matt
1/5
An incompetent tech and a loose nut wound up costing me over $650! And whoever he was (at Register RV in Brooksville Florida) that worked on my Suburban furnace during Jan. 3 - Jan. 6 (2025), you need to go back to training; ‘cause a mobile RV tech here in Texas found AND FIXED the problem in less than 1 hour that you couldn’t do over the course of 3 days.
This is a long story, but hopefully an informative one for fellow RV’ers. My wife and I are full-timers, having lived in our Arctic Fox 27-5L for 3 1/2 years now. (So, I KNOW our coach!) In October, we began noticing a propane like smell ONLY when the furnace was running….and it varied in intensity from barely noticeable to the point where it would set off the propane alarm. Thus began our quest in locating and correcting what was an obvious problem. From early November up to the time I dropped our trailer off at Register RV, I checked potential contributing factors in an attempt to resolve the issue. (i.e. Mice in the ductwork, loose connections, blockages in intake/exhaust vents, switching out propane tanks, etc.) I bought a $30 Home-Flex gas detector at Lowes and found that when I would place it around the furnace, it would immediately ‘go off’ once the ignition phase began after the blower only phase.
At this point, we were in North Carolina; I had a mobile RV tech come by to see if he could find out what was going on. He used his expensive German made gas detector and said he couldn’t find any leak. His analysis was that there was a dead mouse somewhere in the system, and that eventually, the smell would go away.
By the time we got to Florida, we were using the furnace regularly (remember the cold spell in the middle of January?!) and the smell persisted. That’s when I made the appointment at Register. They pressure tested the lines twice and said that there were DEFINITELY no leaks. I then requested that they pull the furnace for further inspection, and the service rep hinted that this would require at least 3 hours to perform and would substantially increase the labor bill. I informed him that this was our ‘house’ and as such, I needed to find and fix the problem. I also mentioned that after living in our coach for over 3 years, I knew it pretty well and I KNEW that the furnace was not operating properly. (I had done some Internet research as to removing/inspecting the furnace, but was not comfortable doing it myself, and would rather have a professional do it.)
A day or two later, I was informed that after removing the furnace, mud dauber nests had been discovered and taken out. Other than that , everything appeared to be functioning properly, and the furnace was reinstalled and tested, and the trailer was ready for pickup.
When I arrived, I turned on the furnace….and the smell was still present. But it did not SEEM to be as bad as before, and I assumed that it might take a little while to burn off any residue left behind from the nests. I mentioned the lingering smell to the service manager before leaving.
Over the next couple of weeks, whenever the furnace was operating, the smell re-appeared. Fortunately, we were passing through Alabama and Mississippi and didn’t need much heat. However, a week in Arkansas with temps in the 40’s and 50’s required a more regular use of the furnace, and now the smell was giving me headaches. I began to think that the problem might be a cracked heat exchanger.
Arriving in Texas, I contacted another mobile RV tech, and after telling him the events of the past 3 months, he said he didn’t think the heat exchanger was the problem and he would come see me the next day. Upon arriving, he removed the furnace, hooked it up to elec. and propane, and when he fired it up, his gas detector ‘hit’ on the gas valve/propane line fitting (the nut requiring a 5/8 ‘crowfoot’ wrench). Yup, it was loose and causing the 3 month smell. After tightening, reinstalling, and turning it on, no smell from the furnace! Yayy! OBVIOUSLY, AN INCOMPLETE INSPECTION, SHODDY WORKMANSHIP, AND LACKLUSTER PERFORMANCE FROM THE SERVICE TECH OF REGISTER RV.
