Furnace for 17B

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by YakRV

I don’t know the process to formally file a warranty claim. Maybe someone else here can provide help on that for you. Hope it works out for you soon.

The information on warranty is in the owner manuals for the appliance.

[Bayner]

Originally Posted by Rita Wade

Thanks for the input. Could I ask what year your 17 is and do you know what model furnace yours is. Ours worked for about eight months. We are at the point we will buy a new furnace if we can find one. Thanks

No problem Rita. My trailer was built May 2021, so it's just about a year old. I used the furnace a bunch last spring and again in the autumn on some hunting trips. I don't mind it a bit cooler than average, so I may not have as much use as perhaps and older couple would in the same environment...
While I don't know the exact model, I have a manual for Dometic DF series furnace - maybe that can help you narrow your search a bit. If you still come up short I can try and investigate further or take some photos or whatever.
Keep us posted.

Edit:
Went and looked at the placard in the closet and the furnace is listed as Dometic DFSAD12131

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by Rita Wade

While less than a year old the furnace in our 2020 17B quit. We have done videos, sail switches, motherboards. Still not working. Repair people say it does not work reliably in the vertical orientation. Does anyone know of a different furnace that will work in a 17B? This one is what ETI installed, an Atwood AFSAD12131.

The repair people you are using may be just telling you a line of BS, they tend to do that when they can’t solve the problem.
I come across deals on scratch n dents from time to time, I like to test them out before a full install.
A propane tank, electric and thermostat is all you would need to experiment yourself. Just before I’m ready to give up on something I try to give it one last shot.
Look on YouTube, it can be very helpful.

[Mlaugden]

I had a similar issue with the Atwood furnace in our 17A. I contacted Dometic, they bought Atwood, and verified that I was still under warranty. They gave me a list of authorized warranty repair facilities in my area and I just got it back. The problem with ours was a faulty igniter. The furnace in the 17A is installed horizontally, so it wasn’t because of vertical installation.

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by Rita Wade

While less than a year old the furnace in our 2020 17B quit. We have done videos, sail switches, motherboards. Still not working. Repair people say it does not work reliably in the vertical orientation. Does anyone know of a different furnace that will work in a 17B? This one is what ETI installed, an Atwood AFSAD12131.

FWIW, I looked up the manual for the Atwood AFS series furnace and it clearly states that it can be installed in either the vertical or horizontal orientation.....

[wxguy]

The OP asks “Does anyone know of a different make furnace to replace Atwood AFSAD12131?”

Well, Ms Rita, do you want to just replace the furnace, or do you want one that actually works? The former is fairly easy, the latter is darn near impossible.

I have a 2020 17A with a Dometic DF series furnace. Furnace worked OK for the first spring trip, but that was warm and at lower elevations. The first fall trip was in Wyoming and Montana at higher elevations. Highest camp site was @ ~10,000 ft. (late October) Furnace worked just as it should, even at temps below freezing.
Then things went south this year in the highland meadows above Springerville, NM. Road was snowy and muddy in spots, (but tons of elk!) Elevation about 8800 feet. Heater quit working about dusk with an outside temp of 35F. Min temp. that night was 19F, about 23F inside the Escape. The failure mode was that the blower would start but furnace would not ignite.

Slept cool, but the heat came back about an hour after sunrise, and worked consistently. Given that the furnace behavior seemed to coincide with the sunrise/sunset cycle, I spent the day making sure the solar power system was all working as expected. We decided to stay for another night. Bad idea. A windy cold front came through that evening. Got about 6” of snow overnight with winds gusting near 40 kt. Temperature outside got down to 3F, inside, 9F in the morning. I am SO GLAD we had winter survival gear. We slept warm, but the inside of the 17A was speckled inside with frozen condensate next morning

When we got back to civilization, I got on the Escape forum to get some helpful information and found a lot of chatter about propane/air mixture, sail switches, thermostat issues, motherboards et al. Lot of good information that I implemented– or attempted to– but nothing that solved my issue. I also heard from an RV technician that that this furnace was only spec’ed for 5000 ft max elevation. If this is true it is ridiculous for those of us that travel west of the Missouri.

