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Old 02-19-2019, 10:04 AM   #1
BarkingCrow
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Furnace kicks on, but then goes off within a few seconds ??

2019 Montana High Country 331RL

Hoping for a few suggestions on what to check on this. We've been full timing in the RV since 12/01/2018 and things have been great. For some reason, the gas furnace has stopped igniting (I think). It kicks on, and the fan runs for 10-12 seconds, but then it turns off. The air coming out of the vent is the normal room temp - no heated air at all.

The gas is working great for the water heater. All 3 eyes on the stove and the oven work fine. The tanks are full... just had them refilled late last week.

Any idea what's going on? It's not super cold where we are, and it's fine to let the faucets drip a little to prevent any freezing, as we're at a place with full hookups. I don't understand why it suddenly stopped working though.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

BC
 
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Old 02-19-2019, 10:30 AM   #2
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mine did the same 2 yrs ago. the problem was loose connections in rear air conditioner. remove filter and just check wiring there. Could also be something else but that was my problem. I never would have even thought to look there and had tried everything else so called mobile tech and he finally figured it out. Worth a shot.
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Old 02-19-2019, 11:08 AM   #3
BarkingCrow
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Originally Posted by PeteandJoan View Post
mine did the same 2 yrs ago. the problem was loose connections in rear air conditioner. remove filter and just check wiring there. Could also be something else but that was my problem. I never would have even thought to look there and had tried everything else so called mobile tech and he finally figured it out. Worth a shot.
There are two vents/filters for the rear AC unit, but neither of them provide any access to the innards of the unit... it's just an insulated space with a vent on the side leading up into the unit. Ugh. But thanks for the suggestion!

I checked the fuse box and everything looks fine. I wouldn't think it would come on, at all, if the fuse were blown. I don't see a separate fuse for the igniter, but maybe there is one. Hmm.
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Old 02-19-2019, 11:09 AM   #4
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The gas isn't reaching the furnace. Might need to light the stove for a few minutes and it will draw the gas in. I actually had a similar problem yesterday morning, the fan came on, then the furnace lit for about 5 seconds then went off. Turns out one propane tank was empty and the other didn't have enough propane to create pressure to keep the furnace lit. If your rig is a 2019, it still has warranty, call your dealer, he probably has a quick fix. Good luck.
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Old 02-19-2019, 02:55 PM   #5
BarkingCrow
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The gas isn't reaching the furnace. Might need to light the stove for a few minutes and it will draw the gas in. I actually had a similar problem yesterday morning, the fan came on, then the furnace lit for about 5 seconds then went off. Turns out one propane tank was empty and the other didn't have enough propane to create pressure to keep the furnace lit. If your rig is a 2019, it still has warranty, call your dealer, he probably has a quick fix. Good luck.
I lit the stove/oven for 10 mins to make sure there were no air pockets in the gas lines. The furnace still won't light.

Called the dealer... he said to head outside and listen for a clicking sound when it first comes on. Also, see if there is any propane smell in the air coming out the exhaust vent. I don't hear anything nor smell anything. Hmm. The closest dealer is nearly 2 hours away. I REALLY don't want to pack this thing up and drive down there. UGH
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Old 02-19-2019, 03:17 PM   #6
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It mite be the sail switch sticking! You can go on line and look up the brand of furnace you have and look up trouble shooting if you don't have the owners manual.
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Old 02-19-2019, 03:50 PM   #7
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The likely cause of the problem is that you just had the cylinders filled and now the furnace doesn't work. When you open the valves on the cylinders too fast, the excess flow valve in the pigtail nut closes off, but still allows enough gas to make the water heater and the burners on the stove to work, but not enough flow for the furnace to work. Turn off both valves on the cylinders, remove both the pigtails from the cylinders, then reattach the pigtails and SLOWLY open each valve. Once that is done, see if the furnace will light.
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Old 02-19-2019, 04:49 PM   #8
Butch & Kathy
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Mine started acting like that last year, the final fix was to suck junk out of the exhaust vent with a shop vac. Works great now. Give it a try.
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Old 02-19-2019, 06:14 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by BarkingCrow View Post
I lit the stove/oven for 10 mins to make sure there were no air pockets in the gas lines. The furnace still won't light.

Called the dealer... he said to head outside and listen for a clicking sound when it first comes on. Also, see if there is any propane smell in the air coming out the exhaust vent. I don't hear anything nor smell anything. Hmm. The closest dealer is nearly 2 hours away. I REALLY don't want to pack this thing up and drive down there. UGH
Sorry this is happening to you. It can be frustrating but when it is fixed, you have a better handle on how to fix next time. If there is no clicking sound, the igniter isnt working ( works just like your stove igniter). If you don't smell the gas, the valve isn't opening.
My dealer is also 2 hours away, but at some point you just have to make the trip to let them do the fix.

Good luck to you folks.

