Hurricane heater main fuse blowing

[Jim Gillespie]

1998 Hurricane, older control board with 3 fuses (main, fan, pump), just started blowing main fuse within ~5 seconds of turning system heat on.  I don't see the issue addressed except to replace with same fuse in the owner's manual.  The igniter/burner lights up a bit & tries to get going but then the fuse blows.  Any idea where to start looking?  Thanks in advance.

[Fred Brooks]

    Jim,
 Not sure which model you have, CO-45? We need to divide and conquer to find the cause. I would guess and try unplugging the fuel pump first as this is the most common part to wear out first. Then the recirculation pumps, then the compressor. ITR 800-993-4402 (international thermal research) may still have parts. Advise on your mechanical ability to tackle the repair and the results of your trouble-shooting. Hope this helps, Fred

[Jim Gillespie]

Thanks for the response Fred.  It is the 45 (not sure about the CO?).  I have to take a break from looking at this as the weather is going to be icy & snowing here for the next 3 or 4 days (just north of I-10, central Texas).  We are not relying on it for shelter so it's not an emergency situation.  Yesterday was dry so was trying for a quick fix to keep the RV water lines/parts warm during this cold snap.  Unfortunately, my Comfort Hot has quit producing heat as well.  Only 1 leg was working as the other leg would trip the breaker & the Main breaker as soon as energized.  Good news is just drained, flushed & refilled antifreeze in the system so we should be good with this single digit weather coming (new 50/50 antifreeze tested to -10 degrees).  Running circulating pump 24/7 for a few days as well.

Far from a pro but fairly mechanical/electrically inclined from years of farm work & door machine work.  When a door machine tech will cost you $3000+ per visit, you somehow get a little smarter in figuring out what's wrong with this fairly complicated, expensive equipment.  Haven't made that call yet, knock on wood.  Likewise, when 300 acres of hay is ready to harvest, every morning while the dew is drying you have to be maintaining your tractors, cutters, rakes, tedders, balers, etc.

[Fred Brooks]

  Jim,
 Sorry about the weather, we will tackle this when you feel comfortable. Glad to hear it won't get hurt while this cold snap moves thru. Happy to hear you can do mechanical stuff. Fred

[Jim Gillespie]

Hi Fred,
      Actually 1 element of the Comfort Hot (CH) is working after all - I was flipping the wrong breaker.  Anyway, getting a little heat through the lines.  I was hoping to address the CH faulty element + improve a repaired kinked hose in the Hurricane from 2 x 90s to a loop after flushing the antifreeze during the holidays but Covid bit me in early January & still not cleared, had more blood work done Friday.  Saturday, had to refill the Hurricane with fresh 50/50 to avoid a water only disaster.  Good thing, with the power outages we are having today the CH might have not have kept the straight water warm enough.  Anyway, looks like I have a shorted heat element on 1 side of the CH?
       I see you reference Proverbs in your profile.  1 of my most cherished memories is reading Proverbs for the 1st time (at least the 1st time that I was hungry for knowledge) as a lost 19 year old & realizing there it was:  my parent's blueprint of our upbringing.  How right they were about everything.  Life sure got a lot better.  Thanks again for your help.

[Fred Brooks]

   Sounds like you had wise parents and now it is your turn, thanks for the kind words!

[Thayden Waltonen]

where is the heating thermostat for the hurricane located? We checked the "basement" and did not find it. and is there actually a heating unit for the "basement"?

[Fred Brooks]

   Thayden, Comfort Hot was an add on system that International Thermal Research (ITR) 800-993-4402 sold to Beavers as a supplemental 120 volt electric heat with 2 heating elements. I am not sure if it is activated by the existing room thermostat or not. I don't know what kind or year your coach is. Hope this helps, Fred

[Jim Gillespie]

Thayden, you should have 1 or 2 wall thermostats, maybe side of kitchen wall & near bedroom?  1 will have a remote switch for the Hurricane beside it that has an Off/On switch & a green light & a red light.  The basement has a sensor & fan that will come on automatically at a preset temperature whenever either the Hurricane or Comfort Hot is on.  There is no thermostat in my basement.
After setting your AC/Heat breaker switches to the Comfort Hot, use your thermostats like you do with the Hurricane but turn off the Hurricane Remote switch.  To move air, you will need to turn on the Fan switch(es).

