Freezing temps/ furnace suddenly quit - Montana Owners Club

Gbailey9099 · 02-28-2022, 09:22 PM

Hey all.

Perfecting timing while it’s supposed to drop to 15 tonight.
Got home from some errands and furnace was off. When I tried turning the thermostat off and back on the fan would blow and it wouldn’t even click like it was trying to ignite at first. After checking fuses and resetting the breaker a few times I got it to come on. It worked for about an hour (cycling on half a dozen times) then quit again.

I checked the sail switch which looked clean and good. I reset the board while I was out there. Came back inside, turned furnace on and on the third click it ignited. So how I have heat but am worried once it turns off it will not cycle back on.

Looking for both advice on how to keep it running tonight if possible. And wondering how to troubleshoot this for tomorrow.

My one worry and question if it could be the battery. I dewinterized about 2 weeks ago and had realized I never disconnected the battery. Everything’s been running fine but I wonder if that is likely the issue. I have a volt meter I can check it.

Gbailey9099 · 02-28-2022, 09:29 PM

Tested battery which looks fine. Read 13.5

rohrmann · 02-28-2022, 09:35 PM

13.5 is the converter voltage. Once you stop charging and the battery has stabilized, then check the voltage. You will likely never get great service from that battery now after running it dead and probably should replace it.

jimcol · 03-01-2022, 05:40 AM

Others on this forum have attributed similar furnace issues to the 15 amp dc self resetting fuse found in your dc distribution panel. Replacing the resetting fuse with a regular 15 amp fuse solved their issue.

ChuckS · 03-01-2022, 08:12 AM

Since you have an outside access panel to the furnace remove it and observe the RED LED on the furnace control board...

If it fails to fire off again but the blower motor is spinning up then the fuse IS NOT your issue..

TS using the fault code displayed by the LED light flash

FAULT LED INDICATION LOCKOUT
Internal Circuit BoardFailure Steady On, No Flashing Hard
Limit Switch/AirflowProblems 1-Flash With 3-Second Pause Soft
Flame Sense Fault 2-Flashes With 3-Second Pause Hard
Ignition Lockout Fault 3-Flashes With 3-SecondPause Soft

Depending on the age of the unit if you are hearing the igniter fire but its not lighting off I would pull the combustion chamber out and clean it and clean the igniter and flame sensor and measure and set the gap

Gbailey9099 · 03-01-2022, 09:17 AM

Thank you guys for the replies. Really appreciate it.
I’m going to change out my battery today to cancel that possibility out.

Furnace ran great last night and so far this morning.

DutchmenSport · 03-01-2022, 09:44 AM

Well, based on what you said, I think it was your Sail Switch. You said nothing was wrong with it, but the fact you checked it, means you had to remove it, wiggle it, and maybe THAT was all it needed to break the corrosion on the contacts. If you blew on it (which is what I'd do) it might have just enough dust on it to keep it from working properly and you removed the problem. Sail Switches are very sensitive to dust and dirt caught up in the blower. Also, the contacts can get arched up too, causing problems. So, in my opinion ... I think you inadvertently fixed your problem. (My opinions don't really matter though any more. I'm retired now. I'm not suppose to think about resolving issues any more!

Gbailey9099 · 03-01-2022, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

Well, based on what you said, I think it was your Sail Switch. You said nothing was wrong with it, but the fact you checked it, means you had to remove it, wiggle it, and maybe THAT was all it needed to break the corrosion on the contacts. If you blew on it (which is what I'd do) it might have just enough dust on it to keep it from working properly and you removed the problem. Sail Switches are very sensitive to dust and dirt caught up in the blower. Also, the contacts can get arched up too, causing problems. So, in my opinion ... I think you inadvertently fixed your problem. (My opinions don't really matter. I'm retired now. I'm not suppose to think about resolving issues any more!

Ok. It did seem odd that it worked so well after I checked that. Thank you for the reply means a lot!

Gbailey9099 · 03-01-2022, 10:38 AM

Battery should not affect the furnace either way while I’m hooked up to 50 amp correct?

ChuckS · 03-02-2022, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gbailey9099

Battery should not affect the furnace either way while I’m hooked up to 50 amp correct?

Correct... If you have verified the converter is outputting at least 13.2 volts DC when plugged into shore power then you dont even need a battery installed to run that furnace

Mlpve6229 · 03-02-2022, 01:37 PM

The 15 resettable fuse is what caused my heater to not work in our 20221 323iCK. After replacing the control board and problem was still happening I then replaced the resettable fuse with a standard fuse and the issue went away.
The resettable fuse trips at start up of the fan motor. The start up current of the fan motor exceeds the 15 amp and trip the fuse, then it resets it self. hard to trace a problem that resets it self.

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