Project idea no 2

[ips]

I have a gas heated truma boiler is it possible to fit an element so we can use hook up ? Is there a blank in the tank maybe as surely they use the same tank for the vans that have elements and gas ? Dont have model no at the moment but can get it later if needed

[Brambles]

Most I know of do not have a blank, the tanks are punched if a heater element is to be fitted during manufacture. You will also need to fit thermostats and safety cutouts so it cannot switch on when tank is empty of water, and also to stop boiling and pressurising tank.

 

What you can get for some models are a wrap around heater element which can be added along with a control module.

 

I can tell you are desperate to find a project to do.

Jon.

[Keithl]

Hi ips,

 

Could you possibly look for a model including the electric element in a caravan breakers, then you could get all the wiring and switchgear to go with it?

 

Keith.

[Derek Uzzell]

Brambles - 2010-09-25 9:44 AM

 

Most I know of do not have a blank, the tanks are punched if a heater element is to be fitted during manufacture. You will also need to fit thermostats and safety cutouts so it cannot switch on when tank is empty of water, and also to stop boiling and pressurising tank.

 

What you can get for some models are a wrap around heater element which can be added along with a control module.

 

I can tell you are desperate to find a project to do.

Jon.

 

ips

 

The wrap-around 230V heating 'collar' is only suitable for Truma C-Series combination air/water heaters - it can't be fitted to Truma Ultrastore water boilers.

 

In principle, you could convert a gas-only Ultrastore boiler to have a gas/230V capability. However, as Jon suggests, the parts needed and the work involved would make the exercise not worthwhile.

 

If you really HAD to have gas/230V water-heating, you'd be better to obtain a version of the Ultrastore boiler already having that capability and use that to replace your present gas-only boiler. This would be really, really expensive to do, so may well be an attractive idea as you seem to be extraordinarily flush with spare cash at the moment.

;-) ;-) ;-)

[Mel B]

I have a very good idea for how you can get hot water heating when on main at a very reasonable price .... a budget priced electric kettle!!! (lol)

[Derek Uzzell]

Mel B - 2010-09-25 9:06 PM

 

I have a very good idea for how you can get hot water heating when on main at a very reasonable price .... a budget priced electric kettle!!! (lol)

 

Bit tricky showering using a kettle though!

[BGD]

If it's hot water for washing & showering etc that you want whilst on hookup, then three ideas:

 

1. For washing, boil a kettle (you're on hookup after all) and add to a sink part-filled with cold water.

 

2. For showers, walk to the shower block whenever the site you're using the hookup on has them. If not, just strip-wash using idea 1. above

 

3. Rather than messing about with your gas-fuelled Truma unit, and you really want a complicated and expensive solution to a problem that I'm personally struggling to comprehend, maybe fit some sort of sparate tank with electric heating element along the COLD feed from your freshwater tank to taps elsewhere along its route?

 

 

 

 

 

But I'd have thought that the costs of any "fettling" you do to provide some sort of built-in electric water heating would be more than several years worth of gas usage you're currently getting though to do exactly the same job with the kit already fitted in your MH.

[Guest JudgeMental]

 

Rather than messing about with your gas-fuelled Truma unit, and you really want a complicated and expensive solution to a problem that I'm personally struggling to comprehend,

 

 

Personally I never interfere with separating a fool from its money...it keeps the economy going :D

[Mel B]

Derek Uzzell - 2010-09-26 9:33 AM

 

Mel B - 2010-09-25 9:06 PM

 

I have a very good idea for how you can get hot water heating when on main at a very reasonable price .... a budget priced electric kettle!!! (lol)

 

Bit tricky showering using a kettle though!

 

Not if you use the kettle to fill one of these it isn't!

 

http://www.gardencentreonline.co.uk/Outdoor-Living-Camping-Camping-Accessories-Solar-Heated-Portable-Camping-Shower/3991-PD/default.html

[lennyhb]

Don't bother with the Truma heating collar Derek mentions, it's 250 quid and only 430 watts.

