Hydro Flame Furnace Direct Spark Ignition

[Ctgriffi]

Working on my furnace a bit and have seen these questions come up regularly, so... made a PDF of the original troubleshooting guide for the Hydro Flame DSI Furnace in my Warrior. I thought the flowchart approach was pretty handy.

 

(Feel free to delete, moderators, if this document is readily available elsewhere... thanks!)

 

hydro-flame-dsi-guide.pdf

[Ctgriffi]

Recently did a major cleaning and a motor-refresh on my Hydro Flame FA 7916D furnace (was filthy!). Thought I'd post up a few photos in case anybody was interested to see what that thing looks like, out of the coach. Note: in the main furnace photo, the control board is unplugged/removed; it normally sits right at the front, of course, behind the vent-door.

 

I kept the original blower motor—just cleaned it up, polished and lubed the shafts, and painted case; starts up easily now and spins nice and smooth, much quieter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[frontboat]

is there a replacement for this heater? wondering as mine is getting old well 87 but it still works ok.

 

[Guest wemit]

There are newer versions of this heater available. If it works, why do you want to replace it?

[linda s]

Well I think the point of this post is that you can prolong the life of your furnace with a good cleaning. Replacement is expensive. Iflyfish thought he needed a new one but his RV mechanic figured out his can be fixed. I find in general older stuff lasts longer and is more repairable than newer. 

Linda S

[Rooster87]

I am doing a little bit of a hydro flame project myself, I discovered some water inside the coach around the furnace housing, at first glance the exterior vent seal looks to be in good shape, but on the underside it looks like there are some intentional weep holes for any water that blows inside of the vent. It looks like there is some RTV silicone obstructing these holes from performing what I am assuming is their intended function. My question is, has anyone else experienced this issue, and does anyone know that these are in fact weep holes?

[nwMarco]

Thanks for the pdf of the flow chart. I started my furnace up the other day after replacing the busted t-stat and it made the most horrible screeching noise! Will try to disassemble and lube up the motor in hopes that will fix things and make it work again. 

[Ctgriffi]

Very common issue. Generally, lubing the motor helps for a limited time, but the bearings are such that motor replacement is the more permanent fix. 

[WME]

A few drops of oil on the blower shaft will work for a bit.

The bearings are what is called an oilite bushing, it needs to be soaked in oil. Most also have a felt fuzzy to retain the oil longer.

Decide on your skill level and what your time is worth.

[IdahoDoug]

Be sure to use a thinner oil for better penetration, and if you tear it down to the actual bearing and find a rubber seal preventing oiling, there is a strategy. You can push the outer lip of the seal straight toward the shaft and "wrinkle" the thin rubber seal to cause a gap with a dull pick or fine nail.  Transmission oil is an excellent choice, getting a drop at a time from a bit spilled into the cap, and placing it on the seal gap.  Capillary action will do the rest.  Best.