Intermittent furnace problems

[Paul and Holly]

Have barely used our heater once or twice in our 2015 36 FB , and now when we need it, it gives us trouble. Have checked fuses and such and it worked after I checked once we got here, now it's not working.



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[mhs4771]

There has been an issue with the Squirrel Cage blower. The plastic cage it's self, self destructs and without it no furnace. There are several members on here who have had the problem, maybe they will be along to give you more details.

[Char & Steve]

I am one of those with heater issues but finally fixed after the third unit.
Not sure of your exact problem but my cage fan blew up three times.
Final repair to fix was that Redwood had knocked out two blanks on the heater box that could not be seen since it was on the blind side and this was making the unit overheat and melt the cheap plastic cage fan. RW service first tried to tell me that I was shutting it down wrong and I simply said that your thermostat is automatic so you really think it's me?

Then I talked with Suburban directly and there was not enough return air from the interior so we added another return.
Used the heater for about a month this year and all is fine.
If you think this could be your issue send me a pm and we can talk.

Steve

[Paul and Holly]

Can I remove the 4 screws on the outside panel and inspect the fan without going into it from the basement and without messing up the gasket on the outside panel?

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[Char & Steve]

Yes you can, The cover come off easily. Once your looking at the inside you can tell immediately if it's the cage fan as parts will be everywhere. Look at all sides were the hoses / ducts are connected to the box. Every knockout in the heater box should have a hose to it and not just an open hole.

Steve

[Paul and Holly]

Opened it up and found no visible problems, 12 volts are present and fan spins freely. Emailed RW, of course it is Labour Day weekend. So here we are Eastside of Glacier park in St . Mary's Montana and chance of rain and snow the next few days.

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[Shane Wood]

I no this Is probably a dumb question have you checked your propane. Also pull the thermostat off the wall. There is a fuse in it you can check. One of my heat pumps quit working so I pulled the thermostat off and found a wire had come out of the wire nut. Check that all wire connections are tight

[Paul and Holly]

Yes propane is good and fuse is good, I will pull it off the wall next, thanks for the suggestion.

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[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by Paul and Holly

Opened it up and found no visible problems, 12 volts are present and fan spins freely. Emailed RW, of course it is Labour Day weekend. So here we are Eastside of Glacier park in St . Mary's Montana and chance of rain and snow the next few days.

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You need to buy an electric heater and plug it in. I can't tell you how many times I've used an electric heater to heat a camper. Also, don't know what RV you have but most Redwoods have a heat pump on at least one of the A/C's and they also have an electric fireplace. No need to freeze!

[Paul and Holly]

Oh yes. Both AC's are heat pump and they were still working fine set at 62 with outside temp down to 38 and the fireplace on.

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[Paul and Holly]

Furnace repair complete, it was the control board.

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[Shane Wood]

Thanks for the update

[Paul and Holly]

Thanks for all the input!

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[5th_Time]

Just started the furnace to work inside the unit and I don't remember having such rough combustion. Sounds like normal punctuated with "mini-explosions" while it's running. Plenty of heat and pretty quiet inside. Outside, it's about 30 - 40 degrees here in CT. Sounds like it's running lean then "catches up" with a gulp of propane - changing the pitch of the exhaust.

I haven't taken it apart yet, but I don't want to pull the furnace if I'm having a propane or regulator issue. Anyone had rough sounding combustion in their furnace? I think it's a Suburban SFY42...

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by 5th_Time

Just started the furnace to work inside the unit and I don't remember having such rough combustion. Sounds like normal punctuated with "mini-explosions" while it's running. Plenty of heat and pretty quiet inside. Outside, it's about 30 - 40 degrees here in CT. Sounds like it's running lean then "catches up" with a gulp of propane - changing the pitch of the exhaust.

I haven't taken it apart yet, but I don't want to pull the furnace if I'm having a propane or regulator issue. Anyone had rough sounding combustion in their furnace? I think it's a Suburban SFY42...

Mike......I assume you have purged all the air from the LP supply lines. If there is air in the lines or insufficient flow of LP the furnace can pop on and off.

A couple of years ago I had to replace the main changeover regulator because it was not letting sufficient LP flow. The way I could tell was by igniting all three burners on the range, then turn on the LP burner to the water heater and then try to start the furnace. The flame on the range burners would go out or go down to a very, very low flame. I changed out the main changeover regulator and that corrected the problem.

Hope this helps.

Guy

[Jim & Mary]

Also Guy, this year had to replace both LP gas bottle flexible hoses, both sides leaked. The old ones were really brittle, new ones much better. All my propane problems went away.

[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by hoosierguy

Mike......I assume you have purged all the air from the LP supply lines. If there is air in the lines or insufficient flow of LP the furnace can pop on and off.

A couple of years ago I had to replace the main changeover regulator because it was not letting sufficient LP flow. The way I could tell was by igniting all three burners on the range, then turn on the LP burner to the water heater and then try to start the furnace. The flame on the range burners would go out or go down to a very, very low flame. I changed out the main changeover regulator and that corrected the problem.

Hope this helps.

Guy

. What regulator did you end up replacing the original with? I think I have been having regulator issues as well.

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by Jim & Mary

Also Guy, this year had to replace both LP gas bottle flexible hoses, both sides leaked. The old ones were really brittle, new ones much better. All my propane problems went away.

Agree..........

I have owned our Redwood for 5 1/2 years. During the first 4 years, I have replaced pigtails 3 times, the red 30 psi regulator and the main changeover regulator.

The original pigtails were too short causing too much stress, so, I replaced them with 20 inch pigtails. The last time I ordered an extra to carry as a spare.

The red regulator developed a leak which I detected by the smell of propane when walking by the right side tank cabinet one day. Ordered the following part: Cavagna (91-1-490-1127B) 30 PSI Single-Stage High Pressure Regulator.
At the same time, I ordered a new changeover regulator: Cavagna (52-A-890-0006B) Auto Changeover Regulator Kit.

Both regulators have worked well now for a couple of years.

[SB-Dog]

I am wondering if this plastic squirrel cage is my issue.


We do not have much weather that drops below 35 degrees here, so I typically do not have to worry about freezing temps.



I have my coach parked at an RV resort and use electric heat to keep it heated when I am not there. I check on the RV weekly and there are times when short power outages occur. If the power does go out, I just turn the electric heater back on when I check on it.



I very seldom, use the propane furnace, and only use it for a back up heat source setting it at 59 degrees In fact, this is my 3rd time ever using my furnace. Cold weather has been forecast, so I decided to turn on my furnace for back up. Coach is 6 years old.



When I fired it up, it came on, heat worked, but I heard a noise coming from the furnace that sounded like a quiet generator running or like cards in the spokes of a bicycle.


Since I only set it at 59 degrees, as back up heat, I decided to just leave it on, and let it alone until I researched possible issues.


I will not be going over to the coach at least until the snow stops (4 days) +/-. I don't think it's going to get that cold, and hope power at the park stays on.



Any input or ideas are greatly appreciated.