JohnW Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Pulled the heater out of my 1979 sunrader now what? Checked fan switch is good, mother board may be bad but what part number do I use to order a new one? Also, I would buy a new one but not sure which will fit without mods to the exhaust and intake. Looking for an easy repair or replacement if I can. Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 You could install a Olympian Wave 3 or Wave 6 and not worry about the exhaust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 If you are convinced it's the igniter board here is some thing to check out they probably will have your board http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/ I have one in mine and it works flawlessly the neat thing it will try to fire 3 times before it gives up the stock one tries once. I think I read that their newer boards even turn the fan off if it fails to light, nice touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 If you're inclined to buy on FleaBay, you could try here:- http://stores.ebay.com/Any-RV-Parts/Dinosaur-Electronics-/_i.html?_fsub=1440028012&_sid=713255982&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 I've no idea if they've the best prices, but it'll at least give you a comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted December 10, 2010 Author Share Posted December 10, 2010 I figured out that all other systems were go but the board was the only suspect. I found a website that rebuilds older suburban circuit boards for 80 bucks. The dinasour brand did not have a board that matched.... www.flightsystems.com Company looks great located on east coast. Emailed back and forth and they are all on top of it, I will let you all know what happens. -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 I figured out that all other systems were go but the board was the only suspect. I found a website that rebuilds older suburban circuit boards for 80 bucks. The dinasour brand did not have a board that matched.... www.flightsystems.com Company looks great located on east coast. Emailed back and forth and they are all on top of it, I will let you all know what happens. -John If you have a look at your board I think one of the universal boards from dinosaur will work there are only a few boards that were made if I had to do it again I would have used this one--http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Fan_50_PIN.html Flight Systems is a good co. they make very nice Onan boards and they know what they are doing if you decide to go with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 (edited) Well I taped up my thumbnail and re arranged the powerline, so today's project is the hydroflame heater, and this looks like the most recent heater post so here goes. Subject is a 8500 series and I have the manual with wiring diagram. When I first tried to fire it up the motor bearing squealed so I have been slowly applying lube to both ends and it turns nicely now and blows a lot of air out all 4 vents. I found two open vent holes and sealed them up. The problem is that out of about 30 tries it has only fired the burner up twice, and that includes when it is getting 13.8 volts from being powered by the landline AC. I pulled the unit out and have been slowly disassembling it. The sail switch and thermal cutout both pass current. The motor delay functions, the motor is spinning in the right direction, and the sail switch moves into the on position after about 5 to 10 seconds. I have a clear plastic tube attached to the gas in solenoid port so I can blow in it and see if the valve opens, and the gas valve never opens. I have the igniter electrodes grounded to the outside of the metal box where I can see them and they never spark even once. I guess my next move is to see if there is 12V + at the red wire of the control module when the motor is running, and if not then jump some juice to that terminal and see if that opens the gas valve and makes it spark. And then if that works go back and see why there is not any voltage there. Someone please tell me that all of this will be worth it next year when we camp our asses off… Edited December 20, 2010 by Lee & Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) I have been working on the Hydroflame heater today, and I just gave up. I started by making sure that the sail switch was passing 12V+ current to the thermobreaker and on to the red wire of the control board, it was. But still I got no spark or gas valve opening. So then I hot wired the gas valve coils (two of them) to 12 volts and they click open and pass gas, I have a hose that I can blow into the gas valve to make sure. So I pulled the control board and looked inside to see if anything looked fried, it looked OK, so I took it to an RV place that had a tester and they said it was bad. So I got a new Dinosaur one "Universal Ignitor Board UIB-S Post" ($125 with cover) went back and mounted that, put all the screws back in , reconnected the pipes, did a continuity test on every wire, and still have , no spark, and no gas valve opening. Its dark and I am re taping my thumbnail and I haven't got a clue as to what to do next… Hey this Ignitor board is actually made in the USA, and on top of that in Oregon Edited December 21, 2010 by Lee & Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 OK, it works now. I could not think of anything that did not check out, and in fact there wasn't. I knew about the delay on the fan motor starting but I did not know there is a second delay after the sail switch closes the circuit. Waiting a minute more the gas valve opened and the sparker sparked. All better now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 No, I guess it is not all better now. I have reinstalled the heater, reconnected everything, ducts ect. For the last 4 hours I have been trying to get it to light, and yes I did bleed the gas line. I have the gas valve opening, the sparker sparking. So I just took out the burner assembly the orfice is open, the igniter lays with the sensor terminal up, put it back together, and tryed 3 more times, give up for today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Well I solved at least one problem yesterday. The igniter hot spark electrode was touching the burner metal, thus no spark. So I bent that away and got spark, and the smell of gas but no flame. The actual burner plate appears to be burnt through at the tail end and I am tod that can let the gas go by too fast to light, so I ordered up a burner. I will try putting some stainles steel mesh over the hole and see if that is a temporary fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred3 Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 [i appreciate your posts. I get to troubleshoot my own furnace this spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 SUCSESS !!! I got it going. Seems that the very tip of the burner assembly had a little burnt out spot that was letting the gas stream blow right out of the burner without igniting. I just drilled two holes in the burner frame and put a formed stainless steel mesh screen patch over the tip and bingo it fired right up. Fred 3 when you get around to your furnace make sure you get a foot long wrachet extension with a 1/4 inch socket, stuff the hex end of a magnetized 1/4 hex nut driver on the end of that. This way you will be able to re install all of the many deepset screws on this beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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