My new TT suffered it's first failure

[Frizlefrak]

Up to the New Mexico High Country for our last trip this year.  Getting down into the 40's at night already.  No sweat....I have a brand new travel trailer, two full bottles of propane, and full hookups, right?  Famous last words....guess what failed.

Yep...the furnace.  Ran fine the first two nights, middle of the third night I woke up freezing my buns (among other parts) off.  I turned off the thermostat, and then back on, and it fired up.  Warm until the AM.

Next evening, it won't come on at all.  Fan starts, runs for 30 seconds, and shuts off.  I'm assuming it's failing to light and shutting off by design.  Tried both propane tanks, and they work fine on the stove, so there's pleny of gas.  All fuses and circuit breakers are good. 

It's going back to the dealer on Friday....they said no problem, it's warranty.  Grand scheme of things it wasn't a big deal, it could have been worse....no hot water, slide stuck out, awning stuck out, plumbing leak, etc.  Extra blankets, and we finished up the trip.  I WILL buy a small electric heater for next time as a backup....lesson learned.

Other than this, the rig has been trouble free.  This dealer has been wonderful thus far....we'll see how long that lasts LOL.

 

[Foto-n-T]

I'd be so happy if only I "had" to turn the furnace on right now!!  We arrived in Lake Havasu City AZ on Sunday afternoon and it's been 105-106 both days.  They say that we should cover any plants tonite as the high today is only gonna get up to around 98 with lows in the 70's.

I'm basically cheap when it comes to burning my expensive propane (although I carry 3 30lb bottles), consequently when we're paying nitely or weekly rates and the electric is included we use space heaters exclusively.  It's a good thing you did use your furnace though as it would suck to find out that it failed after the warrauntee was up.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Look for something preventing air flow, either at the furnace intake (maybe a critter in the air inlet) or maybe even one of the heater outlets. If the fan cannot generate adequate airflow, the furnace will shut down.

There is a Furnace Troubleshooting guide in the forum Library.

 

[Frizlefrak]

Gary....it's blowing air (lots of it) for the short time it blows.  Just doesn't ignite.  The dealer will fix it under warranty, no worries.  I will read the troubleshooting guide in the Library though....next time it may be out of warranty.

All in all, very happy with the trailer though.  And Havasu sounds a bit warm for our tastes right now.  ;D

 

[Foto-n-T]

Havasu is only a temporary punishment simply because our daughters both still live here.  We'll be headed to the Lone Star State here in another ten days and back to work for a few months so we can afford to goof off again next summer for a while.  Hopefully we won't have to deal with tornadoes again this year in the Corpus area.

 

[rickf]

had a similar issue on our new trailer this past spring.
its a suburban heater in an arctic fox.  the fan switch
was supposed to be the problem according to suburban,
and the service tech worked the switch as told.  it failed
again the next week so the tech replaced the circuit board.
seemed to work fine after that.  now, after being off
all summer,...........

 

[mustangary]

I'd be so happy if only I "had" to turn the furnace on right now!!  We arrived in Lake Havasu City AZ on Sunday afternoon and it's been 105-106 both days.  They say that we should cover any plants tonite as the high today is only gonna get up to around 98 with lows in the 70's.

I'm basically cheap when it comes to burning my expensive propane (although I carry 3 30lb bottles), consequently when we're paying nitely or weekly rates and the electric is included we use space heaters exclusively.  It's a good thing you did use your furnace though as it would suck to find out that it failed after the warrauntee was up.

Just curious:  What amp load/wattage space heaters are you using?  Just wondering what kind of load one dares put on ac circuits in a TT (have a 5th wheel Jayco Pinnacle; just bought it, 2012 model)?  I guess up to 15 amp load is ok?

 

[Foto-n-T]

By federal regulations, residential space heaters can be no more than 1,500 watts, if you "did" manage to find one with a higher rating it would have a 20amp plug on it that wouldn't fit in your outlets.  The key is NOT to over load your outlet circuit i.e., make sure the space heater is off BEFORE your significant other fires up the blow dryer or punches the button down on the toaster.

Here's what my experience has taught me about space heaters, your mileage may differ:

Our fisrt rig was a 30amp unit and we used "one" space heater with absolutely no problems.  The rig we have now uses a 50amp service and we are able to use two space heaters at the same time but.....each space heater has to be plugged into a separate circuit.  In our case we plug one into the GFI in the bedroom and the other into a non-GFI linked/piggybacked outlet in the living room (same circuit as the entertainment center).  Both run no problem at the same time.  Now, if you're paying for electricity you have a decision to make.  Do you use the park electricity and pay for it or do you use your propane for the furnace and pay for it. Typically electricity is far more efficient for heating than propane and per BTU less expensive as well, unless you're in a park that's charging stupid prices for electricity (stupid being 35-50 cents per kwh).



.

 

[2Goldens]

I haven't used out furnace for some time.  I better give it a try when I head back up to my TT in about a week or two. 

 

[Frizlefrak]

UPDATE!

It's fixed.  Dealership said it was a failed limit switch in the furnace.  Covered under warranty.  Dealership advised me they were backed up and it would probably be two weeks, got it out in 5 days.  Underpromised, overperformed......great bunch of folks.  Shameless plug for Fun Country RV & Marine in Anthony, Tx. 

 

[John From Detroit]

Glad to hear you got it fixed, also glad to see it was 'Under Warrnanty"


And I used to have one heater that claimed to be 2,000 watts, Yet it never tripped a 15 amp breaker, it had a 15 amp plug, and in testing  it measured at    You guessed it, 1.999.9 watts (2000 in other words) I still have not figured out how they did that... Bearings in motors finally failed, trashing it.  I use 1500's now... With a bit of propane backup when it dips into the 30's. and I"m stuck on 30 amps.

 

[Frizlefrak]

John...this last foray into the realm of waking up cold convinced me.  I'm gonna stop by Lowes and pick up a couple of space heaters as a backup.  May throw an old electric blanket in too.  Wifey and I are thinking about a November trip into the high country if it doesn't snow too early. 

 

[Frizlefrak]

Well, I was a little too quick to praise the dealership.  Go to pick it up today, and the battery is dead....no landing jack.  They used a jumper box so I could hook it up.....got it home, used jumper cables to the battery to unhook.  Battery is charging, no problem.

The dealership left BOTH of my propane bottles on.  I've chewed them for that one.  They apologized, and the service advisor said she should have QA'd it herself before it left.  No......uhh....manure Dick Tracy, what was your first clue?

They replaced the limit switch on my furnace.  Guess what?  Won't come on.  Neither will my panel or my water pump.  15 amp fuse is fried.  Replace the fuse, everything comes on including the furnace.....except the furnace won't shut off, even when thermostat is off.  Well, it finally did....when it popped the fuse again.  Nice.

I'm going out of town on a non-RV trip for a few days, so can't do anything with it now....but needless to say, I'm a bit peeved.

So.....school me on what makes this thing tick and I'll just fix it myself.  I'm not dragging it on a 50 mile round trip again to get the same result from their obviously incompetent shop.  To top it all off, I feel like I'm coming down with the flu since this AM, so I'm not on my best behavior.  I'm really glad they're closed right now or it would probably get ugly.

 

[Alfa38User]

See you other thread on this subject for a further suggestion!!