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Furnace Fuse Fuss


mlb3820

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It was pretty cold in Massachusetts in late November, dropping below freezing for nights in a row, while driveway surfing at my parents place and counting down the days to Thanksgiving. To keep the plumbing from freezing in Ollie we were running the gas furnace to keep the living space in the 50s and the space between the hulls warm. On several days I came out and found the interior around 39 degrees and the furnace not running. What?? As I fumbled about with this the first time, I flipped all the AC breakers and pressed all the 12v fuses. The furnace restarted. Huh. I was not paying close enough attention to know which component reset the furnace. Not to worry, it happened again. It turned out it was the furnace fuse, go figure, that when I rocked it under my finger in its receptacle, the furnace would restart after I heard an electrical click.

 

At one point I did this and the furnace restarted but then died again shortly thereafter. That time I discovered we had run out of gas in the open propane tank. I switched to the full tank but the furnace would not start when I expected it to. I rocked the fuse again and got the click (spark? relay reset?) and the furnace started and stayed running.

 

After futzing with this a few times I decided to look closer at the fuse. I pulled it and noticed the two tabs were misaligned, like one tab was making into the receptacle and the other was missing it, instead twisting and just touching the outside of the other receptacle.  Under most circumstances this worked fine, until it didn't. Anyway I replaced the fuse and all was well.  Upon closer inspection one could see that one of the tabs had a wear mark on only one side where the other tab had marks consistent with full connection in the receptacle, suggesting to me it was not properly seated to begin with.

 

While the fuse issue was resolved, this did highlight an issue/question for me. When the gas runs out while the furnace is running and the furnace shuts down, after resolving the gas issue, how are you supposed to reset it? I imagine having to pull the fuse is not the right way on a closed circuit.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Mark B


LEII Twin hull #391


2013 Tundra

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The fuse box is of poor quality and this is a common problem. I have had issues twice with power to the fridge.

 

The cause is, as you found out, due to weak prongs in  the sockets, that do not grasp the fuse tabs very well. If you are careless when inserting a fuse it can spread the prongs and then you get an intermittent or non-existent connection.

 

Solution 1: carefully remove ALL fuses, squeeze the prongs back together slightly, and carefully reinsert the fuses straight in without rocking. Insulated mini needle nose pliers are useful. Don't short anything out! You might want to disconnect the batteries to be safe, but I never bother.

 

Solution 2: Replace the entire converter/ fuse box/ breaker box assembly with a better quality unit. That is pretty drastic. I have not yet reached that point, but I may do this one day.

 

I do not understand why Oliver uses this unit instead of a more reliable one. I also do not understand why the fuse door hinge is not reversible. It is TRULY a HUGE PITA to have the door swing toward you.

 

As far as "resetting" the furnace when it runs out of gas, you just need to cycle it a few times. Even that is usually not needed unless you removed a bottle and got some air in the line. You can also turn on and click a burner on the range until you see a flame. That will purge any air out of the line so the furnace can light off. If the gas pressure drops too far, the appliances will quit. As soon as the new bottle is selected and the pressure comes back up, they all should operate normally.

 

Good luck. Pass your fuse problem on to the factory using the Service Request page so they can keep up with this issue.

 

You might want to consider a backup electric heat source if you have shore power, set to a lower temperature, and maybe a remote temp alarm (cellular or bluetooth) that connects yo your phone, so that you will know immediately if something has gone wrong. Something like this which is on my Wish List: ... https://www.amazon.com/SensorPush-Wireless-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Android/dp/B01AEQ9X9I/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1487193255&sr=8-2&keywords=SensorPush+Wireless+Thermometer+/+Hygrometer&linkCode=sl1&tag=newwweather-20&linkId=4cf6a5e3a8dbe2e30859502d67de972c

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

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Other people have run into the same problem with fuses.  I don't know if it's just easy to wrongly insert them in that particular panel, or if whomever is doing it is rushed.  Or maybe with X number of trailers and X number of fuses, it's inevitable that the occasional one gets screwed up.

 

I've started up the furnace after forgetting to turn on the gas a few times and the furnace has always just started back up after a delay.  I believe I had to cycle the thermostat off and on again.

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While in the fuse box check the fuse installed to the diagram on the door. I found a couple that were to small.  That said, I am hoping the diagram was right. Another note was a 2 amp fuse for back up, and no one had one. We ordered 5 for the tool box...

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The only time I've had trouble with propane is when I've turned the valve to open it too fast. Once I bought the GenConnex kit for my generator, their instructions explicitly state not to open it too fast, I never knew, I haven't had a problem since. Maybe you just overwhelmed the pressure switch is my guess.

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Randy


One Life Live It Enjoyably


2017 F350 6.7L SRW CC LB


2015 Oliver Elite II Hull #69

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