Primus Quit

[Rob Robinson]

My Primus quit working tonight. I am managing with electric heaters, keeping cupboards open and lamps in the wet bays. Both boilers won't light. Manual states there is a "Reset cutoff in the water line behind boiler (push down red button between wires". I'd like to push that button but so far haven't found it. Any ideas? Checked the fuse in the panel and it's OK. The manual talks a lot about individual boiler parts (solenoid valve, boiler electronic unit) that could be at fault but to my way of thinking that would affect only one boiler and the other would work. I'm thinking that something which is common to both boilers like a fuse, reset or the control panel has failed. What do you think? Also could a failed pump cause an overheat resulting in a thermal switch shutdown? We've been below freezing up here for going on two weeks and that's unusual for the wet coast. Any help you guys can provide will be much appreciated.

[Dieselbird01]

Hi Rob,

Since you’re still on-line I’ll post what little I know about the Primus resets and gas operation.

I don’t know exactly where the reset buttons are but I think I remember seeing them in the water hoses near the boilers. If I remember right the reset buttons are very small and they are built into fittings on the hoses. I'll also mention that a few weeks ago my Primus boilers quit working when the Propane tank got near empty. There was enough gas for the stove to work but the boilers would not work. I'm not at the coach right now so I can't look at the resets or even check the documentation - sorry.

[Stephen]

there is a fitting the line behind the primus it has 2 wires running to it in between the wires there is a TINY reset switch probably covered in road gunk
Making it hard to see

[Randy Dupree]

Robs switch is most likely teal in color,custom painted to match the coach!
i don't remember ever seeing a reset switch in my 93.
red or teal.
call me this morning rob,

[Juergen]

Good afternoon
Look at my (fat) fingers. They are holding a hose/pipe where your tiny re-set switches are. At the left of my thumb you will see a piece of stub. Thats the piece on the next picture. The small button would be right in between the two e-contacts. you see only one, but there are two little spades sticking up where the wires hook into. the button is very small and right in between these two spades, probably covered with crud. Push it and hope for the best. Good Luck.
On the first pix I am holding the pipe/hose at about where it is actually mounted

[mbrund]

As Rob stated you may be out of propane, just had this happen two weeks ago. The cookstove would still light, but nogo on both Primus units. Went in to the fill station and we where so low, that when the guy cracke the vapor line prior to filling he said the vapor line was clogged, I said no, we have used it past vapor . When he cranked up the propane fill motor, sure enough the vapor line started bleeding.

Since both quit at the same time, I would say: 1) you are out of propane, 2) the propane leak detector has engaged, 3) the propane cutoff solenoid has cutoff the supply for some reason (i.e. leak detector, or loss of power to solenoid), 4) master propane switch is off, 5) primus regultor is frozen or has some other issue, 6) both primus overheat/low water snap disk have activated.

I am heading out to the coach in about an hour which is where my electrical diagrams are. If you don't have yours, and you think the cutoff solenoid is the issue, I can look to see what that circuit looks like.

[Rob Robinson]

thank you all for your help. I'm presently snow bound and so I'm going to wait for warmer weather (next week so they say) and head south to SOCAL where I can work on it. I'll keep you posted. Michael thanks for your offer. I would like to give you a call when I start trouble shooting this down south.

[sfedeli]

A snow-bound Canadian?? Now that's something to see! Looks like we have another project for Q. Safe travels on the way south. Looks like you're having a worse winter than we are- just cold here (16 F), but no snow.