This whole problem reminds me of bad software I have written. Works for me, but others have problems. I write a patch and it works for the other guy. But pretty soon another party had a problem, and I wrote a patch for that, and that solved another problem. Pretty soon though I had a complex piece of software with about 7 “fixups”. Curiously, every party asserted that their fix was the one that worked, and that is all you needed. “Works for me.”

So, how does this pertain? The furnace is like my buggy software. Different fixups work… for a subgroup of users, but not all. I finally tore my software apart and found the bug– and it was so embarrassing (a simple typo), But guess what? It fixed everyones’ problems. No more patches. I am so wishing that Dometic would rethink the whole heater design, and get it squared away in a similar manner

I have a Lance slide-in camper that I have used in Alaska and BC for 14 years– a lot of it in cold temperatures– and I have never had any problems with the furnace. So Dometic, it can be done.

[Carlos]

We had the same issue with our 17B [2019] everyone saying sail switch / control board
no luck. Try dometic no luck. Finally when still trying to get the furnace going/reliably I turned the furnace on with the external cover plate of and miraculously the furnace worked. Looking at the combustion air intake [around the outside of the exhaust] it appears that there was not enough area for the combustion air to enter the furnace. I installed a marine deck plate [fuel fill] with a screw on cap off to the side of the exhaust. Problem solved no more issues with the furnace. Just remove the cap when using the furnace.

[Tam2004]

The Escape Forum needs a separate section just for the Atwood crap furnace. After several hard years - replacing just about anything that could be replaced - we had a wise older man, who has a lifetime working on trailers, come over to work on it last year. He discovered - when he was standing outside at the furnace door - that the spark to start the furnace scattered all over the door. I will post pictures that show the simple fix he did - putting a piece of plastic between the furnace control board and the door. So far it works impeccably. See pictures.

[Tam2004]

Note the answer given to me by a veteran of trailer fixes. Your solution may be similar. Not sure until you look at my pictures

[Mike G]

Would a Propex heater fit in there, I wonder? The HS2000 is 320mm deep, 172mm wide, and 100mm high. It should heat the 17B okay.

[Tam2004]

I agree with you - the old trailer furnaces worked - never gave a thought to them over until the industry was reduced to basically one manufacturer who doesn't care.

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Anyone know the answer?

Thank you Donna. Getting some good help here.

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by Bea

Hi Rita, Sorry to hear this. You mention that you've reached out to 'repair people' but since your unit is so new, I would also call or email ETI parts and service and dialog with them about your furnace problem. They need to know, IMHO. If they can't help, then they will probably give you a number to call Dometic Warranty Services since your Atwood/Dometic furnace is warrantied under Dometic, not ETI.

Going down the warranty road for repairs or replacments can be a pain in the neck, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with my last 2 warranty experiences with Dexter and Lippert. Just needed a big dose of patience, but it saved me $$$. Best of luck to you with this fix! -Bea

Thank you for the encouragement. Atwood would only offered three authorized repair shops. They were all booking warranty work 6 months out. We don’t live near any of them. Wonder why so much warranty work is needed?

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by elongest

The Suburban NT16 SEQ would be close to the same size, and they are used in other fiberglass trailers. You would have to verify measurements and exhaust port location. If you can live with an 8.5K btu unit I would take a look at the Propex and go with an alternate location installation. Reports are it is a lot quieter than the Atwood or Suburban.
Eddie
https://www.propexheatsource.com/cam...naces-heaters/

Thank you. We are going to explore this.

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

The information on warranty is in the owner manuals for the appliance.

Thank you. When my husband talked to Atwood/Dometic they only offered three authorized warranty shops. They all were only making reservations for warranty work 6 months out and we don’t live near any.

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by Tam2004

I agree with you - the old trailer furnaces worked - never gave a thought to them over until the industry was reduced to basically one manufacturer who doesn't care.

Thanks. Agreed. We had a Scamp with a suburban that worked dependably over ten years.

