How to replace sail switch ? (Atwood 8012)

[John in Santa Cruz]

on my 8012-II, the model/serial/warning sheet is on the front of the furnace, behind the vent cover.

I found the hardest part of this job was getting the exhaust pipe to seat.

I reached around with my left hand and felt around thes pipe and guided them to alignment. when I started to push the furnace firmly in to seat the pipe, the vent cover started to press out, so I had my wife lean hard on the outside while pushed it in from the inside.

next time, I'll just drill out the rivets and remove the vent cover, reinstall the furnace, then reinstall the vent cover, tapping it in with a small plastic mallet and using some ProFlex and fresh pop rivets.

also next time, I'll probably install a connector for the wires, maybe powerpole, maybe a delphi weatherpak or something.

 

[rubicon327]

So with a 2016 classic 19 does it use the Atwood / HydroFlame Furnace Sail Switch 36134? I like to have extra parts on hand.

Hard to tell offhand given your year. Do you have a square-ish tan grille or a more rectangular black grille? The tan is the 8012 which uses the 36134 sail switch. If you have the newer furnace AFSAD12 (or now that Dometic owns DFSAD12) the proper sail switch apparently depends on the serial number as they made changes. I would speak to Dometic to be sure before buying. See post:
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9/furnace-sail-switch-15121-3.html#post288108

 

[steve dunham]

I’ve pulled and repaired our Atwood furnace twice . I doubt it will ill be the last time ,
Replacing the sail switch is only a temporary repair , the real problem is long term .

 

[Parker-ESC]

Hard to tell offhand given your year. Do you have a square-ish tan grille or a more rectangular black grille? The tan is the 8012 which uses the 36134 sail switch. If you have the newer furnace AFSAD12 (or now that Dometic owns DFSAD12) the proper sail switch apparently depends on the serial number as they made changes. I would speak to Dometic to be sure before buying. See post:
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9/furnace-sail-switch-15121-3.html#post288108

I missed that other post about sail switches, but I'm glad I saw it this time around. What I'm really happy to see is the exterior furnace access door, which MAY mean that if we can't get parts for the older Atwoods at some point, it MAY be possible to fit a newer furnace which will likely have different intake and exhaust port locations. Cutting a furnace access door into the older Escapes may be a plus instead of some sort of patch job to accommodate a newer furnace.

 

[AKCamper]

Hard to tell offhand given your year. Do you have a square-ish tan grille or a more rectangular black grille? The tan is the 8012 which uses the 36134 sail switch. If you have the newer furnace AFSAD12 (or now that Dometic owns DFSAD12) the proper sail switch apparently depends on the serial number as they made changes. I would speak to Dometic to be sure before buying. See post:
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9/furnace-sail-switch-15121-3.html#post288108

I do have the black grill. My trailer is stored 1500 miles away so I don’t know the serial number. I will tak a picture of it next time I’m there.
Thanks for the info

 

[Rossue2]

Jill- is your furnace in the drawer stack? If so it is a newer model than previous. Those are larger units, which is why Reace had to move it from the rear dinette.

 

[marsman]

Maybe I'm missing something here but on Reese's video on replacing the sail switch as per link below:

he simply replaces it from the outside access panel, no need to remove the furnace??

 

[Rossue2]

Yes, for the 2018 + year trailers.

 

[cpaharley2008]

Correct, pre 2018 Escapes did not have the exterior access panel now installed, thus it was a PITA to work on....

 

[Parker-ESC]

I certainly see the advantages of that setup. On the other hand, when I recently changed the switch in our older furnace while camped at Bryce Canyon, I did it all inside with an electric heater keeping me warm.

 

[steve dunham]

Correct, pre 2018 Escapes did not have the exterior access panel now installed, thus it was a PITA to work on....

Our 21 ft was built in early 2018 and does NOT have the exterior furnace access panel.
After having our furnace control board and sail switch fail ( Twice ) I inquired locally about changing out the furnace to the new style . I found one RV dealer willing to make the changeout but the cost was just too high .

 

[Kingfish]

I just talked with Tammy, and it sounds like I probably could have fixed the problem with a blast of air through the ducting and avoided all this, but now I know how it goes together.

I took a leaf blower to mine and it started working immediately.

 

[Jill-ESC]

Jill- is your furnace in the drawer stack? If so it is a newer model than previous. Those are larger units, which is why Reace had to move it from the rear dinette.

We actually got our trailer after they moved to the drawer stack, but I asked Reace to save me one of the old furnaces. I can see that there are benefits to either location, but I'm still glad ours is in the dinette bench. So now I just have to hope it never needs replacing!

 

[Parker-ESC]

I took a leaf blower to mine and it started working immediately.

I wish I had been that lucky.

I'll never know for sure about that first switch, but this last one was definitely kaput. It was intermittent at first with progressively longer times between successful furnace starts until it failed completely. I even removed the switch and tried cleaning it directly, being a little desperate while on our trip. I was really thankful to find one and have it sent ahead to an upcoming stopover.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

Next time I take mine apart, I'm thinking I am gonna run a skinny tube that I can hit with a canned air duster and blast the base of the sail..

 

[mistertinkle]

This is my first day of ownership of our Escape 19, and this forum has already helped!


We took possession of our 19' this morning. Stopped at the Lynden KOA to become familiar with our Escape. After a few hours of the furnace working fine, it stopped working. I turned off the furnace on the thermostat, set it to heat again, the fan would run for ~13 seconds, but the furnace wouldn't light.


I pulled the sail switch, found no lint or debris, reinstalled it, and the furnace is now working again.


I will get a spare sail switch.


Thanks for the guidance on this forum!


Sam

 

[Parker-ESC]

Welcome Sam! My son lives in Fort Collins, and we've camped out there quite a bit, including stays at the local KOA, Horsetooth Reservoir, and his driveway near CSU. Beautiful area where you live. I hope you enjoy your Escape as much as we have ours.

Parker

 

[Mike Lewis]

on my 8012-II, the model/serial/warning sheet is on the front of the furnace, behind the vent cover.

I found the hardest part of this job was getting the exhaust pipe to seat.

Got any hints for someone who has to do this without help?

 

[rubicon327]

Got any hints for someone who has to do this without help?

I can say from experience that it is VERY difficult to reseat the furnace without someone helping to push from the exterior. Our vent broke free and I had to drill out the rivets and then use some larger ones to secure it. I agree with John that it might be best to just assume you need to remove the vent. Drill out the rivets and then you can tap the vent on and secure as the last step. Will need some Proflex around the perimeter as well.

If you don't want to remove the vent and don't have another person the only other way I can think of is to park close to a solid brick/concrete wall and jamb a perfectly cut 2x4 between the wall and the vent to apply constant pressure while you push the furnace inside.

 

[vermilye]

While I have the newer AFSAD12 furnace, it was the installation without the outside access panel. I had to remove the vent just to get the furnace out, and when replacing it there was no way I could have done it without the vent unscrewed from the trailer. At least it was screws, not rivets...