furnace won't stay on

[Coloradoair]

Having a rough weekend. Mirror in bathroom fell off and furnace won't stay for more than 5 seconds and blows cold air. Have plenty of gas, both the stove and the water heater are working.

Any tips on how to get the furnace up and running?

[Minno]

By not staying on for more then 5 seconds, what exactly do you mean? When you turn up the thermostat, exactly what happens? The order should be:
1. The fan kicks in
2. The burner lights once the furnace senses air movement from the fan (or the fan motor is turning depending on the exact sensor as I understand it)
3. Warm air heats up the trailer until the thermostat is satisfied and drops the signal to the furnace
4. The burner shuts off
5. The fan continues to blow air until it cools off

If step 1 happens but not step 2, then the first thing to check is the burner. Spiders and other small critters like to build nests around propane, and a simple cleaning may solve your problem. Other things that could be wrong are the sensor that detects the fan moving air, the circuit board itself, or the gas valve.

I'd try the simple cleaning first.

Chris

[Coloradoair]

Chris -

Thank you very much for the response. I am getting to step 1 only. There is no hot air coming out. The fan runs for 5-10 seconds every so often, like it is trying to work. I have reset the breaker as the owners manual instructs and checked the breaker. I have checked the furnace for critters, it is very clean. I have also turned off all power and tired to restart. Propane supply is near full. Nothing has worked. The troubling thing is that it worked beautifully the night before.

Owners manual says to not light the pilot and frankly I cannot even see it. These new models are advised as electric starts and no lighting need or recommended.

Any other insights?

Thanks much!!

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, this happened to me, only once. Turn the thermostat off, go outside and open furnace door, turn furnace switch to off position, wait five minutes, and turn it back on. Then try the thermostat again. It worked on mine, and it was when my trailer was very new; Never had a problem since.

[ventport]

It is possible that the furnace has it's own gas shut off. Look under the trailer directly under the furnace, or inside the furnace cabinet. It may be as simple as the gas to the furnace is shut off.

[knunut]

Same Prob on 07. I removed one wire at a time on Furnace Circuit Board and crimped the wire connection so that it would go back on "Tight". You can also clean the terminal post w/an eraser and wipe off. I think the Crimping fxd ours,wrkd since.

[Coloradoair]

I tried everything listed above, but the cleaning and crimping of wires and nothing has worked. It drives me crazy that it worked the night before and then stopped. We were on our first trip, so I am not willing to do a tear down. I want the dealer to fix this one as the trailer is literally 5 days old. Frustrating. I am taking it to the dealer today. I will keep you posted.

[ED drake]

My furnace works when it's bench tested. 2 different times. When installed in the camper it does not work. Wiring and propane are fine, gas is flowing to the furnace.
Acts as if gas line is stopped up, but its not. Help! Don't have a clue.

[Gosman]

I HAVE A QUESTION GUYS I AM NEW TO THE AIR STREAM FAMILY , I HAVE JUST FINISHED RE DOING MY 1975 ARGOSY AND THE LAST THING I TRIED WAS THE FURNACE .

THE DOOR TO MY FURNACE IN MY 1975 ARGOSY IS RIGHT BELOW THE STOVE , HERE IS WHAT I DID AND STILL WILL NOT LIGHT,

1.SET THE Thermosta TO THE LOWEST POSITION AS THE INSTRUCTIONS SAID

2 . I OPENED THE VALVES ON EACH TANK AND THE WENT BACK IN THE TRAILER AND PUSHED AND HELD ONE BUTTON AND PUSHED THE OTHER BUTTON AND DID SEE IT SPARK AND IT DID NOT LIGHT . TRIED SEVERAL TIMES !!!!!

I THEN TURNED THE VALVES TO THE OFF POSITION , WAITED 5 MINS AND TURNED THEM BACK TO THE ON POSITION AND THIS TIME I OPENED THE WINDOW AND THEN PUSHED AND HELD THE BUTTON IN AND TRIED TO LIGHT IT WITH A MATCH AND STILL NOTHING.???

I DO KNOW THE BLOWER MOTOR WORKS , BECAUSE WHEN SET ON THE HIGH POSITION THE BLOWER COMES ON !.

WERE AND I GOING WRONG!!!!?????? I NEED STEP BY STEP INSTURCTIONS
DO YOU THINK THE HEATER NEEDS CLEANED ? IF SO HOW DOES ONE DO THAT ?

[azflycaster]

Outside under the furnace there should be a valve on the LP line going to the furnace. Make sure it is open. It may take a while to bleed the air out of the line.

[Aage]

Must be fall, huh?

[wasagachris]

Gosman try lighting the stove first. This should purge the gas lines of any air and you should then have a good supply of gas to the furnace. The ignitor is the same type as on a gas bbq. It may take multiple rapid attempts before it lights.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

Outside under the furnace there should be a valve on the LP line going to the furnace. Make sure it is open. It may take a while to bleed the air out of the line.

Originally Posted by wasagachris

Gosman try lighting the stove first. This should purge the gas lines of any air and you should then have a good supply of gas to the furnace. The ignitor is the same type as on a gas bbq. It may take multiple rapid attempts before it lights.

This is good advice to start with.

Hint: it's really easy to see if the gas valves are open: when they are, the handle is in-line with the gas line. Turns off with a quarter turn which puts the handle at 90° to the gas line.

[Gosman]

Thank you i will check , you do mean iner the trailer ?

[Aage]

Originally Posted by Gosman

Thank you i will check , you do mean iner the trailer ?

Gas line shut-offs are found inside and outside. My furnace (and the cooker right above it) both have their shut-offs quite close to the unit, inside the trailer. But the water heater's was outside.

[Gosman]

Check out side cover plate and all is clear

[Gosman]

Thanks for all your help got the furnace running
thanks again