RE: REALLY dumb question about the furnace in my Utah!

Tim5055 · Oct 01, 2003, 05:07 AM

labontefanNope, that s it. It will make 10 attempts to light and if it doesn t it will then stop. At that point you need to turn it off and turn it back on, then you get 10 more attempts.

My experience has shown to light the furnace last. HP outside stove, LP inside stove, HWH then furnace. This usually makes sure that there is sufficient LP Gas in the lines for it to light in the first 10 attempts.

Good luck

kathybrj · Oct 01, 2003, 06:13 AM

labontefanMake sure the thrmostat on/off switch is set to on...........don t ask, just the voice of experience [8D][:@]. (we couldn t figure out why we had set the temperature part, but it wasn t going on........duh!)

whitestar505 · Oct 01, 2003, 09:57 AM

labontefanAlso when you talk about electric, all you need is your battery.

labontefan · Oct 01, 2003, 12:05 PM

labontefan

QuoteAlso when you talk about electric, all you need is your battery.

Thanks for that info! The campgrounds at the tracks don t have hookups, so I was worried we couldn t use the furnace without running the generator. And I definitely don t want to run the generator all night!

I love this place! You ask dumb questions--and you get intelligent answers! (And no one laughs at your dumb questions! [

]) You folks are great! Thanks again.

MtnCamper · Oct 01, 2003, 12:09 PM

labontefan

QuoteAnd I definitely don t want to run the generator all night!

Make sure your battery is tip, top shape.....
How long since you had it on a good charger?

tlhdoc · Oct 01, 2003, 05:20 PM

labontefanAlong with the off on switch on the thermostat, my furnace has an off on rocker switch on the furnace itself. I have to remove the inside cover to get to the switch. Also if the furnace hasn t been run before, you might want to run it ahead of time with the windows open. The first time it runs it will smoke a lot.

Tim5055 · Oct 01, 2003, 05:28 PM

labontefanI just love all these answers - it sounds like a new web page for me[

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tlhdoc · Oct 01, 2003, 05:51 PM

labontefanTim glad we can help.[

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Tim5055 · Oct 01, 2003, 06:02 PM

labontefan[

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Camping Coxes · Oct 02, 2003, 01:30 AM

labontefanWe ve had some battles with our various heaters over the years, and the best advice we ve given others is: #1, if it doesn t light right away, remember that there may be air in the line that you ve got to purge out; #2, put a can of canned air in the trailer somewhere so you can blow out dust and spiderwebs that accumulate and will keep it from lighting; #3, have a long butane lighter thingy or long stick matches to light it with; #4, light it at home a few times so you re sure you know what you re doing.

Wait, I just noticed, you mentioned turning it on, but not lighting it. You do have to light it, similar to the water heater.

Good luck!

vjm1639 · Oct 02, 2003, 08:22 AM

labontefan

QuoteAnd no one laughs at your dumb questions!

Cause we ve all been there!!! LOL.... At least you thought to ask first. I tried reading the " manual" at 11:00 on a night that proved to be much colder than we anticipated a few weeks ago! ;> Gave up on the manual and trial and error prevailed!

QuoteYou do have to light it, similar to the water heater.

NOT in our Coleman Mesa! It lights itself!

labontefan · Oct 02, 2003, 11:20 AM

labontefanIt works! [

][

]

It was a little chilly this morning so I decided this was a good time to give it a try! I turned the gas on, then lit the inside stove for a few minutes to get the gas flowing through the lines. Then I lit the hot water heater just to help things along. The thermometer I keep inside the camper said it was in the low 50 s so I figured I d set the thermostat on about 60 or 65 just to see. There s a little plastic lever-thingy on the top of the thermostat that I assumed (sometimes a bad thing! [

]) was the on/off switch y all referred to. I wasn t sure which way was which (it doesn t seem to be marked)--so I just moved it the way it wasn t! I reached down to move the thermostat...and it came on!

I didn t realize (hadn t thought about it , I guess) that it had a blower on it, so the noise startled me! The air coming out was cool at first, so I wasn t sure if it lit or not. Then it started getting warmer and warmer! No smoke...but it smelled pretty bad, so I lowered the top of the door to let some air in. Pretty soon, the smell went away, and the camper started getting toasty warm! I kept checking thermometer, and the temperature was up over 60 in just a few minutes. [

]

If the battery has to keep the blower running, I can see why it might run it down. I was thinking the electricity was just needed to trigger the thermostat. DUH!

We ve got a couple of the Coleman Black Cat heaters that use the small disposable propane bottles. We used those when we were tent camping. I m thinking we might take one or two of those with us as back-ups. Then we can use the furnace when we have the generator on, and use the Black Cats at night (if we need em) to keep from running down the battery.

Thanks again!

MtnCamper · Oct 02, 2003, 11:32 AM

labontefan

QuoteORIGINAL: labontefan

It works! [][][]

There s a little plastic lever-thingy on the top of the thermostat that I assumed (sometimes a bad thing! []) was the on/off switch y all referred to.

That adjusts the temperature, the on/off is at the bottom of the thermostat. It s very hard to click on and off, (feels like your breaking it), so I just leave it on, and turn the temperature way down <-.

QuoteWe ve got a couple of the Coleman Black Cat heaters that use the small disposable propane bottles. We used those when we were tent camping. I m thinking we might take one or two of those with us as back-ups. Then we can use the furnace when we have the generator on, and use the Black Cats at night (if we need em) to keep from running down the battery.

We do this too. I know you can burn them all night (with the window open a little) but we don t. If your sleeping, you don t need to. Just put an extra blanket on, set the thermostat way down and go to bed. When you get up, either light the Cat heater, or turn the furnace up. This will really help conserve the battery.

Camping Coxes · Oct 02, 2003, 02:20 PM

vjm1639

Quotequote:

You do have to light it, similar to the water heater.

NOT in our Coleman Mesa! It lights itself!

Wow, y all got some new fancy-schmancy gadgets on the new Colemans, huh? Mine s a more seasoned model and we have to do that ourselves.[

]

vjm1639 · Oct 02, 2003, 03:43 PM

labontefanLOL...yeah, well, I want the model that CLEANS and packs itself! [

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