hydro flame furnace only works on 120ac - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 04-17-2016, 06:36 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Name: John
Trailer: '84 Bigfoot b17
British Columbia
Posts: 116
hydro flame furnace only works on 120ac

Hi all, today I was working through the appliances in our Bigfoot 17 (1984). I was pretending we were in the boondocks and only had the battery hooked up.

I am bummed out that the furnace , hydro flame hf80 with piezo manual lighter did not work despite following the manual explicitly for procedure. Simply put, theblower fan is much slower on 12v DC and just runs and runs without throwing heat. The pilot stays lit no prob.

I.knew the furnace worked on 120/AC so I tried that and indeed it works great!! Blower fan runs much faster.

The manual shows only 12v DC power input. I am stumped why converted 120ac to DC power via the inverter runs the furnace just fine but direct off the battery no go.

BTW the battery is brand new fully charged AGM group 31, lots of juice ....any suggestions would be very appreciated to start solving this problem. A working furnace in the bush is a must !!
Thanks John
Tyhee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2016, 07:47 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Name: John
Trailer: '84 Bigfoot b17
British Columbia
Posts: 116
Reading the manual again and CindyL thread on help w her furnace , my situation almost for sure has something to do with the sail switch. As mentioned the fan speed is significantly slower when running off a full battery vs 120 shore power. I wonder if this is an inverter issue. Has the original 15 A "power centre" by SMI.
Tyhee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2016, 07:47 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Name: Jack L
Trailer: Sold the Bigfoot 17-Looking for a new one
Washington
Posts: 1,561
If the blower does not run fast enough, the sail switch will not activate to fire the burner. The sail switch measures air flow and if it senses little or no air, the burner will not light. If the converter has enough power when connected to shore power to make everything work, I would suspect there is a voltage issue from the battery. Could be a bad connection from the battery or possibly your new battery is bad. Unlikely that it's a battery problem but maybe.
Jack L is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2016, 07:52 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Name: John
Trailer: '84 Bigfoot b17
British Columbia
Posts: 116
Thanks Jack. Posted at the same time! Yes , time to dig into some wiring I suppose. Sigh. I tested the battery 12.59v.

The Power Center inverter is the appliance I do not have a manual for. Would be handy for wire colours / schematic.
Tyhee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2016, 08:01 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Name: Jack L
Trailer: Sold the Bigfoot 17-Looking for a new one
Washington
Posts: 1,561
Can you check the voltage at the furnace with the shore power disconnected ? It should also be 12.9.
Jack L is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2016, 09:26 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Name: John
Trailer: '84 Bigfoot b17
British Columbia
Posts: 116
great idea Jack, at least one of us is thinking

Yes, just measured DC volts again at battery 12.55 , with fan running on furnace 10.02 ...quite relieved! But now discovered some wires melted and general butchery down in the driver's side front hatch where the main wires come into the trailer interior.

I think I will have to start a new trailer wiring thread specific to early 80s 17 BF.
Tyhee is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
furnace


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Hydro Flame BRC-10A circa 1978 (Chester?) Sandy Gilpin Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 23 11-30-2022 04:15 PM
Hydro Flame for Trillium 1300 Tracy S. Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 13 01-28-2017 12:54 PM
Hydro-Flame BRC-10A kentj Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 5 02-21-2014 10:38 AM
Hydro flame furnace eriksob Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 7 12-31-2009 04:25 PM
Hydro Flame Furnace Legacy Posts Care and Feeding of Molded Fiberglass Trailers 10 04-06-2003 03:45 PM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:57 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.