[Thayden Waltonen]

Thayden, you should have 1 or 2 wall thermostats, maybe side of kitchen wall & near bedroom?  1 will have a remote switch for the Hurricane beside it that has an Off/On switch & a green light & a red light.  The basement has a sensor & fan that will come on automatically at a preset temperature whenever either the Hurricane or Comfort Hot is on.  There is no thermostat in my basement.
After setting your AC/Heat breaker switches to the Comfort Hot, use your thermostats like you do with the Hurricane but turn off the Hurricane Remote switch.  To move air, you will need to turn on the Fan switch(es).

Jim,

 thanks. found both 'upstairs' thermostats in locations you mentioned (end of kitchen cabinets toward pilot seat and by head of bed, drivers side).  Kitchen thermostat controls two fans from fan#1 terminal on hurricane control, orange wire (one under refrigerator and low in center between driver and shotgun–that's cabin heat, not the defrost. Bedroom thermostat controls two fans from fan #2 terminal on hurricance control, yellow wire (fan at foot of bed and under bathroom sink cabinet).

If I turn everything else off and listen quietly I can here fan #3 terminal run a fan somewhere in the 'basement' but still can't find it or maybe the fixed temp bimetal or thermistor that must be attached to the thermostat terminal for fan #3. By sound I would say it is over the waste tanks somewhere (of all inconvenient choices). Maybe there is some way to access it from under a cabinet 'upstairs'? It goes off after the heat has been running for maybe 20 mins and I assume it is designed as an anti-freeze protection for water and waste? It is working so my interest here is knowing for the future.

The Hurricane on/off control next to the kitchen thermostat also remains a mystery. It has no pilot lights and no response to switching on and off. It is connected with ribbon cable but not to the hurricane control board in the heater compartment. The ribbon cable from the control board goes to a similar but not identical hurricane on/off switch in cabinet above entry door and shotgun seat which does work but has no pilot lights. I cannot find the termination of the ribbon cable from the on/off next to the thermostat. I can trace the wire from the trunk leaving the slider into the basement along the inside of the passenger side frame rail and then disappearing over the water tank never to reappear. unlike all other hurricane wiring including the ribbon cable to the high passenger side on/off remote, this ribbon I can't trace after the water tank going forward is not in a harness trunk. it has no additional covering and is ziptied to the trunk coming from the hurricane control board but it doesn't show up at that control board. Not critical as everything works without it but a mystery.

There is a separate "engine heat" switch in the top cabinet rail of the kitchen right under the counter that just turns on the circulator. So if I leave the hurricane switched off over the shotgun seat this switch would provide cabin heat to the fan coils via the heat exchanger from the engine (if the engine is running of course) and the fans still respond to thermostats even if he hurricane itself is switched off.

what i can't figure out is how to work that in reverse to heat the engine from the hurricane. I presume there would need to be some electric circulator on the engine side loop of the heat exchanger to send heat from the hurricane back to the engine because its not going to circulate horizontally that distance on its own and the engine circulation is normally a function of the engine water pump which appears to be mechanically driven only when the engine is running. so it isn't going to be practical to run the engine to heat the engine. I came across a post from a competing high end brand of motor coach RV that indicates it uses an additional electric pump for this purpose but I don't see this detailed anywhere on the Beaver documentation i've found so far. Gotta say the engine starts like a dream in the cold so this is sort of an academic question, although I think it is nicer for the engine to heat it first even if it will start cold; so i'm kinda interested in figuring this out.

Thanks Jim or anyone for any help with his novel i've written.

[Thayden Waltonen]

1998 Hurricane, older control board with 3 fuses (main, fan, pump), just started blowing main fuse within ~5 seconds of turning system heat on.  I don't see the issue addressed except to replace with same fuse in the owner's manual.  The igniter/burner lights up a bit & tries to get going but then the fuse blows.  Any idea where to start looking?  Thanks in advance.

