No Heat at All! (...a chilly Noob)

Mr_Toad · 12-26-2012, 02:27 AM

Hi, All,

Soo....first snow, and the furnace in my shiny new 36FBhas stopped heating...period! (At least it generated heatthe first two times I usedthefurnacejust last week.

SCENARIO: Room ambient is 42 degrees, set furnace thermostat control to 69, switch on heat, furnaceblows only cool air from vents, furnace shuts down after just a few minutes.

QUESTION 1: Do folks know how to troubleshoot this one? The circuit breakers look okay, but I have not pulled out any of the fuses to check them yet.

QUESTION 2: Does the furnace heat viaELECTRICITY or PROPANE or BOTH? (I will check the manual.)

<---- me and my doggies with frostbite.

Thank you!

Robt.

sinder · 12-26-2012, 03:17 AM

Your primary furnace should be running on propane. You may also gave optional heat pump. For the propane heater check the pilot light. You may also want to switch over your propane tanks just in case you have an empty.

Mr_Toad · 12-26-2012, 03:25 AM

Thank you very much, Mr./Ms. Sinder!

I need to check my manual for where the furnace pilot light is located.(I have a 2013 36FB.)

Gosh, I wish all this learned how to do all this when it was warmer.

Robt.

Tobys Home · 12-26-2012, 06:48 AM

Robt. We had a similar problem this fall and ordered a new circuit board and limit switch. Well I found out that I didin't need them. Apparently when I switched my propane on I didn't open it slow enough to equalize the system and the valve basically shut itself off. Does your stove top work? If so, it's not a gas problem. Has your system ever worked? Have you checked your thermostat to see if any wires came loose? The cover should pop off or as mentioned you have two heat settings electric(for heat pump) and the other position is for the gas furnace. The system needs time to bleed out the air if not used. It tries to ignite three or so times and then it times out and the fan continues to run. Thus the cold air. Mine took many trys before it finally ran properly. One last easy check is to look at the wires outside to see if any came off. And I don't believe that the system uses a pilot but an electronic/gas solenoid to start. Good luck!

jlandon13399 · 12-26-2012, 10:00 AM

One thing I do before starting out is to open the range top burners and light them for a few seconds. This allows the air to purge out of the system. I then start the fridge on gas for the trip to the camp ground. Fridge lights quickly because most of the air is purged. Just an FYI.....

Mr_Toad · 12-26-2012, 10:45 AM

FALSE ALARM!

Sort of...turns out I needed to open my SECOND propane tank. My misteak!

IDEA: However, I do likeToby'sidea to turn on the gas stove to see if theproblem is gas flow!

QUESTION: Do Redwood RV Furnaces really have a Pilot Light? If so, where is it?

Robt.

Tobys Home · 12-26-2012, 11:09 AM

That's a nice Christmas bonus. Great to hear!

BradPAjax · 12-26-2012, 11:31 AM

The new furnaces are on demand... no pilot lights for water tank or furnace.... they have electronic ignition that runs off 12 volt system.

jlandon13399 · 12-26-2012, 11:57 AM

Brad,

Thanks for the info on the elcetronic ignition.

Mr Toad,

Welcome to the "club" Where we all have made mental errors with a new RV!!

COLJDM · 12-26-2012, 11:28 PM

It really sucks when the gas runs out, and it normally does about 3AM on a cold, wet and very chilly night!! Glad to hear the gas switchover fixed the issue and provided the much needed fuel to provide comforting warmth. Best of luck with your new coach. We really enjoy ours.

**Dave&Ginny** · 12-27-2012, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by COLJDM

It really sucks when the gas runs out, and it normally does about 3AM on a cold, wet and very chilly night!! Glad to hear the gas switchover fixed the issue and provided the much needed fuel to provide comforting warmth. Best of luck with your new coach. We really enjoy ours.

Since we bought the generator and got the 40 lb LP tanks, I carry an extra one with me for this reason. There's been a few times I've thought about getting a second spare to carry as well.

Amishco · 12-27-2012, 08:45 AM

I have been dry camping in ours since we had it delivered 3 weeks ago every weekend, using the heat pump and propane, as well as fireplace, when I put my gauge on propane tanks that CW said were full the gauge read 1/4 full, last weekend I also felt cold air coming from the floor vents during the night and switched over to heat pump to get through the night. next day filled both tanks and working fine again. I also light stovetop when I change tanks to get propane flowing again.

Blacklion · 12-27-2012, 03:59 PM

I have a 5,000 watt gen from cummins. Man does that thing suck thepropane. I was told I had the 40lb bottles, but discovered they were 30s. Another item the dealer got me on. Trying to find 40s but haven't been able to as of yet. We run the fireplace most of the time as it does a fine job, but only for the living area. Found only 2 of our floor vents put out heat so I'm guessing the others are either not connected or perhaps the hoses are smashed. Going to the factory in May with a laundry list for them to fix. My main MAJOR problem is outside on the sw corner of the bedroom slide. The side of the rig is actually cracking towards the front of the rv. Structural problem I'm guessing. Anyone else have this issue?

jlandon13399 · 12-27-2012, 04:45 PM

Blacklion,

So far so good with our RW34SK. Due to your post I will definitely look for this problem on our rig.

mhs4771 · 12-27-2012, 04:53 PM

There are two trains of thought about the Propane tanks. Some leave both open and let the autochange over do it's job, others, like us prefer to only have one open at a time. Granted if you're going to run out it will happen in the middle of the night, but I would prefer to know that I still have a full tank to switch too, rather than finding out it had already switched and that I now had two empty tanks. You have to make your own decision as to which path to follow.

**Dave&Ginny** · 12-27-2012, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhs4771

There are two trains of thought about the Propane tanks.Â* Some leave both open and let the autochange over do it's job, others, like us prefer to only have one open at a time.Â* Granted if you're going to run out it will happen in the middle of the night, but I would prefer to know that I still have a full tank to switch too, rather than finding out it had already switched and that I now had two empty tanks.Â* You have to make your own decision as to which path to follow.

for some reason my generator didn't want to run with one bottle closed.

Adamsvr · 12-27-2012, 05:58 PM

In your tank status light closet, you'll see a switch labled DSI (Direct Start Ignition). Turn it on and you should have heat. If you don't, go outside to the hot water heater and open it up. You'll see two reset buttons. Push them in to reset the hot water/furnace.Edited by: Adamsvr

BradPAjax · 12-27-2012, 06:36 PM

All,
I bought propane gauges at Canadian Tire in the BBQ section for about $24.00 each. These are hooked in-line with my connections so I know exactly how much propane we have in each bottle. We also only one one at a time. I assume the system only draws on one at a time in the RW. The trailer we had 20 yrs ago had two 20 lb bottles and would draw both down if the valves we opened.

mhs4771 · 12-27-2012, 08:15 PM

Dave, ours ran fine with only one valve open, entill it emptied the tank.

COLJDM · 12-27-2012, 09:07 PM

Highly recommend you contact Redwood Service now find a local service shop to fix your issues. We have done this (contacted Brian) and he was wonderful in finding an authorized representative and the work that was done was to great. I would not allow a potential structural item linger. If you google Crossroads RV Service Centers you may find service support close to your location (Authorized Crossroads Service Centers can perform warranty work on Redwood Coaches). Just my opinion.

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