Furnace

Refrigerator, stove, furnace, water pump, air conditioner, microwave, water heater, fans, lighting
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Fred

Furnace

Post by Fred »

New owner of 1993 B190 that I bought last fall. Had everything working and went camping this past weekend for a tryout. The hot water heater worked well, but I couldn't get the heater working. It worked last week during a dry run. Could it lose the propane in the line or could it be the igniter? Can the heater be started manually? Any ideas on how to check would be appreciated. I enjoy reading all the posts and am learning alot. Keep up the good work.
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skater
Site Admin
Posts: 2569
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
WBCCI: 13270
Location: Annapolis, MD

Post by skater »

Well, first thing to check would be did the fan turn on? The heaters have a sail switch in them so they won't light without good airflow. In particular, make sure the exhaust port isn't clogged (guess how I learned that one? :) ).

Second, did you hear it trying to ignite? When it's trying to start, you should be able to hear a noise that sounds like a clicking noise; it's the igniter going off.

If there were a leak in the propane system you probably would smell it - although propane itself is odorless they add something that smells to it so you realize when it's leaking. So my guess is something internal to the furnace:

--Fan blower
--Sail switch
--Igniter

It's not very hard to pull the furnace out and check it - pop off the cover, then there are two Phillips screws holding it in place. Disconnect the gas line (with the gas off, of course). Disconnect the vent hose that goes to the bathroom... and you should be able to pull the unit out (mine has enough excess wire that I can pull it out and still run it). Have some thread tape for gas lines on hand to reconnect the gas line when you finish.

As for lighting it manually, I'm really not sure. I would guess that you can, but I'll have to look in the book to be sure. But if the igniter isn't triggering, then either there's something wrong with the igniter or the sail switch isn't detecting sufficient airflow - which is not something you'd want to attempt to override in the first place.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
Fred

Post by Fred »

Thanks for the reply. I'll Start to check things out this week. Sounds like it could be the igniter though.
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billybtalkin
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Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 12:00 am

heater warms 5-10 min. than cool air

Post by billybtalkin »

Hello, just would like to thank Skater for his reply to my problem with heater. Good advice, funny how we tend to over look the simple things... like plugging in the tv before calling the repairman, eh. Anyway, I browse alot of the Q&A and Skater is always one the first to assist. I appreciate people like him, God bless you Skater for your efforts to help others particularly without reward. Keep up the good work... JN.3:16-17
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