johnnyhap Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 (edited) Hello, I am a new owner of a 1986 Sun Land Express. First time owner. Do I need AC current to fire up the furnace. Fan runs but the pilot does not fire up. I have plenty of propane. Edited October 22, 2019 by johnnyhap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 12v with enough 'juice' to spin the fan fast enough to activate the 'sail switch'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Johnnyhap: I have used my furnace for 10 years without shore power. Like Derek said ***Battery with juice will run it perfectly *** . The last 2 times camping I had to move the thermostat lever up and down fast a few times before it lit. Think on the 3rd cycle the furnace put out heat both times. My T-Stat may need cleaning or replacing. Hope to have checked it out by next camping adventure. After 3-4 days I start the engine and let it build up power in the house battery usually 20-30 minutes. I replaced most of the interior lights with LED lights to conserve battery power. Wish you well . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaCamper Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 20 hours ago, johnnyhap said: Fan runs but the pilot does not fire up. The furnace should have an "igniter" rather than a pilot light. The control board generates a high voltage that makes a spark across a gap between two electrodes on the igniter. The control board won't allow this to happen unless the fan is generating enough power to activate the "sail switch" as Derek mentioned. Sometimes it's hard to tell where the issue is because of these inter-dependent systems. If you hear a "clicking" but no flame then it's likely the igniter that is the issue. It may need adjustment or you could need a new one if you get the clicking with no flame. I had to replace the igniter in my Atwood hydroflame furnace in order to get it to fire up when I first got my YoterHome. I would suggest taking a look inside the burner to see if you can identify an obvious problem. FYI, this is a link to a thread that discusses power use of the batter to run the furnace and the potential to run the battery down if the furnace doesn't fire up: I also found that replacing the old thermostat with a simple cheap (battery powered) digital one was a worthwhile improvement. Let us known which brand/model of furnace you have and someone might be able to get you a relevant manual if you don't already have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 29 minutes ago, AtlantaCamper said: Let us known which brand/model of furnace you have and someone might be able to get you a relevant manual if you don't already have one. http://bryantrv.com/owners.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Some RV dealers have testers for the boards. Here is the chain of events, "T" stat on, fan runs (prepurge), sail switch colses, overheat proofs, gas valve opens, igniter fires then the furnace lights. The original ignitor board would only do this once if it did not fire the fan would run until the battery went dead unless the "T" stat was turned off the logic of that was to blow any unburned propane out of the furnace. The most common failure was the board itself they are not repairable. Sometimes cycling the thermostat would make it fire but if it didn't fire the first time there is a real good chance the next time will be in the middle of the night when it's 40* out and when you get up to see what happened the furnace will be blowing cool air on your feet until you turn it off. I swear by Dinosaur boards they work they will try 3 times to light before giving up very well made and most are less than $100. Not saying this is your problem but due to the age of the MH it's a real good chance it is. Of the last two MH/campers of mine both had intermittent issues until I replaced the boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyhap Posted October 28, 2019 Author Share Posted October 28, 2019 (edited) ¡¡Whoo Hoo.. got it to fire up..!! I ran the motor for a while to make sure the cabin battery was at full power.. and used the move the Therm up and down as Homer suggested and it fired up first try..!! It was all rebuilt recently.. so I was hoping it would not need repair.. Works great shuts off and comes back on.. no problems. Thanks for all ya'lls feedback.. I appreciate your time and knowledge..!!! Johnny Edited October 29, 2019 by johnnyhap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Johnny: Good deal. Glad it started working. I also have a Battery Minder I bought at Northern Tool ,on sale, that I keep hooked up to my inside battery year around except when we go camping.When I unplug the shore power I unplug the Battery Minder. It not only keeps it charged up but de-sulfates it also. When I come home from camping I plug it into shore power and turn the converter breaker OFF. I leave all the other breakers on so the receptacles have power. It won't boil your battery like the converter does unless you have one of the NEW Up To Date converters. Note* It's not a Battery Tender which is similar but doesn't de-sulfate the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 18 hours ago, Homer said: Johnny: Good deal. Glad it started working. I also have a Battery Minder I bought at Northern Tool ,on sale, that I keep hooked up to my inside battery year around except when we go camping.When I unplug the shore power I unplug the Battery Minder. It not only keeps it charged up but de-sulfates it also. When I come home from camping I plug it into shore power and turn the converter breaker OFF. I leave all the other breakers on so the receptacles have power. It won't boil your battery like the converter does unless you have one of the NEW Up To Date converters. Note* It's not a Battery Tender which is similar but doesn't de-sulfate the battery. If you can afford it a modern converter charger hands down is a good investment all around. I leave my camper plugged in year round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 I agree on the more modern converters. Have heard only good reports on them. If my old one 'konks' out. I will surely buy one of the good ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.