Atwood Furnace

[EdColorado]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I'm going to ask for a thorough furnace cleaning before pick up......

I’ll do the vacuuming this weekend before the furnace gets used for the first time.

We’re heading out mid-March to Utah.
Cold at night.

I’m thinking about buying a Mr. Heater as insurance against the troublesome furnace.
I have a sail switch on order but lack patience with products know to be flawed and would rather deal with repairs at home.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002G51BZU...v_ov_lig_dp_it


Plus it’s like carrying an umbrella. It doesn’t rain when you’re prepared.


Ed

[Eggscape]

Sounds like I am going to have to make/install an access hatch above the vent on my 2018 as our trailer did not come with the new outside plate. I am not going to pull the furnace every time I have to clean or replace the sail switch.

From the Escape video it looks like the 2017 - 2018 furnace sits right against the wall. Can anyone confirm that?

It would mean that any hatch has to be completely surface mount with no outer frame protruding inside like many do. It is going to have to be heat resistant as well.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

Sounds like I am going to have to make/install an access hatch above the vent on my 2018 as our trailer did not come with the new outside plate. I am not going to pull the furnace every time I have to clean or replace the sail switch.

From the Escape video it looks like the 2017 - 2018 furnace sits right against the wall. Can anyone confirm that?

It would mean that any hatch has to be completely surface mount with no outer frame protruding inside like many do. It is going to have to be heat resistant as well.

This access door was a thought from a previous post of mine:
https://www.etrailer.com/Enclosed-Tr...48-979009.html

It shouldn’t get that hot as the exhaust is actually surrounded by incoming combustion air and outside of that duct you have the furnace return air circulating through.

[Eggscape]

Thanks Dave
I might want something a bit bigger so it would be easy to replace the circuit board also if required. I would want to add a seal to it as well to stop water and fumes from getting in.

[rotorbudd]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

Thanks Dave
I might want something a bit bigger so it would be easy to replace the circuit board also if required. I would want to add a seal to it as well to stop water and fumes from getting in.

I't a shame you can't install the panel that's on the latest trailers. With those it only takes a couple of minutes to remove, clean, and reinstall the sail switch. Although since I installed a filter I've had zero problems.
I'm also thinking about installing a voltage regulator out there. Just waiting on a can of conformal coating to waterproof it.

[CarlNH]

Ugh... I've joined the dead furnace group :-( In Tucson where it is currently snowing and the furnace failed last night for the second time this week. Intermittent failure as it runs fine for several hours then fails to ignite. No one in town has the sail switch in stock of course. Just pulled it and there was just a small amount of fluff dust on the switch. Hoping it will do the job as I head out tomorrow into very rural areas with no hookups.

Will have to look into cleaning and filtering as previously mentioned at some point. In the meantime, thanks to all who have contributed tips to this thread!

[cpaharley2008]

I'm going to bring a piece of filter with me, but since we will be in Osoyoos, doubtful we will need heat then or on the way home. But I will run it as a test since Reace and Co. will be near,

[Chama]

Ordered a warranty replacement sail switch from Dometic CS on Monday. Today, Friday, I still have not received the part. So, I call Dometic thinking I would get a tracking number or something. Instead, the service person put me on hold for 10 minutes, finally came back on the line to say that the warehouse has not yet shipped the part! Five days later and they have not shipped the sail switch! The person said that they will ship it overnight with Saturday delivery, or at least that is what she said. I will only believe what Dometic says once the part is in my hands. Just another way that this cursed Dometic DFSAD12131 furnace can make you angry.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by rotorbudd

I't a shame you can't install the panel that's on the latest trailers. With those it only takes a couple of minutes to remove, clean, and reinstall the sail switch. Although since I installed a filter I've had zero problems.

I'm also thinking about installing a voltage regulator out there. Just waiting on a can of conformal coating to waterproof it.

Be sure to post pics!

[padlin]

This whole problem sounds a lot like the RMX8555 fridge issue many of us encountered a few years back, the common denominator being Dometic. Can't wait till the A/C problems start up.

[cpaharley2008]

Yeppers, they fixed one problem and another one pops up.....

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

I’m thinking about buying a Mr. Heater as insurance against the troublesome furnace.
I have a sail switch on order but lack patience with products know to be flawed and would rather deal with repairs at home.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002G51BZU...v_ov_lig_dp_it

I recommended this back in post #25. Given the number of problems with these newer furnaces I think that there is no choice but to carry a spare heat source. To have a trip interrupted because of lack of heat is a major inconvenience. A Mr. Heater Buddy or Big Buddy is cheap insurance.

