Atwood Furnace


J

jaz1949

New Member
I have an Atwood furnace in a 2001 5th wheel. The furnace ignites for about 5 seconds then stops. It cycles through this scenario 3 times and then shuts down. The DSI circuit board was replaced on Sept 8/08. Can circuit boards be tested by a technician, or is it a trial and error method to see if the board has gone again?
Thanks
 
Kirk

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Atwood Furnace

There is a device made for testing furnace circuit boards and the better RV shops should have one and most will test a board for a customer. I rather doubt that the board has failed or that it is the cause of this problem. I suspect that your problem is a failure to detect the heat from the flame. That is done by the same probe that supplies the spark. After each spark the circuit board monitors the lead to the probe, looking for a very small voltage that indicates the presence of the flame. If it does not detect that voltage it sends another spark. That process is repeated three times by an Atwood circuit board and then the furnace goes into lock-out, as it believes that the flame did not ignite. While the circuit board could cause that, much more common is for the problem to be the ignite r probe.

You can get a replacement probe at most RV supply stores. The cost is around $30 and they are very easy to replace. I always put in a new probe if I replace the circuit board.
 
J

jaz1949

New Member
RE: Atwood Furnace

I read somewhere that if you unplug the circuit board for a day that it can reset itself. I did that and furnace is now working.
 
Kirk

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Atwood Furnace

It is always a good idea to work the electrical plugs on & off several times as the first step in any electrical issue, especially with 12V control circuits. In the case of any DSI heating device (furnace or water heater) the voltage that is returned to the igniter circuit board to indicate that the flame is burning is only measured in microvolts. If you happen to have a dirty connection, especially common with edge connectors such as most RV boards use, that voltage could very easily be lost. I suspect that the thing that fixed your problem was most likely the action of removing the connector and then putting it back.

It might be well worth your time to clean the contacts on that connector when you have a chance. A good way to do this is by using a typing eraser to clean them and carefully blow out all of the residue from the cleaning. Last, wipe it down with a good quality isopropyl alcohol.
 
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