Today's issue furnace inop possibly thermostat

[steve gravelle]

Good afternoon. On our 2020 Solitude S 2930 RL-r, with Suburban furnace and Air XCel thermostat, we have no heat. We are currently running an 8 amp charger to keep batteries above 12 volts. Yesterday had same problem, mobile tech said maybe we are below 12 volts, which would interrupt furnace. I redid charger connections and we had proper furnace function. This morning furnace was inop,, verified batteries were above 12 volts, When I asked thermostat to command heat, there is no click which I have heard all the time up to now. Do I need to open tstat, gentle pry on right side to check fuse? Is there a utube video? 35 degrees and snowing in Castle Rock CO, full timing is sometimes more fun than this. Fireplace and small space heater are making it tolerable. Thanks in advance.

[howson]

Good afternoon. On our 2020 Solitude S 2930 RL-r, with Suburban furnace and Air XCel thermostat, we have no heat. We are currently running an 8 amp charger to keep batteries above 12 volts. Yesterday had same problem, mobile tech said maybe we are below 12 volts, which would interrupt furnace. I redid charger connections and we had proper furnace function. This morning furnace was inop,, verified batteries were above 12 volts, When I asked thermostat to command heat, there is no click which I have heard all the time up to now. Do I need to open tstat, gentle pry on right side to check fuse? Is there a utube video? 35 degrees and snowing in Castle Rock CO, full timing is sometimes more fun than this. Fireplace and small space heater are making it tolerable. Thanks in advance.

Steve,
According to Suburban's manual and "Sequence of Events", the minimum voltage required is 9.5 volts. Unless your battery is completely toast and converter is not working, you should get at least that much voltage.

The other requirement is for the sail switch to be open. (A "sail switch" is nothing more than a small microswitch with a long arm that "sails" in the blower air.)

The switch should be open when the furnace is commanded on. Once the blower starts to spin the sail switch closes and the board will fire the propane.

If the blower is not turning at all, it may be due to stuck sail switch (not uncommon). May sound silly, but if you can access the furnace give the case a good wack with your hand a few times. That may be enough to get the switch to release (be "open" as it should be).



There is a fuse on the thermostat...if your thermo is similar to mine.




Please post back if you find (or don't find) the culprit.

Howard

[howson]

steve gravelle -- I'd forgotten about the battery / converter issue as documented in the jack thread...(just read your other post).

[steve gravelle]

Howard, thank you will pursue, thinking it may be fuse due to no click from tstat which was happening yesterday. Voltage is fine.

[Country Campers]

I would think that the 8 amp charger would not be able to keep up to the draw of all of the items in the RV on the 12 vdc circuits , especially the furnace.

Brian

[steve gravelle]

Further update, opened tstat. Fuse looked fine but was going to get my Fluke, finagling with wires. Furnace started! Happy but I get nervous about fixes you don't know what you did, that's from 50 plus years in automotive and related fields. But a definite blessing, and thank you for leading me down to the right path!

[Cate&Rob]

Since this Thermostat discussion took off in a new direction WRT diesel engines . . . I moved those posts to their own thread. We don't really have a diesel engine section on this forum . . . so I put this under Tow Vehicles . https://gdrvowners.com/towing-and-hi...-running-rough

Rob

[steve gravelle]

More updates. Thermostat malfunctioned overnight. I opened it up again and manipulated wires. It started working again. It's hanging by its wires currently. As our Lab woke me up this AM about 6:30 I looked at my phone and Tim Reams was on the line. He asked whether GD could send a converter, which I am absolutely fine with. Note, Tim's call was before working on thermostat. So after the conversation, I called back and left him a voicemail to please send an AirXcel thermostat. I can't say enough positive about how we have been treated by GD Customer Service well beyond warranty time frame. Tim was running service in 2014 when we came for first owners rally, and I had scraped the RR corner during a fuel stop. He was magnificent in getting it perfectly repaired on our 2014 Reflection 337. We have been consistently treated great since then. Brad Smith has been my primary point of contact, and he has referred me to others who helped us a lot! Many thanks.

[Jlawles2]

Steve, You made an interesting observation in when you pulled it off the wall it started working. I am guessing its one of the connections on the back. It looks like they are insulation piercing push in connections. Might try messing with those to see if you have one loose or that did not cut through the insulation properly.

[pengle]

Steve, You made an interesting observation in when you pulled it off the wall it started working. I am guessing its one of the connections on the back. It looks like they are insulation piercing push in connections. Might try messing with those to see if you have one loose or that did not cut through the insulation properly.

I have a similar thermostat and I've had it off the wall. The insulation on the wires is stripped first then inserted into each of the holes. There is always the possibility that a wire is pushed too far and the metal inside is sitting on insulation rather than bare wire. On these types of problems (intermittent) if you can get the furnace running with the thermostat in your hand you can move wires gently to see if the furnace cuts out. I'd start with the red and the white wires since those are the power and the common wires.

[steve gravelle]

More updates. Thermostat malfunctioned overnight. I opened it up again and manipulated wires. It started working again. It's hanging by its wires currently. As our Lab woke me up this AM about 6:30 I looked at my phone and Tim Reams was on the line. He asked whether GD could send a converter, which I am absolutely fine with. Note, Tim's call was before working on thermostat. So after the conversation, I called back and left him a voicemail to please send an AirXcel thermostat. I can't say enough positive about how we have been treated by GD Customer Service well beyond warranty time frame. Tim was running service in 2014 when we came for first owners rally, and I had scraped the RR corner during a fuel stop. He was magnificent in getting it perfectly repaired on our 2014 Reflection 337. We have been consistently treated great since then. Brad Smith has been my primary point of contact, and he has referred me to others who helped us a lot! Many thanks.