3 Tips For Your RV Furnace + Bonus Q&A -- My RV Works

My RV Works, Inc., certified RV Technician, Darren Koepp, gives his top three tips to keep your RV furnace running every year and keep you warm when you need it. Stay tuned till the end for our Q & A where Darren address rodent infestation and replacing a plastic blower wheel with a metal one!
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Main Site: myrvworks.com
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Topic: RV Furnace Seasonal Maintenance
System: RV Furnaces
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• RV Furnace Repairs
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Film Date: 1/18/2023
Location: Joyce, WA
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Music:
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Composed by Steve Patry - Four Faces Band
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[@jimsmith5294]

Thanks for another helpful video!

[@barryginder498]

You are so good and clear ! Thank you for doing this for all of us !

[@alandanner7566]

Hi. Love your very informative, and helpful. '96 Mallard thermostat is blowing 2 amp fuse inside it. Help? Thank you.

[@mic8080]

I have to say THANK YOU so many of your videos have help us out a lot with are RV THANK YOU

[@brucemathews3213]

All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you. On a recent trip the furnace on my 2016 Thor 28Z stopped working. I have spent two weeks trying to troubleshoot it. I must have watched 2 dozen youtube videos and read countless forum conversations on how to fix it. After replacing the control board, sail switch, ignitor and sensor, and high temp thermostat switch, I was at wits end. I realize now that my sail switch did need replacing as the fan wheel would not run unless i first hand spun the fan to get it moving. Once the sail switch was replaced (the same time I did the circuit board) the fan would come on, run for 30 seconds and then it would try firing. I could hear the click, hear what sounded like a spark and then get a brief 1 or 2 second burn before it would shut down. Time and again this is what would happen. After lockout, I would wait 30 seconds, reset the switch and do it all over again. I threw in the towel and told my wife I was probably going to have to bring it to Camping World and have them fix or replace it, at a tune of probably 1500 dollars or more. Being retired on a fixed income, this wasn't a good feeling. Then this evening I was conducting my last due diligence and found one of your instructional videos regarding the gas valve. During my earlier attempts I could only smell the slightest hint of gas during this time, so I decided that maybe I should troubleshoot the gas valve next. I watched one of your older videos (3 years ago it was recorded) and decided that tomorrow morning, that is how I would start my day. Maybe, just maybe, it was a solenoid or an orifice obstruction. Then, you mentioned something no one did, in any of the previous videos or forum chats. You said that the exhaust vent tube had to be in place for it to fire and continue to run! When I was trying to get it to run, I left the cover off with the exhaust tube attached. So, I detached the exhaust tube, put it back into the furnace and low and behold, it fired right up and ran beautifully! Something as simple as that! Thank you!

[@nmartin5551]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I’m trying to figure out my lack of furnace function right now, and I would have done the same thing and left the cover off.

[@dougrymer4490]

I have a 2019 Open Range 2910RLS with no outside access panel so I can’t check the sail switch. What do I need to do?

[@daviscrt]

Awesome information. Thanks Don

[@larryharrison734]

I have a Dometic/Atwood model 2540. It was working properly earlier this year, but it started giving problems. The blower will start, purge the system, clicks, ignition, then 1 or 2 seconds it shuts off the gas. After several seconds it clicks, ignition, then does the same thing, over and over for about 5 times then it will continue to work properly, until it reaches the desired temperature then shuts down. The next time it will do the same thing or not continue to work. I have inspected the burner and adjusted the gap but it still is intermittent. There are no flashes. What do you recommend?

[@russellrustin1028]

I have a click on ac and furnaces. Fan doesn't start could it be a sail switch? Anyone have this problem?

[@alandanner7566]

Meant to say love your you tubes. Thermostat blows 2 amp fuse inside it when I turn on heat. Thanks!

[@ReflectedMiles]

What RV is okay at -40? I know their construction and operation well, so being fine at that temperature would have to either be very limited or with a set-up I've never heard of. I have an Arctic Fox "4-season" (right!) and the rear plumbing is good to around 12F, at which point the unit is finished functionally, with the interior temperature set at 65F. The interior temperature can be kept at 65 to about 10 below zero F, but the walls are then losing it at that point with condensation frozen in the corners, etc.--a 2-inch wall with an uninsulated aluminum frame will never be "4-season" in reality except in the South.

