Where is the Dometic/Atwood furnace electrode?

[Steph and Dud B]

Well, Eggcelsior has failed us again. This time it's the furnace. I have airflow, can smell gas, and hear the ignitor ticking, but no ignition. I would clean and gap the ignitor electrode but I can't find it. Anyone know how to access it? It's 46 degrees outside.

[rideandfly]

Here's John Davie's thread about how to service a Suburban furnace:

 

Edited May 5 by rideandfly

[rideandfly]

Here's a parts breakdown link for Dometic/Atwood furnaces:

https://pantherrvproducts.com/dometic-afsd20-atwood-rv-propane-heater-furnace-18k-parts-breakdown/

 

Edited May 5 by rideandfly

[rideandfly]

Here's a YouTube video about cleaning a Dometic/Atwood sail switch:

 

Edited May 5 by rideandfly

[MAX Burner]

@Steph and Dud B - This might be a long-shot but it worked for us a while back, actually D's idea not mine.  But configure your compressor head with a long outlet tube and hit the area of the ignitor, gas valve, and sail switch with compressed air (the general area that you can access from this section of the heater).  Not super high, maybe 20-25psi.  For us, it blew away any small debris/dust from the ignitor and it was able to light the burner.

Good luck!

 

[Geronimo John]

OK, I'm confused.  Is it a Dometic or an Atwood?  From the Panther sites, it appears that the Dometics are not the Atwoods.  Please clear my foggy mind or some strong coffee! Which model does our our OE2's have

GJ

[jd1923]

9 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

OK, I'm confused.  Is it a Dometic or an Atwood? 

Doesn’t Dometic just rebrand many of their products? Could it be sold by Dometic, manufactured by Atwood?

April 2018 OTT Service replaced our Suburban furnace with an “Atwood Furnace with outside door.” Reason, “Customer states furnace fan rattles intermittently, Customer requests to remove Suburban and install the Atwood 20K furnace.”

[Geronimo John]

My 2018 Owner's manual shows I have this one.

But the below does not seem to match the above.

So since I am wanting to purchase a thermocouple for MY unit, which parts list would I use from the above?

Sure wish I could just walk out to my imaginary Texas Man Cave and look myself.....

GJ

[Steph and Dud B]

Update: it's an Atwood and this YouTube video seems to have done the trick:

 

It was in John E Davies' thread, so many thanks to @rideandfly! Following the video, I knelt in the cold rain and removed the burner assembly. I found that the igniter electrode was arcing to the burner tube instead of the negative rod, so I bent the negative rod closer until I got a big arc there and reassembled. The furnace fired right up this time, but wouldn't keep running, as if there was a problem with the thermocouple, too. Defeated, wet, and tired I gave up and we retreated to a hotel for the night. 

After checking in to the hotel we returned to Eggcelsior to get clothes, toiletries, etc. for the night and, just for the heck of it, I turned the furnace on again. The sucker lit up and stayed lit! Maybe something got wet during disassembly in the rain? Maybe there was a lot of air in the gas line? Don't know. By this point, not wanting another middle of the night surprise, we decided to just go to the very nice hotel and let the trailer sit there alone and think about the way it was behaving. If it's still warm when we return in the morning I'll call it fixed.

(Incidentally, if you've never been to Jim Thorpe, PA, it's worth a trip. I'll post something in our blog later.) 

[rideandfly]

5 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

OK, I'm confused.  Is it a Dometic or an Atwood?  From the Panther sites, it appears that the Dometics are not the Atwoods.  Please clear my foggy mind or some strong coffee! Which model does our our OE2's have

GJ

John,

Starting 2017 Atwood is sold under the Dometic brand.

https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor/lp/rebranded-atwood

Bill

[jd1923]

Love the hotel when necessary! We are on a 2 1/2 week trip mainly in SW Utah. After a week or so, used my travel points for an overnight at the Marriott, dinner out included.

So, so glad to hear you are good again.@Steph and Dud B you’re the one! What you accomplished is that of a HVAC professional. 

[Geronimo John]

20 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

By this point, not wanting another middle of the night surprise, we decided to just go to the very nice hotel and let the trailer sit there alone and think about the way it was behaving. If it's still warm when we return in the morning I'll call it fixed.

Single point of failure means you have no options.  I like having options.  Such is especially important for running our Refrigerator and Furnace is important.  