I considered fitting one but decided it was not cost effective & glad I didn't in 2 & a bit years since we have had the van I can count the number of times we have used a hook up on one hand.

 

 

[Guest peter]

Fit one of these. http://www.bhl.co.uk/category/Santon_Aquaheat I fitted one in my kitchen at home because the boiler is too far from the kitchen and it took ages for the hot water to come through and left gallons of hot water in the pipe when you turned off the tap. Very easy to fit and you could fit it to your existing tap line with a pair of isolator valves to switch between gas fed and electric fed hot water supply. This is what I've done and it works a treat and takes about 10 Min's to heat up. The element is 2.2 Kw(about 10 Amps) the same as a domestic kettle.

[Derek Uzzell]

The potential advantages of converting ips's gas-only Truma Ultrastore water-boiler to a gas/230V version are a) no additional space within the motorhome would be consumed and b) an Ultrastore 230V element draws only 850W (3.7A) meaning that the boiler can be used on most EHU's, even low-outuput Continental ones. The problem is that carrying out such a conversion would not be cost effective.

 

It's not a matter of not bothering with Truma's 230V heating 'collar' - it's impossible to fit this product to an Ultrastore water-boiler.

 

Adding a supplementary 230V-only boiler as Peter suggests should be practicable but will consume space. Truma offers two such products - "Therme" (5 litres/300W but probably better suited to caravans) and the much more expensive "Electroboiler" (14 litres/850W).

 

Realistically, if it's envisaged that motorhome usage will involve often being on campsite EHUs where the cost of the EHU is included within the pitch price, then this should be taken into account when vehicle-choice is being considered. It's usually significantly cheaper to specify gas/230V heating (assuming that's an option) to begin with than to try to add it afterwards. There also won't be any warranty implications that might well result from DIY modifications.

[Derek Uzzell]

Mel B - 2010-09-26 9:01 PM

 

Derek Uzzell - 2010-09-26 9:33 AM

 

Mel B - 2010-09-25 9:06 PM

 

I have a very good idea for how you can get hot water heating when on main at a very reasonable price .... a budget priced electric kettle!!! (lol)

 

Bit tricky showering using a kettle though!

 

Not if you use the kettle to fill one of these it isn't!

 

http://www.gardencentreonline.co.uk/Outdoor-Living-Camping-Camping-Accessories-Solar-Heated-Portable-Camping-Shower/3991-PD/default.html

 

I somehow can't see my wife decanting (say) a litre of hot water 20 times into the solar-heated plastic bag you suggest, using a cheap little 230V kettle, prior to taking a shower. I'm sure she'd prefer (Horror of horrors!) queueing for a shower cubicle at the 'san facs' with the other campers in their dressing gowns and flip-flops.

[Guest JudgeMental]

I upgraded heating to elec/gas when ordering present van and I must admit as we stay mainly on sites we hardly use gas.

 

hoping to change van soon and electric option on combi 4 is approx £3-400. So i am not going to bother in a panel van, and will just fit/transfer refillable gas system? with gas at half price? have you thought of this? cheaper gas/running costs?

[pepe63xnotuse]

I'd agree with Judge'...

..if you feel that it's something that needs addressing, then you'd be better spending the money on a refillable gas bottle..at least that could go with you,into your next van... ;-)

Our current van has gas-only water heating...and as our previous van was gas and electric,I thought that it was going to be a bigger negative than it has actually been....

In fact in some cases it's been beneficial..as we're not having to juggle what we've got switched on at the same time(..trying to avoid overloading the trip by having the the water heater,kettle and room heater on at the same time... :-S )

[lennyhb]

Have to agree with Eddie & Pepe with LPG at 60-70p/Lt we use 1Lt a day in the summer and about 2 Lt in the winter, wish the house only cost that much to run.

