Freezing and furnace problems

jegstrup · 11-13-2018, 11:17 AM

Stuck in Texas and it’s dropped into the upper 20’s here. My furnace quit working last night. When I started it again, the blower came on but it never fired up.
I took the cover off outside and found the reset switch. I clicked it and the furnace started making short quick blasts then fired up just fine.
That lasted about 5 mins then it shut off. After a couple mins the blower started again but not fire.
I’m going to try reset again but there’s something going on here that makes that only a temp fix.
Ideas?

MR.M · 11-13-2018, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jegstrup

Stuck in Texas and it’s dropped into the upper 20’s here. My furnace quit working last night. When I started it again, the blower came on but it never fired up.
I took the cover off outside and found the reset switch. I clicked it and the furnace started making short quick blasts then fired up just fine.
That lasted about 5 mins then it shut off. After a couple mins the blower started again but not fire.
I’m going to try reset again but there’s something going on here that makes that only a temp fix.
Ideas?

Sounds like gas flow issues . at 20 propane will not flow as well . the furnace will try and fire 3 times then lock out . . make sure bottles are full

jegstrup · 11-13-2018, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR.M

Sounds like gas flow issues . at 20 propane will not flow as well . the furnace will try and fire 3 times then lock out . . make sure bottles are full

Propane is good enough to fire up the burners on the stove, hot water heater seems to be firing good too

wahoonc · 11-13-2018, 11:26 AM

What brand of furnace?
I am having issues with my Atwood here in soggy TN. Pulled the control board last night... It was wet and had some surface corrosion on the back side. Dried everything off, cleaned the board and back in business for now. Need to order a new Dinosaur board for it.

Aaron [emoji41]

jegstrup · 11-13-2018, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wahoonc

What brand of furnace?
I am having issues with my Atwood here in soggy TN. Pulled the control board last night... It was wet and had some surface corrosion on the back side. Dried everything off, cleaned the board and back in business for now. Need to order a new Dinosaur board for it.

Aaron [emoji41]

My rig is a 2018 and I just had to replace the circuit board on the water heater.
I tried the reset button again and it didn’t work this time.
Fortunately, a local mobile repair guy had an opening this afternoon.
Brand new motorhomes shouldn’t have all these problems!

nayther · 11-13-2018, 11:48 AM

what code does the board give you? Should be a flashing red light, count the flashes and look it up.

MR.M · 11-13-2018, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jegstrup

Propane is good enough to fire up the burners on the stove, hot water heater seems to be firing good too

furnace takes a lot more flow ! may try cleaning the burner and flame sensor .

Skip12 · 11-13-2018, 12:50 PM

You dont say if you're on shore power or battery. A low battery is one cause for this.

xgarys · 11-13-2018, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR.M

furnace takes a lot more flow ! may try cleaning the burner and flame sensor .

My money is also on low propane flow. Check out this article on propane vaporization characteristics. The short version is that propane doesn’t vaporize as well at lower tank temperatures.

https://www.elgas.com.au/blog/1948-h...g-vaporisation

Also, is there a chance that the fuel in the tank came from a warmer region? Propane from southern states, especially in warm weather seasons, is often blended with butane which has a much higher boiling point. I carry a butane soldering iron in my service van that just flat won’t ignite below 60 degrees.

HangDiver · 11-13-2018, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xgarys

My money is also on low propane flow. Check out this article on propane vaporization characteristics. The short version is that propane doesn’t vaporize as well at lower tank temperatures.

https://www.elgas.com.au/blog/1948-h...g-vaporisation

Also, is there a chance that the fuel in the tank came from a warmer region? Propane from southern states, especially in warm weather seasons, is often blended with butane which has a much higher boiling point. I carry a butane soldering iron in my service van that just flat won’t ignite below 60 degrees.

This^^^^^^^ Betting your issue is temp related. Please post up how this gets resolved as it helps others....

Cypressloser · 11-13-2018, 02:18 PM

X3
Butane is useless in cold weather, especially when you use a high volume appliance like the furnace. You may have to swap your cylinders out for Propane that is not blended with Butane.

koller1509 · 11-13-2018, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jegstrup

Stuck in Texas and it’s dropped into the upper 20’s here. My furnace quit working last night. When I started it again, the blower came on but it never fired up.
I took the cover off outside and found the reset switch. I clicked it and the furnace started making short quick blasts then fired up just fine.
That lasted about 5 mins then it shut off. After a couple mins the blower started again but not fire.
I’m going to try reset again but there’s something going on here that makes that only a temp fix.
Ideas?

I would check your high temp limit switch. If it trips it will cut off the gas but let the fan run. try jumpering it out.

jeff64 · 11-13-2018, 02:23 PM

Take a look at a Warm Guard WG 20 on Amazon

jegstrup · 11-13-2018, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip12

You dont say if you're on shore power or battery. A low battery is one cause for this.

Hooked up on 30a shore power

jegstrup · 11-13-2018, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xgarys

My money is also on low propane flow. Check out this article on propane vaporization characteristics. The short version is that propane doesn’t vaporize as well at lower tank temperatures.

https://www.elgas.com.au/blog/1948-h...g-vaporisation

Also, is there a chance that the fuel in the tank came from a warmer region? Propane from southern states, especially in warm weather seasons, is often blended with butane which has a much higher boiling point. I carry a butane soldering iron in my service van that just flat won’t ignite below 60 degrees.

I’ve been hauling this bottle around since sometime back in the summer

jonwisconsin · 11-13-2018, 03:04 PM

Aaron, how did your board got wet?

McCormickJim · 11-13-2018, 03:20 PM

Following this . . . please be sure to post our resolution. Thanks!

jonwisconsin · 11-13-2018, 03:20 PM

In the meantime, get a couple of space heaters. That's what I would do, as it going to be colder tonight.

A32Deuce · 11-13-2018, 03:58 PM

While looking for heated blankets, discovered best temp for a blanket is 90 degrees. When I worked and we ran a blower/heater for working in the underground in the winter. We would point the engine exhaust at the tank to keep propane flowing. There would be a heavy frost line at the propane level down to the ground. Heated by the exhaust, the frost line would be close to the ground.

wahoonc · 11-13-2018, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonwisconsin

Aaron, how did your board got wet?

Heavy rain ..and I washed it a couple of days earlier. Not quite sure how the water gets into the compartment. It has also been through two tropical storms.

I had this same issue a few weeks ago, did a reset and it worked for the rest of the trip. This time the reset didn't work. Pulled the board and there was a bit of water under it. Dried everything, cleaned the board and it went back to working.

Aaron [emoji41]

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