Heater not working

Carlostx · 11-30-2015, 02:53 PM

I have an '06 23FB that the heater is not working properly. All other electrical appliances are working fine but the heater blows cold air for about 2 minutes and shuts off. Every once in a while, the heater will turn on and almost immediately shut off and the refrigerator light (power) will also go off. I reset the main breaker to bring the frig back online but the heater still does not function correctly.
I'm new to the travel trailer world, using this as temporary living but as the temps get colder, I need to get this fixed.
Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
K.

clubhouse · 11-30-2015, 03:09 PM

Are you out of propane?

arkhillbilly · 11-30-2015, 03:11 PM

Does your stove lite and run proper? Sounds like the heater isn't getting gas. Is the main breaker tripping? That would indicate a over load or short. The heater is 12v, so that could be a bad converter or battery. Do you have correct 120v coming in?

Carlostx · 11-30-2015, 03:54 PM

Does the heater require propane or can it run on electricity? (I will check the tanks...)

The main breaker is not tripping, I only use it to reset the refrigerator.
All other electrical devices are working so yes, I have the correct 120v coming in.

arkhillbilly · 11-30-2015, 04:20 PM

Heater heats with propane and fan/blower is 12v dc. The ref will run on propane w/12v dc controls. The ref will also run on 120v ac, which it will default to if the control is set in the middle. Otherwise, it will run on gas/12v if you have the control set on gas, or 120v if you have it set on elect. Again, try to lite your stove top, if it lites, this will indicate if you have gas and also purge the lines of air.

Carlostx · 11-30-2015, 04:36 PM

Okay, I have a much better understanding now.

Thank you very much for the assistance.

clubhouse · 11-30-2015, 05:09 PM

If you have full hookups, and electricity is bundled in you camp site rate, you might consider a ceramic space heater. Runs on 120v and you would have no reliance on propane for heat.

**norty1** · 11-30-2015, 05:34 PM

We have used the Vornado digital heater in our rig for years. They provide reliable even heat. The AVH has the digital controls.

Heaters

The fireplace option is great also but we don't leave it on at night.

arkhillbilly · 12-01-2015, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clubhouse

If you have full hookups, and electricity is bundled in you camp site rate, you might consider a ceramic space heater. Runs on 120v and you would have no reliance on propane for heat.

My part of the country, that rate applies to short-term stays. Long term goes on the meter, and is charger as such.

Shelby5991 · 10-28-2021, 01:39 PM

I'm currently having the same problem! I didn't realize I needed propane with electric for the heater because it only started to work when I plugged into electric. So helpful, thanks guys!

Jagiven · 10-28-2021, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shelby5991

I'm currently having the same problem! I didn't realize I needed propane with electric for the heater because it only started to work when I plugged into electric. So helpful, thanks guys!

Welcome aboard!

The furnace is a 12 volt system. As long as you have 12+ volts and a battery it will work when not connected to shore power

What do you have for a camper?

mxinxs · 10-28-2021, 07:41 PM

We have a almost brand new 2020 jayco whitehawk 31bh none of the heaters are working not the furnace not the electrical insert furion fireplace and not the dual air/heat in e master bedroom.

Can anyone help?

So frustrating.

**JFlightRisk** · 10-28-2021, 09:53 PM

Welcome to the JOF from NYS! We'll do our best to try and help you.

There's many questions to ask, to try and narrow it down. Long distance diagnostics are difficult, and we need a bunch of info.

Have you used them all before?
Are you plugged into 30 amp power? Power pedestal breaker tripped?
Do you have power to all the 120 volt outlets?
Is your battery fully charged, and the fuse near the battery good? 12 volt ceiling lights
working?
Propane tanks have gas, and were turned on very slowly? Too fast and the safety valve
shuts the flow off.
What does the furnace do when you turn it on?

Your furnace doesn't need 120 volt power to work, just a good propane supply and a fully charged battery. It may take several cycles to fire up if the propane hasn't been used in a while.

The fireplace heater and ceiling AC heater are strictly 120 volts. Completely separate electrical system from the furnace. Switch the breaker(s) that control those to "off" then back "on" to reset them.

Let us know what you've found, and we might be able to narrow it down.

mxinxs · 10-28-2021, 10:23 PM

Thank you so much for your reply and yes I knew it was pretty big but to answer some of those questions...
We have used everything before the outlets all have power everything is in working order we've checked all the breakers nothing is tripped the battery is fully charged we are plugged into 50 amp service. The propane tanks are all brand new freshly filled and the stove is in great working order we cook with propane every night we can turn the refrigerator to propane and it works as well when we turn the furnace on it comes on for about 30 to 45 seconds and then shuts off before it ever gets hot. We have reset the thermostat several times read all the forums and tried all the things that were suggested the only thing we haven't tried is some fuse you mentioned by the battery will have to check unless you can tell us where that would be but we don't have problems with anything else. We did get a recall notice about a faulty valve but the furnace was working 2 days ago and then yesterday it would not work.

The fury on fireplace insert throws an error code E3 we have reset it many times and it keeps throwing the E3 code which we do not understand why or how to fix it.

The roof air in the master bedroom that also is supposed to be a heater has never worked so we don't even know what to do or where to begin with that.

Because all three heat sources the camper came equipped with are not working we are using electric plug-in personal heaters in the rooms and as it gets colder as we're camping in an area that gets snow it's not going to be nice so any and all help is appreciated.

**JFlightRisk** · 10-28-2021, 11:39 PM

Not in any kind of order, the E3 shows to be an overheat code, and to check the vents, and unplug it for 5 minutes. You've probably already done that.

If your ceiling lights are working, the fuse by the battery is fine.

The propane regulator recall should be for leaking. You'd smell that outside near the tanks.

The furnace is another thing. The t-stat turns the system on, the blower runs for several seconds to purge the burner and activate the sail switch, which in turn activated the gas valve on it. If it's an Atwood furnace, there will be a reset switch on the furnace itself. Might not be easy to get to, but might be worth a try. It's possible the sail switch isn't tripping the gas valve, or the control board inside it is bad.

There might be something in one of these videos that might help, before you get out a hammer! This gentleman is extremely knowledgeable, and very methodical in his presentation. He's a mobile tech, and is gracious enough to share his knowledge with the world.

Video on a dirty sail switch. Not your brand, and easy to get to for video reasons, but similar to an Atwood in function.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g3_Y7MqChE

One on a circuit board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t8vRuGdZLw

And look down the list on the right for any more that are relevant.
Stay warm, and let us know how it turns out. You've got homework! Good luck.

mxinxs · 10-29-2021, 01:17 AM

Yes we read about the sail switch took it all out cleaned it and still nothing I'm going to watch these videos you sent and see if they give us any other clues. I appreciate you taking the time to dig all this up for us and yes on the E3 error code we did everything it told us several times over it still keeps throwing the code I think they need to replace the fireplace insert.

Will keep you posted only figure it all out. If you come across anything else feel free to give us more hints. Definitely appreciate all your time and effort in this. Sincerely Angie and Dustin

Mikew4xx · 10-29-2021, 01:52 PM

Does it matter if you are running off of shore power or batteries? Does that make any difference?

J&EC · 10-29-2021, 02:50 PM

Are you camping at altitude. Many propane heaters will not operate at high altitude, since you are talking about snow I guess so. We camp in the Denver area and our propane furnace will not light. Come down a couple thousand feet and it works great. Stove and water heater work at high altitude when furnace wouldn’t

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