when the lp runs dry...

[Halford1]

there is a white knob with green/red indicator. Green means the tank has sufficient propane while red means its outta of propane. Turn the arrow to the tank that is full. it may be the transfer issue that is happening. When one tank is empty, it automatically draw propane from 2nd tank. That may be the issue with your knob.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by bparrish

smart. I'll see if I can find it

In your AS briefcase, there should be an owner's manual for your new trailer, and a separate pamphlet of instructions for the furnace [as well as all the other appliances etc.].

If you have not read it all, now might be a good time to check out everything that is in the briefcase, so you at least know where you might find other answers in the future IMO.

Thanks for posting diligently on this . . . a good earning experience for the rest of us armchair diagnosticians!

[bparrish]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

If you have not read it all, now might be a good time to check out everything that is in the briefcase, so you at least know where you might find other answers in the future IMO.

Thanks for posting diligently on this . . . a good earning experience for the rest of us armchair diagnosticians!

I have learned SO much from the forums but one of my pet peeves is when someone comes back and simply says "its working now!" but gives zero details.


the briefcase: I read all that stuff right out of the gate. I went back to the furnace guide yesterday but it isn't helpful. At all. No mention in the troubleshooting section of downstream possible culprits like sail switch, and lockout etc. It gives two solutions to "furnace will not light: blower does turn on:"

1. air is in the propane line. Purge the line with the cooktop
2. Adjust the thermostat to a temperature that is higher than current indoor temp


the forum will always be my go-to for real solutions. Y'all know what you're talking about.
Thanks again

[GCinSC2]

Originally Posted by bparrish

smart. I'll see if I can find it

bparrish,

Most likely (but w/o model no. to confirm) this 74 page Furnace Training Manual effective 1/15 should cover your furnace. See page 3 to confirm applications.

Lots of diagnostic and service information.

A big part of furnace troubleshooting IMHO is knowing the sequence of events, what each components role is in firing one up and keeping it going.

Example, fan doesn't come on? It ain't the sail switch. Smell gas but not igniting, not the sail switch.

https://myrvworks.com/wp-content/upl...ing-Manual.pdf

Courtesy of Darren at My RV Works

Gary

[bparrish]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

bparrish,

https://myrvworks.com/wp-content/upl...ing-Manual.pdf

Courtesy of Darren at My RV Works

Gary

this is really great, thank you.

[Halford1]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

In your AS briefcase, there should be an owner's manual for your new trailer, and a separate pamphlet of instructions for the furnace [as well as all the other appliances etc.].

If you have not read it all, now might be a good time to check out everything that is in the briefcase, so you at least know where you might find other answers in the future IMO.

Thanks for posting diligently on this . . . a good earning experience for the rest of us armchair diagnosticians!

I organized the AS briefcase so I KNOW where information can be found quickly. I bought the FC last October in Salt Lake City and studied the manual at campground near Yellowstone to get to know the FC. I read some in Las Vegas on way home to LA. I read the manual again and again at each campground. That is how you could get to know your AS quickly and easily. Read, read, read....

[bparrish]

Originally Posted by Halford1

I organized the AS briefcase so I KNOW where information can be found quickly. I bought the FC last October in Salt Lake City and studied the manual at campground near Yellowstone to get to know the FC. I read some in Las Vegas on way home to LA. I read the manual again and again at each campground. That is how you could get to know your AS quickly and easily. Read, read, read....

some of the manuals are better than others but honestly none of them are great. Completely unhelpful in this particular endeavor. Thank god for this forum or I wouldn't know a fraction of what I do know about what makes my trailer tick.

[Halford1]

Originally Posted by bparrish

some of the manuals are better than others but honestly none of them are great. Completely unhelpful in this particular endeavor. Thank god for this forum or I wouldn't know a fraction of what I do know about what makes my trailer tick.

I do watch YouTube on how to set up the awning and a few walk throughs especially love the one at Scottsdale Airstream.

the manual was very helpful when I tried to figure out how to use Fantastic Fans. Now I know how to use them.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

(Sorry, no idea what's where in a Caravel ...).

