Daveh Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Hi all. The furnace ran fine overnight. It was still cold in here so I switched it on. Immediatley made a very loud noise, LOUD, sounded like a pump with no water or an air compressor. AC and fan work. Anyone have any ideas? Less than one year old. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilishjim Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 it sounds like the fan is rubbing on the housing! plastic fan / plastic housing and temp tweaks fan around, which in my case the fan was set on shaft a lil to close to the motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Was it blowing air? Did the propane light and air warm up? How long did you let it run? It could be that with everything cold it was just stiff and would loosen up and quite down with some run time. Have you heard it operate before in order to compare the sound to normal? An RV furnace is fairly loud as compared to other appliances and some don't like to use them at night for that reason. I'm thinking from your emphasis that it was louder than normal, but without hearing it I'm just guessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Hi Jim and Kirk. Kirk I had it running yesterday just fine. It typically isn't that quiet, but okay, but this was LOUD. MUCH louder than normal operation. Slight smell afterward although not smoke or electrical. No heat, no air flow. I thought it might be rubbing also Jim. Just weird because we have been stationary. Kirk it was so loud I hit the switch immediatley to shut it down. It ran a while longer as they do so probably one minute or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 That does sound like some sort of abnormal blower obstruction. If it is the blower it will usually screech or some similar sound. It don't sound possible that it was off long enough for some bug to build a nest inside of the blower that supplies air to the burner? Mud dobbers are notorious for liking to build their nests in furnace blowers and that is really loud when they do. But that takes time to happen so I doubt that is the issue. It may be a loose blower as it has a squirrel cage type blower on each end of the motor shaft. One supplies the burner with outside air and the other moves air through the inside to heat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilishjim Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Did it possibly smell like burnt plastic ? When mine did this it ssounded like a cat squallering...lol and promptly melted the fan and housing together. I actually had trouble separating the housing to get the fan out due to the melted plastic. Mine at 1st just did it once in a while and I thought it was a bad bearing in motor. AC repairman friend of mine said old plastic and temp change plus original install were at fault Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Kirk, it ran last night just fine. I went and out checked the exhaust and it looked okay. I will need to look more and probably just get someone out here. Still under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Jim, I just asked my wife. How would you describe that smell. She said a burned plastic. So that is probably it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 I am not going to run it anymore. I bet that plasticfan broke. We are sightseeing today and I wrote the dealer. That fan thing sounds probable to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimalberta Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 It sounds to me that the plastic squirrel cage fan broke and is now rubbing on the housing. It is fixable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarvan Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 It sounds to me that the plastic squirrel cage fan broke and is now rubbing on the housing. It is fixable. Duct tape! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Thanks very much for all the input folks, including duct tape suggestion , I am going to have it checked out and let you know the verdict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Since it is under warranty, you are right to have a tech look at it as you could void the warranty by working on it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogerracer Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I had a loud noise from the heater fan and assumed it was a critter that had gotten into it. An RV shop pulled the unit and found the Squirrel Cage loose on the shaft and tightened it. I guess a Squirrel is a critter! Northwood Reimbursed me for the repair since the 5er was under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilishjim Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Duct tape! NOT on my furnace the squirrel cage is cheap and getting to it under the sink was not a picnic. On some models they come apart from outside on mine from the inside I had to remove doors under sink, the center brace and some paneling to get that lil jewel out. And my fan did not break it warped just enough to rub on housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarvan Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I was kidding....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I know. I laughed. It wouldn't be the first time I tried something like that though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilishjim Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 I was kidding....... Gorilla tape is much stronger ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 WELL, Took the fifth wheel to get checked because still under warranty. AND yes the problem was in the squirrel cage as many suggested. However, dead mouse in the squirrel cage so no warranty coverage. And the water heater needed to come out before they could get the furnace out. So 263 dollars later and the mouse is removed. How he got in there I have no idea. Maybe crawled up a tire, a cord or hose????No evidence of rodents otherwise. Any of you ever lay out traps??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 I have used the old fashioned mouse traps with success, but if you don't know whether you have a mouse or not............... I don't believe that I have heard of a mouse in the fan before, but I suppose that anything has to have a first time. The price seems a bit excessive to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFDR3116 Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 We had a crispy mouse in our furnace area once. Don't remember the symptom we had, maybe fan didn't come on - wouldn't stay lit , but it wasn't noise. DH was able to remove said critter and furnace then worked fine. Don't know how it got in there either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveh Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Yes Kirk. It was high. I had it at Camping World thinking it was under warranty. They explained that the water heater had to come out before they could remove the furnace. Sooooo, just one of those things in life. I would have done the work myself if I knew the circumstances but....... Actually, I blame my schnauzer for letting a mouse romp around our trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarvan Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Found four mouse droppings in a drawer once..... Immediately deployed 4 traps. Never caught it, never saw any other evidence. Suspect he left the camper and then we moved it. Now, if you guys want to here the story about the rat on my sailboat....... (Think Caddyshack) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Joyce Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Found four mouse droppings in a drawer once..... Immediately deployed 4 traps. Never caught it, never saw any other evidence. Suspect he left the camper and then we moved it. Now, if you guys want to here the story about the rat on my sailboat....... (Think Caddyshack) A friend caused damage to the teak interior of his boat trying to kill a rat at 2AM with a butcher knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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