Truma 6E (Heating and Hot Water)

[arthur49]

Anyone have problems with their Truma 6E? Ours worked great for the 8 or so weeks that we have used the van since we got it new last July.

Now:-

1. on either gas or electric, set to provide heat and hot water, after about 10 minutes a very hot smell starts, such that I grabbed an extinguisher and stood over the heater in case of fire! The smell was not a normal 'new' smell ............. and its been used for at least 8 weeks.

2. on max electric setting 1800W (heating only) the hot air output is pathetic. I've checked all ducts are actually connected to heater and its on winter setting ie recirculating air inlet. Hot air output on gas is excellent.

Been checked out by our dealer but they found nothing wrong!

Our confidence in this thing is low.

Arthur

 

(Tried a Search but hopeless!)

[DJP]

arthur49 - 2010-02-24 7:46 PM

 

Anyone have problems with their Truma 6E? Ours worked great for the 8 or so weeks that we have used the van since we got it new last July.

Now:-

1. on either gas or electric, set to provide heat and hot water, after about 10 minutes a very hot smell starts, such that I grabbed an extinguisher and stood over the heater in case of fire! The smell was not a normal 'new' smell ............. and its been used for at least 8 weeks.

2. on max electric setting 1800W (heating only) the hot air output is pathetic. I've checked all ducts are actually connected to heater and its on winter setting ie recirculating air inlet. Hot air output on gas is excellent.

Been checked out by our dealer but they found nothing wrong!

Our confidence in this thing is low.

Arthur

 

(Tried a Search but hopeless!)

1. Make sure the boiler has adequate ventilation and is able to draw air into the area where it is.

2. Sorry to say, that's how they are. We have the same problem 1800w in a largish van in anything below about 5* is just not enough. We tend to leave it on 900w during the night and all day, if we go out. Soon as we come back, it's back on the gas.

[Guest Tracker]

Contact Truma customer care and Adria customer care - if they have one - and outline the problem to them and depending on what they say take it back to the dealer and make it do it in his presence - then politely and firmly ask that the problem be rectified forthwith.

 

Always better if it can be fixed amicably and many modern mechanics or fitters or whatever the curent inword to describe them is, don't seem to be as bright, innovative or empathetic as they used to be!

[colin]

Maybe I'm wrong, but, doesn't the hot air only work off gas, the 900w and 1800w are energy source not outputs and will only heat water.

 

p.s. http://www.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma-Katalog/pdf_verzeichnis/30_000/34020_29800.pdf

[Freewheeler]

I thought that the problem with the smell when the Truma gets hot, had now been resolved. It was the subject of a recall, several years ago and we had to take ours to the Truma facility at Dovepark, Nr Derby.

It still has a "hot" smell, when the hot water heats up, but nowhere as bad as it was originally.

 

The 900watt/1800watt electric output is feeble, but I improved ours by lagging the ducting underneath the motorhome and over a long period it now gets the van quite warm and snug.

[colin]

Freewheeler - 2010-02-24 9:55 PM

The 900watt/1800watt electric output is feeble, but I improved ours by lagging the ducting underneath the motorhome and over a long period it now gets the van quite warm and snug.

 

Are your controls as my link? if so how do you get it to heat by using 900w or 1800w? I found that the only heat output to ducts on these settings seemed to be a 'crossover' (? ) from heating water, which would be why they are so low

[Freewheeler]

I just select electric power source on either 1800 or 900 watts, as per your link, and then, on the other control, set the thermostat on full.

The outer ring is then turned, selecting either the "Heat only" or "Heat and hot water" ( Works just the same on both ).

 

As you will no doubt have found already, there is quite a delay before warm air actually comes through, even on gas.

When on electric, only the low fan operates. This is almost instantaneous, but still takes some time before any warm air builds up. It isn't as efficient as a normal electric fan heater, but does warm the van up considerably over a long period and them maintains it at this level, if the thermostat is set to full, but DON'T expect hot air, in this mode, it won't happen.

 

We find that when the temperatures are below freezing, then either gas is needed as well, or an additional fan heater or radiator is required.

