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Old 10-09-2018, 09:34 PM   #1
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Heater on battery power?

I have a Thor ACE 30.2 2017. My heater will not run on battery power. I have to start the generator or be plugged in to run it. Is that normal?

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Old 10-09-2018, 09:39 PM   #2
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I have a Thor ACE 30.2 2017. My heater will not run on battery power. I have to start the generator or be plugged in to run it. Is that normal?
No, the heater is a 12 VDC appliance. Do any other 12 VDC loads work on battery (like the lights, refrigerator, water pump)? If not, make sure your USE/STORE switch is in USE.
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Old 10-09-2018, 09:41 PM   #3
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Nope, the fan should run on your 12 volt power only. Do you have the store switch set to use?
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Old 10-09-2018, 10:10 PM   #4
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No, the heater is a 12 VDC appliance. Do any other 12 VDC loads work on battery (like the lights, refrigerator, water pump)? If not, make sure your USE/STORE switch is in USE.



Yes. Battery works fine in every other aspect.
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Old 10-09-2018, 10:10 PM   #5
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Nope, the fan should run on your 12 volt power only. Do you have the store switch set to use?

No. I know the function of this switch.
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Old 10-09-2018, 10:17 PM   #6
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Well this is baffling. So when hooked to shore power or Genny power it works fine?

Hopefully someone else can enlighten us.

I guess check for loose connections around the heater/Fan? Not sure if that would do any good if it works on AC/Genny power but perhaps you will see something questionable??

Check Battery volts just in case??
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Old 10-09-2018, 10:21 PM   #7
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I was wondering the same thing...
I'm guessing that the heater would be a pretty decent-sized draw on your battery power.
What sort of shape it it (or... "are they".) in?
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Old 10-09-2018, 10:41 PM   #8
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Well this is baffling. So when hooked to shore power or Genny power it works fine?

Hopefully someone else can enlighten us.

I guess check for loose connections around the heater/Fan? Not sure if that would do any good if it works on AC/Genny power but perhaps you will see something questionable??

Check Battery volts just in case??

I don't have a volt meter but you'd think that the battery performance would be affected in some other area. Everything works perfectly except this one thing and it has always been true for the year I've owned it.
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Old 10-09-2018, 10:41 PM   #9
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I was wondering the same thing...
I'm guessing that the heater would be a pretty decent-sized draw on your battery power.
What sort of shape it it (or... "are they".) in?

No other battery performance issues.
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Old 10-09-2018, 11:40 PM   #10
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Very odd.

Do you have a digital thermostat? (or Even the analog one). If so does it display the temp without AC or Genny power? Perhaps it not getting 12v power to activate fan?

When you move the temp up or down (while on HEAT) does it "click" (without AC or Genny power on)? If not - check wiring behind thermo.

Just an Idea.

If I think of any others I will thow them on the wall to see if they stick.

I bet its something simple but I cant think of anything else unless it need more 12v juice than your providing (I would get a cheap mutimeter if I was you- Im just learning how to use mine..... but its becoming a valulable tool for me).
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Old 10-09-2018, 11:48 PM   #11
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Very odd.

Do you have a digital thermostat? (or Even the analog one). If so does it display the temp without AC or Genny power? Perhaps it not getting 12v power to activate fan?

When you move the temp up or down (while on HEAT) does it "click" (without AC or Genny power on)? If not - check wiring behind thermo.

Just an Idea.

If I think of any others I will thow them on the wall to see if they stick.

I bet its something simple but I cant think of anything else unless it need more 12v juice than your providing (I would get a cheap mutimeter if I was you- Im just learning how to use mine..... but its becoming a valulable tool for me).

The thermostat seems to work fine for AC and heat (with non battery power) It's just that on battery power only the fan comes on when the thermostat triggers it. No furnace. The fan will run all night.
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Old 10-10-2018, 12:18 PM   #12
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The thermostat seems to work fine for AC and heat (with non battery power) It's just that on battery power only the fan comes on when the thermostat triggers it. No furnace. The fan will run all night.
Well that puts a different spin on it. On battery the fan on the furnace runs when required but the propane heat never comes on? But on SP or Genny the propane heat works as expected?

