I have a 2007 Fleetwood Sun Valley that I absolutely LOVE....... except for the heater..... First of all, we only use the heater once, maybe twice a year, as most of our trips we have access to AC power, and we use a really quiet electric space heater. However, once a year, we go to a music festival with no AC, and rely on battery power, thus, have to use the installed heater. And, occasionally, we have some REALLY cold nights and have to fire up the installed heater to supplement the space heater. So, this weekend, we went to the music festival. When I went to turn on the heater...... nothing..... I spent probably an hour trying to trouble shoot it. Main furnace breaker on and off, thermostat on and off, temp adjusted, camper breakers on and off, switching propane tanks..... nothing seemed to work. Luckily, we keep lots of extra blankets with us, and it didn't get REALLY cold. Got home and tried it on AC power. Nothing..... after about 20 minutes of fiddling with it (basically just turning it on and off over and over again), it kicked on, but didn't ignite...... Then, after some more fiddling around with the switches, it turned on and ignited. Then, a little bit later, it wouldn't blow or ignite. Then it would. I tried it again on battery power, and got the same intermittent results I got on AC power. Turned it off and left it alone for the night, and tried again this morning. On AC Power, same intermittent results. I can't figure out what would cause such different results, despite not actually changing anything. Does anyone have any experience with something like this, or any advice for me? Thanks.
I had the same problem on mine this summer. (i.e NOTHING happened when I turned the thermostat on and moved the temp control all the way to high.) I finally isolated the problem in the thermostat on/off switch. I removed the thermostat from where it was mounted and noticed that when I moved the switch to the on position, it was supposed to allow contacts to come together, but it was just poorly constructed. I worked with the mechanism by bending one of the metal pieces until the contacts would come together consistently when I switched it to the on position. I has worked flawlessly since, however, the adjustments I made has made it difficult to switch to the on position. I think I will just order me another one and make sure it built correctly.
well, then, I think I'll just order a new thermostat over the winter and install it in the spring. Hopefully that works. If not, I'm only out about $25.
It might also help, if you haven't already done so, but you can try and clean the furnace. It might be possible some spiders made a home in the propane tube so it's having trouble getting a good consisitant light etc. I know there are you tube videos out there. Good luck.
Check the fresh air intake and exhaust vent from the outside of the camper. Make sure nothing has clogged it or made a nest. Usually there are both the fresh air intake for the burner and the exhaust gas port both in the same vent.
is the fan kicking on? the fan should turn on shortly after the thermostat closes. there is (should) be a flow switch that senses airflow. it will not allow the ignition sequence to start unless airflow is seen. post back about the fan, then we'll go to the next phase.
I had a 07 Sun Valley also. You may want to consider a digital t-stat. It would control the temp in the camper better and cost about the same as the analog one. Many of us have done just that because the analog one was so cheap. You can get the digital one at any of the big box stores. I got a Hunter. I did have to move it to a different area in the camper though. It was mounted low and moving it higher worked great.
