Summary/Intro

When an RV furnace stops working, the most expensive answer is not always the right one. Before replacing the furnace—or ordering parts based on a guess—you need to understand where its operating sequence has stopped.

In this episode, Eric explains how an RV furnace starts and the four things it needs to operate: a call for heat from the thermostat, dependable 12-volt power, an adequate propane supply, and proper airflow. He walks through common furnace problems involving the sail switch, blower motor, ignition system, flame-sensing circuit, ductwork, and control board.

You will also learn which problems you can fix with basic maintenance, when a targeted repair makes sense, and when age, corrosion, unavailable parts, repeated failures, or combustion-chamber damage may justify replacement. Eric also covers replacement considerations, including potential fitment and exterior door modifications when installing an aftermarket furnace such as a Fogatti.

The goal is to help you diagnose the problem methodically, avoid unnecessary parts replacement, and make a safer, more informed decision about your RV furnace.

Show Notes

The Four Things an RV Furnace Needs

An RV propane furnace requires four basic conditions before it can produce heat:

• A call for heat from the thermostat
• Strong, dependable 12-volt DC power
• An adequate supply of propane
• Proper airflow through the furnace and duct system

The thermostat is essentially an on-and-off switch. Once it calls for heat, the furnace must complete a specific startup sequence before the burner can operate.

Understanding the Furnace Startup Sequence

The blower starts first and must reach sufficient speed. That airflow closes the sail switch, allowing the circuit board to continue the startup sequence.

The circuit board then opens the gas valve and activates the ignition system. Once the burner lights, the electrode must verify that a flame is present.

Knowing this sequence helps narrow down the problem:

• No blower may indicate a thermostat, fuse, power, wiring, or ground problem.
• A blower that runs without ignition may point to low voltage, insufficient airflow, the sail switch, the limit switch, or the circuit board.
• Clicking without ignition may indicate a propane supply, gas valve, burner, or electrode problem.
• A flame that lights and quickly shuts down may indicate a flame-sensing, grounding, electrode, or circuit-board issue.

Listen carefully to what the furnace does. The point where the normal sequence stops is often the best clue to where the problem is located.

Begin With the 12-Volt System

Even though propane produces the heat, the furnace depends on the RV’s 12-volt electrical system.

A weak battery may run the lights but fail to provide enough voltage for the furnace blower, circuit board, gas valve, and ignition system.

Check the furnace fuse, battery condition, electrical connections, and grounds. Use a multimeter to test voltage while the furnace attempts to start, because a battery can look acceptable without a load and then drop too low when the blower turns on.

Check the Propane Supply

Before blaming the furnace, confirm that propane is reaching the RV’s appliances.

Make sure the cylinders contain propane and the valves are open. Test another propane appliance, such as the stove or water heater, to see whether the problem is isolated to the furnace or affects the entire propane system.

Testing propane pressure or working directly with the gas valve and combustion system requires the correct equipment and experience. Never use an open flame to check for a propane leak.

Inspect the Airflow

Restricted airflow can cause poor heating, sail-switch problems, and high-temperature limit cycling.

Inspect the furnace return-air area and make sure it is not blocked by camping gear, storage containers, pet beds, or other items. Check the heat registers and ductwork for closed vents, sharp bends, crushed sections, tears, or disconnected ducts.

A furnace cannot operate properly if it cannot move enough air.

Perform Basic Furnace Maintenance

Simple preventive maintenance may help reduce furnace failures:

• Vacuum dust and debris from accessible return-air openings.
• Inspect the exterior intake and exhaust vents.
• Look for insect nests, spider webs, leaves, soot, and corrosion.
• Check accessible ductwork and heat registers.
• Listen for new blower noises or vibration.
• Inspect visible wiring and connections for damage.
• Test the smoke, propane, and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Check each alarm’s expiration date, not just its battery.

Don't ignore soot, delayed ignition, unusual combustion noises, or signs of excessive heat. Turn the furnace off and have it inspected.

When a Furnace Repair Makes Sense

Repair may be the best choice when the furnace is structurally sound, the heat exchanger is in good condition, replacement parts are available, and a technician has properly diagnosed the failed component.

Components such as the thermostat, sail switch, limit switch, blower motor, electrode, or circuit board may be replaceable without replacing the complete furnace.

The furnace's age matters, but its overall condition matters more.

When Replacement May Be the Better Choice

Replacement should be considered when:

• The heat exchanger or combustion chamber is damaged.
• The furnace has severe rust or water damage.
• Important replacement parts are no longer available.
• The furnace has required repeated repairs.
• Repair costs are approaching the cost of replacement.
• You can no longer trust the furnace when heat is essential.
• The existing furnace is incorrectly sized or poorly installed.

Do not patch or return to service a cracked, burned-through, or severely corroded heat exchanger.

Replacement Is Not Always a Direct Swap

A replacement furnace must match more than the original opening size.

Consider:

• Furnace dimensions
• BTU rating
• Ducting requirements
• Propane-line location
• Electrical connections
• Thermostat compatibility
• Exterior vent and access-door configuration
• Required clearances
• Mounting arrangement

Eric also shares his practical evaluation of Fogatti replacement furnaces. Although they may offer an alternative for certain applications, fitment and exterior door-kit differences could require permanent RV modifications. Carefully verify the installation requirements before cutting or altering the coach.

