Heater firing sequence for a '62 Bambi.

[W. Higgins]

I thought yesterday, just for the helluva it, I would try to fire the heater in my '62 Bambi. I can't figure it out. I've gone over it, everything is nice and clean and I don't have any gas leaks. Mine has a thermostat on the wall and an electric ignitor that operates off the 12 volt system. I seem to have power to everything, so I figure there is some safety measure that is overriding me. Thanks in advance for any help.

-Walter.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by W. Higgins

I thought yesterday, just for the helluva it, I would try to fire the heater in my '62 Bambi. I can't figure it out. I've gone over it, everything is nice and clean and I don't have any gas leaks. Mine has a thermostat on the wall and an electric ignitor that operates off the 12 volt system. I seem to have power to everything, so I figure there is some safety measure that is overriding me. Thanks in advance for any help.

-Walter.

Walt.

Several members can offer help, but the make and model must be known.

Andy

[Ganglin]

Walter,

Did anything happen at all? We just tried our furnace for the first time - it's a Suburban - 1998 model with electronic ignition. The sequence we followed was to turn on the gas at the line next to the furnace. On the thermostat there was an on/off switch we turned on - then raised the temp. on the thermostat until it "clicked". Nothing happened. I left it alone and went back to reading the manual. After about 5 minutes the fan kicked on - it's supposed to do this to purge gases - then it ran at least 10 minutes before it finally ignited. After that it cycled much faster.

[W. Higgins]

Oh cool. Thank you, Gary. I've not yet had a chance to look up the model number on my unit. I think it is as old as my Bambi, but it sounds like yours in principal. Maybe I would have had the same result if I had to spend time reading a manual, but I don't have one. I turned on the gas valve, turned on the "on" switch on the thermostat, raised the temperature (even checked the thermostat for voltage) but I didn't wait anywhere near that long for something to happen. I'll get the model number and check back. If that doesn't yield any answers, I'll give your process a shot.

Thanks so much,

-Walter.

[W. Higgins]

I looked for a data plate, but there are no identifying marks whatsoever. The only information I can find on the unit is the UL tag, but that doesn't tell you anything except their control number.

[W. Higgins]

If it helps, I've now found where both the thermostat on the wall and the exhaust vent plate on the outside say, "Hydro-Flame".

[Ganglin]

Walter,

Doubt you have an original furnace on a 62 - given it's electronic ignition. The furnace was manufactured by Atwood and HydroFlame is the model.

Here are the various model numbers for Atwood/HydroFlame:
Hydroflame/atwood Furnaces 1522 Two-stage 2334 Two-stage 2540 Two-stage 7912 Furnace 7916 Furnace 7920 Furnace 8000 Ii Series 8516 8520 8525 8531 8535 8900 I Series 8900 Ii Series 8900 Iii Ld Series 8900 Iii Series Ac8200 Series Dc8200 Series Fa7200 Series Fa7600 Series Fa7800 Series Fa7900 Series General Technical Information Hf77 Hf8000 Series R25 Direct Vent Furnace Thermostats

Our furnace has a foil label on the access door but its starting to peel from age - maybe yours already has - did you try looking on the inside of the access door. Scanned through some of the parts for the above and they have a "time delay relay" on these furnaces as ours does.

Good Luck.....

[Ganglin]

Here is a link to a Hydroflame manual:

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/operating/hflameowners.pdf

[W. Higgins]

Thank you for your help, Gary. I'm having trouble with .pdf's a the moment, and I can't get the links you provided to open, if indeed they are links. I get a "Page cannot be displayed" with every one I try to open.

I had thought my unit was original to the Bambi as I didn't know ignitors came into production later and my trailer is so unmolested, it was just an assumption.

I tried what the previous poster stated about turning everything on and waiting, but after waiting 15 minutes nothing had changed.

Whatever labels were there are no more, I've looked on everything. I'll work on getting that .pdf open. Would a picture of the unit help, are you good enough to visually identify it?

Thanks,

-Walter.

[Ganglin]

Hi,

The model numbers above will not link to the site I got them from and were not intended to. The web link in the second message, if you will copy and paste it into your browser address, should take you to the instruction manual. Your furnace has been replaced if it has an electronic ignitor on it.

Next suggestion is to get a tube cleaner brush from an RV store and run it through all the feed lines. Dust and spider webs will also keep the unit from firing. A can of compressed air might also help. I'll post another link for you that will take you to an RV dealer that I got this information from.

[Ganglin]

Here is the link to the dealer that has this information on their site.
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/r...?source=google

One thing I noticed is that they refer to a switch on the furnace, beyond the thermostat switch, that controls the power. Do you see anything like that..?

[W. Higgins]

Thanks, the problem with the .pdf is my own and I need to fix that anyway. It is very inconvenient. I'm told it has something to do with my settings not allowing files over a certain size to open. I'll get that taken care of.

I thought I did an alright job of cleaning it, but if it's that finniky I'll go over it again.

I don't see a switch on my furnace, but there is a spring loaded push button where the electrical connections are made inside that I assumed was for striking the ignitor, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I'll look again for an electrical on/off. Also, the gas on/off knob that rotates 180 degrees also pushes in and out, as would a pilot type furnace, but the knob has no pilot indicator.

Thanks for all your help. I'll do some more reading and then play with it some more.

[Ganglin]

OK - let's deal with Adobe first. Open it from your list of programs - click Edit and then Preferences - make sure Display Large Images is selected. If it is and you know you have a problem - chose Help - then Online Support - and download the Windows update - presuming you are using Windows.

[Ganglin]

Now to deal with the furnace. I owe you an apology. When you said you had an electronic ignitor I presumed it was like ours - it ignites on its own and there is no standing pilot light.

With the valve on a spring set up it sounds like a standard push and ignite to get the pilot light. I'll suggest one more thing.

- make sure the lines are full of gas by lighting the range
- turn the thermostat switch on and slide the temp. down all the way
- open the furnace gas valve and push in then press the ignitor
- this may take a few attempts/minutes
- presume there is a window/panel that let's you see if the pilot is lit
- once the pilot is lit crank the temp. up on the thermostat

Good luck and sorry for the confusion - ahh.. the value of photos.

[W. Higgins]

Sorry for the slow reply, Gary. I don't receive email updates, need to change my settings.

You are the most useful person I've encountered here, thank you for your help. Regarding Adobe, I don't have an option to Display Large Images, or anything like that. My friend, who built my computer and does this as his business, can probably help as he knows what version I have, and such. I'll get that squared away soon.

Secondly, your checklist:

-I have gas to the furnace.
-thermostat on and temperature raised.
-I've turned on and depressed the valve and ignitor. Tell me this: should the ignitor arc regardless whenever the button is pushed? I can't get an arc at all. Maybe I have a bad transformer?
-I have a window, but no luck getting a pilot.


Photos I can post, I know how to do that. Let me try to get something posted for you tomorrow, if that helps. Sounds like I have an ignitor problem.

Thanks again.

[Ganglin]

Here see if this helps - yes, I know it's an Adobe file but not able to get it to you any other way.

[W. Higgins]

Hello Gary,

Yes, that does help. Thanks. Opening a saved .pdf from my hard drive is not a problem, just from the internet. I was able to read that. I see in the start-up instructions one detail that I might have missed, I'll try again sometime over the weekend.