At Easter on our first trip, we needed to use the heating at night. I don't know what is wrong but on electric the vents at the bottom end of the van seem to be blowing out luke warm air (even on full) but when we used gas it seemed hotter. Also the heater Truma ultraheat has a fan - do you always need to use the fan or can you use it as a convector heater. Also there are 3 settings 500w 1000w or 2000w when we used the 2000w we tripped the electrics. Can anyone explain the most effective way of using this heater. Thankyou.
Heating in van - can't work it properly
- Thread starter Denise4
- Start date
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Denise
I do not now much about the heating but I tell you what bit I do now.
The three set on your heat are for when you are on sits with defeat am hook up.
So you can run other thing as well as your heating.
What I do is put my on 100w setting then put the fan and that shad bow wear after a wile.
If that dues not work I would ask some one on sit just to see if your do some thick wrong.
I hope that bit helps
Mark
I do not now much about the heating but I tell you what bit I do now.
The three set on your heat are for when you are on sits with defeat am hook up.
So you can run other thing as well as your heating.
What I do is put my on 100w setting then put the fan and that shad bow wear after a wile.
If that dues not work I would ask some one on sit just to see if your do some thick wrong.
I hope that bit helps
Mark
Make sure the fan is running and that it is set to at least speed "3". Secondly check ig you have a remote sensor fitted. This should be near floor level. On the Truma heater, the settings are from top, 2000w, off, 500w and then 1000w. Make sure that you select the correct setting.
It depends on what sort of Trauma heater you have but on mine the "power" setting has the same settings as Ian mentions (mine is up on the wall to one side of the heater) but there is a ring round the outside which is graduated from 1 to 10. This is presumably the thermostat - have you got this set properly? This, I think, is the most likely cause of only luke warm air being available.
You will blow the trip on sites where the power supply is low or it might blow when you start something else up like the kettle.
You can use it without the fan but the front of the heater will get hot - not a good idea with little fingers about. I always, in cold weather, use the gas to get a good temperature and then switch to electricity to keep it topped up.
You will blow the trip on sites where the power supply is low or it might blow when you start something else up like the kettle.
You can use it without the fan but the front of the heater will get hot - not a good idea with little fingers about. I always, in cold weather, use the gas to get a good temperature and then switch to electricity to keep it topped up.
Thanks everyone. How do we know if there is a remote sensor fitted. I did play around with the settings but then didn't use 2000w again after tripping the electrics. May just stick to using it on gas. Denise
Hi Denise, you will probably find that the site supply was low; some sites only allow 12 amps or even less. When booking, try to find out what the hook-up supply is, if it's 16amps, there will be plenty to run your heater on full and not risk tripping the electrics. Indeed, you should be able to run most of your electrical equipment without fear of the trip activating. However even on the 2000w setting you won't get balls of fire coming out of your blown heating, it is designed to give background warmth with gas being used to warm the room quickly. You can use your heater as a convection fire only, but I would be suspicious of heating whatever lies above the fire's location.
Hi Denise
Gosh deja vu !!!!!
I have the heater you are talking about and HAD the same trouble !
Phoned Truma who at one point had the whole fire!!!!!
It was eventually fixed with a remote sensor that truma themselves supplied free of charge! The thing now is I dont seem to have any really good thermostatic control it just belts it out !,I tend to use it on 1000kw and its a nice temp.
If you leave the fan off it will work fantastic as a convector(be careful as it will be very hot too touch)I find if I leave it like this for a while then switch fan on the blown air is a bit warmer !, the fan is quite handy for blowing a bit of fresh air around as well with the fire off !!!!
Ultimately though it DOES seem to work best on gas !
My advice is phone truma and ask them for a remote sensor ! they were great with us !
Tina xx
Gosh deja vu !!!!!
I have the heater you are talking about and HAD the same trouble !
Phoned Truma who at one point had the whole fire!!!!!
It was eventually fixed with a remote sensor that truma themselves supplied free of charge! The thing now is I dont seem to have any really good thermostatic control it just belts it out !,I tend to use it on 1000kw and its a nice temp.
If you leave the fan off it will work fantastic as a convector(be careful as it will be very hot too touch)I find if I leave it like this for a while then switch fan on the blown air is a bit warmer !, the fan is quite handy for blowing a bit of fresh air around as well with the fire off !!!!
Ultimately though it DOES seem to work best on gas !
My advice is phone truma and ask them for a remote sensor ! they were great with us !
Tina xx
Chances are your heating while on electric is heating up to a good level (whatever setting its on) and then cutting off once the thermostat is detecting the pre-set temperature which so far is fine. On some vans the control panel for the truma is near to the heater itself and so the heat from the back of the truma gets to the back of the control panel (where the thermostat is). For instance, my heater is at the bottom of a wardrobe and the control panel is in an adjacent bed box. There is a large gap between the two where cables pass etc and so the warm air gets to the back of the control panel. Because the bed box and wardrobe are closed the warm air cant escape easily so not letting the thermostat kick the heater back in.
