Heater/Furnace Troubleshoot

[Kelster]

I have an '04 Rockwood 1640LTD.  I purchased the trailer new back in '04 but have never used the Heater/Furnace.  I have recently tried to use it, but can't figure out how to turn it on.  The sad thing is I have the directions that came with it, but still nothing.  It's made by Suburban Manufacturing if that makes a difference.  I guess what I am looking for is an easy way to get the thing working.  Does it have to have electric power in order to work?  We would like to do some winter camping here soon.  Thanks for any input.

[oreo57]

Electric power YES...it actually works from the 12v system, if you dont have a battery then YES you must be hooked up to 120V thru the cord, then it will run off the inverter.There is a small switch on the thermostat for on/off make sure its in the On position, also make sure your propane is on. Set the T-Stat for the temp you want and it should work....the fan will run first then flame & whwn it reaches the temp desired the heat will stop but the fan will continue to clear the gas chamber then shut off, you may want to mod the T-Stat to a digital for better control of temp.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Also behind the front panel there is a switch you might check to make sure thats on.

[wavery]

Electric power YES...it actually works from the 12v system, if you dont have a battery then YES you must be hooked up to 120V thru the cord, then it will run off the inverter.There is a small switch on the thermostat for on/off make sure its in the On position, also make sure your propane is on. Set the T-Stat for the temp you want and it should work....the fan will run first then flame & [COLOR="RoyalBlue"]whwn[/COLOR] it reaches the temp desired the heat will stop but the fan will continue to clear the gas chamber then shut off, you may want to mod the T-Stat to a digital for better control of temp.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Also behind the front panel there is a switch you might check to make sure thats on.

You must've been really chilly when you typed this post.

[oreo57]

Yeh, I'm actually modding the t-stat again to get better control as we speak.

[AustinBoston]

On my furnace (which is an Atwood, not Suburban, so this may not apply to you) there is a switch on the front of the furnace under the cover.  It has to be on.  The thermostat itself has to be turned up.  There is another switch on the underside of the thermostat.  It has to be on.  There is a fuse in the converter box.  It has to be good.  There is a tank on the front with propane in it (it has to have propane).  It has to be on.  There has to be sufficient 12v power, either from a battery with enough charge left, or from the 12v converter.

If you miss any one of the above, you may get some action out of the furnace (or maybe not), but you will not get heat.  You will know when it is  on (the fan makes noise) and when it starts burning (a rumble is added to the fan noise).  We find that it takes a couple nights to get used to it enough to sleep through it.

Expect that thing to stink the first time it is fired up.  It has to burn off years of accumulated stuff, mostly just dust, but it will burn it off in 15 minutes or so, and you will smell it.  Don't be alarmed.  The stink smell will come back after long periods of storage, but as I said, it burns off in 15 minutes or less and is then good to go.

A lot of people end up replacing the thermostat.  I didn't but I did open the thermostat and adjust the hysteresis (time delay between on/off).  Usually, the factory setting is at maximum, meaning it doesn't turn on until everyone is frozen, and doesn't turn off until the pop-up is roasting.  The other extreme is for it to turn on and off every five minutes.  Find your balance.

Austin