woodworker414
Crystal City,Mo.
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Joined: 01/02/2004
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We just brought home a 2003 Gulfstream C, knowing full well that the furnace did not work. But the seller came down in price to cover the price of a new furnace. Well being the good employee for the company I used to work for, (retired) CHEAP, I want fix this myself if possible. And put the extra money through the gas tank going places. What I need help with is the correct steps on how to take this furnace apart. Its a Suburban 30 SF. I can hear the igniter working, and I can smell a faint odor of propane. To pull the furnace, do you have to take off the ducts from the furnace. I know that I have to disconnect the gas line, there is a lot of wire on this thing, but I don't think there is enough to pull the furnace all the way out. I can see the furnace from inside the coach when I pull out the kitchen drawers, but I can't see any access panels on the 2 sides that are visible. I want to check to see if a critter has set up home around the burner assembly, or around the igniter assembly. I really hate to take this in to have fix, I was just told that the shop charge is $119.00 per hour. Man I could buy a lot of gas with that money.
Thanks in advance for any help that you can give.
Bill
2003 Gulfstream Cavalair 29.5 V10 E450 normal bells & whistles
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tom_kat
way upstate new york/lake george area
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Joined: 02/28/2005
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does the blower come on when you turn up the thermostat,if the outside and inside the rv tempature is higher then the thermostat will go it may not be starting up at all.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
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MELM
GA
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Joined: 12/11/2001
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Chris Bryant has these two documents on his website that should be of help:
Suburban Tech Info- good general info on the Suburban Furnaces including service information.
SF Series - info on the SF series including some general info on removal and installation.
Those should give you some basic info on troubleshooting and repair.
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tom_kat
way upstate new york/lake george area
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good manuals to have thanks.
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Harvard
51.37N 114.42W
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Joined: 12/24/2005
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If you have the igniters and a faint smell of gas may be there is not enough gas. So, is there a restriction to the gas flow (ie: oil in the copper line to the furnace) or is there a regulator problem.
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nbounder
Arizona mountains
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Joined: 11/26/2006
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Bill - there's one thing you, like many of us, will learn - Suburban furnaces LOVE to be fixed. To get to the question - In my unit, there is a larger outer 'cage' that the ductwork is attached to. Inside that cage is the 'inner chassis' that has all the works attached. you need only to remove two screws that hold the chassis to the cage, and it's loose. I did not say FREE, only loose. There are a few wires that need to be marked & cut (it's the easiest way to go). Unfortunately on my SF30, the fuel supply is a copper pipe that needs to be unbent to allow extraction of the inner chassis. After unbending and re-bending 4 or 5 times, I had a leak hazard. The pipe was kinked. I got my furnace fixed finally, having ordered some parts. Then, I had a local plumber with a propane sniffer remove the copper pipe and install a long BBQ grill hose, re-routing it. At least now I feel safe. PS- someone told me that Suburban gives their designers awards for inaccessable designs. Hahaha.
Best of luck . . . . ....Joe
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ronfisherman
SE Michigan
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Joined: 06/05/2006
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Before trying to replace the furnace do all the checks in the Suburban manual linked above. Ours was repairable with just cleaning the contacts on igniter board. Just pull front of furnace fan motor assembly off. This will give you access to board and other components that make furnace work.
Unless there is rust or corrosion furnace should not need to be replaced.
2004 Gulf Stream Endura 6340 D/A
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RJsfishin
Winston Or.
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Joined: 10/16/2007
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Right on,...it don't need replacing unless it got damaged, or is falling apart.
Mine just needed a control board.
Rich
'98 Flair, 454, Onan Microlite 4k, Intel PD 9155 w/ wizard, Sta-power 1500 watt Inv, 2 6v batts, ammeters, KingDome/sat, Oly Catalytic Heat, hauling 2 Bent Bikes and sometimes towing a Tracker F&S boat.
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Kirk
Livingston, Texas.
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Joined: 06/17/2001
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I would be very surprised if yours is not repairable. There is a very good chance that a complete cleaning may well solve the problems. The worst part of a Suburban is that fact that you have to remove it to do any maintenance and for must or us, we then have to put it back in just to test it.
Bugs tend to be attracted to the odor of the propane and love to nest inside of a furnace. Be sure that you carefully clean the burner and the burner tube as well as all parts of the flue. I would use a set of jumpers to power up the blower motor and check the sail switch while it is out. Any air flow restriction could be preventing its actuation and on rare occasion one does fail. While it is out, use your ohm meter and check the high limit thermostat just to be sure. You can also check the gas valve operation with a set of jumpers as well. Just use your car battery or such as a power source.
Good travelin! ........Kirk
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mike4947
N. Syracuse, NY
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Joined: 08/26/2002
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We've in 30+ years found one that wasn't totally corroded that wasn't fixable with cleaning or at most a control board or gas valve.
If you can read and handle hand tools (and depending on where it's installed, being able to bend like a pretzel...LOL) you can "save" that puppy.
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