how do I turn on the heater?

[delpizzo]

I recently bought a 1978 21' american clipper and I am VERY happy with it.  However, I have not figured out how to turn on the heater. I see what seems to be a hole where to light the pilot light, but how do I get the propane flowing in the first place? Don't I have to push a button when I light the pilot?

Thanks

Vin

[prophetdaniel2]

Howdy and welcome!
     What brand furnace do you have? You do mean furnace, not water heater right?
     With the suburban furnace, if you have a source of electrical power supplied such as charged coach battery, shore power connected, engine running/ ignition advanced, or generator running. And you know that you have propane supplied, (turn the knob on the tank counterclockwise) you should simply turn the thermostat up. The fan will come on and blow cold air, you will hear the ignition sequence begin, then you should get hot air shortly after that.

     For any other brand of furnace, someone else will have to chime in...........like JerryT !
-D

[caninecaravan]

If you have the Coleman it has an electro piezo igniter. You have to turn the blower on and then wait for 5 minutes. Turn off the blower. Turn the gas on and holding down on the red button engage the igniter which will be a red button just above it. When the pilot light goes on which you will see through the little glass window, you can then turn the thermostat control to the desired heat setting and the burner will engage. Heat will then flow out of the vents. Try that.

[dreedy650]

I just purchased a 1977 clipper , i have a suburban furnace just to the left of the furnace on the gas line there is a valve, turn the valve on then light the pilot, (you also have to hold in the reset button) once done set  the thermostat and your ready, not sure if this helps but it may.   Good Luck

[dboling]

I have a suburban furnace, not sure what model, but it's pretty much automatic.

After I have propane to the clipper I turn the thermostat on, the fan runs for about a minute, the igniter electodes then ignites the furnace and about 30 more seconds later I have heat coming out the heat vents.


Here's a link to some furnace manuals that might help you.
http://bryantrv.com/docs.html#furnace

[dboling]

I have a suburban furnace, not sure what model, but it's pretty much automatic.

After I have propane to the clipper I turn the thermostat on, the fan runs for about a minute, the igniter electodes then ignites the furnace and about 30 more seconds later I have heat coming out the heat vents.


Here's a link to some furnace manuals that might help you.
http://bryantrv.com/docs.html#furnace

This week end my suburban furnace quit working. Is was pretty cold at midnight so I had to see if I could do something with it.

The symptoms were the fan would blow VERY cold air and after 1 minute you could hear the second click when the heat starts coming out, but it only blew cold air.
I kicked the furnace a couple times and recycled the thermostat but still cold air.

I opened the funace panel and watched through the pilot light sight glass and recycled the thermostat again. I saw no flame and there wasn't spark across the igniters.

This time I opened the sight glass and recycled the thermostat, after a minute when the I heard the second click I used a barbecue lighter and the heater lite manually through the pilot sight glass. Since I got heat coming out of the funace I just turned the thermostat up to 80 degrees and went to bed.

When I got up the next morning it was nice and toasty in the clipper. Since the funace would work manually and not automatically I figured the igniter must have died on me and I was pretty stressed as I had no clue where to get parts or even how to fix it. I drank my morning cup of espresso to get my brain jump started then decided to take another look at the furnace. I opened the pilot light site glass, grabbed my mini mag light and my $52 snap-on test light. I turned the thermostat on and tried to check for power at the igniter with the test light, but it didn't seem to have any power. I shined the light in the hole so I could get a better look inside. I saw something very thin laying across the igniter, not sure what it was but I used the test light to scrape it off. I turned on the themastat and listened for the second click. When the  I heard the second click I was watching through the pilot hole and there was a nice bright blue spark jumping across the igniter and the furnace lite. I recycled the thermostat a few more times and the furnace worked perfectly everytime.

[John Eversoll]

Hey there dboline,  " That's an easy one"!!!!

               Just Look at that heater and say I love you"




I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself!!!   :)John

[dboling]

Hey there dboling,  " That's an easy one"!!!!

               Just Look at that heater and say I love you"




I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself!!!   :)John

Not a problem John, but I don't think the words I used was I love you

[John Eversoll]

Probably the same words I used when I split my thumb down to the Bone!!!

154 stitches...
I have really never had a problem with my furnace, except once in Big Bear
Thought we would have a white Christmas and that was the only time we had no heat. Just doubled up on Blankets.

People thought I must have been real strange, I had a BBq in the snow.
I just Love grillin"
Later Gater :)John