Maintain, Repair, or Replace?

Maintain the furnace when it is fundamentally sound but needs cleaning, improved airflow, duct repairs, connection checks, or other preventive attention.

Repair it when a specific failed component has been diagnosed, parts are available, and the rest of the furnace remains safe and dependable.

Replace it when structural damage, serious corrosion, obsolete parts, repeated failures, or questionable reliability make continued repairs impractical or unsafe.

Diagnose the entire system before replacing the furnace—but never allow the desire to save an older unit to override a genuine propane, combustion, or carbon-monoxide safety concern.

Takeaways:

• I explain that a furnace needs four essentials: a thermostat call, 12-volt power, a propane supply, and proper combustion and interior airflow to operate reliably.
• We recommend regularly inspecting and cleaning the return air grille and flexible ducting to prevent airflow restrictions and operational failures.
• I describe diagnostic sequences: blower motor start, sail switch engagement, igniter sparking, and flame sensor feedback; failures at any stage indicate specific component faults.
• We emphasize checking twelve-volt system health with a multimeter because weak batteries may power lights but not the furnace.
• I advise replacing a furnace when the combustion chamber is compromised, when parts are unobtainable, or when cumulative repair costs exceed replacement value.
• We critique Fogatti furnaces for potential fitment issues and inadequate door kits that may require enlarging the RV sidewall and permanent modification.
• I urge familiarization with tools, especially a multimeter, breaker bars, and ratchets, to enable effective roadside troubleshooting and confident repairs.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Wholesale Warranties - RV Extended Warranties

RV Furnace Start Up Cycle

RV Furnace Won't Start Flow Chart

Contact Us - Call, Text, Video, Email

Our Online Resources:

The Smart Rver YouTube Channel - Check Out Our No-Nonsense YouTube Videos

Sunpro Mfg - RV Sunshade, Windshield Covers & Slide Out Awning Fabrics

Hot Boat Ropes - Marine Cordage- Anchor Lines, Dock Lines, Tow Lines, etc.

Top Rated Podcast - The Smart RVer Podcast Website

The cooler temps are here and it's time to get ready.

In staying on the road today, we're going to talk about furnace problems.

Should you maintain, repair, or replace your RV furnace?

And in quick tips, should you replace your RV furnace with a Fogotti furnace?

And in smart tips, familiarize yourself with your tools.

I'm Eric Stark.

Welcome to the Smart rver podcast.

If you'd rather be camping than sitting in a repair shop, you're in the right place.

In every episode, I'll walk you through the practical DIY maintenance and repairs that keep you on the road.

Welcome back, Smart RVers.

Today is episode 212, and let's just jump into it today.

All right, let's talk about wholesale warranties for a moment.

If you're looking for an extended warranty for your rv, whether you're buying new used private party or from a dealership, wholesale warranties can help you out.

Use the link in the description, this podcast and go to their website and talk to them, see what they can do for you.

They always have a great offer.

They're always taking care of their customers.

And their extended warranties, I'm not going to say are flawless.

But before you ever sign up, you know what you're getting.

They tell you up front what it's going to cover and more importantly, what it's not going to cover.

So sometimes we don't think about things unless it's said.

You know, we think, oh, transmission is covered.

So that would mean the drive shaft, the rear differential.

Not necessarily.

So they tell you all that up front so you know beforehand.

So go to wholesale warranties.

Like I said, the link's in the description.

Talk to them first.

It costs you nothing.

It'll be painless.

It'll be less pain talking to them than buying that rv.

Believe me, that I can guarantee.

All right, now that's going to bring us sustain on the road.

I shouldn't make that sound so bad.

Like buying an RV is going to be the most painful thing in the world.

But you know, the moment you walk into a dealership, whether it's car or rv, the pain just starts, right?

What am I doing here?

Been there myself many times.

All right, so let's talk about your RV furnace problems.

Should you maintain it, repair or replace your RV furnace?

You know, usually the furnace doesn't get a whole lot of attention.

It just sits in that RV and does nothing until you're ready to use it.

And then you want that bad boy to work.

Come on, baby.

You hit the thermostat Fire up and nothing happens.

There's no heat.

And then all of a sudden, it's the questions.

Oh, my gosh, what is it?

Is it me?

Did I not maintain it?

Is it me?

Are we breaking up furnace?

No, it's not you.

It could be maintenance, but more than likely it's just the furnace that's having a bad day and it doesn't want to start.

So that's what we're going to talk about today.

We're going to walk through this and determine whether it's worth repairing or replacing.

So that being said, you know, you're not going to walk away with it from this episode as a RV furnace technician.

We're just exploring it because that question comes up so much.

Should I just buy a new furnace?

That question comes up all the time.

So that's what we're going to discuss today and break it down so you can make an informed decision in the future.

But there are some basic things we're going to walk through to help you determine whether your furnace is worth repairing, not repairing.

