Issues with the furnace camping at a wide range of altitudes and temperatures

[mountainrv]

Hi all
First post for me and this is the first RV for my wife and I. We just bought a Imagine 3100RD. We are moving into our RV to live full time. The RV is going to go back and forth between 10,000 ft and 6000 ft based on where our house is and where I work. We decided to test out the RV right away on our property which is at 10k ft and the furnace stopped staying lit after two days. I drove it back down to the dealership which is at 6k ft and they had no issue getting the furnace to perform properly. I was told by the tech at the dealership and our residential heating technician who also owns an RV that the furnace is likely not getting the correct pressure at this altitude. Has anybody else experienced this and if so does anybody have any ideas on how to compensate for the extreme altitude changes? Thanks in advance.

 

[mountainrv]

Update-The tech found the the regulator was set a little low and has adjusted the pressure. I will picking up the RV sometime soon and we will see if the issue is resolved.

 

[Ynot4me2]

Nice, please post back your experience

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

 

[mountainrv]

Good news and bad news. Came out this morning first thing to test fire the furnace and had the same issue as before (furnace would fire and not stay lit). At that time it was 10 degrees out. I came back out a while later when it was almost 30 degrees out and tried again. The furnace sounded better (stayed lit longer for each attempt) and then finally stayed running. I'm wondering now if it is an issue with temperature and not altitude. I've done a bit of research on other forums and websites and what I'm seeing is issues with pressure. Some sources say it could be a bad mixture of propane and additives, others say improper purging of the cylinders when they were filled ie air or water in the tank and some issues with regulators or the wrong size orifice in the furnace. The regulator is new from the dealer and looks to be decent quality. I'm not ready to tear apart the furnace and change the orifice (that would have to be done by the dealer as I don't want to screw up my warranty). I'm waiting on a callback from the dealer to troubleshoot with them. Does anybody have any experience with this and have thoughts on things to try? I've also researched some heated pads for propane tanks but they are expensive and get mixed reviews on reliability. Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[huntindog]

Try draping an old sleeping bag over the tanks.

 

[mountainrv]

Try draping an old sleeping bag over the tanks.

Okay, I'll give that a shot. Thanks

 

[jkwilson]

Try draping an old sleeping bag over the tanks.

What would that change?

 

[LanerC]

Are you sure that you are not about out of propane. If so the cold temp will not allow the little left to pressurize until it warms up. In cold weather I can only get 2 to 3 days on a 30lb tank of propane.

 

[huntindog]

What would that change?

I have seen quite a few campers do it in really cold situations.... I tried it once when my heater acted up in cold temps, and it seemed to help. I think it must keep the regulator a few degrees warmer. IDK, but it can't hurt to try it.

 

[Redapple63]

I have seen quite a few campers do it in really cold situations.... I tried it once when my heater acted up in cold temps, and it seemed to help. I think it must keep the regulator a few degrees warmer. IDK, but it can't hurt to try it.

Great explanation. Part of the energy lost with the propane under pressure is heat. If you feel the tanks when you have stuff running, the tanks will be cold. In very cold weather, there may be enough heat loss to prevent the propane from going through the regulator. Blankets could make the difference.

 

[jkwilson]

Great explanation. Part of the energy lost with the propane under pressure is heat. If you feel the tanks when you have stuff running, the tanks will be cold. In very cold weather, there may be enough heat loss to prevent the propane from going through the regulator. Blankets could make the difference.

The cooling effect of propane vaporizing cools the tanks and regulator. That means it will be colder under the blanket than outside and the blanket will help keep it colder. You want the outside air to be able to warm the regulator. Putting a blanket over it will make vaporization slower.

 

[mountainrv]

Are you sure that you are not about out of propane. If so the cold temp will not allow the little left to pressurize until it warms up. In cold weather I can only get 2 to 3 days on a 30lb tank of propane.

Happened with fresh tanks, so not an issue with the level.

 

[mountainrv]

Has anybody heard of getting a "bad batch" of propane? I know it doesn't go bad but thinking back on when the issue started it was right after I exchanged my propane cylinders. I'm going to have another two bottles filled at a different location to see if it may be part of the issue. Before the two bottles that we got from the dealer were emptied everything ran fine and during single digit temps.

 

[jkwilson]

Has anybody heard of getting a "bad batch" of propane? I know it doesn't go bad but thinking back on when the issue started it was right after I exchanged my propane cylinders. I'm going to have another two bottles filled at a different location to see if it may be part of the issue. Before the two bottles that we got from the dealer were emptied everything ran fine and during single digit temps.

If you bought the gas somewhere it doesn’t get cold or in mid-summer, it’s possible it contains a higher butane percentage. Butane stops vaporizing at around 31F.

 

[mountainrv]

If you bought the gas somewhere it doesn’t get cold or in mid-summer, it’s possible it contains a higher butane percentage. Butane stops vaporizing at around 31F.

That would explain why I was able to get the furnace to run when it was above 32F yesterday. I did a tank swap at our local grocery store.

 

[jkwilson]

That would explain why I was able to get the furnace to run when it was above 32F yesterday. I did a tank swap at our local grocery store.

Certainly a possibility.

 

[mountainrv]

Certainly a possibility.

Seems like it was a propane issue after all (knock on wood). Got a fresh refill and she fired on the second attempt at 0 degrees this morning. Lesson learned, find a refill station and avoid propane exchanges.

 

[Always Learning]

Seems like it was a propane issue after all (knock on wood). Got a fresh refill and she fired on the second attempt at 0 degrees this morning. Lesson learned, find a refill station and avoid propane exchanges.

When looking for a refill station try to buy your propane at a high sales volume place like a propane supplier. After I got oil in my propane tanks from some rv park and had to replace my tanks I try to now buy from high volume dealers.

 

[mountainrv]

When looking for a refill station try to buy your propane at a high sales volume place like a propane supplier. After I got oil in my propane tanks from some rv park and had to replace my tanks I try to now buy from high volume dealers.

Good to know. Thank you.

 

[traveldawg]

fwiw..... I use to have issues on a motorhome with my propane regulator - it didn't like the cold weather.

I put an incandescent trouble light in the bay with the regulator to keep the temps there a bit warmer and didn't have any more issues. I assumed it had something to do with cold propane getting colder as the pressure change took effect inside the regulator.

In really cold weather the regulator would just freeze up. Before I figured out the light bulb heating thrick I wa using either warm (not hot) water to warm the regulator or the DW's hair cryer.