Everest furnace malfunctioned

[Paultherock]

Furnace fires off but stops shortly then tries again... repeatedly. I want to check the furnace out but there's only a vent on the outside wall of my 2005 Everest 364Q. Does anyone have drawings or directions to access the furnace internals? Short of tearing the basement apart?

[CWtheMan]

The only way I could get to the furnace in our 363K was to remove a basement panel. During the 15 years we owned the Everest we had to replace an igniter two times.

After replacing the first one I made a 2" peep hole in the basement wall so I could see if the igniter was functioning.

Once we had a problem similar to yours. It was caused by a faulty propane bottle. When major changes were made in the mechanics of the propane bottles we were in Yuma and found a propane servicing station where we could swap our 30 pounders. One of the newer ones wasn't operating properly. Something internally wrong with it. We got another full one free of charges from the same dealer. We were in the practice of just using one at a time. I turned the bad one off and used the second one. Problem found.

[Paultherock]

Scary... that a tank could have a fault that would hinder the furnace operation. It was after valving in the next tank that the symptoms appeared. I shall refill the one that worked and try it again... going back and forth to confirm the issue. And then reply to this thread

[Paultherock]

Actually, could you please take a moment and elaborate on the propane tank issue?

[CWtheMan]

I'm not familiar with the tank upgrades. I just know they were required to be upgraded before anyone would service them. Our replacement tanks were not new, just modified and certified for whatever the changes were. I did not get an explanation for the failure to operate correctly, just another replacement that did work.

[flybouy]

Scary... that a tank could have a fault that would hinder the furnace operation. It was after valving in the next tank that the symptoms appeared. I shall refill the one that worked and try it again... going back and forth to confirm the issue. And then reply to this thread

I'm guessing that cw's issue could have been a fill valve that was replaced to "update" the tank. All LPG tanks are required to have a safety shut off that will stop the flow if a leak is detected. It accomplishes this when a "sudden high flow rate" occurs. If you connect a tank and crank open the valves rapidly you make the valve "think" there's a leak and shut off the flow.

If that happens you must turn the tank valve off, disconnect the tank from the hose, let the pressure bleed off. Then reconnect the tank to the hose and SLOWLY open the valve on the tank. Then light all the stove top burners to purge as much air from the gas lines as possible. Once the burners are all going with a nice steady blue flame you can turn them off and try the furnace again.

If your water heater is operating OK on gas than the tank is most likely the problem. Are you connected to shore power? Battery OK? The furnace operates on 12 vdc and will not operate on a weak battery. If the gas supply and the electric are good than it could be several things inside the furnace and will require removal from inside to diagnose.

[Paultherock]

Okay, thanks

[TGal]

Sounds like you fly switch yes it a real thing take a look at YouTube and search your heater. That’s what I did and it was a switch on toop called fly switch. It was about 20$ or so and I had heat. My heater was doing the same thing. Bad thing is you may have to take the heater out to test

[flybouy]

Sounds like you fly switch yes it a real thing take a look at YouTube and search your heater. That’s what I did and it was a switch on toop called fly switch. It was about 20$ or so and I had heat. My heater was doing the same thing. Bad thing is you may have to take the heater out to test

I think maybe the "fly" switch is called a sail switch. A search for "fly switch" probably won't return the results you are looking for.

[Paultherock]

Turns out to be the propane tank. I refilled the one that last worked and the furnace ran fine. So I'll get a new tank, probably from Costco.

[Chief Mole]

An idea that might save you a couple of bucks would be to go to a location that swaps cylinders (Blue Rhino is one of these and is located at Lowes or Home Depot). While that new cylinder won't be as full as when you get the cylinder refilled (60% vs. 80%) you won't have a cylinder just sitting around counting down the time to be re-inspected and hydrostatically tested. And the company that supplies those cylinders to the store does the repairs/testing.

Cheers!

[Paultherock]

I sold the old 30 pounder within 24 hours of having bought the new one. It's date stamp was 04/19. It still lit the stove just not the furnace.

[travelin texans]

An idea that might save you a couple of bucks would be to go to a location that swaps cylinders (Blue Rhino is one of these and is located at Lowes or Home Depot). While that new cylinder won't be as full as when you get the cylinder refilled (60% vs. 80%) you won't have a cylinder just sitting around counting down the time to be re-inspected and hydrostatically tested. And the company that supplies those cylinders to the store does the repairs/testing.

Cheers!

You won't find 30# propane bottles at Lowe's, HD or any of the swap places they ONLY have 20#ers.