[cpaharley2008]

and another reason to have an electric built in heater, no extensions, no tripping on cords, just quite heat....I have installed one in every Escape I have owned.....https://www.amazon.com/Broan-174-Hea...+heaters&psc=1

[CarlNH]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

I recommended this back in post #25. Given the number of problems with these newer furnaces I think that there is no choice but to carry a spare heat source. To have a trip interrupted because of lack of heat is a major inconvenience. A Mr. Heater Buddy or Big Buddy is cheap insurance.

Agree in principle but, with our small trailers, storage space is at a premium and using it to mitigate a manufacturing defect is more than a bit annoying. That plus I am not a fan of using non-vented heaters indoors for multiple reasons. Maybe some clever person can figure out a fix for these things. Pressure switch would likely be more reliable.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

and another reason to have an electric built in heater, no extensions, no tripping on cords, just quite heat....I have installed one in every Escape I have owned.....https://www.amazon.com/Broan-174-Hea...+heaters&psc=1

These are great, but just like my heat pump you need to have an electrical hookup. I'm gathering that most of the users having furnace issues enjoy having the flexibility to be boondocking with reliance on only solar and propane.

[Eggscape]

Almost need a tube placed over the fluff gathering area of the switch to a convenient area inside the trailer. This way you can give it a shot of high pressure air every few days of use.

[Chama]

My Dometic/Atwood furnace woes are at least temporarily resolved. I pulled the sail switch this morning and as others have noted, there were some white fibers in the sail switch area that appartently keeping it from operating. Removed the fibers and put the switch back in and furnace works again. The fibers look to have come from a white wool sweater. Wonder if the furnace assembler at ETI or an inspector at Dometic likes fuzzy wool sweaters?

[StarvingHyena]

Almost parallel to this thread … I heat my cabin with a Toyo Laser 300 diesel heater. Similar to our trailer heaters, it pulls in outside air to cool the exhaust pipe and make combustion more efficient by having 'warm' intake air. Inside my cabin, air is pulled in, blown past a metal removable filter screen and on past the outside of the combustion chamber for warming. This screen has a mesh size somewhat less than 1/8" and gets covered with white / light gray dust fibers. I don't know where they come from but they are there. Perhaps if I would vacuum my cabin more often they wouldn't be as thick … I wash my screen about once a month or when I think about it. I like have a somewhat stiff flat surface to clean.

Where does the air come from that operates the sail switch on our trailer furnaces? Is it in cabin air or combustion chamber air intake? If it is 'in cabin air', then maybe a screen on the air intake would be a good idea. My diesel screen openings are about twice as large as typical window mosquito screen. Maybe it would be a good idea to fit a screen on the air intake … but perhaps put a couple drops of motor oil on a rag and wipe your screen. This will make the screen filaments a little sticky. A word of caution here though - I'm always really surprised how much a coating of dust on my screen can block the air flow through the screen. On your furnaces, I'd suggest a screen opening of 1/8" or so and maybe screen made of brass or better stainless steel.


For those of you with furnace failure on new trailers: When I put my trailer away for the winter, October 2018, my regulator was squealing. I made note to replace my regulator. Upon my return home I ordered a new regulator from Amazon. It came in a box about a cubic foot and with just one of those little 'air pillows' for protection. None of the regulator's ports had plastic plugs in them to keep dust and dirt out... all completely open. When I tilted my shipping box corner down and rapped on the box a full heaping teaspoon of very fine carboard shrapnel collected there …. made during shipment from having the regulator beating around inside the box. That regulator got sent back and I requested another be sent. The second one came the same way …. ports not plugged to keep clean, this time in a padded envelope that got ripped open during shipment and the envelope itself was covered in very fine dust. That regulator got sent back and I requested a refund this time. My intention now is to go to a store in person and hopefully get a regulator in a blister pac at least.

My question to you with furnace issues in new trailers is this: Could you have a partially or fully blocked propane orifice? And would this cause similar shut down sequences? I don't know how ETI gets their regulators …. no doubt in lots of 50 or 100 with plenty of time to gather dust. Maybe replacing your regulator and cleaning your furnace propane orifice will help keep your furnace running. It wouldn't take much to foul any of our appliances.

Tom

[rotorbudd]

Decided to add a voltage regulator to prevent voltage from getting too high. I had several regulators to choose from.
The buck convertor was too close to maxing out amps. I t puts out 2.5 and the heater pulls 2.4. So I decided to use the no cover one shown in the pix.
It's covered in conformal coating so I don't have to worry about it corroding.
I set it to 12.8 volts and it's pulling 2.6 amps after its been running around 5 minutes.
Think I'll run it for a few days and of OK I can just hot glue or pop rivet it to the blower housing.

[GeorgiaBill]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

or, do what I did, get the new style exterior furnace door installed on your new Escape.....

Jim, is that door an option or standard. Melisa writes "The Furnace is an ATWOOD: DFSAD12131".


-Thanks