Truma Combi 6 heater

[fair maiden]

Hi there

 

please can anyone help, going to France on saturday, just doing a few checks to see all equipment working in our Burstner Travel Van. tried to put water heater on and the red & green lights come on immediately. have a full cyclinder of gas fitted, and was plugged into mains, so the battery power is not the problem. no way we can get to a motorhome dealer between now and saturday. anyone any ideas what the problem could be?

please (?)

[BGD]

Have you been through all the possible causes as listed in the "Troubleshooting" section of your user manual?

 

Have you got the user manual?

 

If not.....here's a link to it on the Truma site.

You can download the full manual as a pdf, and go through all the possible fault causes listed (page 14 of 56 I believe):

 

 

http://www.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma-Katalog/gb/combi/combi_gas.html

 

 

 

Good luck.......

 

 

[Mike B.]

Hi

Don't want to sound patronising but have you checked the emergency drain valve is closed and boiler is full?

If not this would operate the automatic cut out

Mike

[Mountain_Biker]

There is a trip button on the side of the boiler you could try.

 

Have a nice holiday

[lennyhb]

Also check the pressure relief valve it is in the "T" piece on the top right of the boiler they stick open & water will flow out when the pump is running.

 

 

[Dave Newell]

I'd just like to clarify one small point, the valve in the hot water outlet (top pipe on boiler side) is not a pressure relief valve. Its purpose is to let air into the boiler when draining down. Having said that its worth checking this valve is not letting water past but the symptoms of this valve failing are simply that the pump will not stop because as it pumps water into the boiler it goes straight out of this valve and its pipe through the floor.

 

Most likely cause of your problem is simply that the gas system needs purging. Check that the stocock for the boiler is open and you have gas flowing (light all the rings on your cooker together to make sure you have sufficient flow). Make sure the outer cowl cover (if fitted) is removed and try the heater ,if it goes red then switch it off for a few minutes and try again. it can sometimes take several tries to get it to light.

 

D.

[Derek Uzzell]

fair maiden - 2010-08-04 11:29 PM

 

.... tried to put water heater on and the red & green lights come on immediately...

 

 

Do you really mean “immediately”?

 

Assuming you are attempting to use the heater on gas alone, then (having first chosen gas-operation on the separate ‘power selector switch’ if your Combi 6 is a "6E" with a gas/230V heating capability) you ought to get a green light on the heater’s control panel when you select water-heating and/or air-heating mode. After a delay of about 30 seconds, the heater’s gas burner should light but, if it doesn’t, a red ‘fault’ light will come on.

 

Combi 6 heaters can happily be run ‘dry’, so an open drain-valve or a heater empty of water won’t be considered a ‘fault’ as Mike B suggests would be the case. The re-set button mentioned by Mountain Biker relates to 230V operation, so logically shouldn’t affect gas-only operation (but check the button anyway if your heater has one!). Neither should a stuck-open hot-water vent-valve have any impact on the heater’s start-up process.

 

It’s not uncommon for these heaters to need several start-up attempts if the vehicle has been unused for a while, just to allow gas time to reach the burner. As Dave suggests, before trying to start up a Combi heater, it’s worth running the gas-hob on all its burners for a short while to confirm that there’s no simple gas-related problem existing (gas-bottle or SecuMotion system not properly switched on, regulator blocked, etc.) and, if air has entered the gas pipework, to flush out as much of it as possible.

 

If the green and red lights are ACTUALLY coming on simultaneously (or near-enough simultaneously), this suggests an electronic problem or something mechanically serious that the heater’s safety systems can instantly recognize – for example, the gas-burner’s fan isn’t working.

 

[fair maiden]

thanks BGD have the manual but troubleshooting only gives remedy for a flashing red light, mine is solid and comes on straight away with the green, when it is switched on. thanks for your reply

[fair maiden]

yes to both questions and you sound in no way patronising, I really appreciate you taking time to reply

[Brian Kirby]

You have little available time.  If the trouble shooting part of the manual is no help, and the heater is behaving as you say, I suggest you phone Truma UK technical department ASAP.  They should be able to tell you, quite quickly, what the condition means, and whether there is a quick fix, or not.  Good luck, but don't delay, because they go home early!

[fair maiden]

hi there

my eyes are out on stalks and I cant see the trip switch, it doesnt even mention it in the manual, can you tell me where it is pleeeeeeeeeeeese!

[Brian Kirby]

Are you using the actual Truma manual?  If not, I suggest you go here http://tinyurl.com/8hdzm2 and download the appropriate manual with trouble shooting guide.  If nothing happens when you select language, you need to turn off your pop-up blocker, then select language again!  You should get a .pdf document.

However, both red and green LEDs illuminating steady immediately the unit is turned on seems not to be a recognised fault - though I may be looking at the wrong model.  That is why I think you need to contact Truma - now first thing tomorrow morning.

[fair maiden]

Thanks Brian, you really are soooooooooo helpful. I saw your first post at five o clock and rang truma service centre. like all companies these days it was a recorded announcement, that kept telling me that someone would be with me shortly - that was until 5.15 when the recording told me that the offices were now closed and open at 8.30 in the morning, so I shall ring first thing. thanks again for your advice.

[Derek Uzzell]

fair maiden - 2010-08-05 4:53 PM

 

hi there

my eyes are out on stalks and I cant see the trip switch, it doesnt even mention it in the manual, can you tell me where it is pleeeeeeeeeeeese!

 

 

If your Truma heater is a gas-only Combi 6, then it won’t have a “trip switch”.

 

A “trip switch” (or, as I called it in my earlier posting, a “re-set button”) would only be relevant if your heater were a Combi 6E able to heat air/water by 230V electricity (hence the “E” suffix) as well as gas.

 

Truma calls the switch an “overheating switch” and it’s referred to on Page 10 of Truma’s Operating Instructions for Combi 4E/6E appliances and on Page 15 in the “overheating protection 230V” section. Gas/230V Combi 4E/6E heaters are more complex than their gas-only Combi 4/6 cousins and consequentially have more potential for ‘fault’ read-outs.

 

There is (obviously) no mention of the overheating switch in Truma’s Operating Instructions for a Combi 4/6 as those heaters don’t have this switch.

 

Your original posting’s title clearly states that your heater is a “Truma Combi 6” (and thus will operate using gas only), but it’s quite common on forums for owners of Truma appliances to be less than specific over exactly which model of heater is fitted to their motorhome. As a result, when replying to technical questions, there’s a tendency to try to cover every possibility. In this instance Mountain Biker’s ‘trip-button’ advice (only appropriate if a heater has a 230V capability) has led to confusion.