Recently I have noticed that intermittently the burner motor will start up, but will not light off. The indicator light will extinguish, motor keeps running for a short period of time, then shut down. When I recycle the on-off switch, the motor will start up again, and then light off with no problems and continue to run properly. This seems to happen infrequently, but more often.
Any ideas?
Thanks, Mike
Mine does the same- probably thousands of others, too. I haven't a clue.
Mike, the two things that cause intermittent firing are the Control Unit and the Coil. Only way to tell which one is to replace one of them and see if problem stops. If not, replace the other one.
Today, I am going back to a client the I replaced the Control Unit witch did not fix the problem.. So. I will reinstall his control unit and replace the coil. Only sell him what fixes the problem.
That sounds like what Rudy said. It's not lighting right away and probably one of those two reasons. While its open it needs a cleaning. Also, check and reseat the fuses. I had an oddball fuse that looked ok but wasn't. The manual has a good troubleshooting process you can do in the meantime.
I'm hoping to make it through the remainder of the cold weather without a failure, as I plan to sell the coach in a few months, and don't want to have to put any money into it, if I can help it.
My close sister coach has had a Rudy furnished updated control unit and a ignition replacement
I hope that is disclosed to future buyer.
YMMV of course, but fixing the AH would be worth it to me just for peace of mind even if it makes it through the winter.
Potential buyers that are members here will already know about the problem and probably will offer less if it isn't fixed unless the asking price is low enough to account for the intermittent problem.
My experience is that there are two ways to maintain and use these coaches.
One is to repair things as they fail.
The other is to preemptively replace potentially worn items.
One is more expensive but less inconvenient.
I worked at an airplane factory as a young man eons ago. Every part on the airliners was serviced on a schedule.
So for my enjoyment and security while using my coach and for the then availability of my local friends to facilitate the refitting I chose the more expensive way.
My individual problem necessitating the preemptive servicing is that I used to do the preemptive upgrades as a Foretravel sales manager in the 80's and have extensively read the posts here about the issues with similar coaches to mine.
Old habit so as to not have breakdowns on the road. Rv'ing in the 80's was more of an adventure. More primitive systems. Less service people.
Yetch, I completely understand your position, but, as a potential buyer if you were disclose the deferred, needed maintenance on the AH I'd worry about what else may have been deferred.
You may be better off financially in the long run fixing it before the sale.
As for selling it's always better to have all systems work as they should, and the Aqua hot is a big deal. However, if I'm selling a 25+ year old coach that I've owned for a while I may be not willing to put more $$ in it. IF, that's the case disclose the known issues and adjust your selling price accordingly. It's up to you which way you want to go.
Actually, what my plan is to sell as is, with a detailed list of discrepancies, and the price reflecting these. I am not emotionally attached to the coach, it doesn't have a name. I realize it is a 28 year old coach, and my asking price will reflect all of this. For someone who would want to spend some time and a bit of money on it they could have a pretty nice older Foretravel. It is what it is.
Mike
when it's time for mine to go that's how it's going to happen 👍