Rain getting in disables furnace on 2016 ACE 2016

[K6NCX]

Anybody else encountered this?

We bought a 2016 ACE 2016 new from dealer six weeks ago. It has spent more than half the time since then at the shop, and unresolved issues remain.

Among these is furnace failure, apparently due to rainwater getting in. Our first trip out,
The heat worked fine the first evening. The next day we had a moderate but persistent rain. After several hours we put the heat on, or tried. The blower blew air, but no heat.

Thinking that perhaps the battery voltage was too low for the igniter to work, I started up the generator. No help. So I turned everything off. When I checked a few hours later, I didn't even get cold air.

After being parked at home for a few days of no rain, I tried it again and it worked fine.

So we put this on out long list of issues for the dealer. Service department response: "Working at this time." Yeah, no kidding. No rain

So this past weekend, in our backyard, I figured I should try the heat. It was raining and, guess what, no heat. Blower, but no heat. Next day no rain, and heat works.

By now it's pretty obvious what's going on, the question is how to stop it.

[Oneilkeys]

Do you have one of the funky upside down access doors?

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f17...t=Furnace+door

[K6NCX]

No upside-down doors. They swing out horizontally. Hinged at the front.

But if any case the furnace panel is held on with six screws.

[Mousemate]

Originally Posted by Oneilkeys

Do you have one of the funky upside down access doors?

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f17...t=Furnace+door

O'Neilkeys is talking about the inward facing lovers that are above the furnace exhaust....
If you have inward facing ones, water might be coming in through them and wetting the main circuit board...
It's a recall currently...the replacement furnace door has no lovers..
Look at the link as examples ...
Also I just ran into with mine with water in the propane...
Had to reset the furnace to get it to restart..there is a reset switch on the outside if you take off the door.

[K6NCX]

Oh, thanks.

No louvers. But clearly water is getting in.

[Hooligan2]

I had the door with upside down louvers. Dealer obtained replacement door from Thor. (Furnace is Atwood- AFMD Model 30141)
Note: Door replacement should include
Door Frame,
Door,
Exhaust plate and new exhaust tube. (different bend)
There is a gasket inside the door to prevent water entry. (This was missing on my original installation)

If you door does not have louvers, it may be missing the gasket. Several complaints about the circuit board getting wet and shutting down.

Another problem with my furnace, it would shut down abruptly, no cool down and unable to restart. The 4 pin electrical plug was not making good contact even when snapped together, vibration could open the connection. Plug is located near the furnace.

[dcarlyle]

We have no louvers on our 2016 30.1 and just found a frozen circuit board last week. Waiting for dealer response for repair(still under warranty). Luckily after it thawed out it started working again.

[The Maynards]

Where would I find a copy of the recall notice?

[K6NCX]

I've been in touch with Thor and I've found someone who thinks he can give the dealer guidance in finding the problem.

Taking it to dealer tomorrow. Don't like to keep going there because it's a 160 mile round trip (and unless they can fix on spot - not likely - two 120 mile round trips in the car. We shall see.

[Jedsmom]

Originally Posted by K6NCX

I've been in touch with Thor and I've found someone who thinks he can give the dealer guidance in finding the problem.

Taking it to dealer tomorrow. Don't like to keep going there because it's a 160 mile round trip (and unless they can fix on spot - not likely - two 120 mile round trips in the car. We shall see.

I'm not sure how far you are from Lincoln, near Sacramento, but you might consider contacting Harp's RV. They are the absolute best and will be able to help you out. If you'd like more information let me know. Joel & Rachel, the owners are second to none.

[Hooligan2]

Originally Posted by The Maynards

Where would I find a copy of the recall notice?

I don't believe there is a recall but Thor is aware of the problem. So is Atwood. My dealer removed the old frame, installed new parts and the decals.

[EdHeidel]

I found out through the school of hard knocks that water was my issue with my 2016 Ace 29.3. I have the funky door with vents inside instead of out. My neighbor has the identical motor home manufactured after mine with no vents. I wonder if I just completely seal off the vents with aluminum duct tape if that will be safe. There is an area around the chrome exhaust pipe to allow for venting into the blower fan. I took my unit to my dealer and they are getting with the factory. I took it back home as they taped the door up and are to get back with me as they just found out there is a recall on that and the shower curtain. I'm making a run to Florida for Christmas and hope everything will be ok. Probably won't need heat.

[K6NCX]

Came today to collect the motor home. For those of you following along at home, this is the 2016 ACE with problems caused by rain water getting into furnace compartment even though the cover is the one without louvers.

It was parked out front, in the rain, so we decided to check it out before going in to talk with them.

Furnace started right up. I could hear it at night. We were beginning to feel some warm air blowing out of the vent. And after about two minutes, it shut off. So I turned it off, waited a few minutes and try to again. Same result. Started up right away, cut off in two minutes.

So we went into talk to them. It seems they found indeed that after they sprayed the motorhome down with hose, since it wasn't raining that day, water indeed got into the compartment and it was pooled in the bottom. So I've got to give them credit, sort of, their idea was to drill a hole in the bottom so water could drain out. Not clear why there is now a different manifestation of the problem.

So, they took it back into the shop and opened it up. I don't know quite what was done but it seems to be working OK now. The guy did tell me that they put a bead of sealant across the top of the door, which seems like a good idea for keeping water out but…

So now we brought it home. I hope it works this next week. I expect wet and cold weather.

In other news, the replacement for the shower curtain parentheses this was a recall) seem to be about 3 inches too small. The shower door could not be closed with the new one installed. I don't quite understand how anyone could think that the job was completed with the shower door not closable, but that's the way we found it. They agreed that we would be better off with the old one, so that's what we have now.

[Laco]

Your furnace may have a bad thermocouple which would cause the problem you describe. We had that in our former coach, the furnace would start, air would get warm, then cool, then warm and so on, all the while the fan ran continuously.

[K6NCX]

Different symptoms. Blower stopped. And it definitely seems to be rain related.

[K6NCX]

I spoke too soon. They showed me that it worked continuously in the shop with the cover off. At home with the cover on it doesn't work. Even with no rain.

Before, it worked when it didn't rain. Now it doesn't work at all. Seriously?

[Laco]

By work, you mean the fan runs and is blowing hot air, or fan only runs, and blows alternating hot/warm and cold air?

[K6NCX]

By "work" I mean doing what it is supposed to do, blower runs and warm air come out.

But now I have to confess that the last round was pilot error. It turns out that the problem was that after fueling the rig (gasoline AND propane) I hadn't turned the propane service valve back on. BUT... Some propane was getting past the closed valve!

I could hear the flame ignite, then go immediately go out. I figured it was erroneously turning off the gas flow. Now I realize that when everything was off, gas getting past the shutoff valve was bringing the line to normal line pressure, so when the furnace valve opened the plume of gas came out and was ignited but then there was no pressure in the line to maintain the plume, so the flame immediately went out.

I didn't realize what was going on until my wife said she couldn't light the stove burners. I found that I could hear the hiss of the gas when I first turned the burner on, but it soon stopped.

[Laco]

Ok, that would sure do it.

[djc290]

I looked at my vent louvers, they were backwards so i emailed THOR, within one day they called me and are sending me a new door. Its a known problem and they will fix it if you let them know. Cant complain about that!