Furnace shuts off randomly

[SmallStream]

This is my first Airforums post so please go gently. I'm still learning all the lingo

We bought our flying cloud a few months ago and had a ton of fun during the great fall weather. However, we've had a recent cold spell and been forced to use the furnace a few times. The heat pump just couldn't keep up with the below 40 degree weather. The first night of really cold temps the furnace would start up fine and run until the desired temperature is reached and then shut off just like it should. A few hours later I woke up to my 2 boys crying that it was cold and I realized the temp had plummeted to 45 degrees inside. All of a sudden we weren't having much fun.

After inspecting and resetting the thermostat multiple times I could hear the blower click on for a minute or so but no heat would come out. I could also hear the pilot light clicking but no success. With kids crying in the background I reset the breaker and suddenly the furnace came to life and worked fine. Kids were happy and I went back to bed. An hour later the whole thing happened again...and again. All night long. It was a long night of inspecting the furnace and resetting fuses and breakers. Every-time I'd reset the breaker it would work fine until it reached the desired temp...and then would never come back on automatically the rest of the night.

The next day we took off the outer cover of the furnace and inspected it to see if anything was obviously wrong. Everything looked normal but the exhaust pipe seemed slightly loose. We pushed it in tight and before replacing the outer cover thought I should test it. Everything worked fine the rest of the day and all night(without the outer cover on). It would click on fine and kept the Airstream nice and toasty all night long without me having to do any hard resets. The next day I replaced the outer cover and the same issues started again. I'm not a mechanic by any means but this just doesn't make any sense? Any ideas? We want to sleep in it over Christmas but without the furnace working properly that might be impossible. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

Ben

*If you made it this far thanks for reading and apologies for my small book.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Which breaker is tripping?
Are you on shore power or battery?
How full are the propane tanks?
Is the cover pinching a wire when you close it?

Bob

[SmallStream]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Which breaker is tripping?
Are you on shore power or battery?
How full are the propane tanks?
Is the cover pinching a wire when you close it?

Bob

Thanks for the prompt response Bob!

No breaker is tripping. I just have to use the breaker to reset it.

I'm on shore power.

1 propane tank is empty and the other is probably around 75%. Not 100% sure how to estimate but its heavy? Stove kicks on fine even when the furnace won't fire. The tanks did sit unused for a few months before it got cold.

Cover doesn't appear to be touching or pinching anything.

[azflycaster]

When the furnace fails there will be a blinking led on the circuit board. The number of blinks is the error code. That will help you diagnose the problem.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

As noted above, there is an error indication. If nothing is locking out, the best guess is that the ignitor / flame detector part of the empire is randomly failing. It is likely that at night you are getting more condensation than during the day. Also the pressure in your system may be dropping a bit.

Bob

[3wd67rg]

Chris tried everything to figure out the problem with ours, then we just decided it wasn't worth the hassle or space. It didn't work period and he ripped it out. We gained some storage space. We use space heaters, one is propane for boondocking. They work just fine.

[SmallStream]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

When the furnace fails there will be a blinking led on the circuit board. The number of blinks is the error code. That will help you diagnose the problem.

This has been a tremendous help.

I took the panel off tonight and its rapidly blinking 3 times every 3 seconds. From what I can tell that means its an "Ignition Lockout Fault". Is this something user serviceable? Again, hoping to get this fixed before Christmas so we don't have to sleep at my parents house

And I'm still confused why it works fine when I reset it.

Thanks for all the help!

Ben

[GMFL]

Check this.
Turn on the stove top eye and see if you have yellow or orange flame tips. If you do that would indicate a low propane problem which would effect your furnace. It may be your propane regulator. Also you need to clean the furnace real good. Spiderwebs and dirt dobbers can also be a problem.

[AVS]

If your Flying Cloud is a 2108, it may be a faulty circuit board.
Same thing happened to me and the dealer replaced the board under warranty. No problems since.
Although admittedly I haven't used it a whole lot.

[AVS]

Originally Posted by AVS

If your Flying Cloud is a 2108, it may be a faulty circuit board.
Same thing happened to me and the dealer replaced the board under warranty. No problems since.
Although admittedly I haven't used it a whole lot.

I meant 2018 not 2108!

[azflycaster]

I had a similar issue this summer in Alaska with the furnace. On mine the fan would start and then the flame would ignite and then the flame would turn off and a little bit later the fan shut down. The error was the same #3 lockout. I was going to order a new board when after the propane tank ran out, the furnace began to function correctly. I have gone through a couple of tanks of propane and spent many cold nights since then with no failures. No idea why the furnace did what it did, but I am glad to have it working.

[cwf]

two things.. there is a 'sail switch' which tells the control board the fan is running and there is proper airflow. Then the propane is turned on. There is one device with two metal wires and one electrical wire. The electrical wire provides electricity for a spark to light the propane. It then checks for continuity thru the plasma. If there is no continuity, the system attempts restart... if the restart fails, the system locks out to protect...

Nice thing is the furnace will put heated air into the Airstream floor, etc, to minimize freeze possibility ... and you can warm your feet in front of the vents.. floor heaters are ok, but there is limited space and with kids things can be laid too close to the heater with obvious possible consequences.

[SmallStream]

Originally Posted by GMFL

Check this.
Turn on the stove top eye and see if you have yellow or orange flame tips. If you do that would indicate a low propane problem which would effect your furnace. It may be your propane regulator. Also you need to clean the furnace real good. Spiderwebs and dirt dobbers can also be a problem.

I tried this and I do see some small flame tips. And it flickers every-time the furnace tries to ignite. Is the propane regulator user replaceable?

And when you say clean the furnace...What exactly does that entail? I've blown out most of the dust around the circuit board but it was already pretty clean.

Thanks for the help!

[SmallStream]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

I had a similar issue this summer in Alaska with the furnace. On mine the fan would start and then the flame would ignite and then the flame would turn off and a little bit later the fan shut down. The error was the same #3 lockout. I was going to order a new board when after the propane tank ran out, the furnace began to function correctly. I have gone through a couple of tanks of propane and spent many cold nights since then with no failures. No idea why the furnace did what it did, but I am glad to have it working.

Will give this a try. The gas tanks had been sitting for at least 6 months and wondered if running them empty and then refilling could help. Thanks for the help!