Furnace blowing fuse

Canadan99 · 08-27-2020, 06:49 AM

Hello,

Long-time reader, first-time poster here. We have a 2011 Cougar 30BHSWE trailer that appears to be a bit of a lemon. The latest issue is the furnace is blowing a fuse. We were camping a while ago and used the furnace without issue. My wife and granddaughter went out to our site last night for an overnight stay and this morning when she tried the furnace it wouldn't work. The fridge also stopped working. She told me she tried the furnace last night and it clicked once but didn't turn on.

The only thing that changed is that the friend we borrow a generator from recently replaced the 15A fuses on his generator with 20A because we couldn't have the AC and TV running at the same time without tripping the generator fuse (TV is for our granddaughter).

Any thoughts on what could suddenly cause this?

Thanks.

**flybouy** · 08-27-2020, 07:00 AM

So some info will help. Was the camper running on the battery when this happened? A battery running a furnace will not last long. As the battery voltage drops the amperage draw of an appliance will increase. There are two commonalities between the furnace, 12vdc for the furnace controls, fan, and ignitor and the fridge 12vdc for the controls and the LP gas if it's running in that mode.,

Need more info on the generator as well. Increasing the breaker size on the generator is a bad idea. The breaker is sized for the size/capacity of the generator. Increasing the breaker capacity can cause damage to the generator and the trailer. What brand and model of generator?

**chuckster57** · 08-27-2020, 07:10 AM

It may not be a lemon, but we need to eliminate some possible issues:

How old is the battery(s)
What size (gp) is it
What fuse blows?

Canadan99 · 08-27-2020, 07:11 AM

Thanks for the quick reply. An electrician told my friend to replace the 15A with 20A fuses on the generator because of the AC issue. I believe it's a Honda 3500 but since it's not mine I don't know the exact model.

The last time we ran the furnace we didn't have the generator running. Last night when my wife tried it the generator wasn't running either. This morning after my friend replaced a 15A fuse in the trailer (I'm working from home) they tried the furnace again - this time with the generator running - and the fuse blew again. He replaced it a second time and the fridge works but they can't turn on the furnace without blowing it a third time.

Canadan99 · 08-27-2020, 07:13 AM

The batteries were brand new when we bought it 2 years ago (according to the dealer so who knows). I'm not sure which fuse blows as I'm working from home today and my wife is at the trailer. We have it parked at a friends acreage and he has been replacing the fuses this morning.

**chuckster57** · 08-27-2020, 07:21 AM

When was the last time the batteries were checked for water level or are they sealed batteries.

I’m wondering where this 15A fuse is that keeps blowing. If it’s in the fuse panel, any idea what the label says?

At this point you may have to get into a bit of troubleshooting, or have a mobile service tech look at it.

Canadan99 · 08-27-2020, 07:43 AM

My wife believes the fuse was labeled 'fans/lpg' but she's not 100% sure since it was our friend replacing the fuse. I'll have to pick up some more fuses after I stop at an RV shop to find out what type I need and then check it out myself.

Thanks for the help!

**flybouy** · 08-27-2020, 08:46 AM

Sounds to me like there's a lot of "cooks in the kitchen" and you need someone "qualified" to find out what's going on. It's been my experience over the years that when someone says "this friend tried this, or someone else tried that" the best place to start is to go "undo" what was "done" to make sure it was "done correctly". Then start chasing down the problem.

As I read this I think you have a battery issue. You have no idea what the battery capacity or condition is. You have "someone" replacing "some 15 amp" fuse for an unknown circuit. And you have a generator that has had a 15 amp (fuse?) I'm guessing breaker replaced with a 20 amp by ??????

My advice, get someone out there, or take it to someone, who knows what they are doing doing. To many fingers in the pie now.

Canadan99 · 08-27-2020, 09:32 AM

I should have mentioned that my friend is an AME so he knows his way around almost everything mechanical. I DO plan on going out and taking a look for myself to gather information as I realize I'm getting things second-hand. I also have a good local RV repair shop that I've dealt with in the past so I can speak to them as well.

I appreciate everyone's feedback. I'll be posting about my issues of upgrading my external speakers in a different thread.

Thanks.

**chuckster57** · 08-27-2020, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canadan99

I should have mentioned that my friend is an AME so he knows his way around almost everything mechanical. I DO plan on going out and taking a look for myself to gather information as I realize I'm getting things second-hand. I also have a good local RV repair shop that I've dealt with in the past so I can speak to them as well.

I appreciate everyone's feedback. I'll be posting about my issues of upgrading my external speakers in a different thread.

Thanks.

Not to discredit anyone, I have been an RV tech for about 10 years, and I can tell you personally, if your not well versed in RV systems, it can go from easy for a mobile tech to very expensive in a hurry.

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