tankengine Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I have a 2000 "W" reg Autosleeper Duetto fitted with a Carver P4 gas heater which has failed (Green light turns to red after initial purge, then shuts down). Does anyone know what the fault might be and if anyone carries spares ? Does anyone offer a repair please ? If not, is there a suitable replacement which will fit without cutting the van about Thanks very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 tankengine: Have a look at this earlier forum thread: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=10903&posts=3 You could find an equivalent, similar in concept, blown-air appliance in Truma's present range (one of the 'E' series heaters). Alternatively one of the Propex heaters (www.propexheatsource.co.uk) should be fine and is likely to be a good deal cheaper. Replacing your present P4 with either make of heater should present few difficulties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 tankengine: A follow-up... I notice that GOOGLE throws up a few entries for "Carver P4". (Worth you checking these out if you haven't already.) There's the (probably small) possibility that a company called Arc Systems http://www.arcsystems.biz/ might be able to help. There's also a P4-related comment in the technical FAQ section of the Propexheatsource website http://www.propexheatsource.co.uk/technicalsupport.htm The comment goes as follows: Q: I have an old Carver P4 air heater do you do a replacement? A: Yes either the HS2000 or the HS2800. John Wickersham's book "The Motorcaravan Manual" says that the British company Propex used to market a compact blown-air heater. This heater was adopted by Carver in 1994, was re-designed and became the P4 that began to be marketed in 1997. The HS2000 and HS2800 heaters now sold by Propexheatsource are, essentially, 'second-cousins' of the P4 appliance. So it would be worth you asking Propexheatsource for advice, even though the comment on their website suggests that replacement may be the only option nowadays when a P4 fails. I'm not technically familiar with the Carver P4, but, with Truma heaters, when the green light on the control-panel turns to red at start-up, then this indicates a 'fault condition' that has prevented the heater firing-up correctly. This fault condition may be permanent, with something genuinely wrong with the appliance itself (like a burner or a sensor has failed, or a gas-valve won't open) that will demand repair, or temporary and external to the heater (eg. air in the gas system, a near empty gas-bottle, low battery charge). There is a danger of overlooking the obvious and I recall an instance a few years ago of someone on this forum asking why his motorhome's heater wouldn't work and eventually, after finally getting round to check his gas-bottles (the ones that he 'knew' contained plenty of gas!), finding they were virtually empty. So make CERTAIN you've got sufficient gas in your bottles. Also check that your gas-regulator is allowing an adequate flow of gas to enter your Duetto's gas system. Easiest way to do this would be to light every gas appliance the motorhome has (eg. all the hob-burners, oven, fridge, etc.) and confirm that they are all able to function simultaneously. Doing this should also assist in purging any air that may have found its way into the gas pipework. If there is air in the pipework and that's what is causing the heater problem, then you may need to repeat the start-up procedure quite a few times before the heater will light. Check too that your leisure battery (that presumably provides the heater's 12V power) is well charged up, just in case low voltage is a factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Sorry to hear of a tank-engine with boiler trouble. My Carver has had the same problem on and off for a year or two. I suspect the gas delivery valve is sticky. Mind responds to the following treatments. 1. hook up and use mains power. I suspect thermal expansion occurs and frees up the gas valve. It usally then works on gas for the rest of the trip. 2. If no hook up available repeatedly switch on and of, perhaps as many as fifty times. This seems to shift the valve and again once working stays ok until the van is left for a week or two. I have pulled the unit out and and found about 11.5 V at the valve. The Carver user instructions indicates minimum DC voltage required is 10.5 These units are getting old. Sugest you contact Gary at info@arcsystems.biz who is a Carver specialist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arc systems Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 QUOTE: I notice that GOOGLE throws up a few entries for "Carver P4". (Worth you checking these out if you haven't already.) There's the (probably small) possibility that a company called Arc Systems http://www.arcsystems.biz/ might be able to help. Probably small...might be able to help... oh yea of little faith David ;-) Long time since I logged on to MMM but just finished repairing Tank Engines P4 as it happens. He told me he had found me through here so thought I'd take a gander. The problem in this case was a fault on the combustion control board, the gas was lighting but the logic was not recognising the fact. It seems people suppose theres nothing to be done as replacement control boards or any other spares for that matter are unobtainable, the truth is somewhat different. Most problems are infact mechanical due purely to lack of maintenance, other electronic faults while being more complicated to fix are nevertheless fixable. While spares were available, most 'faulty' parts were simply swapped out, never being part of that swapping fraternity!, I've been brought up to repair. Today thats proving useful, (as well as 'green'), as Carver spares in general dwindle away, I've learnt what the faults are and how to fix them! So in future if anyones got a P4, (or any other Carver related problem), don't hesitate to get in touch, I can say the P4 is 'probably' the best blown air heater ever made and I'm damn sure I can fix it a lot cheaper than buying an XXX replacement :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Thanks for that information Gary. I did look at your website and there was no mention on it of the Carver P4 heater. I also glanced at the forums.preloved.co.uk website referred to on the Arc Systems site, but I sure wasn't going to wade through 100s of postings in the hope of finding a P4-related one. Anyway, I'm naturally pessimistic and of no faith whatsoever, never mind a little. At least if someone else mentions P4 problems on this forum we shall know that you are The Man. Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arc systems Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Thanks DEREK and thanks for mentioning my Q&A thread on Preloved, I was not sure of this forums protocol so left out advertising another albeit of a very different type.... ...I can see though you certainly read a few recent posts?! :$ In truth I added the P4 to the list less than 2yrs ago so not a lot of relevant questions have been asked...yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbutler Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I have a carver P4-30 heater which I have in a new (to me) camper I am told it only about 5 years old but although its working etc there is no gas plumbed into it ,I have the pipes there from the old one but I can not get a 8mm pipe fitting that attaches the pipe to the heater, does anyone know what fitting I need ? ,its around 18mm and needs to be a female connection screw in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 kevbutler - 2016-04-19 11:41 AM I have a carver P4-30 heater which I have in a new (to me) camper I am told it only about 5 years old but although its working etc there is no gas plumbed into it ,I have the pipes there from the old one but I can not get a 8mm pipe fitting that attaches the pipe to the heater, does anyone know what fitting I need ? ,its around 18mm and needs to be a female connection screw in. Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Kevin. Suggest you try asking this company http://www.arelectronics.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d29_Carver_P4_Blown_Air_Heater_Repairs.html If I remember correctly, the leisure-vehicle heating side of the Carver Group was subsumed by Truma in the early-2000s and (I would have thought) that was when manufacture of the P4 heater would have ceased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 kevbutler - 2016-04-19 11:41 AM I have a carver P4-30 heater which I have in a new (to me) camper I am told it only about 5 years old but although its working etc there is no gas plumbed into it ,I have the pipes there from the old one but I can not get a 8mm pipe fitting that attaches the pipe to the heater, does anyone know what fitting I need ? ,its around 18mm and needs to be a female connection screw in. The Carver P4's are now well over 15 years old now. The gas fitting you need is the same as the Carver water heater which is much more common. A local Caravan dealer should be able to provide this or off Ebay, this item number 161073006885 If there is no gas plumbed to it, how do you know it's working? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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