And it's going to be maybe a little slow going for some because maybe you already know this, you understand it, but this podcast is for everybody.

New RVers, you know, been RVing for an hour.

Those been RVing for 100 years.

It doesn't matter.

And you know what, we can always learn something.

Something will be said that's going to jog your memory.

Oh, yeah, yeah, okay, I remember that.

Okay, that's a good one to know.

Let's understand just how a furnace works.

Now.

Think of the thermostat as an on off switch.

And that's it.

It's just an on off switch.

So you turn the thermostat on.

So basically that's what is called a call for heat.

So you have to have 12 volt power.

So there's four things here.

You have turn the thermostat on.

You have to have 12 volt power, you have to have good propane, and you have to have proper airflow through the combustion chamber and the interior sides of the rv.

So the furnace has to have air flowing through it.

And that 12 volt requirement is a requirement.

Sometimes we think that, oh, well, my RV is plugged in the 12v good.

And it's not always good.

Your lights might be on, but you could have other problems.

And trust me, it happens.

And I've said this so many times talking about batteries in RVs and 12 volts.

So just reiterating that.

All right, so you want to make sure you have good 12 volts going to the battery.

Now, if you have all four of those things in place, then here's what should happen.

When the furnace starts, you turn the thermostat on.

The circuit board gets that information.

Then the blower motor starts.

Within, you know, 15 seconds or so, 10 seconds, it kicks on.

And then it's going to go through the cycles of trying to light.

So as it goes through those cycles, you can hear the maybe hear the gas valve open.

You might hear some clicking like, like the igniters trying to light.

You may or may not hear those things, but when it lights, you definitely hear a change in the sound.

You hear the flame kick on, sounds like afterburners kicking in.

And that's after it lights.

After the furnace is told by the flames or the tail switch that, hey, the airflow is good, the blower motor spinning, open up the gas valve, start lighting, and then it does.

And then it stays lit.

As long as the electrode or the flame sensor is working properly, it sends a signal back to the circuit board.

Everything's go here.

And so the circuit board just keeps on going, keeps feeding it fuel if needed, more spark.

If you know the flame went out for some reason, the fuel supply cut off for a moment, whatever it might be, it'll kick back on.

So everything's in motion, everything's good.

But when something happens in that sequence, sail switch isn't working right, circuit board is not working right, gas valves not working right, then things start falling apart, like, oh, the furnace isn't working.

And then we say, is it me?

Did I do something?

Why are you leaving me furnace?

Why aren't you working?

Just kidding.

All right, so we might start thinking about maintenance.

And that's cool.

You know, maintenance is good, but on a furnace, there's only so much maintenance that can be done.

And then even some of the things I'm going to talk about here, you know, they might be.

Well, if you've owned your RV for 10 years, you know, everything works, the furnace has always worked, and you know your ducting's all in shape, then you might not have any problems with any of that.

You might not even consider it.

But if you just bought the RV and the furnace isn't working now, these might be some things you're going to look at.

But the one area of maintenance you can do is all RVs have a return air grill inside them, generally lower by the refrigerator in the kitchen.

You can take that grill off and just make sure there's nothing crazy going on there.

Like if you have pets, if it's just jam packed with fur or, you know, mounds of dirt and dust.

And yet sometimes it's surprising what you see inside these cabinets.

I mean, sometimes you see literal dirt like it's never been cleaned, like someone's shoveling it in.

That's the area where you can keep clean with a vacuum.

You can vacuum that out.

You can try to vacuum as much off the furnace as you can.

And why, as I say that, it's making me think that there's basically two types of furnaces.

There's the type that have a door on them that you access from the outside of the RV where you can do most of your repairs from the outside.

The rv, so the furnace never has to be removed.

Then there's the doorless models where everything.

The furnace has to be removed to do any repairs on it.

So depending on what you have, cleaning it out is going to be different.

If you have a doored furnace, you can blow it out with air from the outside, get the blower wheel pretty clean.

You can't clean the backside from the outside, but you can go inside and clean the backside.

But they're all in a case, so it's harder to do.

But anyways, if you keep that area clean, that's part of the battle.

Now the other thing is making sure that there's good airflow.

And that's one thing that's very important.

Now, RVs have flexible ducting in them, and it goes from the furnace out to wherever it's going to go.

Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room.

Every RV is a little bit different.

Some have a duct going to compartments.

So just learn your system.

Where's the ducting?

Is it in places where if I were to put something different in a cabinet, is it going to smash it?

Will it cause a problem in the cabinet or the ducting?

In other words, if I put bigger pans in there now and I push them in and shut the door, am I smashing some ducting?

Now the ducting generally is not exposed like that.

But like I said, every RV is different.

It just depends on how they ran.

Could be things under a kitchen sink, it could be something anywhere.

So just being familiar with that and also knowing that if there's a kink in the ducting, you know, you push something in, it kinks it.

That can be the problem.

Or if you're stacking stuff in front of the return air grill, maybe your kids are come up for the weekend, you get the trailer ready for them, they say in it the entire time they're there, they're complaining about the furnace not working properly, and you never really think about.