Steve Patterson
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Old 02-19-2019, 11:00 PM   #10
2Wanderers
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Thumbs up May be the regulator valve

I had this problem and got gas to stove, hot water heater, and furnace. The furnace would not ignite. Mobile tech came out and put a gas meter on the stove and determined the regulator had a momentary drop in gas pressure when the furnace valve opened which would not allow the furnace to ignite. Changed out the changeover regulator, and problem fixed!Good luck!
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Old 02-20-2019, 04:25 AM   #11
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Sail switch...Lots having problems with it.
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Old 02-20-2019, 04:50 PM   #12
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Thanks for all of the responses, folks. Nothing listed has worked. The only thing I haven't done is remove the cover at the exhaust vent to check the sail switch, as I'm not sure if doing so voids any warranty. We bought this RV just 3-4 months ago, so it is most certainly still under warranty. However... if nothing else has worked and it is indeed the sail switch, I'm tempted to check the thing. From what I can see it's a $15 part and 2 screws to replace (once you're inside the cover). It's 80 miles, one way, to the closest dealer, and we're full time in this thing, not camping. Between packing up all this crap, being on the road there and back, waiting for them to check/fix it, and paying for diesel in the truck... sigh. Is it really worth $15?

Again, it's not too chilly here and the heat pump is keeping things comfy. I'll ponder my dilemma a bit more before I do anything. Who knows; maybe we'll have a need to take the girl for a ride and we'll stop by the dealer on the way.

Thanks again... much appreciated.

D
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Old 02-21-2019, 02:22 PM   #13
Kyle and Lisa
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The new style aka heavy duty sail switches are in high demand and not available, I had to bend ours slightly towards the fan so that it would clear the mounting bracket, although I had a dirt dobber nest in the exhaust pipe also. I called dometic who now owns atwood and they are sending me a new sail switch at no charge $30.00 Although ours is working fine at this time, as we our in Tucson with snow and freezing temps.
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Old 02-21-2019, 05:36 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by BarkingCrow View Post
Thanks for all of the responses, folks. Nothing listed has worked. The only thing I haven't done is remove the cover at the exhaust vent to check the sail switch, as I'm not sure if doing so voids any warranty. We bought this RV just 3-4 months ago, so it is most certainly still under warranty. However... if nothing else has worked and it is indeed the sail switch, I'm tempted to check the thing. From what I can see it's a $15 part and 2 screws to replace (once you're inside the cover). It's 80 miles, one way, to the closest dealer, and we're full time in this thing, not camping. Between packing up all this crap, being on the road there and back, waiting for them to check/fix it, and paying for diesel in the truck... sigh. Is it really worth $15?

Again, it's not too chilly here and the heat pump is keeping things comfy. I'll ponder my dilemma a bit more before I do anything. Who knows; maybe we'll have a need to take the girl for a ride and we'll stop by the dealer on the way.

Thanks again... much appreciated.

D
I would spend 15.00 before taking the rig to the dealer and leaving it for a week or 2 for what is probably a easy job. It sometimes takes longer to trouble shoot the problem than fix it. If it isn't the sail switch then you could always keep the part as a spare as you will possibly need it in the future. What ever the problem please let us know as someone will probably have the same problem in the future.
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Old 02-21-2019, 07:23 PM   #15
Joe Hollars
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Mine was similar. My furnace would lite and run for about 50 seconds, then shut off. Turned out ours was the little 15 amp breaker in the fuse box. A new one cleared up the problem.
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Old 02-21-2019, 07:52 PM   #16
footz1941
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Mine would do the same thing, removed outside furnace cover. There was moisture inside, used hair dryer to dry circuit board and it started working. About a month later it quit again so i called a mobile service company They replaced the board under warranty. $79 service call was worth not having to hook up then wait at the dealer. Dealer supplied me with strip caulk to seal furnace door.
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Old 02-22-2019, 01:43 PM   #17
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I believe your RV has the Atwood furnace. If somlocate the control board module and there is an LED on it.. turn thermostat off, have someone turn thermostat to furnace while you observe the LED for number of flashes..

From the code it flashes you can narrow down your troubles a bit..

Since fan is spinning up you have 12 volts tomthe control module and fan.. it if either the sail switch doesn’t move over enough to complete the circuit OR the Hi Limit switch is open then you will not hear the DSI sparking...

It’s a guessing game until you further diagnose looking at LED..

It cud be an open sail switch, and open limit switch, or a bad control module. If you have the skill set and know how to use a simple multi meter you can verify both sail switch and hi limit switch in very short time...
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Old 02-24-2019, 01:29 PM   #18
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Only one word to say.
2 words..SAIL SWITCH.
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Old 02-24-2019, 01:54 PM   #19
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We had the same thing happen, did all the trouble shooting too. Take the furnace panel off the outside, there is a small venturie on the left side of the intake, i looked inside with a flashlight and saw a tiny spider web, cleaned it out with a small stick, and retried the furnace. Worked perfect again. Everyone told us the the sail switch too, hope this helps you.
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Old 02-24-2019, 03:00 PM   #20
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Went through all the Atwood crap this winter. The newer Montana's have a water intrusion issue, you need to pull the cover off and look for water. While you have the cover off have someone turn the therostat off and on, there is a light that goes green then red if it is flashing order an new control card (on Amazon for $80 ) might as well order a sail switch too. These two pieces are easy to fix with a small cross point screw driver. The other part of the equation is the thermostat it is probably ok but keep it in mind. Our unit is 4 years old and the manual swithover lever with regulator was only moving part way over causing low gas pressure particularly when it got down into the 30's. Good luck.
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