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Advice needed please. New member


SolarMick

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Hello to all forum members.

 

I have recently taken the plunge and purchased a motorhome.

 

It is an Avantgarde Compass 2004. I believe I bought it at an advantageous price (Been looking for several months). It has a full service history, low mileage (27000), is in very good condition and has had only 2 previous owners, not counting the seller I bought it from.

 

The seller inherited the vehicle, has owned it for only 3 months, and appears (and admits) to know nothing whatever about the vehicle. He used it for a couple of day trips and decided that motorhoming was not for him.

 

I am not collecting the vehicle until next week so cannot post photographs.

 

I have the owners handbook, but it is not very helpful. I have been on the Explorer Group website but could find no information relating to the model of that year.

 

The questions I have are as follows:

 

The space heater:

How does it work? Does it operate on gas and mains electricity? Is it linked to the Trumavent TEB/TN. (the paperwork I have includes this.)

Can I use the heater simply as a heater without the Trumavent and visa versa?

 

The fridge:

Is it 3 way?

 

The various dials and controls:

What do they relate to?

 

I will be most grateful if someone owning the same model and year can steer me in the right direction.

 

 

 

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The fridge will almost certainly be 3 way, with the Truma its capabilities will depend on the model, there are other forum members with extensive knowledge of Truma products - but the Internet will be a good place to start.

 

 

Not wishing to cause you undue concern - but have you checked the underside for damp?

 

This model of that era was prone to rot along the exposed wood underneath, particularly between the wheel arch and rear corner and also along the rear skirt.

 

I hope you've got a good one, but it will pay you to check the underside thoroughly.

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Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Mick.

 

On-line information suggests that there was more than one 2004 Compass Avantgarde model, with the “200”, “300” and “400” models being mentioned. It may not matter much which you have, but - if you have further enquiries - it could be helpful to know which you’ve got.

 

I notice that there’s a ‘generic’ Explorer Group owner’s handbook here

 

https://www.manualslib.com/products/Explorer-Group-2003-Elddis-Autoquest-Avantgarde-400rl-9906506.html

 

and, although it’s for 2003 models, it should be useful for your motorhome.

 

The handbook (Page 31) states that a 3-way (gas/12V/230V) fridge would have been fitted. This is likely to have been a Dometic product and, if you can identify the model (there’s normally a label inside the fridge) finding an operating manual for it on-line should not be hard.

 

The space-heater is likely to be one of the Truma S 3002 range of appliances, and installation/operating instructional documents can be viewed/downloaded from here

 

https://dealernew.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma_Katalog/2%20gb/s_heizungen_gb/trumatic_s_ues_gb.html

 

The heaters came in several versions and yours will have an identifier (probably inside) indicating which one it is. This document is likely to cover it.

 

https://dealernew.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma_Katalog/pdf_verzeichnis/30_000/30050_93000.pdf

 

The basic S 3002 was a gas-only convector heater, with a blown-air Comfort kit (using a Trumavent fan-unit) as an option.

 

https://dealernew.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma_Katalog/pdf_verzeichnis/40_000/40030_22700.pdf

 

230V electric heating (“Ultraheat”) was a further option and it would have been quite common for a UK-built motorhome with an S 3002 heater to have both the blown-air and Ultraheat options as standard. I don’t know if yours has Ultraheat, but if it has, there will be a control panel to operate it as shown on this link

 

https://dealernew.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma_Katalog/pdf_verzeichnis/30_000/30030_72100.pdf

 

I’ve no practical experience of Truma ‘fires’, but you should certainly be able to use yours purely as a convector heater (when the Trumavent won’t be running and the heater’s operation will be virtually silent) or in blown-air mode when the Trumavent will be blowing warmed air around the motorhome through flexible trunking. I assume your ‘vice versa’ query would involve the appliance not producing heat and the Trumavent circulating cold air, but I don’t know if that’s possible.

 

You are clearly on a very steep learning curve, and you’d really benefit from someone motorhome-literate to be physically present and give you the comprehensive overview that you should have received if you had bought from a dealership.

 

For essential technical background I suggest you obtain John Wickersham’s book “The Motorcaravan Manual”. A used 2004 version should be fine

 

https://tinyurl.com/y7qtx2lb

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have now got the MH and am in the process of checking everything and attempting in my own time to get familiar with everything.

 

The space heater is a Truma S 3002P.

 

I have had the front cover off to ascertain the exact model. It is obviously well past it's sell by date.

 

I am not bothered by this as I would like to upgrade to a heater with gas and electric options.

 

I suppose an upgrade to a combi or duct heating appliance would be out of the question without major aggro?

 

Has anyone used LeisureShopdirect for parts etc? Are they considered reasonably priced?

 

Thanks

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This link is to a Truma S3002 video-clip describing the appliance’s basic operation, plus the Ultraheat and blown-air options. Your 2004 heater may differ, but the principles will be similar.

