Alde Heating info....

[GAS]

Getting "Big Berthy" ready for our first trip in my new to me 2019 Swift Challenger 560 to good auld Machrihanish.
This is my first van I have had with the Alde heating system and quite confident in dealing with this new to me heating system. My only concern doing my homework is it apparently can over heat and shut down due to an air blockage. Is this quite a common issue for this type of heating ?
Shall be giving the van a good shake down this weekend so fingers crossed all should be well.......

GAS .....

 

[RogerL]

When you get to site, locate all the bleed valves and bleed them in turn - the tow trip will shake any air bubbles up to the high points which is where the bleed valves are - have some of the correct fluid to top up afterwards.

 

[Jcloughie]

Air locks can be an issue, but not as you describe. IMO. Normally the flow return loop is just a pipe that goes around the van. It goes up and down a little but if air is trapped it probably simply will not work or work noisily. The towel rail is a little different as the loop passes beneath it so air may collect inside it but not stop the other heat exchangers working.

If you have an in line pump. Turn this up to max, but don’t open bleed valve at this point as air may get sucked in. This will make a bnoise but if it runs dry could case damage, so listen for this and be ready to turn off. The hope is the force will clear the air.

Open all bleed valves in turn. To see if it clears some air. Next. Lower the front of the van and raise the back as much as poss and then bleed rear valves. Then reverse the process.

Keep an eye on header tank levels as you proceed. Turn the pump down to two on completion.

An Alde heating system is far less complex that home wet heating insofar as circulation is concerned. Yet air locks are usually cleared easily at home.

Once bled. There is no reason for air locks to reoccur untill the system is refilled. I have now refilled two vans without the special Alde pump system. Both times air left the system very easily.

There are lots of scare stories about Alde, most spurned by ignorance. I have only found excellent reliability when common sense is applied.

John

 

[Boff]

This fault can also be thrown up by an interruption in the 12v supply. It can be fixed by removing the power supply to the boiler. Pulling the fuse or disconnecting the battery lead works.

 

[Hutch]

A friend and his wife, in their Bailey Unicorn, never had problems with his Alde Heating, we covered well over 5 thousand miles over three years in winters and summers, without a problem.

 

[Buckman]

If you have an issue with the ALDE heating not getting up to temperature, if possible as you may have an awning up, lower the front of the caravan as much as possible. Turn the pump which should be next to the boiler up to 5 and let it run for about 10-15 minutes at that speed.
Go to the bleed point which is normally at the highest point on the heating system. In our caravan it is a radiator in the bathroom. Open the bleed screw a tiny bit at a time. You may hear a woosh of air. When liquid seeps out, job done and no need to touch other bleed points.
Go back to pump and turn down to 2.5. Level caravan again.

 

[Paullus1959]

In the six years of ownership of my caravan I’ve never had any problem with the Alde 3020 HE boiler or central heating. The fluid was replaced after two years with the 5 year stuff without problem and It still worked perfectly after I replaced the noisy impeller pump with the inline version myself.
After replacing the pump I turned it up to setting 5 and ran it for a while, as mentioned by Jcloughie. This was sufficient to purge any trapped air in the system which was vented out of the header tank. A tiny amount came from the bleed valve on the towel rail in the rear washroom too as after the header tank it is the highest point on the heating circuit. It’s a relatively simple system which should be trouble free.
Don’t think of the radiators you have at home though. The Alde system simply uses simple heat exchangers comprising aluminium pipes running through cooling fins which dissipate the heat.
If you do experience any technical problems with the system which can’t be answered here, don’t hesitate to email or even phone Alde. They are very quick to respond and very customer focussed.
As an aside, I’m really grateful for the Alde system as we sit here in our caravan nice and cosy as the temperature outside has plunged to just above freezing here in Pershore. I just hope the fresh water doesn’t freeze.

 

[Boff]

Just to add apart from the overheat fail fault coming up normally when I have been messing with the 12V system. We have never had any problems with the Alde system since we got the van in late 2015 A total of about 400 nights in all I would guess.

 

[GAS]

Thankyou for the rapid response Ladies and Gents /. Nice to see also nice to know the system seems reliable enough.... Off to pick the van up just shortly... Quite excited ....Thanks again....

GAS ....

 

[RogerL]

A tiny amount came from the bleed valve on the towel rail in the rear washroom too as after the header tank it is the highest point on the heating circuit. It’s a relatively simple system which should be trouble free.
Don’t think of the radiators you have at home though. The Alde system simply uses simple heat exchangers comprising aluminium pipes running through cooling fins which dissipate the heat.

Air can accumulate at high points just as over the wheel arches and each convector becomes a high point if the connecting pipework runs along the floor - that's why bleed valves are positioned on each of the high points (or should be) to get rid of the initial air.

