Trying to use our furnace on propane

[gandb26]

We have a 2016 Forester 3051 and we are trying to get the furnace to run off of propane as we are not plugged in. We have a full propane tank but low voltage on the detector keeps beeping and flashing after we ran the heat last night. We start the motor home for a few minutes, heat runs good but then the low voltage lights and beeping starts. We have a back up co detector and that is not going off so its not co. Can someone tell me why our furnace is running off of our battery and not propane? What are we doing wrong. I have searched the forums and read the manuals and can't make sense of it. Thanks!

[RockyMtnMarty]

The furnace generates heat via propane, but the blower motor runs on electricity. So, if the blower is running a lot through the night, it is consuming battery power. Best explanation I can think of...

[bikendan]

The furnace uses propane for the heat but needs battery power to ignite the propane and run the blower fan.

If you don't keep the battery charged, one night of running the furnace can drain the chassis battery.

[gandb26]

Ok! Finally an explanation I can understand. I kept re reading the manuals and booklets andninternet and could not figure it out. Our walk through was thorough but we certainly weren't thinking of heat in June! Just figured we flip the switch. Did not anticipate being parked in my mothers tiny driveway without electricity. Lol thank you! We'll make sure we get plugged in tomorrow and recharged.

[gandb26]

While I'm on this subject, what would be the best way to keep the batteries charged when we don't have power? We have the solar panel hookup on the outside by the door. Should we get a few panels? Would that be enough so that when we Ocassionally have to park at a Walmart or my moms neighbors driveway without power, it would charge them enough to run the heat overnight?

[rockfordroo]

If you're parked in your mothers driveway, why can't you run an extension cord to a 110VAC outlet at the house? You shouldn't need much juice to run the converter to keep the battery charged and run the furnace blower.

If you have 50 amp service, you can get a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter like this:



Once you've got this (or if you've only got 30 amp service to begin with), you can get a 30 amp to 15 amp adapter like this:



Then you can plug directly into an extension cord. You can't run your AC with this setup, but you can power the converter to charge the battery and run the furnace blower.

You can get these at Camping World, Home Depot, Walmart, etc.

[lbrunning]

this is a class c motor home cant you run your generator

[NoviBill]

A few thoughts:

• If you are going to park without power often, get a 2nd battery
• If you drive every day that should keep your house battery charged
• The generator is a good way to charge the battery
• Solar is great for charging if you are not "Up North" during the winter

Bill (who has run out of battery on a 30deg nights and somehow still has a DW)

[bend302]

Of all of the 12 volt stuff on your MH, the furnace fan uses the most power. If you only have one batty, I would suggest a second one. One cold night will deplete one battery and seriously drain two.

You don't want to let the batteries get and stay too low as that shortens their life. Be sure to charge with generator or a long drive every day where you plan to dry camp and run furnace.

Bill.

[gandb26]

Thanks everyone. We are such newbies! The houses are really, really close so we didn't want to run the generator and we were actually parked in a neighbors driveway because my moms was too small and didn't want to have to use her electricity because she was out of town and we hadn't asked her for that but we finally just plugged in the last night because I was tired of getting cold at 5 am Lol. Now we know how something else works! Yay! This page is great. Thanks for all the responses.

[bikendan]

How this basic stuff operates, would've been gone over, if your dealer had provided a good PDI.

Obviously they didn't give you one.

[rockfordroo]

This might help you, too, if you have a Suburban heater. It's always good to know HOW something operates.