Furnace in Roo 233s

Anderson5280 · 06-08-2015, 01:44 PM

Hello All, I have posted about my furnace before but I thought I would start a new thread since it was a while back. (And sorry being a book)

We finally got out on our first weekend trip this year just over this last weekend. My main concern has always been the furnace not igniting. It will only kick on an ignite about 2 out of every 10 times I turn it on. I had taken it in after just within our first year and the dealer said it was working fine and they couldn't find the problem. It was also difficult for me to replicate since it always worked from my driveway but when I got to the campsites it would never work while dry camping.

Last summer I finally was feed up and while the blower was running I would tap on the top with my hand and it would kick on, so I thought ok, maybe a bad sail switch, at least that is what other members thought from my last post. However, that didn't work this time around on my weekend outing. I will say though the first night of our outing I just flipped it on and it worked and I set it down to about 60 for overnight and it did kick on and run 2 times over night and then stopped after the 3rd time when it would ignite.

So the second night, I decided to take the cabinet panel off, then take the actual front metal plate off the furnace. I didn't see any loose wires, everything was connected that I could see, all screws were tight. And prior to doing this I turned on the heater and the blower motor went on and then shut off. Now, with the front panel of the unit off, I could see the access port for the pilot light. I flipped it on and it worked, just within about 10 seconds the igniter kicked in and it lit. I put the panel back on and it ran for a while until it reached temp and shut off. this night I just left off the heater over night.

The next morning it wouldn't work again, it was a bit chilly and once again, I took the cabinet panel off, then the panel to the unit, turned it on and it lit again, no problem!!!

At this point I am think...WTF...so frustrating because it seems as if the blower is maybe impacting the lighting some how? I know when the panel is off you can fill that blower motor forcing air out.

My other thought were battery, but I have 2 12v parallel and after swapping all my lights out with LEDs I can go 2 nights and 3 days and only use 10% battery or so, so I know I have the draw to start that heater. I know this because I can take the panel off and ignites.

And when I am on shore power there is no problem at all!

So what do you all think would be causing this?

Anderson5280 · 06-08-2015, 02:35 PM

Sorry, should have listed in the first thread.

2013 Roo 233S
TV: 2015 Tahoe 5.3l

Davylee · 06-15-2015, 12:51 PM

Okay I have a 2014/2015 23SS had a similar problem but after banging the top of the heater a couple of times and some really bad roads, mine has not failed in at all. So I am thinking it was the sail switch. Not sure what your problem is, hopefully someone will chime in and give you a direction. There are some youtube videos on the heater, a canadien guy and he tests them on a bench somehow with gas.

skyhawk133 · 06-15-2015, 09:29 PM

Had this exact same problem on our 2015 Roo 17 last weekend. We just took it out for the 2nd time and it was chilly outside. Furnace worked fine the first couple cycles, then wouldn't ignite. Kicks on for 10-15 seconds, no electric ignition click, then shuts off. Take the panel off, wiggle some wires. Works fine. Put the cover back on. Won't work. Cover back off, works fine. Cover on. No workie.

After a few cycles, the thing just flat out wouldn't turn on at all, no blower even. After about an hour it would at least turn on again, but still not light. No clicking from the igniter.

rockfordroo · 06-16-2015, 08:57 PM

My Roo 19 acted like this. I replaced the crappy T-stat with a Honeywell RTH111 digital and never had another problem.

skyhawk133 · 07-19-2015, 06:01 PM

@Anderson5280 we took our Roo 17 out this weekend, first night, furnace worked perfectly. 2nd night, no dice. I video taped it and I think I figured out what may be causing the problem, and even have a viable solution. I'm going to make my own thread and post the videos and troubleshooting steps I've taken as our dealer could not reproduce the issue and Suburban (furnace manufacturer) has said they can't do anything without being able to reproduce the problem.

Short and sweet of it is, I figured if the cover was off and it worked, there may be a pressure issue. Put the cover back on, wouldn't work. But... take the vent covers off (that direct the air in to the trailer), and voila, worked every time. Put them back on, stopped working. Sounds like a pressure sensor in the blower sensing too much resistance.

meulfam · 07-26-2015, 09:31 PM

Hi skyhawk133,

What cover are you referring to? Is it the one on the outside of the trailer that goes to the furnace? Ours is epoxied down so we can't remove that one. We just bought the trailer 2 days ago and are getting quite frustrated that the furnace won't work. It's going to be really cold tonight. It's a 2015 Rockwood Roo 233S.

