Community Forums

doodlebug52 · 11-03-2009, 12:04 PM

We have a 1997 Jayco 5th wheel which we are living in full time and parked at an RV park while we visit relatives for several months. The furnace is an ATWOOD HYDRO FLAME 8531-111 DCLP

And it's now having a LOUD and lengthy squeaky sound when it comes on.

We're read that you can't lubricate it but have to change the motor. Is that correct??

The bad part of all this is that we can find no one to come out and service or replace it. And we've got wood skirting all around the trailer plus a front cover...all for the winter cold. It will be a pain to remove all that to take it to the only RV repair shop in town.

Are we stuck with taking it over there?

Thanks for any help.

Always-RVing · 11-03-2009, 01:22 PM

I don't know your location but Camping World sells and services Jayco. Does sound like the fan bearing is going out. Might want to contact Camping World, Jayco and Atwood.

doodlebug52 · 11-03-2009, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Batman_777

I don't know your location but Camping World sells and services Jayco. Does sound like the fan bearing is going out. Might want to contact Camping World, Jayco and Atwood.

Utah

FiverBob · 11-05-2009, 12:17 PM

Don't know where you are in Utah, but if it does not get too cold where you are to the point of freezing your tanks (assumming they are in heated basement space), I would suggest the electric cube heaters. They are great. Two of them would pretty well take care of keeping it warm short of a major freeze. They are available at WalMart among other places. If you are creative, you could even force warm air down into the basement with a fan.

Bob

Ray,IN · 11-05-2009, 03:51 PM

Can you see and reach the furnace fan motor? If you can, a drop of 3in1 oil at the junction of motor and shaft may prolong its use until the motor may be replaced. I did this on a previous TT. The motor lasted until we sold the trailer a few years later. Not saying your motor will last a few days, but it costs nothing to try a drop of oil. I used one of those pen type oilers with the extendable tube spout to reach the shaft/motor.

WindRVer · 12-01-2009, 03:14 PM

squeal means your pretty much into a new motor at some point. You can do the oil thing though, and I agree that is your best chance of prolonging what you have. I was having some furnace issues earlier this year and I tore into mine, also an atwood. It's construction isn't all that complicated, and I think the motor would have been easy. I was in there to clean the igniter, so I haven't tried it though.

If you're comfortable with the propane connection, you could probably replace it yourself. You could also replace the unit and then have a lp gas tech hook up the propane- he doesn't have to be an RV specific guy.

Best of luck to you!

450Donn · 12-07-2009, 04:16 PM

Should not take even the most inept novice no more than thirty minutes to remove and replace the motor. Open the cover and have a look. There is probably about two or three screws and one plug in to get the motor out. Then one screw to take the fan off of the motor shaft and install it on the new motor. Reverse what you did to take the old one out and you should be back in business.

Jeff_in_The_Dalles · 12-08-2009, 12:20 PM

This could be helpful.

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/hflamefurn04.pdf

Ray,IN · 12-10-2009, 03:39 PM

Well_Doodlebug what are the results?

doodlebug52 · 12-10-2009, 10:42 PM

Well, Ray, my husband at first tried to oil it, but was having so many problems that he bought a new motor and he and friend successfully installed it.

No more squeeky motor. Hooray!! Thanks everyone for the GREAT advice. I love this website.

By the way, the guy next to us in another 5th wheel--he didn't do a very good job AT ALL of winterizing. No siding. No lights underneath. So there's a HUGE amount of ice hanging from his water heater and the opening for his water hose. Oops.

steind · 01-09-2012, 07:39 AM

Hi DoodleBug, I have the same problem with my 8531 II furnace.

I started to disassemble my furnace to get to the motor and realized this is a litle trickier than i had hoped. I can't find a way to easily remove the motor. I am thinking the next step is to remove the entire furnace and work on it form my workbench. I'd really like to avoid pulling the whole thing... Were you able to remove the motor without pulling the whole unit? Any advice on how to do so?

Thanks!