furnace pilot???

[jasonpumper]

Hope that someone might be able to help.    Just bought a 81 palomino needs lots of work, this site has been a major help so far.   My current problem is that the pilot light wouldnt light at first,  The furnace is a hydro-flame 12000 btu.  I removed the pilot from the inside of the furnace and it lights just fine,  but when I try to reinsert it into the furnace,  it just goes right back out.  It will not relight while inside of the furnace, but lights on the first click while removed.   Any thoughts?   Thanks again,  Jason

[austinado16]

Hope that someone might be able to help.    Just bought a 81 palomino needs lots of work, this site has been a major help so far.   My current problem is that the pilot light wouldnt light at first,  The furnace is a hydro-flame 12000 btu.  I removed the pilot from the inside of the furnace and it lights just fine,  but when I try to reinsert it into the furnace,  it just goes right back out.  It will not relight while inside of the furnace, but lights on the first click while removed.   Any thoughts?   Thanks again,  Jason

By "removed the pilot" do you mean you took the little gas tube out of the burner box, re-attached it to the gas valve and then lit it?

If the pilot won't light, or lights just for a brief second and then goes out, you could look at a couple things;
1) What's the pressure of the propane going to the furnace?  If it's too low, you won't get a flame, or a flame that's strong enough to stay lit.  You can build your own Manometer easily and cheaply.  Do a search in this forum for my thread from last July where I made one and posted pictures.

2) Are you sure your propane tank is full?

3) If it's a modern propane tank, sometimes there's an issue with turning them on too fast and their internal safety valve is activated because it thinks theres a propane leak....so it shuts off flow out of the tank.

4) Is the intake/exhaust vent on the outside of the camper clogged with spider webs and other debris so that the inside of the burner box doesn't have sufficient oxygen to support combustion?

5) Is the gas valve on the furnace clogged up inside with particles of rust, corrosion or other debris from the moisture that's in propane, and therefore keeping sufficient propane from flowing to the tip of the pilot?

Run through this check list, report back, and we can dig in further from there if need be.

[jasonpumper]

Ok,   took the furnace out of the camper and proceeded to strip it down,   found that mud wasps had filled the inside with nests.  Completely cleaned it up, put it back and viola,   it works.  Man this thing really blows warm too!
   Last night the kids and myself decided to camp in the yard to test it.    We live in Colorado mind you and it was a beautiful day.   About 2am awakened to cold,  the propane ran out and it was snowing out.   OH WELL,  we had a blast,  Thanks again all!          
               Jason

[AZsix]

Ok,   took the furnace out of the camper and proceeded to strip it down,   found that mud wasps had filled the inside with nests.  Completely cleaned it up, put it back and viola,   it works.  Man this thing really blows warm too!
   Last night the kids and myself decided to camp in the yard to test it.    We live in Colorado mind you and it was a beautiful day.   About 2am awakened to cold,  the propane ran out and it was snowing out.   OH WELL,  we had a blast,  Thanks again all!          
               Jason

Ahh......a valuable lesson learned. While concentrating on the difficult don't overlook the basics like making sure the propane tank has enough propane!  :banghead:

Glad you got the problem solved and glad you had fun. If your kids are like mine they won't let you forget about the propane on future trips.

[austinado16]

Nice work!  I'm glad it was something simple. Usually is.

They do crank the heat, but when it's really cold, they can suck down quite a bit of propane and battery power.  You have to leave the thermostat down at about 60F, so they don't run so often, and then have extra bedding, reflectix panels in your windows and those hunter's blankets sitting silver side down over the bunk end canvas.

[PattieAM]

The furnace on my Niagara works great and I do love it.  What I don't love is the propane consumption - a tank in about 28 use-hours!  

At home I installed a ventless propaned on my now glassed in front porch (no insulation, just some ancient 'storm windows' I was given).  I use the 20lb propane tank and kept a log of how many hours use I got from a tank and it was about the same thing - 23-30 hrs.  (temp setting played a part in variance).