Furnace pilot will not stay lit

[Dwight Pyle]

The pilot on the Fiber Stream will not stay lit. It has a Duo-Therm 6100 standing pilot furnace it it. After about 30 seconds the pilot starts to act like it is getting too much air and begins to back off the thermocouple. If I hold the knob down to keep the pilot on it will go out in about one minute. Have checked gas pressure and it is about 10.7" which is within tolerance. There are no restrictions in the intake or outlet and combustion has no leaks in it. I am at my wits end.

Dwight

[Bigfoot Mike]

I had the same problem and took mine in to “Bubba” RV repair. They found that spiders had invaded the area. They cleaned everything and blew out the burner area.

When I got it back, all worked well.

PS: How did you measure the column inches of pressure? Do you have a manometer?

[BobB]

Have you looked at this site?

http://www.rverscorner.com/Site_Map.html

If it is not a simple problem, maybe you should look for a propane expert!

[Darwin Maring]

I have had this problem in the past and it turned out to be air in the lines. This was caused by having the camper stored for a length of time with the tanks turned off.

I solved the problem by purging the air from the lines by lighting the cook top burners and ran them until I had a good blue flame then I went outside and used a fireplace propane lighter (one of the long ones) to heat the thermocouple on the furnace until it was hot enough to ignite the main burners then my pilot had good gas and remained lit.

Some fuel control units have a pilot adjust on them. You might want to see if yours has one and then adjust it a little higher.

If you are not sure about doing this then don't. Get a gas man to look it over for you. The main thing is to not blow yourself up which can happen if you are not gas smart.

[Dwight Pyle]

To check the gas pressure I used a 1/4" clear plastic tube inserted in 14 inches of water and marked every inch. I inserted it 14 inches in water so no gas escaped. I realize this can be dangerous since propane if quite flammable. I worked for Lennox Ind. for 20 years part of the time I spent testing gas valves. I used this method because we could test from five to seven valves at the same time, however we used dry nitrogen for that testing. None of the online sites seem to have any information relating to my problem. Standing pilots are pretty much antiquated. The pilot just acts like it is getting blown around by air movement. This is confusing because it operated properly the last time it was used last winter.

Dwight

[Frederick L. Simson]

[b]None of the online sites seem to have any information relating to my problem. Standing pilots are pretty much antiquated. The pilot just acts like it is getting blown around by air movement. This is confusing because it operated properly the last time it was used last winter.

[b]I think the people who might be able to help are too old to put much stock in these new-fangled computers.
My Fiber Stream is a bunch older than yours, and I do not have a separate furnace. My heater is part of the Duette range/oven, and I feel very fortunate that it still functions at all. The "newer" Fiber Streams had a separate furnace, mounted between the water tank/pump and hot water heater. I think Benita's or RJordanx2's is like yours.

The Duette combo unit has 2 safety switches/breakers that sometimes stick and have to be fiddled with. Your unit might have something similar?

[Janean L]

[b]I think the people who might be able to help are too old to put much stock in these new-fangled computers.
My Fiber Stream is a bunch older than yours, and I do not have a separate furnace. My heater is part of the Duette range/oven, and I feel very fortunate that it still functions at all. The "newer" Fiber Streams had a separate furnace, mounted between the water tank/pump and hot water heater. I think Benita's or RJordanx2's is like yours.

The Duette combo unit has 2 safety switches/breakers that sometimes stick and have to be fiddled with. Your unit might have something similar?

I just bought a truck camper and it has a duette range/oven and the pilot light won't light and you said that it has 2 safety switches/breakers. Where are they. Because we are hoping that. that is what is the problem.

Janean L

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Dwight and others,
Believe it or not, there actually is a tiny spider which will fit through a propane pilot orifice. It is attracted by the odorant used with propane. When the system has been left idle for a season, the spider enters through the pilot orifice, lays it's "cocoon" and leaves. After the baby spiders hatch, they also leave. The porous cocoon which won't fit through the orifice has then been left behind. Some gas does make it through the cocoon and one can often even get a small flame but it is usually not enough to heat the thermocouple. The cure is to remove the pilot gas tube and orifice, and either blow it out with air or flush it with water. Do not try cleaning the orifice with any object harder than a human hair or soft paint brush bristle. It is fragile and the size of the opening is critical to your fire safety & must not be enlarged. Once it is all dry, reinstall, check the joints which you have disassembled with soapy water (when you have got pressure present) to make sure there are no propane leaks. Congratulate yourself after it stays lit and there are no leaks.

Wise counsel... If there is any doubt in your mind about your ability to accomplish this without burning up your prized RV, then have a qualified RV serviceman do the cleaning (they are supposed to have liability insurance)!! The monetary cost to you may not be worth the gamble, you are the judge.

I serviced propane furnaces for 25 years and this was an annual fall ritual when the weather turned cool. RV hot water heaters may suffer the same ailment.

Again, a little knowledge may be a dangerous thing, and gas leaks of any kind will not be forgiving and the consequences may very well be final.

You've been given contents in your head, please use them wisely to enjoy years of RV'ing pleasure,
Kurt & Ann K.