furnace and converter issues

ironik1 · 03-19-2014, 02:00 PM

My wife and i bought a 1994 Jayco 1206 Eagle series pop up to use as for our family camping trips. We purchased it Friday 03/14 from Little Dealers Little Prices here in Mesa. I was told that everything was in working order and for the most part they were right. I've never towed before but no time like the present to learn so we set out Saturday morning to break her in.

We got to the rim country outside of Payson and tried turning on the furnace. It blew cold air and never would heat up. Needless to say we spent a COLD night huddled together. Talk about family bonding whilst shivering. The stove worked fine so gas was flowing but no heat. Instructions were to flip the switch and choose desired temp which i tried repeatedly to no avail?

Part 2, there is a deep cycle battery up front and we had lights but none of the plugs in the unit had power. I'm guessing the lights worked straight off the battery but the converter wasn't running for the plugs. i'm sure i'm missing something simple here. is there an on switch that eluded me? HELP!

mcfarmall · 03-19-2014, 02:32 PM

When you say none of the "plugs" in the unit had power, are you referring to the 110v receptacles? If so, they will only be live if your trailer is connected to an AC power source (power pole-shore power). The converter changes 110v AC power to 12vdc for your lights only so that you don't run down your battery while plugged into shore power.

Furnace-sounds like the burner never ignited. My furnace will continually try to ignite for example if the LP tank runs out. Generally speaking, the furnace cycle is as follows assuming you have gas and power supplied to it. The thermostat calls for heat. The furnace blower starts and runs for a specified period of time...this is a purge cycle to ventilate the combustion chamber of any residual gas. Next the igniter and pilot gas valve will cycle in an attempt to establish a pilot flame. If it is successful, the pilot will burn for a short period of time then the main gas valve opens and the burner ignites. After the thermostat is satisfied, the main burner and pilot gas valves close. The blower will continue to run until the heat exchanger temperature falls below a set limit and then the blower will shut off.

Sometimes cycling the power to the furnace can help it to reset. Don't just turn the power off and right back on. Leave it off for a minute or two for all the electronic circuitry to "die" then reapply power.

3'senough · 03-19-2014, 02:36 PM

Welcome. First let's talk about the furnace.

Do you need to light a pilot light? Second do you hear any clicking noise when the fan goes on? You will need to locate the unit and see if there is a possible gas valve that might be turned off and if it's is electronic ignition or not.

Now for the 110 V plugs. The plugs are energized when you are plugged into 110 V shore power at a CG. They are not 12V like the lights. If you were plugged in then perhaps a circut breaker was off or a GFCI was tripped. If you were not plugged in then start with that.

Jmooney · 03-19-2014, 03:31 PM

You also mentioned Inverter - that is a special, usually add on , device connected to the battery to give you 100 VAC, when not plugged into shore power.

greyhawk885 · 03-19-2014, 06:48 PM

Your inverter if you have one usually only works with microwave or tv plug. Others are shore power only.

RoyBraddy · 03-20-2014, 03:55 AM

This is a typical 30AMP Trailer electrical setup that may help you with how things work in your trailer electrical wise.

You are a very brave camper to start out on a long trip without a couple nights dry run with a new to you camper setup in the driveway. This is where I field tested my POPUP trailer and learned how things worked.

If you are planning to camp off the power grid much you will need additional batteries and smart mode converter/charger so that you can use a 2KW honda type generator to re-charge your batteries each morning so you can comfortably run off the batteries the next day/night battery run

We can stay out 12-14 days camping off the power grid doing just this and have alot of comfort items along with us.

Roy Ken

ironik1 · 03-20-2014, 04:19 PM

you all are awesome! thank you for all the helpful advise. i'm looking into a 2000Wi generator so that we can camp away from the pay sites. i'm still concerned about the lack of heat out of the furnace but i'll have to pull her out and look into it a little more this weekend. this camper has added a whole new level to my 'honey do' list.

1. fix heater
2. look into re-gearing my tow vehicle. i was battling semi's for last place up some of those 6 & 7% grades.
3. look into generator
4. get back out there. summer's coming quick!

Thanks again everyone!

waynem · 03-22-2014, 08:00 PM

We had a pop up nearly the same year and model as yours. For the furnace issue, ours had a brown cover over the furnace on the inside of the trailer. That should slide up and then come off. On the front of the furnace is a switch. Make sure it is on. You may have to cycle it off first then on. Ours used to get bumped occasionally (usually by the dog) and move that switch and it would do just what yours is doing - fan blowing only cold air. Hope this helps.

Wayne

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