You go, okay, well, I'll just deal with it and I'll, you know, as long as you're good, you know, here's electric heater if you need it.

So after they leave, you go turn on the furnace, and it works perfect.

What's going on?

Maybe they stack some stuff in front of that return air, grill some cases of water, some of their luggage, some things like that.

So it's cutting down that airflow and the furnace isn't going to work.

Right.

Or they put some things over a duct.

Sometimes if you turn off one duct in an rv, that's it.

The furnace won't work right because it's.

They have the minimal amount of ducting in there, or maybe some of the other ducting was run poorly.

So you turn off one, it just affects the whole furnace.

And, you know, they don't run ducting like they should in all RVs.

They don't do a lot of things like they should in all RVs.

I have something rolling around here in my mind about mine, but I'm not going to say it yet.

It's a.

It's a Heartland trailer, you know, not going there.

But things aren't always done the way they should be.

But we know that when we bought the RV and we just deal with it.

So don't expect it to be perfect.

And if you find flaws, just repair them, move on with life.

Right.

And don't forget to inspect the outside of the RV as well.

The furnace has a.

An exhaust and an intake out there, so you want to make sure there's nothing in there.

No nest, no bugs, no anything.

There's not debris building up over the little vent or the COVID on the vent.

Make sure before you check that out that you turn off the furnace and it's cooled down so you're not getting burning your hand by touching it.

Because that vent on the outside can get pretty darn hot.

So you want to make sure that's clean.

In fact, they make little screens you put over your exhaust vents that keep stuff from going in there to help reduce that problem.

Because in some areas it can be a problem.

And sometimes just any little thing in there can create a disaster or something can work its way in, actually to the burner area.

And just a little like a moth, a leaf, can just ruin the airflow and cause problems.

Now, sometimes we hear things in the RV and we don't pay a lot of attention to it.

Oh, well, it sounds like the furnace is making noise.

Well, that could be the blower.

And something could be wrong with the blower.

You know, the motor could be going bad.

There could be something in the blower wheel, it's making noise.

All these things indicate there's a problem brewing and you need to take care of it.

You don't want to just blow that off and, oh, well, eventually it'll work itself out.

That'll work itself out when the furnace was working, right?

And you know, it could be anything in there as well.

I mean, it could be mice, could be dirt, could be leaves, could be who knows what, gobs of hair.

Maybe the people own the RV before you, if you've just bought it, had some pets, and they cleaned it up really good so you couldn't tell that.

But the furnace will give it all away, right?

So you could have a lot of pet hair in there.

And one other thing, to make sure that your LP detector, smoke detector, and your carbon monoxide alarm is all working, that everything's good.

Most of the carbon monoxide detectors are hardwired into the RV's 12 volt system.

And, you know, the smoke detectors might have batteries in them, but make sure everything's good.

You don't want to die because of a furnace.

You know, your carbon monoxide detector is not working.

Your furnace malfunctions and you get carbon monoxide poisoning thing going on.

And it does happen, and people die in RVs because of it.

Now if that happens to you, you won't know it because you won't wake up from your sleep.

So we want you to wake up, we want you and your family to wake up.

So spend the hundred bucks if yours is defective and replace that detector.

So don't go cheap on that one.

Now, when a furnace probably needs repairs, there's generally signs.

You know, obviously it's not working, things are happening.

You've checked all the ducting and those type of things.

But we're going to go on to the more, I guess, specific things now.

So you go to the furnace, you turn on the thermostat, and nothing happens.

I mean, nothing happens.

And I want to qualify that because I hear that a lot.

We ask the customers, well, what, what happens when you turn thermostat on?

They say nothing.

Then you keep going it.

Well, the blower wheel comes on, the fan spins, it makes noise.

Okay, so the fan does or the fairness does something.

And there's a difference there between the fan coming on and not coming on.

It's part of the diagnosing the problem.

So in this case, nothing comes on, there's no noise, the furnace doesn't, the fan doesn't spin, nothing happens.

That could be a battery problem.

You know, low voltage, not getting charged.

The battery is bad.

And we're just going to go with that.

You know, if the converter could be an issue, we're not going to get all the little tentacles that where this can go.

The fuse could be bad.

You know, you could have a bad battery ground.

The thermostat could be failing.

You know, is power getting to the furnace?

Is the on off switch on or you.

Yeah.

Now most furnaces have this on off switch or a reset switch.

And if it's a doored furnace, they're very accessible because you open up the door and it's right there.

But if it's not a doored furnace and you haven't been touching the furnace, trying to get your arm in there and see if you can feel something, that switch should just be in the on position.

If you know it worked, let's say the day before a week ago, there's no way that switch is just going to turn itself off.

Now the switch could go bad.

I'm not saying that could to be an issue, but making sure there's power.

See, that's where that power comes in.

And by the way, we're not going to go down all the roads exploring what the problems each one of these problems could be, you know, where it starts and where it could end.

Because there it's just a broad diagnosis.

Here it's getting started.

So like, let's say you called me and said, hey Eric, this is what's going on with my furnace.

I started asking you questions and we would dial it in a little bit more.

We'd get pretty darn close on each diagnosis and what's going on, each symptom and getting you closer to that problem.

