Suburban Furnice Trouble

[kingji]

My 2011 Springdale equiped with a Suburban furnace is failing to light. It's got plenty of propane (tried both tanks), the stove top and water heater are working perfectly. When I raise to the thermostat to make it light it starts the fan and it runs for about 20-30 seconds and shuts off with no ignition. I first thought my battery was a little low (12.6) and maybe the fan wasn't tuning fast enough to send the signal for the gas valve to open, but even with 13 volts it still doing the same thing. I've still got about 3 weeks left on the 2 year warranty but I'd rather resolve the issue myself if possible. The dealer I bought it from is about four hours away also. I'll also include that this furnace probably doesn't have 48 hours of run time on it. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
JImmy

[AlCorr]

Here is a link that maybe helpful.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5612452_su...formation.html

[kingji]

Thanks for the link, I can rule out battery volts and propane. One thing that came to mind this morning after my second cup was remembering seeing one of those mud dobber wasp going into the exhaust vent back during the summer. I've seen these dudes make a mud nest pretty quick and fairly large. I'll check it this afternoon. Again thanks for the reply.
Jimmy

[jsmith948]

You might also read the threads regarding the auto-switch-over regulator.
I failed to properly open my tank valves and the regulator restricted the gas flow to where the furnace would not light, even though the stove would (but not if the hwh was on). Just a thought - good luck. Please let us all know what you find?

[E597283]

I had this same issue this weekend with my 2011 Passport 2910bh. The gas valve is clearly getting the signal to open (can smell gas at outside vent) but the igniter is not working or not getting a signal. A friend who owns a mobile RV Service was at the park this weekend and tried to get the circuit board out to test it but could not get it out without taking the furnace completely out. So we decided to skip that for now. The passport doesn’t have an exterior access to the furnace. No remedy yet and like you the furnace has very little house on it.

[kingji]

Got home today from work and decided to take a closer look at the furnace. I first looked into the intake/exhaust port outside of the camper. All looked good and clean as far as I could see. Kicked on the furnace and observed the squirrel cage turning from outside, again everything look ok. Next I pulled the interior cover that houses the furnace, checked all the wires and all were tight. I then removed the two screws that hold the sheet metal cover on the back of the unit. As far as I could tell nothing looked out of place, again kicked on the unit. The fan really moves a lot of air out the back with the cover off so I'm assuming it's moving plenty but still wouldn't light. I'm not smelling any gas at all so apparently the gas valve is not getting the signal to open. I'm going to visit with my local (non Keystone) dealer and see what his thoughts are. It could be that he's an authorized Suburban warranty repairman. I'll keep ya'll posted.
JImmy

[turbopilot51]

The issue that I had with my 2006 Sprinter was the burner orifice. I had a mobile repair guy come by and pull the furnace and check everything. He found a small and I mean small fleck of debris. He cleaned the whole burner tube and it worked great after that. You might try partially blocking the exhaust when the furnace is trying to light off. That is how the tech guy knew where to start looking.

[geo]

About 2 years ago, on this forum, we had a discussion about the "sail switch". It's a switch with a small metal sail on it that extends into the air intake. If this switch is disconnected or malfunctioning, it will prevent the ignitor from firing.

If you need a manual, I think I have a pdf of one saved. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a copy.

Ron

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by geo

About 2 years ago, on this forum, we had a discussion about the "sail switch". It's a switch with a small metal sail on it that extends into the air intake. If this switch is disconnected or malfunctioning, it will prevent the ignitor from firing.

If you need a manual, I think I have a pdf of one saved. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a copy.

Ron

Agree that the sail switch is a common cause of this problem. Needs to be checked early in troubleshooting.

Manuals are on the net: http://bryantrv.com/docs.html

[kingji]

Well, I stopped by our local RV dealer and quized him on my problem. He said there was a switch mounted just inside the housing on the same side as the cord entrance. He suggested that I switch it off there and then back on. I found the switch and cycled it once. It started the lite sequence but again I only got the fan to run for it's purge cycle. Ron and Steve thanks for the info on the trouble shooting manual. I've got it saved. I'm probably going to double check and make sure that's it's still under warranty and take it in for the repair. If its out of warranty I guess I'll have to pretty much pull it out and trouble shoot it further. I'm like you, it's probably the board or the sail switch. Thanks again,
Jimmy

[kingji]

I ended up taking my camper to our local RV dealer since it was still under warranty. He ended up changing out the control board and the sail switch. He said the sail switch was questionable but changed it anyway. Anyway thanks for all the replies and suggestions.
Jimmy