 

 

Replacing your S3002 heater with a radically different type (eg. a Truma “Combi”) would be a challenging task and really only justifiable if your S3002 gas heater and/or your (presumably) Truma Ultrastore water-boiler

 

 

were not functioning properly and was beyond economical repair.

 

A brand-new S3004 heater (complete with front case) would cost £500-£600 (example advert here)

 

https://www.grasshopperleisure.co.uk/truma-s3004-gas-fire-heater-auto-ignition-4037-p.asp

 

https://www.truma.com/uk/en/products/truma-heater/truma-s3004.html

 

and the 230V Ultraheat option could be added if wished

 

https://www.truma.com/uk/en/products/truma-heater/truma-ultraheat.html

 

It SHOULD be practicable to add Ultraheat to your S3002P heater, but you’d be well advised to gain experience of using your motorhome first before outlaying large sums of money on upgrading its present specification on a ‘wouldn’t it be nice to have’ basis. And even if Utraheat could be added to your S3002P heater, there would still be a requirement for 230V cabling to be installed in your motorhome to supply mains power to the heater. (I’ve owned three motorhomes since 1998, only one of which had a heater capable of providing warmed-air via 230V, but I’ve normally used a cheap 1kW/2kW 230V fan-heater.)

 

Leisureshopdirect is one of several suppliers of motorhome/caravan parts, and there are many past references to the business on this forum

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/search/query.asp?action=search&searchforumid=all&keywords=leisureshopdirect&author=&days=&Submit=Search

 

Trustpilot reviews are here and are generally pretty favourable

 

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.leisureshopdirect.com

 

If you know EXACTLY what you want - say a thermocouple for your S3002 heater - you might find this is available fronm several UK sources and that Leisureshopdirect’s asking-price can be ‘beaten’ by another vendor. As a general example, Leisureshopdirect is currently advertising a Gaslow R67 11kg user-refillable gas cylinder for £179.85 (plus delivery charges), but exactly the same product can be purchased elsewhere for £167.21 (delivery included).

 

Shop around - it’s what GOOGLE is for...

 

 

 

 

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Many thanks Derek,

 

Taken your advice on board.

 

I found this:

 

https://www.jacksonsleisure.com/caravan-motorhome/truma-ultraheat-caravan-gas-heater-mains-element-kit-for-s-series-heaters/

 

Assuming my S3002 is working efficiently, do you think it would be cost effective (long term) to add the ultra heat element to the existing heater (without the blown air option) or would the cost outweigh the benefits?

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....assuming you have the space to easily store it, and the fire is still functional on gas, a cheap 2KW fan heater would be much more effective and cost effective.

 

I always found those convector heaters pretty effective on gas in a smallish 'van, the electric addition was was best used in conjunction with blown air and trunking.

 

The only possible advantage of that over a fan heater, really, was if the blown air from the fire was fed into the bathroom (as a fan heater and a closed bathroom door doesn't add the same benefits).

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SolarMick - 2020-07-09 9:15 AM

 

Many thanks Derek,

 

Taken your advice on board.

 

I found this:

 

https://www.jacksonsleisure.com/caravan-motorhome/truma-ultraheat-caravan-gas-heater-mains-element-kit-for-s-series-heaters/

 

Assuming my S3002 is working efficiently, do you think it would be cost effective (long term) to add the ultra heat element to the existing heater (without the blown air option) or would the cost outweigh the benefits?

 

No - if it ain’t broke, don’t fiddle with it. ;-)

 

(If your Avantgarde has a Trumavent TEB/TN, doesn’t that mean it already has a blown-air capability?)

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Derek Uzzell - 2020-07-09 11:16 AM

 

SolarMick - 2020-07-09 9:15 AM

 

Many thanks Derek,

 

Taken your advice on board.

 

I found this:

 

https://www.jacksonsleisure.com/caravan-motorhome/truma-ultraheat-caravan-gas-heater-mains-element-kit-for-s-series-heaters/

 

Assuming my S3002 is working efficiently, do you think it would be cost effective (long term) to add the ultra heat element to the existing heater (without the blown air option) or would the cost outweigh the benefits?

 

No - if it ain’t broke, don’t fiddle with it. ;-)

 

That would be my approach.

Just as long as whatever it it has got works as it should, then just use it as it is.

(with,as said up thread, possibly the addition of a fan heater if needs be?)

 

If by saying "taken the plunge" that means that this is your first motorhome, then it's not uncommon for "new" owners to look to change their first vans for a different, more suitable layout, after a relatively short space of time ?

(I know we did....twice!..only to eventually realise that our fist van, had actually suited our usage the best. :$ )

So hold fire on shelling out too much.

(..and what may be a "a mod' for the better" for you, can sometimes be seen as "non-standard, DIY-er meddling" to a future buyer. (lol) )

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