2001 Sedona Atwood Furnace

[nelsonburns]

Hi,

My husband and I are brand new to pop-ups.  We just bought a 2001 Coleman Sedona.  We have opened it up and starting exploring, and love it already.  

The one thing we don't dare explore on our own is the furnace.   The previous owners didn't use it (they bought it a year ago from a dealer).  It is an Atwood Hydroflame Furnace, Model 7616-11.  

It says there are instructions "Inside the Door" - but if there is a door that has instructions, we can't find it.  We took the cover off and looked in - but nothing is written there either.  What steps do we take to start it?  

We plan to take it on the road next weekend for our first trip and would like to make sure it works - and that we can work it!

Thanks very much,

Lesley

[abbear]

The furnace is controlled by the thermostat.  Find the thermostat, adjust it and the furnace should start right up.  Be sure you have gas turned on and either battery hooked up or plugged in to shore power.  That should get you started.  Good luck!

[nelsonburns]

We found the switch - turned it on, turned on the propane (then the dog and I walked off a bit), turned up the thermostat.  And nothing happened.  

We thought to check the fuse - but where the heck is the fuse box?

On the other hand, we put the outside grill up and had hot dogs for lunch, and a space heater is warming it up very nicely - so a lot more is going right than wrong.  

Thanks for the help.   Any other ideas???

[tknick]

Also as mentioned in an earlier post, you'll have to have some source of power so the ignitor will work.  When the furnace first attempts to light, you should hear a clicking sound as the ignitor works.  If you are not hearing that sound then there may be no power getting to the ignitor.  If you do hear that noise, but nothing happens, I would bet there is air in the gas line.

The easiest way to purge the air is to light the stove inside the camper.  The outside stove is a high pressure stove and the furnace is low pressure.  You need to use another low pressure appliance further down the line to purge the low pressure line.  The burners on the inside stove are large enough that they purge air very quickly.  After you have lit the inside burners and had them going for a few seconds, try to light the furnace again.

I tried to find a copy of the manual for you, but didn't have any luck.  I did find the Atwood site and they have a trouble shooter which may or may not be of any help. http://www.atwoodmobile.com/Service/Trouble/dsi.cfm  

The good news is the furnace is designed so that if it does not light, the gas supply is shut off.  So there is very little chance of an explosion.  That being said, make sure your propane dectector is active when trying to light the furnace and make sure you do all this in a well ventilated area.

Hope this helps
Travis

[kampingkoge]

We just had an "experience" with our Surburban furnace this past weekend.  Viking camper is only 4 months old and we never had any issues with the furnace.  In short, our inabilty to start our  furnace was caused by a spider.  Inside our thermostat there is a small plastic cover over the contacts.  After I pulled this cover off, the still alive spider fell out, of coarse I immediately smushed him as the wife screamed (lol).  This little spide had spun its web so thick inside this cover it had completely covered the contacts and stopped the furnace from working.  

Long Story is of coarse removing the thermostat main cover, not noticing the little cover at that time.  Swapping propane tanks, cleaning battery contacts, removing furnace grill, turning on and off furnace switch inside furnace, checking fuses, swearing at the furnace, cursing at Viking all the time as the wife was bundled in blankets for the hour it took my to eventualy find the little spider.

[nelsonburns]

At this point we don't even hear the click.   We will take the cover off the thermostat and see what lurks within, and purge the PU of excess air and see what happens.  

Thanks for all the help!

- Lesley

[Kelly]

The furnace is controlled by the thermostat.  Find the thermostat, adjust it and the furnace should start right up.  Be sure you have gas turned on and either battery hooked up or plugged in to shore power.  That should get you started.  Good luck!

On my furnace (don't know the brand ~ it's at home, I'm at work   ) ... there is an additional switch under the cover that has to be on.  I'm assuming that's the switch for the fan.

[tknick]

One thing about the clicks, it may only click for a few seconds and then stop.  This would be to save the ignitor from burning itself out, and to let you know the furnace isn't lighting properly.  

That being sad, If you aren't hearing the click then it one of a couple of things.  No power (12V battery or Converter when plugged in), fuse blown somewhere (since I do not have a furnace on my current popup, I can't tell where to start looking for the fuse but probably one of the ones on the converter), thermostat contacts not closing (like mentioned earlier) or the thermostat itself is bad.

If you are handy, a voltmeter would probably help you track down the electrical problem.  I am assuming there is no on/off switch on the furnace, just at the thermostat.  If that is true, you should be able to remove the cover on the thermostat or the whole thermostat and expose the 12V wires feeding the thermostat.  Check the wires as they come in to the thermostat.  If you are getting 12V there, it's not a power problem.  Then turn the thermostat on and check power going out of the thermostat to the furnace.  If you are getting 12V there, it's not the thermostat.

Next step (with the thermostat on) would be to check 12V coming in to the furnace.  If you have 12V there, the problem is likely with the ignitor itself.  

Also, since I do not have a furnace, this may not be possible, but have you tried manually lighting the furnace at the furnace?  If you open the furnace and there are lighting instructions then it can be done.  If you do not see instructions, don't try cause you aren't supposed to light it manually.

Hope this helps.  I know how frustrating these things can be.  It's even more of a hassle when you are the second (or third) owner and don't have the benefit of a dealer/warranty or even the owners manuals.

Travis

[tlhdoc]

On my furnace (don't know the brand ~ it's at home, I'm at work ) ... there is an additional switch under the cover that has to be on. I'm assuming that's the switch for the fan.

Is the switch on the thermostat turned on?  Look for a switch on the bottom of the thermostat.  There should be a rocker switch under the cover of the furnace.  I turn that switch and the thermostat both off when we are not using the furnace.  That way it can not come on by accident.

[Kelly]

Tracy ~

That's what I was getting at.  That there are two switches that both have to be ON in order for my furnace to blow warm/hot? air.  

Reading back I notice that she's not hearing any clicks, though.  Sounds more like a power issue then.[/FONT]

[tlhdoc]

Tracy ~
 
That's what I was getting at. That there are two switches that both have to be ON in order for my furnace to blow warm/hot? air.
 
Reading back I notice that she's not hearing any clicks, though. Sounds more like a power issue then.

I agreed with what you posted, but I didn't see anyone saying to turn the thermostat on.
 
If both switches are not on, you will not hear any clicking.  Both have to be on for the furnace to run.