The key thing to pull out of the manual are the "blink codes" (or whatever) for the error messages. Also note (if they are two digit) just how they show which digit is which. Telling the service guy you have "error 21" when it's actually error 12 does not help speed up the process ..... I have data on this one as well (though not on an RV furnace).

As long as we're on the error codes, your fridge may well have the same sort of setup. When it has a problem, somewhere / somehow and error code pops up. Just as with the furnace, it's much easier to dig into from home than at 3 AM in a rainstorm out in the wild.

Bob

[Ahroc]

Hi.
Been in Heating and Air-conditioning for 35 years. MOST gas appliances (commercial-residential-RV) have a logic in their circuits that tries to light the gas a few times (usually 3) and if it dosent light simply locks-out the furnace to wait for a repair man. Its a safety thing because uncontroled gas can be dangerous. Again MOST gas appliances (your home also) can be reset by throwing the breaker off (count to 30) and throwing it back on, which resets the circuits to normal operation. If there is air in the line you may have to reset with the breaker a few times until the air purges and the igniter circuit eventually sees gas. Professionally we get many service calls, and alleviate many by having the customer throw their breaker off (count to 30) and throw it back on. I suspect you had both air and control reset and eventually got it functioning.
Happy Travels!

[Anubus]

Hey folks, what’s a “sail switch”

[blkmagikca]

[QUOTE=Anubus;2455966]Hey folks, what’s a “sail switch”[/QUOTe https://www.google.com/search?

see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g3_...yRVWorks%2CInc

.

[gjsittler]

I had a similar problem, except it was with my water heater. There seems to be about 4 feet of propane line between the heater, which fired right up, and the water heater, which was refusing to light up. No way to bleed the air out other than to just keep trying to get it to fire up. After a day of failure, it suddenly started working. I think think its a case of gas finally diffusing enough into the air in the line, and air diffusing back into the feed line, until there's enough gas to finally light. Science says that eventually the gas will "outweigh" the air and become the dominant factor.

Long story short - cycle the other gas implements and keep trying the one that doesn't work. Cycling the others should tend to help mix the gases in the line a little faster. And be patient. Sometimes it takes a day or so to right itself.

[bartzstream2]

Originally Posted by bparrish

Hi all-


I recently ran out of lp and didn't notice for a few days, and I had the furnace set to 50. I changed the tank to a full one, but now of course the furnace won't ignite. It's a brand new trailer so I doubt it is the sail switch, I'm guessing there's just a lot of air in the line. The stove lights, the hot water heater lights, but it's a tiny trailer (Caravel 2020) and the furnace is the last in line so there's nothing else to prime the line with.



my question is specific: can I bleed the air out by simply continuing to cycle the furnace on at the thermostat (it shuts off at about 30 seconds with no clicking so I know the igniter isn't even trying) I've attempted about 15 times now with no luck but will keep going if that is the only way. If not, how do I bleed it?



also- was surprised to note that the automatic switchover to the second tank didn't happen when the first tank ran dry, but I see from the forum here that those are squirrelly so I'm chalking it up to a coincidence. I've tested the switchover procedure by firing up a stove burner and then closing the tank, and it switched over to the second tank just fine.

Oh, and in case it's useful info, the temps here have been around 36 low/45 high.

thanks in advance!

If you are comfortable with the notion, open up the outside furnace door and crack the copper line supplying the furnace with the tank turned on. When you smell propane there pretty well, tighten the connection and try the furnace. If the problem is no propane, it should spark up ok. It does seem that if don't hear the gas valve solenoid operating, that the circuit board is not telling the valve to open after the purge part of the ignition cycle. My furnace takes 12-15 seconds if fan action before it will spark up and fire. I recently was getting NO action with my furnace (no fan) and ended up checking the master switch on the furnace motor itself. It had failed and allowed no 12V DC to the furnace at all. This was borne out by the fact that the green LED on the circuit board did not light at all. You can observe the LED on the circuit board only with the outside door open. Testing the switch with an ohm meter proved its non-functionality. In spite of the fact that this master switch is almost never used (only during service possibly) it still failed......go figure

[bparrish]

Originally Posted by Ahroc

Hi.
I suspect you had both air and control reset and eventually got it functioning.
Happy Travels!

