13 replies to this topic

[Bagsend]

Hey poppie-uppie users...I have an eagle (2004) with an atwood furnace and am experiencing difficulties in keeping warm. It only works when it feels like it. When working both the blower/fan and igniter work. I replaced the aux battery, after learning that there is a default shut-off below 9.8v. With the new battery, the heater is not showing signs of improvement; now nothing happens. If anyone out there has some ideas or helpful words of wisdom we greatly appreciate it. Thanks and enjoy your travels. Bagsend

[SunMan]

I'd call FWC, I'm sure they'd be happy to help: 800-242-1442

http://www.fourwheel...com/contact.htm

[DirtyDog]

I'm not sure if I understand from your description - but do you think there is a propane flow problem? Do you have no heat at all when it doesn't work or just low heat?

[ScottBailey]

The thermostat is 2 wires.

If you hold them together, the fan should start.

After 15 seconds or so, the furnace should start burning propane.

When you release the connection, the furnace quits burning propane, but runs the fan for a time. Maybe a minute.

If you have a loose connection in the system, the furnace might cycle through the pre and post burning phases without ever firing the propane. But it'll look like it should work...

[dsrtrat]

This has been covered before but the Atwood furnace will try to fire three times and then go into a default no burn mode until power is cycled. Try turning off the power to the furnace by cycling the on off switch on the thermostat or pulling the fuse.

It can also be any number of problems. There is a sail switch in the system that will prevent the propane valve opening unless the fan motor is working. It could be stuck. I have had cold weather starting problems with mine due to low pressure. Below 15 degrees or so it takes several cycles to fire after a long shutdown. Blow out the furnace compartment with compressed air as a lot of dust can cause a malfunction. Check the led light on the control board it has several modes. Check the atwood site for a manual for troubleshooting. if you have a bad control board problem replace it with a Dinosaur Electronics board. Google Dinosaur rv boards.
Good luck.
Dsrtrat

[griz]

As you are well aware the furnace requires lots of juice. (fan) Was told to plug into the house current and see how the furnace does. This may help you in trouble shooting the 12v system, or you may have a propane problem.
When I did this it proved that my battery was not good enough. Replaced the battery, no problems ever since.

[Stan@FourWheel]

Those Atwood furnaces were pretty darn reliable.

Usually, not always, but usually you can tinker with it and get it running again.

Spend a few minutes, it might be worth your time since Winter is coming.

Easy things to try ...

STEP 1:

Plug your camper in to shore power (ex: your garage) if you can, or make sure your aux. camper battery is fully charged for this testing below, or if your camper is properly wired up to your truck, start your truck up and have your truck running when you are doing the tests below. This will ensure you have a good amount of power being supplied to the camper.

STEP 2:

Make sure you have a full tank of propane, and that the propane tank valve is "open".

NEXT STEPS:

3. remove the thermostat cover on the front of the kitchen cabinets. there should be 2 blue wires in there, one wire attached to a screw, and another wire attached to a different screw. Make a jumper wire (bend a paper clip) or unscrew the two wires and touch them together. This should start the furnace fan, and shortly after the furnace will ignite if everything is working properly. If the furnace starts and works after you touch those 2 wires together, you probably just have a bad thermostst. Just get a new one from us, an RV shop, or most hardware stroes will have something similar.

If that doesn't work, then try ...

4. remove the furnace cover on the outside of the camper (4 small screws).

4. remove the furnace vent covers off the inside of the camper cabinets where the furnace (probably 4 small screws for each vent cover).

5. blow both areas out with compressed air.

6. look inside with a flashlight to see if anything looks out of wack. Loose wires, broken fan blade, etc.

7. find the small toggle / rocker switch in there. this is usually visable from the outside of the camper. reset it (turn it one direction, wait a second, and then flip it back to the original setting).

Try and set the thermostat again and see if the furnace fires up as it should.


If that doesn't work, poke around inside a bit more and fiddle with the wires and look for anything out of the norm.

If all of the above fails, you might need to take it in to an authorized Atwood RV service center.

But hopefully something above will work and save you a few bucks, time, and hassle of taking it to a service center.


Happy Camping !





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[craig333]

Never had a problem with mine, but others have reported small spiders or other very tiny debris in the propane line. Might double check that its clear.

[Jack]

Others have made great suggestions for troubleshooting the Atwood. Here are two more. Remove the cover plate and re-crimp all the wire "T" connectors. The second is the circuit board. With the cover off you can see the status LED on it. It blinks out codes to indicate status and the codes are found in the Atwood manual. If the circuit board has failed, it will tell you.

[Bagsend]

Thanks for all the great responses...it ended up being a variety of things. Unfortunately we are in the middle of a road trip in S. Canada and it is a little cold up here so we resorted to taking it to a service center. However I had tried several of the above mentioned fixes (checking the thermostat, connection of various wires etc.) prior to taking it in. Here is what the fix was, hopefully it can save someone else a few bucks if they ever run into this problem!

1. bad thermostat (super easy to replace on your own) it was not the start switch but rather the temp regulating coils - one side was not getting amps/juice.

2. bad ignition switch (again super easy to replace on your own) have to replace the entire circuit board unless you are a pro at repairing them and know where to get the parts.

3. had already replaced the battery, but that did not make a difference with the heater working or not.

Things to keep in the camper: VOLT METER (had we had one of these I would have been able to determine all of these things and saved some pennies)
Watch out for corrosion on the connection plates, can be cleaned with an eraser tip. After spending several months in Baja (coast) I had noticed quite a bit of corrosion on most metal (including wire).

Again thanks to all who replied and hopefully all who encounter this problem will be able to fix it themselves! cheers and happy travels to all.