Hi all
I've had my caravan (2005 Magnum Compass) for about 4 years. When I got it the Truma Ultrastore (10L) worked without issue on gas or electric. I keep it on a friends farm near the coast and its fairly static, occasionally it gets moved to a different field depending upon cropping. About 2 years ago it got moved to its current location and since then the Ultrastore has given problems, some times it will work perfectly, but mostly I get ignition followed by the 5 second piezo click followed by the red light. This can happend totally randomly it seems.
I have had the circuitboard checked and returned as working correctly. I have fitted a new gas safety valve because I found the copper gas pipe was full of the sticky liquid often mentioned on here. It has a new flexible hose pipe from the gas bottle (propane) to the regulator. The Truma gas caravan heater and the gas oven all work fine, and you can turn them all on without a drop in flame height which leads me to think the problem is not gas pressure.
I had initially assumed the problem was gas pressure until I found a video on Youtube recently which showed a similar problem, but the answer was that the exhaust gas wasn't exhausting properly and leading to a flameout caused by lack of oxygen. I took the white 'grille' off the outside of my caravan and tried blowing gently into the lower air intake every time the piezo started clicking, and it works every time. The flame reignites! The problem is the exhaust gas isn't drawing properly. In the Youtube video the gentleman explains (not very well) that his Ultrastore wasn't mounted at the correct angle, that it should be off horizontal to get the flue (the white grille) to draw the exhaust gas correctly. I have read the Truma installation instructions and nowhere does it mention this, and that does not explain why it worked flawlessly for two or more years. Equally if you didn't level the caravan up correctly when siting it, this would throw the angle out anyhow.
I have taken the Ultrastore apart and reassembled it (I have a friend who is a gas engineer who helped), the burner is perfect and clean , there is no evidence of water corrosion, or debris blocking the vents etc etc. The piezo and flame electorde all look perfect, and must be because occasionally it will work wothout issue.
The only issue I can think is that the current location of the caravan is causing airflow issues...? The caravan has always been situated on a field edge against a hedge with the Ultrastore vent on the hedge side. There has usually been at least a 6ft gap between the caravan and the hedge so plenty of space, at the moment that is maybe 4ft since it was last moved. Could this be the problem? Does there need to be a larger gap between caravan and neighbouring object (hedge) for the flue to draw properly?
The problem has become so infuriating that I am considering fitting a computer fan or similar to the outside of the grille on the intake side to gently push a bit of airflow into the Ultrastore.....
Anybody have any similar issues or suggestions?
TIA
Bob
I've had my caravan (2005 Magnum Compass) for about 4 years. When I got it the Truma Ultrastore (10L) worked without issue on gas or electric. I keep it on a friends farm near the coast and its fairly static, occasionally it gets moved to a different field depending upon cropping. About 2 years ago it got moved to its current location and since then the Ultrastore has given problems, some times it will work perfectly, but mostly I get ignition followed by the 5 second piezo click followed by the red light. This can happend totally randomly it seems.
I have had the circuitboard checked and returned as working correctly. I have fitted a new gas safety valve because I found the copper gas pipe was full of the sticky liquid often mentioned on here. It has a new flexible hose pipe from the gas bottle (propane) to the regulator. The Truma gas caravan heater and the gas oven all work fine, and you can turn them all on without a drop in flame height which leads me to think the problem is not gas pressure.
I had initially assumed the problem was gas pressure until I found a video on Youtube recently which showed a similar problem, but the answer was that the exhaust gas wasn't exhausting properly and leading to a flameout caused by lack of oxygen. I took the white 'grille' off the outside of my caravan and tried blowing gently into the lower air intake every time the piezo started clicking, and it works every time. The flame reignites! The problem is the exhaust gas isn't drawing properly. In the Youtube video the gentleman explains (not very well) that his Ultrastore wasn't mounted at the correct angle, that it should be off horizontal to get the flue (the white grille) to draw the exhaust gas correctly. I have read the Truma installation instructions and nowhere does it mention this, and that does not explain why it worked flawlessly for two or more years. Equally if you didn't level the caravan up correctly when siting it, this would throw the angle out anyhow.
I have taken the Ultrastore apart and reassembled it (I have a friend who is a gas engineer who helped), the burner is perfect and clean , there is no evidence of water corrosion, or debris blocking the vents etc etc. The piezo and flame electorde all look perfect, and must be because occasionally it will work wothout issue.
The only issue I can think is that the current location of the caravan is causing airflow issues...? The caravan has always been situated on a field edge against a hedge with the Ultrastore vent on the hedge side. There has usually been at least a 6ft gap between the caravan and the hedge so plenty of space, at the moment that is maybe 4ft since it was last moved. Could this be the problem? Does there need to be a larger gap between caravan and neighbouring object (hedge) for the flue to draw properly?
The problem has become so infuriating that I am considering fitting a computer fan or similar to the outside of the grille on the intake side to gently push a bit of airflow into the Ultrastore.....
Anybody have any similar issues or suggestions?
TIA
Bob