More Atwood furnace issues – blown fuses and no start

jasper

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2021
Messages
18
Hey all, another furnace question / issue I'd love some help troubleshooting.

I've got a 2019 Fleet with the Atwood furnace. It's always been a little quirky, but I thought once I figured out the trick to remove the piece ductwork to the grille all my problems were solved, but here we are again and it's acting up.

I was out this weekend in cold weather, and turned the heat on. The fan kicked on, ignitor clicked, and after a minute or so I started to feel warm air blowing, yay! But then it just stopped entirely. No fan, nothing. It took me a minute to figure out, but the fuse had blown. I had some extra 7.5 amp fuses, and popped one in, and turned the thermostat back on, and the fuse blew again immediately.

I found some service and did a little research, and found folks recommending a 10 or 15 amp fuse (along with plenty of counter advice on that). I figured I'd try a larger fuse just to see if I could get it working, and both 10 and 15 amp fuses blew immediately as well.
Back home now, I put some fresh 7.5amp fuses in, and now when I turn the thermostat on nothing happens at all – the fuses don't even blow!

I removed the outer furnace cover to hit the reset switch and still nothing.

The blower fan looks clean and is clear of debris.

I removed the cover to the thermostat, and all looks good there. I tried bypassing the switch and just connecting the two wires in there, and nothing happened.

I recently installed a new battery and Renogy 500a battery monitor and shunt. I've double checked all of that wiring and nothing is shorted and everything is exactly the same as it was before the battery replacement.

All other electronics in the camper are working — lights, USB, fridge, etc.

Any ideas? Appreciate it!
 
In addition to measuring voltages (hard to do when the fuses keep popping!) I would pick some spots to break the circuit and then put in a fuse to see if it still pops. Kind of like reducing the areas in which you need to search for the short. This would allow you to see if the short is before the furnace, IN the furnace, etc.
 
Hey, thanks for the reply both of you! I'll dig into the troubleshooting guide you shared a bit more SLEDAWG.

Debugging electrical is not my strong suit, so I may end up seeing if I can get it into the shop to have them take a look.
 
I suggest disconnecting the furnace from power. Two ways to do it. The “reset” button is a breaker. Turn it to off. Then try a fuse. Second, physically disconnect furnace “hot” wire. I suspect your “source” wire is shorted or you blew the furnace ckt board. Check for dust or loose wires.
Note you can measure voltage across the top of a blade fuse. There are two holes on the top. Additionally the fuse panel has terminals exposed where you can measure voltage.
Suggest “walking” your voltage checks from source to furnace.
 

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I would suggest not continuing to reapply power, and instead disconnect the furnace completely from power and start doing continuity checks and checks for a short of power wire to ground using an ohmmeter. If this is not familiar stuff for you then taking it to a shop or to a friend that is familiar with appliance electrical troubleshooting is a good idea.
 
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