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by Mike G

Would a Propex heater fit in there, I wonder? The HS2000 is 320mm deep, 172mm wide, and 100mm high. It should heat the 17B okay.

Thanks. That is a different option we had not heard about.

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by Carlos

We had the same issue with our 17B [2019] everyone saying sail switch / control board
no luck. Try dometic no luck. Finally when still trying to get the furnace going/reliably I turned the furnace on with the external cover plate of and miraculously the furnace worked. Looking at the combustion air intake [around the outside of the exhaust] it appears that there was not enough area for the combustion air to enter the furnace. I installed a marine deck plate [fuel fill] with a screw on cap off to the side of the exhaust. Problem solved no more issues with the furnace. Just remove the cap when using the furnace.

Carlos. Thank you thank you! This sounds so hopeful. You have the same year and model as ours. And the same problem. I understand the furnace in the 17A is mounted in the horizontal orientation, not like the B. I am not familiar with the marine deck. I looked on the internet and found it. I apologize for asking but would it be possible to show us a photo of how you installed it?

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by wxguy

The OP asks “Does anyone know of a different make furnace to replace Atwood AFSAD12131?”

Well, Ms Rita, do you want to just replace the furnace, or do you want one that actually works? The former is fairly easy, the latter is darn near impossible.

I have a 2020 17A with a Dometic DF series furnace. Furnace worked OK for the first spring trip, but that was warm and at lower elevations. The first fall trip was in Wyoming and Montana at higher elevations. Highest camp site was @ ~10,000 ft. (late October) Furnace worked just as it should, even at temps below freezing.
Then things went south this year in the highland meadows above Springerville, NM. Road was snowy and muddy in spots, (but tons of elk!) Elevation about 8800 feet. Heater quit working about dusk with an outside temp of 35F. Min temp. that night was 19F, about 23F inside the Escape. The failure mode was that the blower would start but furnace would not ignite.

Slept cool, but the heat came back about an hour after sunrise, and worked consistently. Given that the furnace behavior seemed to coincide with the sunrise/sunset cycle, I spent the day making sure the solar power system was all working as expected. We decided to stay for another night. Bad idea. A windy cold front came through that evening. Got about 6” of snow overnight with winds gusting near 40 kt. Temperature outside got down to 3F, inside, 9F in the morning. I am SO GLAD we had winter survival gear. We slept warm, but the inside of the 17A was speckled inside with frozen condensate next morning

When we got back to civilization, I got on the Escape forum to get some helpful information and found a lot of chatter about propane/air mixture, sail switches, thermostat issues, motherboards et al. Lot of good information that I implemented– or attempted to– but nothing that solved my issue. I also heard from an RV technician that that this furnace was only spec’ed for 5000 ft max elevation. If this is true it is ridiculous for those of us that travel west of the Missouri.

This whole problem reminds me of bad software I have written. Works for me, but others have problems. I write a patch and it works for the other guy. But pretty soon another party had a problem, and I wrote a patch for that, and that solved another problem. Pretty soon though I had a complex piece of software with about 7 “fixups”. Curiously, every party asserted that their fix was the one that worked, and that is all you needed. “Works for me.”

So, how does this pertain? The furnace is like my buggy software. Different fixups work… for a subgroup of users, but not all. I finally tore my software apart and found the bug– and it was so embarrassing (a simple typo), But guess what? It fixed everyones’ problems. No more patches. I am so wishing that Dometic would rethink the whole heater design, and get it squared away in a similar manner

I have a Lance slide-in camper that I have used in Alaska and BC for 14 years– a lot of it in cold temperatures– and I have never had any problems with the furnace. So Dometic, it can be done.

Hi fellow Alaskan! Thanks. I feel your pain, we need our furnace. I wish they would get it figured out. I wish Escape would accept some responsibility for this furnace that didn’t even make it a year! We had a Scamp with a Suburban furnace that gave us over 10 years of trouble-free warm.

[Rita Wade]

Originally Posted by Selkirk

FWIW, I looked up the manual for the Atwood AFS series furnace and it clearly states that it can be installed in either the vertical or horizontal orientation.....

Yes, that is what it clearly says…