Furnace lighting inconsistently

[searay268]

We just did our last camping trip for the year and the furnace in our RV would not light consistently.

Friday evening when we first arrived, everything was fine and it was cycling on and off with no issue.

Saturday morning we woke to a chilly RV. I turned the thermostat off and back on and it then lit and worked. The next time it tried to cycle, it did not light and shut off.

We finally removed the outside cover and when we reset the unit and it tried to run, we lightly tapped on the regulator with a screwdriver handle and it lit. The next time it cycled, it failed again.

We went through this exercise a few more times. Then, it finally started to cycle with no issues. Saturday night, the furnace worked fine.

Since we don't usually need the furnace, could this simply be from lack of use? If that were the case, I don't understand why it would work at first when we first turned it on.

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you

[Jagiven]

It could be a number of different things. I see you have a 2011 Greyhawk 30SS.

By chance do you know what make and model furnace you have?

Most common complaint is a faulty sail switch. It is a switch that confirms the blower is running.

[RogerR]

Since you don't use it a lot check the air flow. If it is blocked at all the fan may not be able to activate the sail switch properly. Another failure is if the voltage to the fan is not high enough it can't move enough air. Test voltage at the fan while running.

Best to use the search function on the gold bar above. Make and model of furnace is a big help.

[searay268]

Sorry, I did not have the make of the furnace when I posted. It's an Atwood 8500-IV series.

After doing a search for sail switch, it sounds like that is probably the direction to go because I don't recall hear the clicking of the igniter when it wasn't lighting.

Thank you all.

[Johnynorthland]

Originally Posted by searay268

Sorry, I did not have the make of the furnace when I posted. It's an Atwood 8500-IV series.

After doing a search for sail switch, it sounds like that is probably the direction to go because I don't recall hear the clicking of the igniter when it wasn't lighting.

Thank you all.

Was the sail switch your issue? We are having similar issues. Worked great last year for the 1 month we used it, now it cycles but stays on longer each time.

[searay268]

I haven't looked into it yet given the time of year and our camping season being over. Sorry.

[Johnynorthland]

Ok, keep us posted. Thanks for replying