 

[Derek Uzzell]

There are three Truma appliances that can provide air-heating via a 230V electrical supply as well as via gas. These are the C-6002EH (now superseded), the Combi-4E and the Combi-6E.

 

The C-6002EH was a specialised variant within Truma's long-standing C-Series range of combination air/water heaters. Many C-Series heaters (including C-6002EHs) were - as Freewheeler says - subject to a Truma safety recall some while ago to have various parts replaced to improve resistance to heat build-up within the heater's interior. The give-away was an unpleasant smell of scorching plastic when the appliance was in water-heating mode using gas.

 

How 'smelly' C-Series appliances affected by the recall actually had been prior to modification seemed to vary considerably, with some (apparently) not emitting any smell and others being so bad that the motor caravan had to be evacuated. My Hobby has a C-6002EH that was fairly smelly before modification, but was much better afterwards. A C-6002EH's air-heating performance on 230V alone will never be outstanding given the lowish wattage of the electric heating elements and the inevitable heat losses from the blown-air trunking.

 

Combi-4E and Combi-6E have a similar capability to the C-6002EH, although their design is radically different. Air heating on 230V alone should be much the same as for a C-6002EH (ie. not great). I've not heard of 'smell' problems with these appliances, which suggests there may be a physical fault with the particular 6E heater fitted to arthur49's Adria or its installation. It very definitely needs expert attention...

 

It needs emphasising that C-Series and Combi appliances are all RECIRCULATORY air-heaters designed to take in air from the motorhome's living area, heat it and then blow it back into the motorhome's interior via air-trunking. Many motorhome owners seem to be unaware of this and the design principle is regularly ignored by motorhome manufacturers who either position the heater with its air intake outside the living area (eg. in an unheated 'garage') or provide inadequate ventilation into the living area from where the heater is housed. As DJP advises "Make sure the boiler has adequate ventilation and is able to draw air into the area where it is".

 

There's also a risk of overheating any Truma air heater if the user starts to play about with the swivelling 'air-throttles' in the trunking outlets to try to improve hot air distribution. Truma recommends that combination air/water heaters should be installed centrally within the motorhome and that blown-air trunks be of equal length and as straight as possible. This isn't always practicable, but some installations are, frankly, a joke. In principle, you should be able to have all the air-throttles fully open and have similar volumes of hot air emerging from each outlet.

[arthur49]

Thank you Derek and others. Heels are dug in..... I'm contacting Truma and Adria direct!

Arthur

[Colin Leake]

It's quite simple really. The heater takes fresh air in from the outside and heats it. If it is really cold outside it will struggle. In the Spring Summer and Autumn we find ours works very well on electric. If it gets realy cold we used the combined gas and electric setting. This heats the van up real fast. In the Winter you should consider using a small electric fan heater which does not draw in cold air from outside to save gas.

[Brian Kirby]

Colin Leake - 2010-02-28 3:49 PM It's quite simple really. The heater takes fresh air in from the outside and heats it. If it is really cold outside it will struggle. In the Spring Summer and Autumn we find ours works very well on electric. If it gets realy cold we used the combined gas and electric setting. This heats the van up real fast. In the Winter you should consider using a small electric fan heater which does not draw in cold air from outside to save gas.

Colin, sorry to contradict you, but this is incorrect.  These heaters do not take fresh air from outside and heat it. 

They have two completely separate air circuits.  The heating circuit draws air from inside the van, pass it through a sealed heater matrix, and expels it back into the van as heated air.

The combustion circuit draws air from outside for combustion purposes.  This is taken in through the fan assisted balanced flue intake and is only required when the heater is burning gas.  All such air, having passed through the combustion chamber, is then evacuated via the balanced flue exhaust.

This combustion air cannot be drawn from the van interior, because it would create equal inflows of cold air from outside, inducing cold draughts.  Neither can it be admitted to the van interior, because it contains the products of combustion, including possible carbon monoxide.

[Colin Leake]

Point taken Brian I stand corrected. I must have got the impression when trying to heat the motorhome from cold in which case it was drawing cold air in from inside the van. I still find the fan heater works better in realy cold weather.