• For the Refer, our OEM was gas, 12V, and 120V.  For replacements I'll not go with the gas (High risk of fire) and get one that can run on either 12V or 120V.  Add to that a good quality "5-Day" ice chest.
• For Heat:  I suggest getting a quiet heat pump when you replace your Hammer Mill OEM one.  Next a 120V 1500 watt  electric resistance heater.  IF you are doing a lot of cold weather camping to also get one of the safer propane fired portable heaters and a couple of small disposable propane gas cylinders like these as well.

  

GJ

 

[Ronbrink]

18 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

IF you are doing a lot of cold weather camping to also get one of the safer propane fired portable heaters and a couple of small disposable propane gas cylinders like these as well.

Good plan, however some precautions: Be sure to properly ventilate by cracking some windows; many question the safety of propane heaters like the Mr. Heater variety, but just heed the warning(s) when used indoors. Also, based on my experience there will be an increase in humidity and condensation in the cabin, a byproduct of hydrocarbon combustion. I have seen condensation run down the interior wall and wet the bedcovers and dinette cushions, especially during a night of use. This can be somewhat mitigated with more ventilation than thought needed. 

[Steph and Dud B]

I do wish the A/C had a heat strip or heat pump as a backup but it wouldn't have mattered on this trip because we were dry camping. We do have a Mr. Buddy propane heater but didn't pack it because there was really only one cold day in the forecast and we've never had a furnace failure in 25 years RVing. What were the odds, right?

[Geronimo John]

6 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

What were the odds, right?

I have lots of experience where my travel companion, Mr. Murphy, often trumps a pair of Odds.  🙂

GJ

[jd1923]

46 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

I have lots of experience where my travel companion, Mr. Murphy, often trumps a pair of Odds.  🙂 GJ

I believe strongly in the iconic phrase from the song Beautiful Boy by John Lennon: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

There is NOT enough room to have backups for everything! I prefer to pack light and take our chances. Our backup heater is an extra blanket! I'll just bet, that with all the frustration day of, that @Steph and Dud B have a life memory they will cherish, or at least remember. You have to make the best of things and live life as it comes, no regrets. I tend to remember the good stuff. 

[Steph and Dud B]

3 hours ago, jd1923 said:

I'll just bet, that with all the frustration day of, that @Steph and Dud B have a life memory they will cherish

This is true. The hotel turned out to be a gem and we had a wonderful afternoon and evening in town.

[jd1923]

Beautiful boy by John Lennon (Lyrics) (youtube.com)

[Geronimo John]

On 5/7/2024 at 12:41 PM, jd1923 said:

There is NOT enough room to have backups for everything! I prefer to pack light and take our chances.

I agree in principal recognize your TAKE OUR CHANCES perspective. 

Packing light and as a result often rolling the dice works well for a lot of RV owners.  Others pack heavy and could never go where you and I like to go.  Then there are others of us that are actually somewhere in the middle.  It is all good.    

It is also good that our "spares/emergency/DIY gear) is different.  No point in running across a situation and having the exact same gear.  Better for our response if our Kits are different.  MORE OPTIONS.     

I would wager that we both, and many others,  carry gear that gives us more options so that we don't have to roll the dice very often.  Also that neither of us go overboard on the weight or space side.

GJ  

UPDATE:  Talked to knowledgable OTT techs and pulling the FWT is a PITA.   Not something they or I would recommend for any mod.  So I did suggest that they increase the plug prone tank drain to 3/4" or 1" to facilitate tank flushing.  

Edited May 9 by Geronimo John

[MAX Burner]

On 5/8/2024 at 1:10 PM, Geronimo John said:

UPDATE:  Talked to knowledgable OTT techs and pulling the FWT is a PITA.   Not something they or I would recommend for any mod.  So I did suggest that they increase the plug prone tank drain to 3/4" or 1" to facilitate tank flushing.  

Dusten mentioned that he'd removed several FWTs and it usually required a forklift to pull it out after the bumper assembly is removed - that operation.... is way outside of my wheelhouse!  A 1" or greater (if possible) drain tube would be a great mod - gets more plastic shavings and debris from the tank when performing the annual flushing.

[jd1923]

A 1" line with connectors becomes 3/4" ID, a great improvement at 2x the current OEM drain. OTT uses 1/2" PEX with 90 connectors that have 3/8" ID. See my picture of the motorized valve installed on the drain. Yes, the 90 fitting is 3/8" ID and if any of you still have the old brass switch valves (for boondocking / winterization modes) they are 1/4 ID. Motorized valves I used in all 3 locations have 12mm ID, one mm short of 1/2" ID. It drains a little faster and the boondocking fill is now twice as fast.