Any help would be appreciated!

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyhawk133

@Anderson5280 we took our Roo 17 out this weekend, first night, furnace worked perfectly. 2nd night, no dice. I video taped it and I think I figured out what may be causing the problem, and even have a viable solution. I'm going to make my own thread and post the videos and troubleshooting steps I've taken as our dealer could not reproduce the issue and Suburban (furnace manufacturer) has said they can't do anything without being able to reproduce the problem.

Short and sweet of it is, I figured if the cover was off and it worked, there may be a pressure issue. Put the cover back on, wouldn't work. But... take the vent covers off (that direct the air in to the trailer), and voila, worked every time. Put them back on, stopped working. Sounds like a pressure sensor in the blower sensing too much resistance.

skyhawk133 · 07-27-2015, 08:52 AM

Hi Meulfam, I'm talking about the cover inside the trailer, most likely under your dinette bench.

You can see another thread I've started documenting this with video here: http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ion-87970.html

I haven't had a resolution yet from the dealer, planning on taking it in later this month again.

meulfam · 07-27-2015, 11:24 AM

We ended up removing the cover last night and it ended up working. Thanks so much! We'll have to take it into a service center when we get home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyhawk133

Hi Meulfam, I'm talking about the cover inside the trailer, most likely under your dinette bench.

You can see another thread I've started documenting this with video here: http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ion-87970.html

I haven't had a resolution yet from the dealer, planning on taking it in later this month again.

skyhawk133 · 07-27-2015, 11:31 AM

Some additional detail on what I've found.

The first night, ours seems to work fine, battery completely full. After a night of us, and a day of dry camping, batteries are still pretty full (new batteries, new trailer), but it's like there's not QUITE enough air movement to trip the sail switch. So not sure yet if motor is bad, sail switch is bad, or something else. But hope that helps.

Anderson5280 · 07-27-2015, 12:02 PM

Yep I have to remove my cabinet cover then the metal cover on the furnace itself. Once I do this the heater kicks in and runs without issue. I have the 233s so my furnace is under the sink.

Almost seems Asia there is not enough oxygen to kick on the flam, or there is too much air flow. I don't know if should try to fight with the dealer since it has been in before the warranty ended and was never fixed.

Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

skyhawk133 · 07-27-2015, 12:08 PM

Anderson, I think we figured out how to replicate it. It only happens when the batteries are about 2/3rds full. So when the dealer gets it, the batteries are typically full. I'm gonna run the batteries down in a couple weeks and take it in.

If you can, try removing the little circular vent covers (that direct the air) and see if it works without them. We are using that as a temporary solution. My guess here is there is not enough air flow against a sail switch when the batteries are not 100% full and the resistance from the vent covers exacerbates the problem. Opening those vents (or as we discovered, the cover) lets enough air move through to trip that sail switch I think.

So either a bad blower, or a bad sail switch (or one that needs adjusted) I think is the problem.

I'm not 100% sure the high altitude has anything to do with it yet (low oxygen), but going to see about testing it when I get it home next time after I run the batteries down some (I'm at about 5,000ft, we camp at 8,000ft).

jhoppmann · 08-04-2015, 10:02 PM

Weve gone on 2 trips in our Rockwood 2306. first trip was at 7000' on battery power and we had the same heater symptoms. We just did our second trip to a campground a few miles from the first place and had no problems with the heater but this place had 30A hookups....

jhoppmann · 09-29-2015, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhoppmann

Weve gone on 2 trips in our Rockwood 2306. first trip was at 7000' on battery power and we had the same heater symptoms. We just did our second trip to a campground a few miles from the first place and had no problems with the heater but this place had 30A hookups....

Update with another 2 trips.

7000' campsite on battery power and covers on = heater will not ignite
7000' campsite on battery power and covers off= heater works fine
7000' campsite on shore power and covers on or off = heater works fine

skyhawk133 · 09-29-2015, 02:02 PM

We're still experiencing the same results as well jhoppmann. I've done 3 more trips, all around 7,500-8,500 feet... covers on, no workie. Covers off, works fine. Shore power, works fine.

Took it in again, dealer couldn't replicate the problem at 5,000 feet, even with a low battery. They think it's a voltage issue and wanted me to try to replicate it by taking batteries out of parallel and trying each individually to see if there is a battery problem.

I still think it's a sail switch issue, but dealer is refusing to send it back saying since it works fine, they'll be charged for it.

My video of being able to replicate the problem didn't help apparently. I'm going to escalate up to FR Warranty support directly.

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