[@MyRVWorks]

Here is a link to some notes I give at seminars where I discuss this information. myrvworks.com/darrens-seminar-outline-for-winter-rv-living-in-comfort/

[@ReflectedMiles]

@@MyRVWorks Yes, those are mostly standard winter practices that I am familiar with except for a few items like R-19 insulation under the coach. Mine is already insulated, though not at that level, nor would there be anywhere to insulate to that level (assuming we are talking about actual insulation and not an "RV-manufacturer insulation rating" where aluminum foil with an air gap is imagined to be worth R-30, the residential-builder scandal with that stuff never having reached or been enforced in RV marketing claims). Unless you tear apart and retrofit floor raceways, under tubs, etc., to add heat tape and insulation to water lines and the total energy expenditure per square foot is essentially limitless, plugged into AC, and unless refrigerator manufacturers like Norcold are willing to go 40 degrees below their current minimum-temperature rating _even with_ their cold kit being installed, this still isn't going to get you down to any kind of normal, living functionality in the -40 range. My experience is mostly in the northeast corner of Washington State east along the northern tier into Idaho and Montana, and even older homes with at least 2 or 3 times the best RV's insulation, enclosed to the foundation (which itself is deep enough to be on unfreezing ground), far greater thermal mass, etc., often struggle to maintain a livable space with everything working normally at that temperature. An acquaintance scared himself with the encouragement of other owners in their forum that an Airstream would work well for him in severe cold. After his very first night just getting down towards zero, he woke to find the entry door frozen solid metal-to-metal. Despite recommended measures, he quickly gave up on it as impractical and expensive, and he was only experiencing the +10 to -15F range continuously. Frost formed on the interior rivets even at relatively low humidity and would then melt into / onto the finishes until reaching the floor, etc. There are trailers that are custom-engineered for commercial / corporate use in North Dakota and Alaska that are specifically intended to withstand extremes, but they don't have much in common with RV's.

[@Mikeywatches]

What have you found to be the best and most reliable rv ac unit in your expirence? If you could buy any one for your rv which would it be? thanks

[@chestervweed8695]

Thanks for what you do 4 us

[@stephanegalipeau3740]

Hello Darren. Love all your videos. I have a furnace question. I have a SF30 furnace and it works fine as it should when I first turn it on. After 5 minutes of running it will stop burning propane and I can hear the gas valves click off. 30 seconds after it clicked off it will ignite again. I changed my high limit switch and sail switch only because my RV is a 2007 and not sure what maintenance the previous orders did. After changing out the two parts it still doing the same thing. I made sure nothing was blocking the return air and the vents are good to. Thank you for any advice.

[@MyRVWorks]

Please join us for our next livestream, this Friday, Feb 3 @ 4:30 PM PST, where we answer viewer questions live!

[@coachstephsell]

We have a living quarters horse trailer and the propane heater at the exhaust we smell a strong propane oder. Need help 🥺 asap

[@coachstephsell]

The furnace is only accessible from under the fridge inside.

[@coachstephsell]

It's a airxcel

[@MyRVWorks]

If you believe there is a propane leak based on the odor you are smelling, we recommend turning the LP off and reaching out to a tech near you.

[@paulguiou1543]

Hey, I’ve been enjoying your videos! Very helpful! I do have a question. I have an old travel trailer with a hydro flame 8525-III. After getting it out of storage and hooking up power (12v DC) it appears the furnace is stuck on. Blower and heat…will not respond to the thermostat. Only way to shut it off is to pull the fuse. Appreciate the help and keep up with the helpful content!

[@tallerik4840]

I got new Thor RV and from day one. I have a loud knocking Noise behind my head while driveling. sounds like extension cord loose by Schwintek Slide Moter. I figured out that when i try to pull and push slide in and out when its retracted i hear that noise......... Please Help anyone Thank you. Erik

[@alandanner7566]

Feeling really ignorant. It is a Coleman Mach thermostat, and an Atwood 8531-lll Series Heater.

[@nmartin5551]

Hope you have learned more by now, but if you have been busy with other stuff, definitely type in your brand and model and “manual into google, and you will probably come up with one. My 2006 Winnebago came without manuals. Im still building.

[@gregoffenback6910]

If a heat exchanger is cracked, can it be replaced, or does it make more sense to replace the whole furnace?

[@standingmannequin7911]

The limit switch is also responsible for starting or not starting the blower motor. It should be #2 on your list.