And we'd walk you right into the problem.

But just for the sake of this, we're just covering what it could be and it actually gives you a good idea where to go with this.

And by the way, most furnace manufacturers and their manuals have a tree that walks you through the problems, explains what to check here, what to check there.

Power here, go there, no power here, go here.

And they're very helpful.

And when you understand how one furnace works, it kind of explains how all furnace works.

In RVs, they're very similar.

They have some subtle differences, but overall they're very similar.

And keep in mind too, at low battery so if your battery's weak, you know, the lights might be on inside, but the battery might not be strong enough to run the furnace.

You know enough battery life to run the lights, but not the furnace.

Especially with LED lights, they don't draw nearly as much.

So it can be a little deceptive.

So don't lose.

Use your lights as a gauge.

Use an actual multimeter to check things out.

And I've emphasized it in the past, a multimeter is a must have for every RVer.

Now let's look at some possibilities that let's say you turn the thermostat on, you wait a few seconds and the blower starts up, but the furnace doesn't light.

In fact, it goes through its three, it tries to light three times, it goes through its cycle and then it shuts off.

That shutting off is not a symptom.

That's what it's supposed to do.

And a lot of people will stop right after that and give up, like up.

And maybe they just switched out to propane tanks and the furnace just wasn't getting the propane it needed.

So you need to turn the thermostat off and turn all the way off and turn it back on again and that'll reset the circuit board and it can try again.

You know, you do that two or three times and it doesn't light.

Well, there's a problem, especially if you check the stove for propane.

Your water heater is working then.

Yeah, there's something wrong with the furnace.

It's just going through a light up cycle.

But since it doesn't light up, it just stops.

It's not going to keep doing that.

So that could be low voltage.

The blower speeds knocking up to.

Or the blower is knocking up to speed to engage the sail switch.

The sail switch could be bad.

It could have dirt inside of it, some lint.

It could have, you know, many things going on with it that could be failing, causing to fail, not work properly.

There could be restricted airflow, but hopefully we've already ruled that out and I that's probably not going to tie into this, at least not very often.

Usually it's just a problem within the furnace, not an airflow issue, but it could be.

So just take a quick check to make sure there's nothing blocking the air intake or the exhaust.

And by the way, some furnaces, if you have them apart, you're testing on the workbench, sometimes you have to put an exhaust tube on the exhaust to extend it out past the back of the furnace to Simulate being an rv, because if it's not extended, the furnace will shut off very quickly because it starts pulling that in and that doesn't work.

That's a little sidebar there, but just keep that in mind.

You can actually use.

If you take your furnace out, you can use the vent that comes out on the side of your rv or just get a pipe and put it over the exhaust.

It's more likely not going to be airflow.

The motor could be just running slow.

So it could be going bad.

It's not an everyday occurrence.

That happens generally in a lot of cases, it's just a sail switch.

So there's little things there that can give it away.

But you know, we're getting close to it, right?

Could be wiring, could be a circuit board problem.

And sometimes circuit boards will be the problem.

When it doesn't seem like it will be vice versa.

It could be a sail switch, and sometimes it doesn't seem like it will be.

Now, let's say you turn on the thermostat and the furnace fan spins up, gets the speed.

You hear the furnace clicking, but it doesn't light.

So what could that be?

So that could mean that the sail switch is telling the circuit board, hey, I'm closed.

Open that gas valve and start sparking.

Well, the circuit board is going to send power to the gas valve, and it's going to start sparking, start igniting.

But if the gas valve isn't working right, that power is not going to do anything other than just go to the gas valve.

And the circuit board doesn't know that there's a problem with the gas valve per se.

But after it doesn't light, eventually, you know, after three times of going through the ignition cycle, it's going to turn off and go into lockout mode.

So the gas valve could be getting power but not opening like it should.

You know, the igniter could be bad.

The flame sensor could be bad, or the.

Well, I'm going to stick with the igniter could be bad.

The burner could have some debris in it that's keeping it from lighting.

You might hear little puffs, little light for a split second.

That could be some leaves in the gas in the burner area.

The burner itself could just be bad.

It could be burned out, rusted through.

Could be electrical problem, could be a propane issue.

So make sure your water heater and stove are working.

Could be the circuit board.

And anytime you suspect a circuit board, I would imagine most RV stores would check them at no charge.

I know we do we always have?

And that seems to be a normal thing, but maybe not.

Haven't been out in the wild and had that done.

But you can tell me about that anytime.

Just use the con.

The comments check comments section of our website, the smartrver.com okay, so now what happens when the burner lights and then the flame just shuts off, lights up for a few seconds and turns off one or two seconds, maybe three, so it doesn't stay lit.

So again, that could be an electrode issue.

Could be, actually be a poor ground electrical connection, which those are not as common, but they are out there.

And so you'll hear someone say that and don't dismiss it when they say it.

If you're talking to a technician, well, it could be a poor ground.

You know, it almost sounds like a scapegoat excuse.

Oh, yeah, get this person out of here.

But it's not.

There can be electrical problems.

The propane pressure could be off.

