SteamboatSailor
Active Member
Ever since our RW427 was new (May 2017) we have had a problem with the furnace not lighting anytime we were above approx. 5000-5500’ in elevation. Some of you may remember our Forum thread from last year. Many suggestions were offered & tried...even discussion about perhaps propane sold at higher elevations was a different mix than that sold at sea level. That even seemed to be our problem (for a short time) in that on a trip to Yellowstone (cold & rainy) when the furnace wouldn’t light I switched propane bottles to one I had filled in Steamboat Springs, CO. Furnace fired right up, so i thought that was the fix. Not so. Must have been a fluke in that as we journeyed on with that trip, even going lower than Yellowstone in elevation, the furnace refused to light again. I have since talked to 3 different propane suppliers who all told me that there is no “high altitude/low altitude” difference in mixes. They buy their propane & ship it where ever with no consideration for altitude at the final destination. They did say to make sure one uses a good quality propane.
I have just finished diving further into the furnace, had a “tech” replace the regulator (no fix) & then tear the furnace apart. The culprit was a bad gap setting on the igniter. It was set at approx. 1/6”; service manual calls for 1/8”....and specifically states the gap setting is important. The furnace works like a champ now....at least at our home elevation of approx. 6200’. We’ll see what the future holds, but I’m fairly confident that was the problem.
An FYI, at least on the Suburban furnace in our coach....the service manual states there is one screw in the front of the furnace holding the furnace guts in its cage. It states remove that screw & you can slide the furnace out of its cage. Not so. First of all, that screw in the service manual diagram is at the rear of the furnace, not the front as shown in the service manual. In addition, there are 3 other locations around the cage that have screws into the furnace guts. It’s absolutely necessary. To remove the entire cage to be able to get the furnace out.
Hope this helps someone else having “issues”
I have just finished diving further into the furnace, had a “tech” replace the regulator (no fix) & then tear the furnace apart. The culprit was a bad gap setting on the igniter. It was set at approx. 1/6”; service manual calls for 1/8”....and specifically states the gap setting is important. The furnace works like a champ now....at least at our home elevation of approx. 6200’. We’ll see what the future holds, but I’m fairly confident that was the problem.
An FYI, at least on the Suburban furnace in our coach....the service manual states there is one screw in the front of the furnace holding the furnace guts in its cage. It states remove that screw & you can slide the furnace out of its cage. Not so. First of all, that screw in the service manual diagram is at the rear of the furnace, not the front as shown in the service manual. In addition, there are 3 other locations around the cage that have screws into the furnace guts. It’s absolutely necessary. To remove the entire cage to be able to get the furnace out.
Hope this helps someone else having “issues”