So even if the breaker didn't appear to be tripped (I checked it during troubleshooting and it was firmly in place), it would need to be thrown and put back into position? I did do that, but just because it was there and I was desperate.

[bparrish]

Originally Posted by bartzstream2

If you are comfortable with the notion, open up the outside furnace door and crack the copper line supplying the furnace with the tank turned on. When you smell propane there pretty well, tighten the connection and try the furnace. If the problem is no propane, it should spark up ok. It does seem that if don't hear the gas valve solenoid operating, that the circuit board is not telling the valve to open after the purge part of the ignition cycle. My furnace takes 12-15 seconds if fan action before it will spark up and fire. I recently was getting NO action with my furnace (no fan) and ended up checking the master switch on the furnace motor itself. It had failed and allowed no 12V DC to the furnace at all. This was borne out by the fact that the green LED on the circuit board did not light at all. You can observe the LED on the circuit board only with the outside door open. Testing the switch with an ohm meter proved its non-functionality. In spite of the fact that this master switch is almost never used (only during service possibly) it still failed......go figure

I always think its some worst case scenario like your bad switch whenever I have something happening. But it never is. Until it will be. I did take the outside panel off and I found the tiny control panel. It has a red led but no green led. I suspect with the small trailers they opted to only show when something is going wrong. I'm not sure if I'll be bold enough to crack the line supplying the gas next time I'm in a furnace fix. The idea that I might not get it back tightly enough is unsettling.

[bparrish]

Originally Posted by gjsittler

No way to bleed the air out other than to just keep trying to get it to fire up.



Science says that eventually the gas will "outweigh" the air and become the dominant factor.

This is exactly what I was after, thank you. It is unfortunate that it can take so long to free the line of air. The fact that my switchover didn't work is something I'll have to keep an eye on for sure. It's worked on all tests since, but I'll always distrust it from now on.



I'm grateful I wasn't actually camping, and that it happened in my driveway.

[BayouBiker]

You can always purge the line by jumpering the gas solenoid valves or loosening a fitting.

[gjsittler]

My latest water heater thing happened in my driveway, too. It took SO long to finally light up that I was considering installing a new igniter board. Then I delayed doing that for another lucky day, and the next day it fired right up! My AS is a 1999 Safari 25, and it uses the same igniter board on the furnace, water heater, and the refrigerator, so I have one spare stashed away. Never needed it yet.

I liked someone's suggestion of jumpering the gas solenoid to purge the air from the line. That would be worth doing before installing a new board. I'm guessing the solenoid runs on 12V??? I don't like the idea of loosening the fittings, mostly because I used to plumb hydrogen lines, and I hate what a small gas leak can do in tight spaces.

[Ahroc]

Hi again.
You are shutting off and on the breaker to remove and restore power from the control circuit which essentially resets it to normal operation, clearing the lockout signal. The breaker wont be tripped on it's own. Forcing the thermostat off and on may work also.
I had a small SOB motorhome for a while. And always had a lot of trouble getting the refrigerator to run on gas after it had been sitting a while. I started out by cracking the brass fitting at the refrigerator to bleed the air. But over more years of use I eventually just started turning the refrigerator's control switch off, waiting a moment, turning the switch back on, let the refrigerator try to light... going thru this process PATIENTLY several times over a period of maybe 5-10 minutes. Eventually the air would purge out and the refrigerator would fire off. Basically I was resetting the lockout circuit many times until the air finally purged out of the line and their was gas to ignite. It was a quirk of this particular motorhome. All RV's seem to have their special quirk's .
It's not that dangerous to break open a brass fitting. Spit on it (or use a little dish soap) when its tight again. Even the tiniest leak will create a GROWING bubble easly observable. No growing bubble, all is good.
Happy Travels!