 

[Beachball]

When we owned our Elddis Crusader Super Sirocco caravan for four years never had a problem with the Alde heating always reliable

 

[GAS]

Well the handover went very smooth , very smooth indeed... Leisure battery , new cable , new step even though I already have them. Wasn't expecting that to be honest as its still a second hand van only having one previous owner. Had more hasttle putting on my front protector cover truth be known. Played with the Alde heating and Swift Command system all fairly straight forward. So on the road first thing . Just hope the snow stay's off.....

GAS .....

 

[GAS]

Well Troops just having a wee Night Cap and I must say why did I not get this heating system sooner... Awesome and roasting.... Turned it down just now as its too warm... Been flapping about with Blown Air for years..... Luv my new van..😄

Gas.....

 

[Jcloughie]

Well Troops just having a wee Night Cap and I must say why did I not get this heating system sooner... Awesome and roasting.... Turned it down just now as its too warm... Been flapping about with Blown Air for years..... Luv my new van..😄

Gas.....

I think you have been fretting about that. Very pleased you are happy with it. The only way is up.

John

 

[Boff]

Glad it worked for you. The only problem we have ever had is it being too hot and having to get out of bed to switch it down.
I think a lot of people don’t. But I think it is worth getting your head around the time controls on the control panel.

 

[Buckman]

Glad it worked for you. The only problem we have ever had is it being too hot and having to get out of bed to switch it down.
I think a lot of people don’t. But I think it is worth getting your head around the time controls on the control panel.

We fitted the battery connection so that it keeps the tiem24/7 365. We have the timer set to 20C during the day between 0600 and 2200 hours and between 2200 and 0600 it is set to 17C. No issues with over heating.

 

[Jcloughie]

Glad it worked for you. The only problem we have ever had is it being too hot and having to get out of bed to switch it down.
I think a lot of people don’t. But I think it is worth getting your head around the time controls on the control panel.

We gave up with the timer. It works fine. But our bed time and getting up time was inconsistent, so we were forever overriding. So we cut out the middle man and now simply adjust the thermostat as required.

John

 

[RogerL]

We gave up with the timer. It works fine. But our bed time and getting up time was inconsistent, so we were forever overriding. So we cut out the middle man and now simply adjust the thermostat as required.

John

I could never be bothered to set the timer - just turn the thermostat down when we go to bed and turn it up when I get up for the loo!

 

[Jcloughie]

I could never be bothered to set the timer - just turn the thermostat down when we go to bed and turn it up when I get up for the loo!

Yep that's what I meant and what we do. If we go out for a while we just knock it down to a tick over while we are out.

John

 

[Ern]

We set the Day @ 22C and Night @ 17C, but never use the default period. We have fitted the battery back up and a remote room stat in the lounge. Good heating system. I sometimes wack it on to Electric+Gas if we need a faster warm up, like arriving at site in winter. 8kW of heat!

 

[Buckman]

We set the Day @ 22C and Night @ 17C, but never use the default period. We have fitted the battery back up and a remote room stat in the lounge. Good heating system. I sometimes wack it on to Electric+Gas if we need a faster warm up, like arriving at site in winter. 8kW of heat!

To be precise it is 8.5kw so a bit more than you thought. LOL! Using maximum electric heating and gas heating from cold, it is not a good idea to to “whack up” the desired room temperature above 22 °C. You will waste energy and won’t improve heat-up time.

 

[Kevin M]

We use the Day / Night timer all the time during the winter.
Again, one thing we do during the colder months is on arriving on site, turn the water heater down and the heater up, gets our system kicked in and warm quicker.

Kev

 

[Ern]

To be precise it is 8.5kw so a bit more than you thought. LOL! Using maximum electric heating and gas heating from cold, it is not a good idea to to “whack up” the desired room temperature above 22 °C. You will waste energy and won’t improve heat-up time.

I didn't want to be pedantic about the heating output, so 8kw would be near enough for me.
A fast heat up is advised by Alde. To be honest, I didn't use 3kW heating as we had other electric stuff on like fridge charger etc, so it went up from 2kW to about 7. A quick burst of the gas heat system is no bad thing.

 

[Hutch]

I find our Truma combi to be really good. Especially in the winter, not that we have been out much the last few years. Great blown air system and a great wake up alarm if we have it set on timer, sounds like an underground train, I would rather have Truma Combi air than the Alde. But Mrs H likes the Alde.

 

[Boff]

Here am I in a nice warm bed because I do use the timer function. I wonder how many people don’t use a timer for their central heating at home? I can’t see the difference.

The quoted output of an Alde system being 8kW is a bit misleading in my opinion. The output is limited by number of convectors are installed, which have an output per meter of 400W per meter. So unless you have 20m of convectors fitted into your van the 8kW doesn’t really matter.