BTW, on your issue, would like to help if I can. Best guess is your fuse is blowing after the purge? But if the ignitor tries you are making it a bit into the ignition cycle before it blows. you might try a power probe type approach. very easy to use a power probe on the multi pin connector going to the hurricane from the control board because the back of each pin is exposed on the connector.

Do you have the hurricane book or .pdf. It gives the pin outs for the different elements running on the heater. You can individually try to fuel pump and the air compressor. the power probe (or generic equivalent) has an 8 amp circuit breaker so if one of those is bad and drawing too much current you should be able to tell quickly. that would be my first go.

when servicing the heater, I discovered that a 1 1/2" copper union with a nipple of 1 and 1/2" L tubing brazed in can be placed perfectly over the hurrican exhaust line just as it drops below the bottom of the heater compartment. so if you need to get the heater out to get to one of those components you don't have to cut and reweld the exhaust each time. i didn't bother to go back to steel. just used a street long turn elbow (supplyhouse.com) and 10' piece of 1 and 1/2 copper to recomplete the exhaust. (there probably isn't that much backpressure in this short exhause and if you wanted the pipe not to hang down as far you could use a standard street elbow I think. they still have a bit of sweep to them. (you have to hole saw the opening in the bottom of the compartment a little larger to accomodate the male threads of the union lifting and the geometry of lifting the front of the unit high enough to slide it over the bottom lip of the compartment. It's tight and I also had to take off the lift mount on the forward side of the compartment.  the hoses and electrics were all lengthed and run with the idea that you could slide the heater out for service without opening the water circuit but it is really tight to lift the heater high enough because it hits the shelf with the DHW.)

good luck. any other info once you and the weather are well enough to work outside will try to respond.

[Fred Brooks]

    Jim,
Do you have the original Hurricane CO-45 owners and maintenance manual? The one your coach has should look like this. We do not have a copy in our technical library and I could not find one on line. If not, send me a text and I'll send you a scan of the manual and we can go thru section 5 which is trouble shooting. Fred 520-309-1260

[Jim Gillespie]

Hi Thayden,
      That 3rd terminal/fan on my coach is behind the passenger side basement door, in front of the rear axle.  Behind that door is a carpeted wall/board that looks inaccessible but just unscrew ~6 screws to remove.  The fan/sensor will be near & a lot of the Hurrican tubing will be further back going every which way, if my memory is right?  This 3rd fan vents into both this bay & the next bay forward, high above the water control access door.  So, it should keep our tanks warm & safe from freezing especially with the hotter Hurricane heat running vs the Comfort Hot.
      My coach does not have any Hurricane controls above the shotgun seat, so I'm no help what that is.  Your Hurricane service switch is on?  That normally gets a green light on your Remote switch panel as soon as you turn your thermostat to heat & raise the temp high enough to trigger.  I need to reread & study the other parts of your posts to respond as you have a lot of info there. 
      Hi Fred.  Thanks for the link & the chance to text you.  Can I buy some time though before addressing?  I had to wear a plumbing hat this past weekend, like most Texans & others.  Luckily, I had enough Sharkbite fittings & Pex hose on hand to fix ours & in-law's leaks.

[Fred Brooks]

  Hi Jim, Soldier on my friend. No I will not accept any compensation, it is my gift to you. I know how difficult it is to own and understand a quality coach. Blessings, Fred

[Thayden Waltonen]

    Jim,
Do you have the original Hurricane CO-45 owners and maintenance manual? The one your coach has should look like this. We do not have a copy in our technical library and I could not find one on line. If not, send me a text and I'll send you a scan of the manual and we can go thru section 5 which is trouble shooting. Fred 520-309-1260

I have found .pdf of generic hurricane manual which seems pretty close to the one that is supplied with the coach which we are using at the shop but i use the .pdf when i'm noddling at home. It is titled for the 32,000 BTU but says infra that it applies to the 45,000 as well. OK, I tried to attach it but its too big to go as an attachment (2.8 MB). Not sure how I would put it in the technical library but glad to email. New to AMB and haven't tried the private messaging. assume it works well. I'll try to watch. or if someone can give me the dope on how to post in the technical library i'll get on it.