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(me, again) Hurricane Hell

Yahoo Message Number: 69039
Forgot to pass along re my experiences with my Hurricane.............every single time my unit failed I got the IGNITION FLAME OUT light on my diagnostic panel. Andy Zavodney2000 Intrigue #10955Andy(330) 862.2752 (home)(330) 351.4715 (cell)(330) 630.5905 (office)(330) 862.2691 (home fax) --- On Sun, 3/6/11, Andrew Zavodney wrote:From: Andrew Zavodney Subject: Hurricane HellTo: Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.comDate: Sunday, March 6, 2011, 1:17 PMLinda, My, Oh my, your story sounds so familiar and I have been down your road many times. I will share with you my story and let you decide from there.I have a '00 Intrigue with the C045 Hurricane and have been to hell and back with problems BUT......recently (fingers crossed) seem to have gotten mine fixed. You may disagree with me but LazyDays worked on mine 2 years ago with no success. I was on the verge of buying a new hydronic system (don't believe Hurricane is still available) but decided to give it one more try and went back to LazyDays as we were driving thru Florida. Their tech evaluated my system (I told them that they had worked on it previously without any improvement) and quoted me $125 so I said "go ahead." They finished the work and........told me the "quote was in error" and charged me $95. That was 2 months ago and it has been working perfectly. I have replaced every replaceable parts including fuel pump, compressor, nozzle, filters..... you name it. They found a clamp missing on a fuel line that was allowing air into the fuel stream. LazyDays and the people at ITR (who sell the Hurricane) did not tell me this but I have noticed that the Hurricane is voltage sensitive. Prior to travel (and prior to my latest visit to LazyDays) I was trouble shooting the Hurricane in my detached garage and doing my usual parts exchange and turned on the heater to see if it would fire (it did) so I decided to let it run but then forgot about it. A month later I'm working in my garage and hear the heater fire up and surprised to find it putting out heat and no red lights. All this time I have been plugged in to a 15 amp shore power to keep the batteries up. We then left for a month in Florida and the heater failed the 1st night out and every night after that until we got to LazyDays. Oddly, about this same time I learned about a '04 CC with 19,000 miles that had a interior fire (not related to the Hurricane) which was being parted out by a dealer in Illinois so, I bought that like-new Hurricane ($1,000) because I was CERTAIN mine would never be right and now, I've got a nice new Hurricane on the shelf that I may never use. The Hurricane does require yearly maintenance and I now feel pretty good about mine. Have you spoken with Jim @ ITR (he's a great guy who is very capable and doesn't mind spending time on the phone with Hurricane owners).Sorry to be so long winded but wanted to pass along my story. Good luck. Andy Zavodney2000 Intrigue #10955 Andy(330) 862.2752 (home)(330) 351.4715 (cell)(330) 630.5905 (office)(330) 862.2691 (home fax)

Re: (me, again) Hurricane Hell

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 69046
Good Morning,

I have been to Hurricane Hell too. Got out with Great results by installing an new heater from Rixen Enterprises, Jim Rixen, (800) 925-6260, Sandy, OR. Have used it for one winter with no problems. Very easy to clean myself (15 minutes) when I take RV to 8000'+ elevation to ski in the winter. Unit is made by a German company that has been in business for several decades and sells this equipment throughout the world. Unit is quiet and does not smell as much as Hurricane. Espar is the manufacturer. Rixen website is rixens.com Jim Rixen has been doing heating systems for RV and Marine applications for years and knows his business.
Paul

'01 Affinity, #5951

Re: (me, again) Hurricane Hell

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 69070
Hi,

We are also members in the "to hell and back with a Hurricane furnace" club. Ours is in a 2000 Magna (right under the bedroom) and it only seems to run in warm weather. When the weather is below freezing, and down to 5 above zero, it will not run. It will run anywhere from 2 seconds to 20-30 minutes before it flames out. I ran it yesterday, temp was 50F, as I thought it was comfortable enough outside to work on it, and it ran fine for over 20 minutes. Shut it down since we didn't need any extra hear. We winter in Utah (Ogden area) for skiing. We now have 3 ceramic heaters (have to run a separate extension from the electrical post outside for one of them). This model of Magna has all the interior outlets, plus TV, Stereo, etc. on one circuit, 20A, (with the circuit breaker in a outside bay) so you get to go out in the cold to reset it. So we run one electric heater on the outlet circuit, one on an extension from the microwave circuit, and one from the extension cord direct from one of the 20A outlets on the electric pedestal.
Without any question, the Hurricane is THE MOST UNRELIABLE component in this coach. We keep getting "run flame out" error code, but that does nothing for determining the source of the problem. We too, have replaced the fuel pump, nozzles, ignitor, photodiode, and it still won't run in cold WX. ITR has now sent us, for $350, another circuit board, which I have not installed yet. I'm fed up with "throwing" expensive parts at this Hurricane, and then not knowing if it will work until the weather gets too cold to be outside trying to get it to run.
I will call Rixens to check on the space requirements for the replacement furnace.

Brad Ward

2000 Magna 5916

Hurricane Hell

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 69079
Hi Brad,

The Espar heater from Jim Rixen is smaller than the Hurricane and put out about 25% more BTU's of heat. It fit in my coach which is probably the same as yours with the heater bay below the passenger side bedroom window. The engine batteries occupy the top of this 24" wide compartment and on the bottom is the heater, the coolant filter and the one of the coolant heater pumps. The Espar heater is approx. 8" in diameter and a little longer than the Hurricane. At higher elevations it is really easy to adjust the air intake (takes 30 seconds - just loosen 2 screws 1/4 turn and turn the air intake cover a bit). You do not need to get inside the heater.
I if you need more information from a fellow CC owner my number is 559/269-9975.

Good luck,
Paul

2001 Affinity, #5951
I

Hurricane Hell

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 69145
Paul, so how much did that Rixen heater run you installed? Did he just replace the furnace and use the existing pumps, radiators, etc.?

Rich 2002 Magna
 

Hurricane Hell

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 69155
He replaced the furnace, muffler & piping, control panel, diesel fuel filter, and interior control panel and wiring for about $4500. I was not having trouble with my pumps, radiators, etc. and they still work fine.
Paul

'01 Affinity 40' #5951