The remote sensor is fitted to the rear of the fire and run to somewhere in the caravan. It is black, about the size of a 20p peice and round. Costs about
The remote sensor is fitted to the rear of the fire and run to somewhere in the caravan. It is black, about the size of a 20p peice and round. Costs about
Thanks for the replies. Tina, how easy are the sensors to fit before I go asking for one. If you remember our van is a Lunar and the warranty for the van is not transferable, but I will go direct to Truma. What difference does the sensor make?. Thanks Denise.
Denise
The vents at the back of the van can be cooler than the others where the ducting passes out of the van on the outside and re-enters for the bathroom vent. This is cooled further as the ducting is not insulated.
On a 16 amp site you can use about 3800 watts in total. Your water heater is probably 850 watts then if you use a 2000 watt kettle it will be enough to blow the fuse.
Gas is hotter has it gives out equivalent to about 3700 watts. I use this if I need to warm the van up quickly.
I always use the truma fan when the fire is on, this is recommended by Truma in the handbook. I run it on setting 4 in Auto mode.
Jim
The vents at the back of the van can be cooler than the others where the ducting passes out of the van on the outside and re-enters for the bathroom vent. This is cooled further as the ducting is not insulated.
On a 16 amp site you can use about 3800 watts in total. Your water heater is probably 850 watts then if you use a 2000 watt kettle it will be enough to blow the fuse.
Gas is hotter has it gives out equivalent to about 3700 watts. I use this if I need to warm the van up quickly.
I always use the truma fan when the fire is on, this is recommended by Truma in the handbook. I run it on setting 4 in Auto mode.
Jim
Hi Denise
sorry for the late reply hav been working.My partner fitted ours,he is fairly diy minded but no caravan expert so your husband should be able to do it if you go down this route I am sure he could explain!! Our van is also a Lunar and out of warranty, Truma themselves though realise their is a problem though I think and supplied us with the sensor for free.
Before fitting the fire would work,get to a certain temp and then cut out,the only way to get it back on was to turn it off and back on to reset the thermostat!(no good in the middle of the night we would wake up numb!)
Now it will work continuously,although their is less control,if its on 2000kw it will belt it out,1000kw is what we use when its quite cold and have it on 9 !! 500kw wont do much I think,in that case I think I would then switch to gas !
I cannot fault truma though and recommend you give them a bell!
Good Luck
Tina xx
sorry for the late reply hav been working.My partner fitted ours,he is fairly diy minded but no caravan expert so your husband should be able to do it if you go down this route I am sure he could explain!! Our van is also a Lunar and out of warranty, Truma themselves though realise their is a problem though I think and supplied us with the sensor for free.
Before fitting the fire would work,get to a certain temp and then cut out,the only way to get it back on was to turn it off and back on to reset the thermostat!(no good in the middle of the night we would wake up numb!)
Now it will work continuously,although their is less control,if its on 2000kw it will belt it out,1000kw is what we use when its quite cold and have it on 9 !! 500kw wont do much I think,in that case I think I would then switch to gas !
I cannot fault truma though and recommend you give them a bell!
Good Luck
Tina xx
We had a similar problem with a abthroom not getting warm. This is what we did:
switch the fire on and let it warm up.
then switch the fan on.
partially shut the vents that are near the fire and open those a fully that are further away.
On electric set teh thermostat, the numbers 1 to 9 on the twisty nob, where the wattage is on the outer ring. We find 7 is best. Set the fan to A and about 4.
Check your amps constantly to avoid tripping, as suggested earlier. If you can use on 2000 watts. You probably can use both gas and electric as we can but the gas thermostat is on the top of the fire.
Remember that the outside temperature affect it all. We were out this winter in -9 andwe needed gas and electric to get the van warm and then the electric just kept it up to temperature.
If this fails have the fan and grills tetsed to amke sure they are clean.
switch the fire on and let it warm up.
then switch the fan on.
partially shut the vents that are near the fire and open those a fully that are further away.
On electric set teh thermostat, the numbers 1 to 9 on the twisty nob, where the wattage is on the outer ring. We find 7 is best. Set the fan to A and about 4.
Check your amps constantly to avoid tripping, as suggested earlier. If you can use on 2000 watts. You probably can use both gas and electric as we can but the gas thermostat is on the top of the fire.
Remember that the outside temperature affect it all. We were out this winter in -9 andwe needed gas and electric to get the van warm and then the electric just kept it up to temperature.
If this fails have the fan and grills tetsed to amke sure they are clean.
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