Heater misbehaving

[LRL]

We’re one week into our shakedown trip with the E232. Heater-wise, all went quite well the first few days. It has been pretty cold, and the heater worked as advertised. The blower would come on, then the heating unit would ignite about 10-15 seconds later. Last night, however, it’s been erratic. A few times the blower came on, but no ignition, and the blower went off after about 30 seconds. Turning the thermostat off then back on again usually gets the blower and igniter going in tandem again. Sometimes I have to do it 2-3 times before it takes.

Any suggestions are welcomed. Thank you!!

[WanderBred]

I had to replace my sail switch the one that came with it was not working good.

[Perry Butler]

Ours would do the same thing. I’d clean the switch and a few days later it got funky again. I replaced the switch and for the next four years it worked perfectly.

Our 5.0 was sold and I understand it’s still working perfectly.

Buy a new switch.

Enjoy,

Perry

[brroberts]

I’d also say the switch is the most common problem, but mine was a voltage / current issue. I did the light opening sail switch swap, the hard duct mid, and a buck boost on the power line.

Here’s my response to a similar issue:

That is exactly what my furnace did when new. At 13.8V it would start that, which is behavior more appropriate below 12V. At 13.6V it would quit. So here is what I did. (Make sure you are plugged in, or that your battery is well charged to prevent this.)

Somewhere, I can’t find the link right now, there is a comparison of two sail switches, one of which needs less air flow to open. A light opening sail switch will help. There is also a forum thread using a Suburban sail switch to increase reliability.

To improve air flow to keep the sail switch making contact, remove the front grill and the flex duct to reduce air restrictions. Replace with a solid duct. There are two or three threads here describing that. Mine is not very detailed, but it’s:

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...e-21759-6.html

Starts on post 119.

This got me a working furnace to 13.6V and it quit at 13.4V. Sooo…..

The next thing I did was buy. 10 amp buck boost that takes input voltages from 8-40V and puts out 13.8 volts constantly, which is a voltage I know my furnace is reliable at. I need to do more testing this winter, but I pulled my battery voltage down to 11.8V and my furnace cycled reliably.

Be aware, Dometic specifies a circuit board voltage of up to 13.5V. My trailer regularly sees higher voltage and my board has been fine. However, due to this, I carry a spare Dinosaur board just in case it ever goes out.

Here’s the link to my buck boost install:

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...-21759-10.html

This starts at post 190.

Hope that helps. I think I have a reliable furnace now, but need to fully test this winter.

There are lots of furnace problem, help, and support threads on this forum. I’m sure you can get it solved. I wish it came working, but it’s Dometic after all.

As far as voltage, I run the two ETI supplied Interstate 6V GC2 batteries.

[iamunique127]

Randy

Your links in your above post aren't working.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by iamunique127

Randy

Your links in your above post aren't working.

They are from his Padawan’s Life thread…
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post437755
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post454037

Here is a post in another thread on the furnace hard duct mod with a bit more detail
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post273150

[SageRpod]

Sounds like the infamous sail switch. When the heater is turned in, the first thing you hear is the blower running. You should hear a second click around 30-60 seconds later and then the burner light. My experience is when the sail switch fails, you don't hear that second click and the blower shuts down.

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by iamunique127

Randy

Your links in your above post aren't working.

Glad someone posted the links while I was gone. I guess the copy and paste didn’t grab the links.

The duct idea definitely wasn’t original to me.

I agree to start with the sail switch. It took me awhile to figure out my real issue was voltage related.

[LRL]

And the winner is: the sail switch. It had a few dust motes hanging on to it. After cleaning and reattaching, heater has worked fine on repeated testing. Thanks for all your help.

BTW: Escape now gives a goody bag including a spare sale switch. And a bunch of screws and a few fuses.

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by LRL

BTW: Escape now gives a goody bag including a spare sale switch. And a bunch of screws and a few fuses.

That’s very cool!

[YakRV]

Originally Posted by LRL

BTW: Escape now gives a goody bag including a spare sale switch. And a bunch of screws and a few fuses.

Originally Posted by SageRpod

That’s very cool!

Yes! Very cool of Escape to do that now. The sail switch isn’t really all that expensive, but a lot of new owners don’t know they would benefit from having a spare. Cheers to Escape!

[brroberts]

Good news! I have a small plastic tub in my E19 with bits of just in case hardware; I’m sure others do too. It really depends on how you travel to figure out what might be useful to you.

[Red]

Ah the infamous sail switch problem. After removing the switch and successfully cleaning it on many occasions since 2019, sometimes at 1AM while scantily clothed, I am still using the original sale switch. It stopped being a problem last year when we changed the carpet runner. The synthetic cut loop fluffy runner passed directly in front of the cold air pick up for the furnace. We purchased a new closed loop runner last year and have had zero switch fails since. I gave it a good test last fall when boon docking for several nights in cool weather. The furnace came on frequently at night without incident. Was it a coincidence

The other sale switch fix that has been mentioned on this forum is to purchase a backup switch. The original switch will work flawlessly after a backup is purchased. Just be sure to always carry the backup in the trailer at all times.

[YakRV]

Originally Posted by Red

The other sale switch fix that has been mentioned on this forum is to purchase a backup switch. The original switch will work flawlessly after a backup is purchased. Just be sure to always carry the backup in the trailer at all times.

Ha! This is true!

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Red

...
The other sale switch fix that has been mentioned on this forum is to purchase a backup switch. The original switch will work flawlessly after a backup is purchased. Just be sure to always carry the backup in the trailer at all times.

Yes, sail switches develop fear and respect when they know you have a spare near by. Has worked for me for 7 years.

[iamunique127]

My original should be good for a while then- I just purchased a spare.