furnace instructions

[garylowe]

Hi...just bought a 13 ft. ventura and am puzzled by the coleman furnace operation. There is a red knob with OFF PILOT ON. I suspect that you have to go to PILOT and press in while you light it and once lit continue to hold the PILOT in for a while.
Obviously this is all new to me and mechanical idiosyncracies can happen. cannot depress the PILOT knob.
Am I on the right track or am I missing something

thanks for any info
Gary?

[Roy in TO]

Sometimes you have to turn the knob a little bit off the marking for "pilot" for it to depress. Wiggle it a bit while pressing in and you might find the sweet spot. If you look closely you can see the notch it sets in at.

[garylowe]

Thanks Roy...I FOUND HE SPOT and have held the knob in for at least 2 minutes several times but still no ignition.
I lit the burners first, then the fridge...so propane flows that far. Maybe the line is that much longer to the furnace and I need more patience...but it hard on the thumb.
Thanks
Gary

[Borrego Dave]

Hi, this may be out in left field but is there a shut off valve somewhere in that supply line ? You should have been able to hear or smell the LP after two minutes.

[Dudley]

Hi Gary
If it still hasn't got going then I think the pilot jet must be plugged again. If I remember right there are 2 small nuts holding the pilot assembly on right at the bottom of the furnace and you have to take these off and disconnect the assembly from the control unit(shut off the propane first). I took a small strand of wire and pushed it though the jet and blew it out. The time it happen 2 years ago, I did get a pilot light but was very small. After cleaning it worked great, and it worked great here when you picked it up. Maybe the tow up north shock something and plugged it again. Its a long way for a service call. One thing you could try is disconnect the pilot assembly from the contol unit and try holding the pilot button in and see if gas comes out of the control unit(listen for it don't try lighting it! ) If you get gas flow there then it will a plugged jet.

Dave

[Roy in TO]

Gary, can you get the knob to turn all the way to on?

For testing purposes you can use a small torch to heat up the thermocouple at the pilot light to allow gas to flow to the main burner. By small torch I mean one of those butane soldering things or something a crackhead might use.

You heat up the thermocouple at the pilot light then turn the gas on and your main burner may light. But be cautious about it. If so, Dave's suggestion above might be the answer.

Mine was giving me troubles once and I used one of the long BBQ lighters in at the pilot light, heated it long enough to get the main burner to light. Once it did, I could see the flame from the pilot go from orange to blue as a bunch of carbon type crud blew out. Then a small adjustment to the deflector at the pilot light fixed the thermocouple problem of not getting enough heat. After that it started working like it should.

[garylowe]

I can depress the pilot knob now and after 2 full minutes there is no ignition. The 2 burner and fridge have propane and lite easily.

I turn the tank on for a few minutes then lite the 2 burner stove, then the fridge without a problem. The coleman furnace needs more line than the others. I have patiently waited for 2 minutes many times...still no ignition and pilot lite.

What to do now?

Gary

[Roy in TO]

Can you get the knob to turn past the pilot to on?

Next I would suggest seeing if gas is getting to the furnace. Disconnect the line at the furnace and get someone to turn the gas on at the tank. Using appropriate safety precautions of course.

There are a number of furnace manuals in the document centre, maybe one of those would provide a clue
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/d...p?do=cat&id=15

Post a picture of your furnace and controls so we can see the lines.

[garylowe]

Excuse the redundancy in my questions earlier and thanks to everyone for the advice.

Being a newbie, pilot light knob depression was o.k.....propane was flowing BUT....I didn't position the flame correctly to heat up the thermocouple. I held it in 90 degrees and it has to be angled 45 degrees towards the thermocouple and POOF, Houston we have ignition!!!

SOMETIMES YOU GET AN EASY FIX TO WHAT COULD NE A COMPLICATED PROBLEM.

Thanks again to everyone.
Dave...I just built a tin roof shelter for your little beauty...she's in good hands.
Gary

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

Then a small adjustment to the deflector at the pilot light fixed the thermocouple problem of not getting enough heat. After that it started working like it should.

Originally Posted by garylowe

Being a newbie, pilot light knob depression was o.k.....propane was flowing BUT....I didn't position the flame correctly to heat up the thermocouple. I held it in 90 degrees and it has to be angled 45 degrees towards the thermocouple and POOF, Houston we have ignition!!!

Thought that might be the situation. But your pilot light should have lit while depressing the knob. The thermocouple keeps it lit.

Or did you not have the flame in the right spot to light the pilot?

[Dudley]

I guess I fail at furnace lighting 101 training Glad you got it going and are treating it well! Took the Casita out for an model fun fly at our flying field and my furnace sounds like a sick farm tractor. Time to look at the bearings in the motor.

BTW no manual for the Ventura furnace in the document center, only the Ventura manual. Its a coleman gravity furnace.

Dave

[Glenn Baglo]

Or, more likely, time to replace the motor. Bearings in mine are sealed for life, which was less than the warranty, luckily.

[AKscamper]

Hi, thought I might add to this thread in the hopes to get my furnace to ignite. Propane is on, I turn thermostat up and blower turns on but no ignition. 1987 13' Scamp...