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Old 09-16-2009, 09:04 PM   #1
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janetpowell
Okay, now the heater

Hello! We have left Va Beach and are on our way to Maine. And...it is COLD!!! We turned on the heater and it worked. Then, we made dinner and had a multitude of lights on. Soon, after we had the doors and windows open so our cat could look out, it got very cold. We turned the heater back on and.....nothing! Hmmm, now breakers blown, the air conditioner worked, but not the heater. So, under the couch we went, and outside. There was a red light blinking on, then off 3 seconds, indicated an air flow limit fault. So, inside we went again. I turned off all the lights, and then lifted the flap on the couch next to the outake flow vent. The heater came on!
So, my knowledgable friends, any answers??? We are headed to Maine for a couple weeks. Acadia National Park is one of our destinations. We, duh!!! did not bring our portable electric heater. Except for buying another one, any suggestions???
Thanks in advance for your suggestions and answers!!!\
Janet and Fred
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Old 09-16-2009, 11:02 PM   #2
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Hi Janet

These Hydroflame furnaces are pretty simple in operating nature but have several safeties in them so they do not over heat.

How they basically work is:

There is a blower inside the unit that has 2 fans. 1 circulates air thru the camper the 2nd circulates air thru a gas heating combustion chamber. There is a sail switch in that air flow path in the combustion chamber. If the blower is blowing strong enough it allows that safety to work and the main gas burner to light. When you turn on the unit you here it run cold air for a short while until the burner kicks in. That is to purge the unit and check the sail switch too. If there is not enough air moving the unit can overheat and will shut off for sail switch safety. If you are on battery power and the battery gets run down to low, the motor will not run fast enough sometimes and this and shuts the furnace down on safety.

There is also a second safety. A heating chamber over temp switch. If for any reason the main chamber get’s to hot, it shuts the unit down so it will not over heat.

The LP gas burner heats an air box to so to speak (the combustion chamber). The hot gas heat goes in that box, heats up the steel chamber and then exhausts outside. No gas fumes comes in the camper. Then by convection, they blow air over the hot steel air chamber and that air is drawn from inside the camper, blows over the heat chamber and then goes out all the heat ducts.

So that is Hydroflame Furnace operation 101.

What may have happened, If there is not enough air circulating thru all the air ducts in the camper, either the intake or the air delivery duct, then not enough air can move across the heat chamber to keep it cool enough from over heating.

Basically you are not removing enough heat from the combustion chamber and it trips out on hi temp limit.

When you moved the couch flap that may have been restricting some air from being sucked in and the unit finally cooled down off of the hi limit safety.

Check for any kind of blocked or partial blocked intake or heat delivery duct in the camper. If a delivery duct is chocked off or blocked it can create the same problem as the intake duct be being blocked.

Hope this helps and stay warm.

John


PS. How did you make out with the AC unit? What did the service guy find?
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Old 09-17-2009, 06:13 AM   #3
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janetpowell
heater

Morning John,
Once again, thanks for the education! Today we will check all the ducts for blockage. The flap on the couch was the only thing that appeared to block the ducts. We have four. One in the kitchen, living area, bathroom, and bedroom. In addition the cold air return is also under a flap on the couch. I just tucked that up also. Fortunately, the heater worked all night. Actually, our cat woke us up at 3AM and we had to turn it down a bit. We prefer colder temps to sleep in. So, hopefully, we will have no further problems on this trip! When we go West in January, I will remember the little electric space heater---just in case!
The Service people, William's Mobile RV Service, who are GREAT!!!, replaced the thermostat and our air conditioning problems were solved. That caused a bit of perplexion last night also, if the thermostat was the problem, but the air conditioner worked, not the heater. Always something with the traveling life!!!
Our awning isn't totally corrected also. We got a replacement arm and handle under warranty due to a defective handle. When we put the awning down to leave Monday, the handle was not working again! So, Fred tore it apart. Inside is a really inefficient piece of bent metal that serves as a spring. It wasn't pushing the little button completely out, causing the problem. So, a little WD-40 and it worked. We haven't put it back up to see if it really solved the problem. I have the warranty info with me....just in case.
We are currently in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, enjoying breakfast. We will leave fairly soon and travel to Castine, Maine. Then to Acadia National Park. Eventually, we will have to return home to Slippery Rock for the remainder of the Fall. Which is, as you know, quite a beautiful season in our area!!!
Thanks again for your knowledge base and willingness to share!!!!
Janet and Fred
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