2018 Atwood furnace failing to ignite

[cegardner]

We have power on the thermostat. But the furnace will start but no heat and shuts off quickly. We know where it is located on our 2018 27 serenity. We saw on line about a reset button. We are a long way from AS service. This is still warranty. Cold where we are. We are fine if we have electricity. The heat pumps works and it won’t get below 45. If we go to an RV repair place, how do we manage the warranty if needed We have exposed the furnace cabinet. No reset switch. The gas is working on the water heater. Frig and stove. It was running till last night and quit heating-during the night. Advice? There is not a breaker on the furnace. Not sure if it is a fuse. Have no idea which one it may be. No labels on the fuse box

[Al and Missy]

On some units the on/off switch behind the outside door and the plastic cover is also a circuit breaker and a reset. If you haven't already, turn it off and back on again. The sequence of operation (at least for my furnace) should be:
1. Thermostat calls for heat
2. Control board turns on the blower
3. Sail switch confirms air flow. If the sail switch doesn't report air flow, the control board turns the blower off. Go to 6.
4. Gas valve turns on. You should hear a click and might be able to smell propane in the furnace exhaust.
5. The control board tries to light the burner. There will be three clicks of spark a few seconds apart. If the furnace doesn't light, or the lighting isn't detected, the furnace shuts down.
6. The furnace will go through this sequence three times and then enter a fault mode which requires a reset to try again.

If the problem is in the furnace, it is covered by a manufacturer's warranty, not Airstream. Any RV repair shop that does warranty work on your brand furnace should be able to fix it.

Al

[AirstreamInc]

Originally Posted by cegardner

We have power on the thermostat. But the furnace will start but no heat and shuts off quickly. We know where it is located on our 2018 27 serenity. We saw on line about a reset button. We are a long way from AS service. This is still warranty. Cold where we are. We are fine if we have electricity. The heat pumps works and it won’t get below 45. If we go to an RV repair place, how do we manage the warranty if needed We have exposed the furnace cabinet. No reset switch. The gas is working on the water heater. Frig and stove. It was running till last night and quit heating-during the night. Advice? There is not a breaker on the furnace. Not sure if it is a fuse. Have no idea which one it may be. No labels on the fuse box

Hi cegardner,*

We're very sorry to learn about the issue you are having. Please send us a direct message with your contact information and the last 6 digits of your VIN so we can share it with our Customer Service and Technical Support team. We look forward to helping you get this resolved.

You can also reach Airstream Customer Service and Technical Support at*customer_support@airstream.com*

Thank you.*

[cegardner]

US adventure RV in Davenport Ia took us in and went into service. Our switch that is located in the fan was in a fault mode. Why? Who knows. They were wonderful. We are back on the road

[cegardner]

Thank you all. We learned that we can not get to the reset switch. It is inside built into the fan

[Bob Peahl]

Originally Posted by cegardner

We have power on the thermostat. But the furnace will start but no heat and shuts off quickly. We know where it is located on our 2018 27 serenity. We saw on line about a reset button. We are a long way from AS service. This is still warranty. Cold where we are. We are fine if we have electricity. The heat pumps works and it won’t get below 45. If we go to an RV repair place, how do we manage the warranty if needed We have exposed the furnace cabinet. No reset switch. The gas is working on the water heater. Frig and stove. It was running till last night and quit heating-during the night. Advice? There is not a breaker on the furnace. Not sure if it is a fuse. Have no idea which one it may be. No labels on the fuse box

We had similar symptoms, which were caused by a mud dauber nest in the heater exhaust tube. The heater would start, get choked up, then shut down. We noticed a sweet propane smell (outside) when the heater first ignited. Removed the nest and all was well.

[tmcguffy]

Its probably the sail switch. This has happened to me 3 different times. The furnace will come on run for 30 seconds then shut off. The switch is easy to get to and is mounted on the fan enclosure held on with 2 screws. It may be stuck. You can take it out then operate the lever by hand. It may be just stuck. It is hard to find the right replacement on the road - i now carry a backup which is cheap insurance. Access the fan from the outside where the furnace exhaust port is - remove 4 screws then pull the panel off. Good luck

[Reynolds]

LOTS of issues with our Atwood furnace from the start. Still not resolved. AS has not stood behind this product... Very similar to issues described in this stream. Frustration does not begin to define the feelings associated with our experiences thus far. Best wishes for better outcomes.

[zenman60]

This sounds exactly like the failure that occurred within the first 8 months in our 2017 FC25. They replaced the "sail switch" under warranty. It has worked alright since then.

[Mike1997]

My furnace was not working when I got to Montana. RV Tech said it was a bad control board. New one got me through the winter out there. 2 years later is not working again and its clear the board is defective...….1 month after the warranty ran out on the Dinosar board......Oh well.....got a new one on Amazon but not installing till needed next fall.

[TravelerUSC]

Originally Posted by cegardner

We have power on the thermostat. But the furnace will start but no heat and shuts off quickly. We know where it is located on our 2018 27 serenity. We saw on line about a reset button. We are a long way from AS service. This is still warranty. Cold where we are. We are fine if we have electricity. The heat pumps works and it won’t get below 45. If we go to an RV repair place, how do we manage the warranty if needed We have exposed the furnace cabinet. No reset switch. The gas is working on the water heater. Frig and stove. It was running till last night and quit heating-during the night. Advice? There is not a breaker on the furnace. Not sure if it is a fuse. Have no idea which one it may be. No labels on the fuse box

We had the same problems in our 2018 FC25. With rain and Michigan cold fast approaching I took off the outside cover to the heater. It took 10 screws as the exhaust plate covered the 6th screw. Inside is the “reset" switch. Just cycle it on and off. I also pushed and pulled all the connections I could reach. Then stood back and had wife turn on the 12v power. It’s started!! Closed up everything and had a nice warm night.

[pdavey]

Originally Posted by TravelerUSC

We had the same problems in our 2018 FC25. With rain and Michigan cold fast approaching I took off the outside cover to the heater. It took 10 screws as the exhaust plate covered the 6th screw. Inside is the “reset" switch. Just cycle it on and off. I also pushed and pulled all the connections I could reach. Then stood back and had wife turn on the 12v power. It’s started!! Closed up everything and had a nice warm night.

Thanks for this. I will try to resolve it this way. Seems from everything I have read it is the Sail switch. It seems to be an intermittent problem as it will work sometimes and not others.

Had the AS dealer look at it and it was fine. Operated normally the first few nights it was cold but stopped working on the coldest night.

I will let folks know if the sail switch is the issue.

[pdavey]

Well I took the furnace cover off and while the sail switch was not dirty it wasn't flat against the housing so I believe the slight bend in the frame of the switch was not letting it depress all the way.

I tweaked it some and tested the switch and it tested out well so put it back together and everything is working now.

For reference I have a 2020 27FB Globetrotter

I think I am going to order an extra sail switch to keep in my travel tool box. A good insurance policy.