So make sure your water heater and a circuit board work.

If you don't have a way to test the pressure of the propane.

Again, it could be a circuit board, you know, but that flame sensor or electrode, they're combined into one these days.

So the electrode is the flame sensor.

If it doesn't sense the flame, and what it does is it sends a pulse, electrical pulse, back down to the circuit board.

Then the circuit board says up, we got to shut you off.

We got to turn everything off because we don't want this RV to blow up.

So that's what it's going to do.

So the flame sensor is a safety device, but it also, in this case, will light the furnace.

It's the electrode flame sensor.

And most people look at that like those never go bad.

You're crazy when you say it, but they do go bad.

They do have problems.

Not always.

And I think the thing is some, on some furnaces, they're a pain to replace.

They take a little more time because you got to take much more of the furnace apart than, you know, one brand versus the other.

Then it's like, well, if we got to do that, I really don't want to do it.

And my take is if you do it, just get the new one and put it in regardless.

You take the other one out, it looks okay.

You can't see anything obvious.

Just put a new one in and check the spark before you put it all back together.

If you can.

Most furnaces, you can do that.

You can hook them up and let it go through its motions without propane.

To it and make sure that it is sparking properly.

Now if your furnace comes on, it lights then shuts off, comes on, shuts off.

Short cycling as they call it.

You know, that's not as common.

It could be a restricted return air grill, could be an airflow problem.

You know, all the things we talked about in the beginning.

The high temperature limit switch could actually be bad cycling more than it should.

Could be a thermostat location, but probably not because you've already had this RV for some time.

Could be a loose wire, maybe in the thermostat, it could be a bad wire someplace else.

But you know, if the RV sitting still, sometimes that can be very hard to find.

You know, there's a lot of things that can be that are not normal.

Because you've already had this rv, I'm assuming even if it's a new RV or you know, new to you, a brand new rv.

Yeah.

First time you light up the furnace and you know there's all these odd things going on.

It definitely could be the ducting, return al, grill, anything, because the manufacturer could have just done it wrong.

But the chances that like buying a 10 or 15 year old RV and they live in cold country at the furnace doesn't work properly and they just let it go for all those years, it's pretty slim.

So it's probably not going to be a obscure problem.

Although it can be.

I mean sometimes furnaces a very simple little appliance, they can have nightmarish type problems to figure out.

But inspect these things.

Don't just automatically condemn the furnace.

Because I know people have bought furnaces thinking this will solve the problem and it doesn't.

They buy a furnace and they don't realize that there's a ducting or some ducting that's been kinked, the blower or the ducting came off of the register.

You know, it could be one of many things and they solve the same problem.

They're all done.

They just have a new furnace now and that's a lot of money to throw away.

So make sure that, that if you replace the furnace, that you have good cause for that.

And if you start hearing funny noises out of the furnace, definitely check it.

You shouldn't hear any funny noises.

The fan makes noise.

When the flame comes on, that makes noise.

You should hear those two things together all the time when the furnace is working properly.

So when a repair makes sense is most of the time.

I'm not going to break this down into every little thing, but generally the time when it's beyond repair.

Is maybe you've just.

You've put so much money in this furnace, it's, you know, 25 years old, and you've bought multiple circuit boards, you bought multiple blower motors.

These problems just keep coming back.

And as I say that, it makes me think about people living in their RVs.

There's more people living in their RVs today.

RVs are not meant to be lived in.

So a furnace is going to age quicker with someone living in their rv.

They're going to go through more parts.

Doesn't mean you're going to have to replace the blower motor every year.

It shouldn't be like that.

But if you find yourself going through blower motors or circuit boards or it's just you're tired of all the problems with this furnace, or maybe it's 25 years old and you've bought all these parts maybe over the course of, you know, several years, maybe you've bought them twice.

So, you know, I'm just going to put a new furnace in, and I might be.

I might be doing the same thing, but sometimes it just feels good to just put something new in and get that thing out of the way.

Starting out fresh, right?

But ultimately, if you can still get parts for your furnace, and I mean all the parts, you know, you go to the parts counter and the guy looks up your furnace and you tell him, you know, I need a new blower wheel for it.

Or let's say the fan motor, blower motor.

And he looks up, okay, yeah, I can get one of those.

In fact, I have it in stock here.

He sells it to you for 200 bucks.

And, you know, they can be 100, they can be 300, but you buy it and it gets you down the road for six months.

You go back and, hey, I need a new burner now.

My burner just, you know, destroyed.

Oh, that's not available.

Oh, really?

How long have they not been available?

Oh, for years.

You know, just.

We just happen to have that blower motor in stock.

You.

He didn't tell you that, right?

He wanted to get that blower motor off the shelf.

Always ask, are other parts available?

If I need an igniter, could I get one today if I need a sail switch?

And, you know, sometimes they can swap out other furnace parts to make your.

Make yours work, but make sure parts are available, not just what you need that day.

Because if you sink 200 bucks into blower motor and three weeks later, let's say the igniter goes bad, and.

And you can't get one and you can't find one that will work to match it up.

Now you're buying a new furnace.

What a nightmare, right?

