Onboard Systems
Furnace and Heating Repair: Cost, Hours and Process in Hacienda Heights
Furnace and heating repair covers forced air LP furnaces, their sail switches, limit switches, boards and blower assemblies, plus electric supplemental heat and heat pump operation. A furnace that lights and drops out is almost always airflow or a limit switch rather than a gas fault. Gas line work is certification gated.
What brings this in
- Blower runs continuously and the air never warms
- Ignites, runs one to three minutes, then shuts down and repeats
- A clicking igniter with no ignition
- A blower that will not start at all with the thermostat calling
- A burning dust smell that does not clear after the first few cycles of the season
- Uneven heat with some registers warm and others cold
- Repeated cycling that flattens the battery bank overnight
- A rattling or scraping blower wheel
This job, by the numbers
$350 to $2,500
2 to 10 hours
In depth diagnostic, 1 hour at $285. One hour minimum. Credited to an authorized repair.
Parts and assemblies we work with
Suburban, Atwood, Dometic, Truma, Coleman-Mach
Airflow is the fault in most furnace complaints
A coach furnace will not light unless a sail switch inside the plenum confirms the blower is actually moving air. That interlock exists so the heat exchanger cannot run without cooling airflow, and it is the reason most no heat complaints are airflow problems wearing a gas costume.
Restrict the ducting and the sail switch either never closes, so the furnace never lights, or closes marginally and then opens, so the furnace lights and shuts down in a cycle. Crushed flex duct behind a cabinet, a register closed by someone rearranging the interior, a return path blocked by stored gear, and a rodent nest in the plenum all produce it.
The limit switch is the second interlock and the second most common part. It opens when the exchanger gets too hot, which again is usually caused by insufficient airflow. A furnace that lights and drops out after a minute or two, over and over, is nearly always describing one of these two switches doing its job.
- Crushed or collapsed flex duct behind a cabinet or under a dinette
- Closed or blocked registers changing plenum pressure
- Return air path obstructed by stored gear or an interior modification
- Rodent nesting material in the plenum or the blower housing
- Sail switch out of adjustment or contacts degraded
- Limit switch opening from heat caused by the airflow restriction upstream
The gas side, the board, and 12 volt draw
On the gas side the failures are the igniter and electrode, the gas valve and the board. Any work that opens the LP supply, including the valve and the supply connection, is certification gated by law and is performed on this site by a certified LP technician with the connection leak tested before release. That is not optional and no amount of experience substitutes for the certification.
The board is the part owners least expect and it fails often enough to matter, particularly on units that have seen voltage sag. A board that has lost its ignition sequence produces a blower that runs and a furnace that never attempts to light, which reads as a gas problem and is not one.
There is a 12 volt dimension worth knowing. A coach furnace blower is one of the largest DC loads in the coach and it will flatten a marginal battery bank overnight in cold weather. If your furnace worked in the evening and would not start at 4 am, the furnace may be fine and the bank may be the story. We read both.
Cost, hours and supplemental heat
The band on this page is narrow. Labor is 2 to 10 hours at the posted mechanical and electrical rate of $260 per hour, and diagnosis is the in depth diagnostic tier at one hour and $285, credited against an authorized repair. Switches, boards and igniters are 3 to 10 business days, and a complete furnace is 7 to 20.
On supplemental electric heat, a portable heater is fine as a supplement at a park and it is not a substitute for the furnace. The furnace ducts heat to the underbelly and the plumbing bays, which is what keeps lines from freezing on a cold night. A space heater in the living area heats the living area and lets the wet bay get cold.
Heat pump operation on a rooftop unit is a genuine efficiency win down to roughly the low forties, and in the San Gabriel Valley that covers a large share of the heating you actually need. Below that the furnace has to carry it. Where a coach has both, we verify the changeover behavior, because a thermostat configured wrong runs the wrong appliance all winter.
Scope
What this line item does not include
- Gas line and gas valve work is performed by a certified LP technician only, as the law requires.
- Chassis engine heating and the dash heater core are truck shop work rather than coach work.
- We do not service furnaces at a customer location. Combustion testing is bay work.
Being explicit about the boundary is faster than discovering it at pickup. If the work you need sits outside this line item we will say so at intake and point you at the right one.
Questions
Furnace and Heating Repair questions
Why does my RV furnace light and then shut off after a minute?
That is normally the sail switch or the limit switch interrupting deliberately, and both usually trace back to airflow. Crushed flex duct, closed registers, a blocked return or a rodent nest in the plenum reduce airflow enough that the switch opens and the burner stops. It presents as a gas fault and it is not one. That is why we check ducting before parts.
The blower runs but I never get heat. What is wrong?
Either the ignition sequence is not starting or the gas is not arriving. A board that has lost its sequence produces exactly this, and so does a failed igniter, a fouled electrode or a gas valve that is not opening. The board is the one owners least expect and it fails often enough to be a real candidate, especially on units that have seen voltage sag.
Can I just use an electric space heater instead?
As a supplement at a park, yes. As a substitute, no, and this is the part that matters. The furnace ducts heat into the underbelly and the plumbing bays, which is what keeps water lines from freezing on a cold night. A space heater warms the living area and lets the wet bay get cold, which is how a comfortable night becomes a split fitting.
Who does the gas work on a furnace repair?
A certified LP technician, because any work that opens the LP supply is gated by law rather than by shop preference. That includes the gas valve and the supply connection. The blower, sail switch, limit switch, board and ducting work is standard shop work. The gas train is leak tested before the coach is released, every time.
Related work
Often done at the same time
$285 to $2,500
LP Gas System Service
Propane tank, regulator, manifold and line service with a full system pressure and leak test, performed certified.
$750 to $4,500
Air Conditioner Repair and Replacement
Rooftop and basement air unit repair or replacement, including capacitors, motors, boards, gaskets and thermostats.
$750 to $8,500
AquaHot and Hydronic Heat Service
Diesel fired hydronic boiler service: burner, circulation pumps, electric elements, zone valves and glycol condition.
$285 to $5,000 plus
12 Volt Electrical Repair
DC side diagnosis and repair: battery bank, distribution panel, grounds and the branch circuits off them.
Get a firm number on furnace and heating repair
The band on this page is honest, and the in depth diagnostic at 1 hour at $285 turns it into a firm number. One hour minimum. Credited to an authorized repair. We are 18.4 miles from Hacienda Heights.