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Old 01-04-2016, 12:43 PM   #1
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Heater and furnace both not working

I think I have this narrowed down to a thermostat problem, but I wanted to run it by you geniuses in case there is a known cause/fix.

Went hunting down in the Gila Wilderness this weekend. After a long day of hiking mountains in the snow and seeing no muleys, I went back to my 2016 Jayco BHS 27.5 looking forward to a good dinner and a warm night's sleep. Unfortunately, the heater wouldn't turn on. I can say that the last time the furnace was in use, the LP ran out. So, I tried making sure the lines were purged. Stove, water heater, fridge - all running with no issues. Still no heater. No fan, no attempts at ignition, nothing. Auto/on modes. Nothing. Tried the fan alone. Nothing. Then I tried the AC -nothing! My rooftop AC and furnace have sperate fans and ducting of course. Sliding the thermostat temp setting back and forth, no "clicks" from the thermostat (granted, the thermostat only goes down to 50 and it was probably in the low 40s in the trailer at this point).
Checked fuses, breakers, all good. Checked fuse in thermostat, looks good. No anticipator in this thermostat as far as I can tell.

So to me it seems like a bad thermostat. But how? None of the capacitors look blown, this is a brand new device. Is it possible that some kind of safety mechanism/switch in the furnace (from when I ran the LP dry) could interrupt the power to the thermostat rendering both the heater and AC inoperable?

Another note: I had just got the 5th wheel back from the dealership. They did some warranty work that included some re-routing of wires at the battery (my landing gear had only been working on AC power or when hooked up to the truck). I would imagine that there is only one 12v power supply to the fuse box and then to everything internal, so that if the problem were wiring at the battery then nothing would work, not just the thermostat. Am I right on that? Is there any kind of direct line from the battery to the heating/cooling systems? As I type that I see how ridiculous that sounds. But I've learned not to discount something from being true just because it sounds ridiculous.

It got down into the teens that night. And the next. And the night after that. Three nights of sleeping in my clothes under all the blankets I had. You know it was bad when I was looking forward to my alarm going off so the night would be over.

Please help. I want to go back out next weekend.
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Old 01-04-2016, 12:48 PM   #2
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Not familiar with your rig but I suspect a reset switch somewhere on the furnace.
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Old 01-04-2016, 01:01 PM   #3
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Heater and furnace both not working

I'm not one of the geniuses, but I have a few questions that one of them would like to know to help you:

You are back home now, correct? Is your trailer now plugged into shore power to charge your trailer battery?

Have you checked your battery? It sounds like you had some 12 volt issues and maybe the battery was/is severely discharged; maybe ruined.

Were you using a generator (or connected to shore power - unlikely) while in the wilderness? My experience is that a fully charged 12 volt battery will last roughly 1 night due to high discharge from the furnace fan.
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Old 01-04-2016, 01:34 PM   #4
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Battery was full. Running 2 6v batteries and they do pretty well. Meter showed a full charge. Used my generator too, and even while gen was on, no heater or AC (or even attempt at starting of either unit/fan).

Just used my voltmeter to confirm 12v supply is reaching thermostat (and conducting through fuse). Going to Home Depot now to buy a new thermostat to confirm bad thermostat is the problem.

Can a thermostat get too cold??
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Old 01-04-2016, 01:50 PM   #5
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Might not be the same on yours but on my 23 RB there is a way to reset the furnace. It is located at the furnace box on mine. If not reset, the furnace or air will not work. Mine turned out to be a bad furnace motor on a week old unit.
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Old 01-04-2016, 03:34 PM   #6
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So do I understand you to say that switch in the furnace kills the furnace AND the air conditioner?? I found that switch when I was out there. Tried turning it off/on, leaving it off for a while then back on -nothing.

I just tried a new Honeywell thermostat (had to leave the low fan wire out since this thermostat doesn't support it). No dice. Maybe if I turn it off, turn off that reset switch again for a minute or two, then turn it all back on?
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Old 01-04-2016, 03:48 PM   #7
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Someone with more tech savvy will have to chime in here. A tech worked on mine and took the furnace cover box off that is under the couch on mine. He did something with the wires that said it would reset it. I wish I could help more. All I know for sure is the air conditioner and furnace were affected.
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Old 01-04-2016, 04:50 PM   #8
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Furnace and a/c controls share a common 12v through the thermostat. Sounds like a blown fuse. Just looking at them won't always tell you it's bad. You need to check with a volt meter.
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Old 01-04-2016, 05:14 PM   #9
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I am not sure what the wire colors are in your trailer but you can usually twist together the red and white at the tstat and the furnace should fire up.
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Old 01-04-2016, 05:26 PM   #10
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Yes the 12v comes from the furnace usually through the red wire, connected to the white will send power for the furnace to fire up. If not something is bad on the control board.
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Old 01-04-2016, 05:34 PM   #11
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I would also look at the furnace manual and see if it has a fuse on the control board, if it has blown a fuse nothing will work.
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Old 01-04-2016, 06:24 PM   #12
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Please post the resolution. It may help others. The thread will still be sitting here.
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