Gas Furnace and Hot Water Heater Not Working

[Luckyboy]

We picked up our momentum 397 from the dealer yesterday and drove it 5 hours away to a campground. Last night I turned on the gas water heater and furnace which worked during our PDI. Neither furnace nor water heater were working and there was a strong propane smell coming from the drivers side. I turned the tank off and disconnected it only to find out that the dealer had failed to fill. I then turned it to the opposite side tank which had been fully filled. Still the strong propane smell was present and still no furnace or water heater. I could hear the clicking noise of the water heater and finally it came on after blowing a flame out the vent. I let it run for a while and the water did heat but with the strong smell of propane still present I turned it off completely. The fireplace has done a decent job of heating overnight but the electric water heater has only gotten the water barely lukewarm. Obviously I need to get my furnace going with some cold days ahead. I don’t except any help from the dealer is going to happen this close to Christmas. I am not very knowledgeable on lp tanks and regulators but any advice on where to start and what to do would be appreciated!

[Cate&Rob]

Luckyboy - The first thing to do is to find the source of the propane leak that you can smell. Soapy water and a small brush . . . going over every part of the system until you see bubbles. Once you solve the leak, everything else should sort itself out.

Rob

[FT4NOW]

Make sure you have the full tank open when doing the soap test described above. Also, make sure the regulator selector is selected for the bottle that is full during the test. Since your other bottle is empty, you should probably swap the full bottle to the other side, reposition the regulator selector and do the soap test on that part of the system. It is possible the dealer did fill that bottle, but the leak was bad enough to make it empty now.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Canyonlight]

Lucky - since your mention the drivers side we and other folks have shared posts on leaking regulators. We had one of regulators replaced in the first summer as we smelled propane on the street side propane compartment area. If this is the case for your 397 you should find this when you do the testing as Rob points out. It is relatively quick easy to replace.

Dan

[Luckyboy]

Update: Turns out to be a faulty regulator valve after the soap test. Being replaced by Neilson’s RV in St. George, Utah who was not the selling dealer but stepped up big time to get us back up and running. Thanks for everyone’s replies.

[Canyonlight]

Update: Turns out to be a faulty regulator valve after the soap test. Being replaced by Neilson’s RV in St. George, Utah who was not the selling dealer but stepped up big time to get us back up and running. Thanks for everyone’s replies.

Good to hear found the problem and the dealer is taking care of you. Curious - what year is your 397 and did you buy new or used ?

Dan

[Luckyboy]

Brand new 1 day old 397. 2019 model. Also had to order a new element for electric WH and a new front door that was bowed and wouldn’t shut from the inside.

[Luckyboy]

As a follow up to my previous post I would like to add that if you are ever in Southern Utah and need service by a reputable dealer, Neilson's RV would be a great choice. They jumped right on my repair and even caught a few other items that needed warranty repair/replace.