Willboy Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Hello, Willboy here. Have just purchased a 1985 Dolphin mini motorhome on a Toyota chassis. It has a small forced air heater with an automatic igniter. It does not work properly and I am wondering if there are some controls or procedure in the cabin (other than the wall thermostat) that might control this heater. There are no instructions on turning it on or off. I have gas to the unit and have jump wired the controls, but this is not the way to run the unit under normal circumstances. Any input or info on obtaining a comprehensive manual on this motorhome would be appreciated. My email is will{at}bidslo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knewell Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Funny you should be posting this right now... I just had to troubleshoot mine yesterday. Does it not turn on at all? What brand and model furnace do you have? If you have a hydro flame 79 series I can help you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Hello, Willboy here. Have just purchased a 1985 Dolphin mini motorhome on a Toyota chassis. It has a small forced air heater with an automatic igniter. It does not work properly and I am wondering if there are some controls or procedure in the cabin (other than the wall thermostat) that might control this heater. There are no instructions on turning it on or off. I have gas to the unit and have jump wired the controls, but this is not the way to run the unit under normal circumstances. Any input or info on obtaining a comprehensive manual on this motorhome would be appreciated. My email is will{at}bidslo.com See if you can find out the module is that might help. All of them pretty much work the same when you turn on the thermostat the fan runs actually fairly long before the heater lights so you will not get instant heat. If it just sits there and blows cold air after a couple of minutes then you have a problem, the first thing I would do is plug the camper into the house and retry it they need a good hot battery to work properly. Another thing to try is light your stove for a bit before you try the heat to make sure you have a good supply of gas to the heater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobirds Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 This is great. I just bought an 87 Dolphin. We don't know anything about the coach, and are learning the hard way. We were able to get the blower to come one. We had messed with the thermostat a bunch before learning that if you turn it on, the furnace would kick on after a couple of seconds. We ended up taking the thermostat apart, and the previous owner had messed with the internal coil on the thermostat so that it wouldn't turn on unintentionally. Once I adjusted the thermostat so that the two terminals were connected, the blower kicked right on after a few seconds. I felt the air for quite a while, and nothing ever got warm. We're not sure if there's something we need to light? We've been trying to get the hot water heater going, too but don't know how to engage the main pilot light. We have a LP/Electric fridge which is running fine on gas, and the stove/oven work fine also. Any idea what I might be missing when trying to get the furnace to kick on and the water heater working? Thanks, The Phin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Most of the stock heaters only try to light once so if it does not light it will just sit there and blow cold air until you turn the thermostat off. If the lines are full of air on the first try it probably will not light so it has to be recycled to try again it might take a few tries to get it to light. The ideal with the fan running first is to blow any propane that might be left over out of the fire box before it lets the next batch in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D. Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I took out my circuit board and had it tested at our local RV Store. I tested bad. I was going to buy a new one but discovered a loose Diode. I soder it back into place and it has worked fine ever since. Most of these have a printed circuit board that control the lighting cycle. If the thomastat is working and you have gas then that is the next step. Hydorflame still has manuels on many of these that can be downloaded. Do a google search for the name of the company and if you can find your model it will give you a trouble shooting guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Dinosaur Boards makes an aftermarket circuit board for most of the heaters good bit cheaper and quite nice. They all so will fire 3 times as opposed to once for the stock boards within the firing cycle making it more likely to light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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