So be sure of that.

Now that's one thing.

And the other thing is when there's a hole in the combustion chamber, when there's a hole in the combustion chamber, the furnace is done.

Don't even think about repairing it.

Regardless of who tells you what, just throw that furnace away and get a new one.

And getting a new furnace, depending on what you have, could mean replacing the core of it.

So it's the combustion chamber, the gas valve, all the components that make the heat, and it fits in your old cage.

I call them a cage.

The case that the furnace, you know, it slides into and it's a core and they're great, they work really nice.

They're a lot less expensive than buying a complete furnace.

But sometimes you have to go with a whole new furnace.

And going with a whole new furnace, sometimes it's not always that easy.

It's not a direct swap.

And that's the other reason why you stick with your furnace if you can, you know, to replace it.

You have to make sure everything's going to fall into place.

The vents on the side of the rv, if you have a door, you have to get a doored furnace.

You know, things have to line up.

You have to have the same amount of space inside.

Will the new furnace work?

Will the amount of ducting I have or ducting work on it?

So it's not just a go down and buy a new furnace.

I mean, it's.

Sometimes it's very easy to replace them, don't get me wrong.

But there are times where you're trying to make it work and it can be a little more complicated.

And you know, generally it's easier to go back with the same brand of furnace as well, because things will fit better.

Not saying you have to do that and not saying that's going to be the case every time.

So those your kind of go through it.

Is your furnace, you know, is it something you're going to maintain, repair to places, hopefully that helps you make that decision.

And in most cases, it's going to be, you know, repair it, maintain it, clean what you can, and repair it when you can.

Just keep it working, stay ahead of any, any problems that start creeping their way in.

So that way you're prepared.

And believe me, a furnace, like anything else can go bad at any time.

But the more you know about your furnace might save you some headaches.

Even when you're out on the road, if the furnace stops working and it's a doored furnace, you can say, you know what, there's an RV store right there.

I'm going to go see if they have a sail switch.

I'm just going to throw in a sail switch.

I'm going to do that, and I'm going to stop there if that isn't it or something else obvious.

But at least you got a fighting chance to keep some heat going.

All right, so that's going to conclude.

Staying on the road.

And so anything you, any questions about that, you can contact me directly.

All the information will be on the podcast description, including a phone number and links to our website so you can get a hold of me.

That brings us to quick tips.

Should you replace your furnace with a Fogotti furnace?

F O G A T T I Fogatti.

Sounds like a Italian racing car, right?

Well, it's not.

It's a Chinese furnace.

I don't know what to think of Fogatti.

They kind of got their way into the RV industry.

Like, one day they're not here, the next day they're here.

Like they've been here forever.

And that's, you know, marketing.

They had a nice strategy, got in, got in with distributors rather than just going solo selling on the Internet.

Although they do just sell on the Internet and their furnaces.

I'm not going to get into their water heaters or air conditioners.

I'm definitely going to talk about the furnaces.

The water heaters I actually sell don't have a big problem with those.

Air conditioners I wouldn't trust because there are a lot more money.

And I just, there's so many air conditioners on the market and there are so many good ones.

Why take a chance?

And same goes with this furnace now, the Fogati furnace.

I bought one after a trade show late, earlier this year.

And it certainly wasn't from stopping at the Fogotti booth and talking to them.

That was an experience like, man, like a swap meet experience.

You buy now, you buy now.

That's all they're trying to do is sell furnaces or product.

They could care less what your questions are.

It was amazing.

It was absolutely amazing.

The only reason why Fogadi got my attention of the furnace is because I went to a seminar and they had a rep, a rep group, a manufacturer's rep group, talking about the furnaces and some of the cool things about the features.

And I bought one.

A medium size is what they call it 30,000 or 35,000 BTU.

And the thing is awesome.

It really does everything they say it's going to do.

It's quieter, you know, it's variable speed, blower, everything's quiet.

The only noise, it even has sleep mode.

So it's quieter in sleep mode.

But the only noise you hear is when it lights up.

You know, you get the.

The fan goes on full speed, then you hear the.

And then it kind of goes back down into quiet mode so you can sleep.

And sleep mode is so you don't get woken up by your appliance, but if it doesn't wake you up, then you're probably cool.

But me, that would wake me up.

But that's all right.

I can deal with it, you know.

So I bought one and tested it, put it on the bench, tested it for about a week.

Different things, more.

I thought about it, tried this, tried that, and then I. Alright, so let's see.

Will this fit in my rv?

And start looking at it now.

And I call Fogati.

Oh yeah, it's going to fit.

Oh, it's going to fit.

Well, do you have a door kit for it?

And their idea of a door kit is a piece of metal.

Stamps look like door.

Nothing wrong with it.

You know, it looks okay, but it's not really a door kit.

It's just a door, a piece of metal.

There's no frame for it, there's no.

Nothing.

I thought was really interesting because all the other brands, Suburban, Dometic, you know, even Hydroflame, Atwood back in the day, they'll have door kits.

They're designed to have a door on them.

And it's very specific.

And I talked to the manufacturer's rep firm.

They weren't 100%.

They tried to help, couldn't help much.