The furnace will not trigger the propane heat unless the air flow switch is triggered so apparently not enough voltage is getting to the fan to spin it fast enough to trigger the switch on battery, but when the converter kicks the voltage up to charging levels the fan spin fast enough to trigger the switch and consequently the propane heat comes on.
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Old 10-10-2018, 12:25 PM   #13
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Well that puts a different spin on it. On battery the fan on the furnace runs when required but the propane heat never comes on? But on SP or Genny the propane heat works as expected?

The furnace will not trigger the propane heat unless the air flow switch is triggered so apparently not enough voltage is getting to the fan to spin it fast enough to trigger the switch on battery, but when the converter kicks the voltage up to charging levels the fan spin fast enough to trigger the switch and consequently the propane heat comes on.

That seems to fit the facts. So, are my batteries weak? New batteries?
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Old 10-10-2018, 12:27 PM   #14
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The thermostat seems to work fine for AC and heat (with non battery power) It's just that on battery power only the fan comes on when the thermostat triggers it. No furnace. The fan will run all night.
Oh, I didnt know the fan was working on 12V. I thought nothing was according to what you wrote above.

Check on what Tfryman said.

I would still check the voltage of the 12v batteries.

Low voltage will do some strange things. Some 12v items will work fine and others wont.
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Old 10-10-2018, 12:38 PM   #15
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Yep, time to get the voltmeter out and check the voltage at the furnace with the fan running. May be a simple sail switch adjustment/cleaning, may be a high resistance connection causing a lower than normal voltage at the furnace.
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Old 10-25-2018, 02:31 PM   #16
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I just got this email from Thor...is he saying that the heater will not work on battery power? Must it be connected to shore power? Seems strange.




Thank you for your inquiry.


Your furnace operates on LP. It does have 12 volts connected to it but only for the control board. The furnace itself will not operate on 12 volts alone.
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Old 10-25-2018, 03:49 PM   #17
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I just got this email from Thor...is he saying that the heater will not work on battery power? Must it be connected to shore power? Seems strange.




Thank you for your inquiry.


Your furnace operates on LP. It does have 12 volts connected to it but only for the control board. The furnace itself will not operate on 12 volts alone.

They’re just saying the furnace won’t work without propane.

I hate to ask, but is it possible that any “heat” you have gotten in the past has been from heat pump or electric heat strips in your A/C unit? Is it possible that even when on shore power or generator that your propane furnace isn’t actually heating at all?

Like I said, I hate to ask, but others here are assuming the propane furnace works on shore power and I’m not certain that is necessarily a given based on what you have written.

Also, while asking to rule out possibilities, have you done one of those electric heat strip upgrades to your furnace?
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Old 10-25-2018, 05:48 PM   #18
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They’re just saying the furnace won’t work without propane.

I hate to ask, but is it possible that any “heat” you have gotten in the past has been from heat pump or electric heat strips in your A/C unit? Is it possible that even when on shore power or generator that your propane furnace isn’t actually heating at all?

Like I said, I hate to ask, but others here are assuming the propane furnace works on shore power and I’m not certain that is necessarily a given based on what you have written.

Also, while asking to rule out possibilities, have you done one of those electric heat strip upgrades to your furnace?
No. The furnace works fine... just not on battery power. No upgrades either. You are right, I think the Thor guy thinks I don't understand that the heat source is the propane. I wrote again to clarify.
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Old 10-25-2018, 06:27 PM   #19
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No. The furnace works fine... just not on battery power. No upgrades either. You are right, I think the Thor guy thinks I don't understand that the heat source is the propane. I wrote again to clarify.
I got the Thor guy on the phone. He thinks it's the "board" made by Atwood. Now I need to contact them.
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Old 10-25-2018, 06:39 PM   #20
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so, the issue is really only of a single symptom: the igniter will not fire the propane when only on 12v battery power.

The fact that 120v power is somehow allowing the igniter to fire the propane is confusing, since it has no direct correlation or connection, BUT, could the Converter somehow be a clue?
It is the only thing that links the two, providing the conversion of 120v power down to 12v power.
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