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Furnace inquiry

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Chihuly

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Furnace inquiry
« on: April 21, 2016, 11:51:14 am »
Just wondering if anyone has had any furnace trouble? My furnace went out about a month into our trip and I took it in to a Atwood authorized dealer and the gentleman told me it was the motherboard that went out. Easy to fix, a  Little spendy but still under warranty.
Two months later it goes out again in Washington right before we head into Canada. We find a dealer in Washington, schedule an appointment and wait for two days to get in. He looks at it, test it and says "its the motherboard". I explained that I had just had it replaced! He tells me that he is not surprised and that the made in china MBs are crap. He goes in the back and comes out with a box full of made in China, Atwood MBs that they have had to replace. They replace mine with an American made DINO (made in USA)board which he claims is far superior and even a little cheaper.  He tells me that they have never had anyone come in with a bad Dino board.
Anyway, you never know what to believe and since that was all they carry we were happy just to get back on the road. My question to anyone reading this is; Has anyone else had this problem? He made it sound like it was very common.

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Pax

Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2016, 07:33:09 pm »
Great info!  Thanks!   Going into my notebook...

  - Mike

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jfcaramagno

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2016, 11:19:34 pm »
The made-in-China made-in-the-USA dichotomy is also true of the latches that hold the doors and drawers closed. The Southco units are much stronger and better made.
John and Carol

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keelhauler

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2016, 02:18:42 pm »
I can't believe that Phoenix keeps using those brdsupply Chinese latches. PC gave me 15 and they all failed.

I now replace with original USA made Southco latches. None have failed.



John

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lamovitz

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2016, 12:12:51 pm »
We are having intermittent problems with furnace working. Maybe lights once then can't even hear it trying to fire again.  Likely motherboard China issue?? Concerned due to upcoming Canadian trip.

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randallandchris

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2016, 02:41:58 pm »
Had 3 motorhomes and all had/have furnace problems.  The PC would have to be reset after each heating cycle then wouldn't  light at all.  Replaced circuit board and worked briefly but went back to needing to be reset after a cycle.  Replaced blower motor for too high current draw and worked OK for a while but now not reliable needing reset often.  Atwood blaming PC suggesting heat register too close to cold air return overheating furnace or flex ducting too restrictive increasing air pressure overworking motor.  Good luck.

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2 Frazzled

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2016, 03:25:04 pm »
We had a lengthy (and cold) struggle with our furnace. The string can be found here http://forum.phoenixusarv.com/index.php/topic,1717.0.html

The solution was replacing the igniter.
John, Holly, and sometimes Chloe.
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Joseph

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2016, 07:49:00 pm »
Keelhauler.. Ok so its not just me then. I know off topic from the furnace but in regards to those Chinese latches, what junk. I've replaced most of mine with Southco and have enough on hand to replace the remaining as they go out. I read about quality with PC but in reality are they really any more quality built than the next make? It seems most use the same components. Is the PC better than Nexus or thor any any other brand . I'm guessing they all have their ills?

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lamovitz

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2016, 09:59:49 pm »
Jerry's RV parts service talked me thru and furnace now working.  I first took motherboard to them and it tested good. Pretty easy to remove. Next suspect was the sail switch. He told me how to test it and in fact tested bad. Put in New sail switch and tested good and worked. Hopefully for a long time. $10 part.  It is a bit awkward to get at but here is how I did. Take off cover. Take pictures of connections on phone so put back correctly. There are four screws holding the curved black cover over motor and wheel. I removed those screws. There is also a off switch on the cover which I shut off as well as turning off thermostat. The awkward part is getting cover off. I needed to disconnect the wires to the off switch, the bottom red wire going to mother board and the white connector going to motherboard in order to get cover off. It will still be connected to sail switch on back of cover. To test sail switch you have to keep switch connected and move cover out of way of wheel. Then I reconnected the wires and left cover hanging out of way of wheel.  Then with a volt tester (simple one with plug to ground and pointer to touch to lead with light that shows if hot) I tested both sides of sail switch for power. One side will have power with switch up. Both sides should have power with sail switch pressed down. If not it's a bad switch. Old switch only had power to one side. So when engaged it did not send signal to motherboard to ignite. In testing I had switch off at furnace. Had spouse set thermostat to run and then flipped switch at furnace to test. When I did that I was careful that nothing touched wheel as it will spin. I am handy on a lot of things but electrical I try to get help unless seems simple enough to try.  Be careful and get good advice. I followed what jerry's tv mechanic said to do and got lucky not igniter problem as that is tough to get at. Don't do this unless you are comfortable doing so but get a mechanic. In other words this is how I fixed mine but can't know if this is safe for you. Good luck.

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2 Frazzled

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Re: Furnace inquiry
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2016, 07:45:04 am »
Excellent info. Thank you.
John, Holly, and sometimes Chloe.
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