Fogotti was no help whatsoever.

The fact I could talk to someone was surprising, but they really couldn't understand a whole lot of what I was saying.

And I don't think they really cared what I was saying.

And if there's somebody that works at Fogati or Fogatti hears this, hey, reach out to me, man, I'd love to hear it.

I'll correct all of this if you reach out to me.

But there is no way that furnace would work in my RV with a dometic furnace.

No matter what furnace I had from dometic, you'd have to cut a hole in the RV to make it bigger to put this thing in there.

And what sucks about that is you cut the hole for this furnace.

Now you're obligated for a Fogati furnace for the rest of your life.

You know, once you make the hole inside the RV bigger, and you're gonna have to frame it in.

So if you buy one, really think about it.

Are you gonna trust this furnace forever?

And are you gonna be able to frame it in so it's solid on the side?

They're not just fiberglass, you know, bouncing down the road.

Then from what I can see on the door, it's a piece of metal.

You put some caulking on the back of it and put it against the side of the RV and put four screws in.

And that's why it has to be framed out on the inside, is for those screws need to attach to something.

If they just go into the fiberglass, they'll just fall out.

And then think about that.

You just glued the door to the side of your rv.

What's the point in the screws right now?

Maybe I'm missing something there.

But, you know, you.

To pull that door off, you have to break that seal every time.

Is that door going to get ruined?

You're going to find out.

So think long and hard about it.

And like I said, if somebody at Fogadi can correct me on this or somebody knows these Fogotti furnaces inside and out and correct me, I'd love to hear it.

But I do know you have to cut the side of the RV open.

And they told me that, oh, no, you got to make the hole bigger no matter what.

And I took the furnace home.

I had a door kit from Dometic.

I had a couple different kits, older ones, newer ones.

You know, I'm gonna make this work.

And no way.

There's no way I'm making cutting the whole side of my RV bigger.

No way.

And I didn't.

So that's what I'm talking about.

I was a little annoyed because, you know, you can do that very easily make the hole bigger, like whoop dee doo.

But, man, once you do it, you're committed.

You're committed to that for life.

All right, so it's up to you.

You check out Fogadi, you go to their website, and you can determine whether you want one or not.

You'll find all their dimensions eventually, and you have to really think about it long and hard before you ever do such a thing.

Now, let's get to smart tips and talk about familiarizing yourself with your tools.

Now, that's very timely.

Right after we're talking about cutting a hole in the side of your rv.

Now you're going to feel familiarize yourself with your tools.

Right?

Okay.

Well, I taught my.

One of my recent episodes, I think it was the last one, talked about, you know, buying the boat and the trailer and learning so much from that experience.

And the person who sold me the boat didn't have a clue about tools yet.

He had all these tools, you know.

And I said, then familiarize yourself with your tools.

And I'm going to say it again and I want to emphasize it, you know, I don't know of any training courses where you can go learn how to use tools, but you can do it at home.

Learn what you have.

Look at your tools in your toolbox.

I know from time to time I'll go through my toolbox because there are things in there that maybe I thought I needed that now.

I don't change vehicles.

Something else changed or there's tools that I don't have in there that now I know I should have.

So I kind of go through there and it's a reminder too, like, oh, I didn't realize I had that.

I forgot I put that in there because, you know, if tools like for me, I have tools specifically for my truck and trailer and sometimes I forget what I have.

And so that's why going through is nice.

Because I have tools in my garage that I do everything else with.

So it's not like I'm borrowing, you know, going back and forth.

That's they're designated for the RV and the truck basically, but learning how to use them, what you have, you know, will this work?

Is this really going to be my problem solver?

You know, do I have a half inch breaker bar?

What is it?

Do I have a half inch ratchet?

What is that?

Why would I need a half inch?

Well, what is a ratchet?

You know, learn these things.

I know it sounds crazy simple, right?

But it's important.

So when you're out on the road, you're not fumbling with that kind of stuff.

When you have a problem you're dealing with, you know, it can be anything.

I mean, you know, it could be a water leak, could be a blowout.

You know, you're in an RV park, but you're fumbling with tools, trying to figure out, how do I do this?

You have a multimeter.

You have no idea how it even works.

That's why learning this stuff beforehand can be such a valuable tool.

No pun intended there.

Alright guys, so that's just a really smart, quick, smart tip for you.

And now a final call to action here.

There's always a call to action.

I'm not even supposed to say that word.

Call to action.

Wow.

It's just a reminder.

Share this podcast with your family, your friends.

And I've asked you before, and you guys do a great job.

You know, I see our subscribers, new listeners.

We're growing and we're growing, and we like that.

It helps us, makes us want to do this show even more.

Although I love doing the podcast, so I don't see that ever being an issue.

But we've come to the end here.

We've run out of time, so I've got to go.

So that's going to be it for today's episode.

And I know you're.

You're deeply saddened by that, right?

All right, everybody.

So this is a Smart rver podcast.

Thanks for listening.

I'm Eric Stark, and if you'd rather be camping than sitting in a repair shop, you're in the right place.

Until next time, take care of the little things and enjoy the trip.