that.

The Heartland service phone number is at the top left of the forum Portal page. You need to have your VIN number when contacting them. They may even have a list of servicers they have worked with in your area.

 

[jdfishing]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

Becky: I had a similar problem while camped in the desert last year. I had a service tech come out to the trailer and he replaced the "fan relay" switch. Works great ever since. I never would have identified the problem myself, let alone fix it. Suburban covered all but $35. Was well worth it.

 

[rdickey]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

We just left the dealership. It was a bad computer board. All replaced, back home and heater is cranking!

 

[Phil Smith]

Re: Suburban furnace won't start

Gald to hear it fixed. Did the fish survive?