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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> RV Maintenance and Technical Tips -> first real trip---lost the heat yesterday and today the leveler motor
Post Info TOPIC: first real trip---lost the heat yesterday and today the leveler motor
suse1023


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first real trip---lost the heat yesterday and today the leveler motor
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so I guess we'll be at the rv service shop tomorrow.

we drove from central Florida to Corpus Christi area and overall are extremely pleased with our Carriage Cameo. 

though it's an 02 it's basically seen no use until we bought it last year. we've been living in it on site since thanksgiving so haven't had a chance to use the levelers before, but the heat worked well all winter until yesterday.

any ideas as to why the heat clicks but doesn't come on?

and/or why the leveler motor just remains silent when we manipulate it?

dh didn't mind too much cranking down the fiver nose to level, but that must be fixed for the next part of our trip!

thanks.

p.s.  the two living room slides seem slow and 'grabby' compared to the bdrm slide, I guess we'll have those looked at too while we're at it!

ca-ching!



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Workinrvers


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make sure the slide rails are lubed, I use a dry silicone I buy at Lowes for them. The motor for the front jacks, if it is like our old Montana, runs off 12 volts and has either a 30 or 40 amp fuse in line. Our fuse was located in the front compartment near the jacks motor and the fuse holder had a small cap attached to it that you flipped open to expose the fuse.

Good luck,

Phil

ps: I re-read you post again and since all the problems you are experiencing may be 12 volt related are you sure your battery is up to snuff? Could be a new battery would solve most, it not all of your problems. Since it is likely original with the coach I would start there before heading to an RV dealership, remove the battery and take it to Auto Zone and they can test it for you for free.



-- Edited by Workinrvers on Wednesday 19th of March 2014 11:15:59 PM

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Workinrvers


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when you talk about the heater are you talking furnace or water? Both work in a similiar fashion however if it is your furnace the fan should come on first, then the gas valve will open and then the spark with ignition. The water heater will just open the gas valve and start sparking the igniter. Both need 12 volts to operate even when plugged into the RV parks electrical power.


The first thing is to make sure you have LP in your tanks, next thing, assuming your battery is good (see prior post) would be to make sure everything is clean around the burner and the gas orifice at the end burner tube. Cob webs inside the burner tube will interrupt gas flow and it will not ignite.
There may also be loose or corroded wiring that causes issues so check that connections are tight.
The clicking you hear is the igniter trying to ignite the gas, the circuit board will shut it off if ignition does not occur within a few tries. Listen closely when you try to turn it on (you may have to go outside and be close to the furnace/water heater) and you should hear a "clunk" noise when it first tries to turn on. That is the sound of the gas valve opening and they go bad sometimes as well. Lastly it could be a circuit board is bad.
I have had all these issues over the years, most recently I had to replace my WH circuit board.

Give us some more info on make and model of heater and maybe others will chime in too.

Phil



-- Edited by Workinrvers on Wednesday 19th of March 2014 11:17:55 PM

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Lucky Mike


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I was just thinking the same thing.....Florida has had some wet weather lately and the odds are you were in some of it....

check your batteries for corrosion at the terminals and at the ground points also check the charge.....both the landing gear/levelers and the heater are high current demand Items, poor connections or low voltage will have those symptoms.

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suse1023


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thanks guys!!
the water heater is working well, and i'll check with dh to be sure, but iirc the batteries were new in july. we'll check the fuses and for corrosion.
mike you are right, florida was windy and wet this winter!
it doesn't help that the previous owner (or someone) somehow bent the levelers just a bit. we assume they started to move the rig before they remembered to pull them up. dh has to bang them up with a mallet for the last little bit.
other wise we are in fine shape!

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kb0zke


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Check the connections ON the furnaces, too. I had a furnace that just wouldn't do anything after working just fine for quite a while. I started tracing the power, and while checking one connection the wire (with connector) just fell off the terminal! Put it back on and the furnace has been working great ever since. Remember that things shake loose when you move a coach.

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suse1023


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well a few hundred bucks later we're back in business.
circuit board for heater was shot, so were our two original 2002 batteries. CA--CHING!!!!
the leveler issue was just fuses, thank goodness.
so all is well, and we'll hit up Lowes in a day or two for the dry silicone.
thanks for your help!

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Workinrvers


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glad you got it fixed! Of course today has been close to 90 degrees here in the oil patch.

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suse1023


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no worries, the two air conditioners work great!
and I have a portable one in mind if we need it.

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Workinrvers


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unfortunately Suse I'm afraid you may need it before it's all said and done, those Texas summers can be brutal and there is not a lot of relief out here. DW just can't do the summers plus our a/c is on it's way out. We have a basement model and they seem to be prone to problems and are expensive to fix. I am toying with the idea of mounting a roof unit and doing away with the basement air altogether.
I mounted an additional one on our previous 5th wheel and helped a buddy do one on his toy hauler and it wasn't too bad a job.

Phil

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melvonnar


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Welcome to the world of RVing; if nothing goes wrong, your not going any place.
I been doing this for more than 40 years, never went anywhere that I didn't return with a list of thing to do when I get home.

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