 

 

[colin]

Derek Uzzell - 2010-09-27 9:37 AM

Realistically, if it's envisaged that motorhome usage will involve often being on campsite EHUs where the cost of the EHU is included within the pitch price, then this should be taken into account when vehicle-choice is being considered. It's usually significantly cheaper to specify gas/230V heating (assuming that's an option) to begin with than to try to add it afterwards. There also won't be any warranty implications that might well result from DIY modifications.

 

For us it would have cost an extra £412 to upgrade from gas combi4 to gas/elec on new vehicle, as we don't often hookup we didn't bother.

[mike.wittamore]

Hello

I fitted a collar retrofit kit to our C6000 unit (Truma part no. 34141-01) 4 years ago. It cost £160.03 + VAT. I cant believe the price has increased by more than 100%. Its never given any problems. (I shouldn’t have said that) . I never switch it off so when we plug in we have constant hot water. Take about ½ hour to reach max heat

 

[lennyhb]

I think you need a new calculator.

160+vat = 188 currently around 250 I've seen them for 230 full retail is around 275.

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

mike.wittamore - 2010-09-27 2:41 PM

 

Hello

I fitted a collar retrofit kit to our C6000 unit (Truma part no. 34141-01) 4 years ago. It cost £160.03 + VAT. I cant believe the price has increased by more than 100%. Its never given any problems. (I shouldn’t have said that) . I never switch it off so when we plug in we have constant hot water. Take about ½ hour to reach max heat

 

Truma's August 2007 brochure quoted a VAT-inc price for the 230V heating-collar retro-fit kit of £204.59, though I expect it could have been purchased at a discount. One on-line retailer is currently quoting a discounted price of £228.74 and an RRP of £268.57.

 

My experience is that the collar takes far longer than a half-hour to heat cold water in the 12 litre reservoir of a C-Series appliance to the collar's maximum cut-off temperature. Truma advises 30 minutes to raise the water from 15°C to 60°C using gas and the 450W output of the collar is bound to be much less effective. Obviously, if the water in the reservoir is well above 15°C to begin with, the heating period will be reduced.

 

I never had any problems with the collar fitted to my Herald's C-3402 heater, but they aren't immortal. I remember a motorhome dealer telling me that he had needed to replace several over the years, usually due to the integrated thermostat failing. The collar can't be repaired and the dealer blamed the failures (though I don't think he had any hard evidence) on users leaving them on continuously as you've been doing.

 

(There's an odd thing about UK Truma prices for Ultrastore boilers. The 2007 brochure shows just a £6 difference between the price of a gas-only 10 litre-capacity Ultrastore and its gas/230V twin, whereas there's a whopping price increase of nearly £90 for a gas/230V 14 litre-capacity Ultrastore over the gas-only 14 litre version. It always seems to have been like that and (as Continental price-lists show significant price differences for 10 litre gas/230V and 10 litre gas-only Ultrastore boilers as well as for the 14 litre models) I'm pretty sure it's based on a long-standing error that once crept into Truma's UK pricing and has never been corrected. Anyway, I think it's still the case that, if you bought a gas/230V 10 litre Ultrastore boiler from Truma in the UK, it would cost little more than the gas-only version.)

[ips]

Many thanks for all the helpfull reply's. We currently use the kettle idea however if we could convert to elec we could just leave the stat on and have hot water all the time with one less thing to plug in.

 

Dont know why some peeps are so bothered about how much money I may spend on these project's, if a few hundred quid makes life easier then hey ho. "its only money"

 

[ips]

mike.wittamore - 2010-09-27 2:41 PM

 

Hello

I fitted a collar retrofit kit to our C6000 unit (Truma part no. 34141-01) 4 years ago. It cost £160.03 + VAT. I cant believe the price has increased by more than 100%. Its never given any problems. (I shouldn’t have said that) . I never switch it off so when we plug in we have constant hot water. Take about ½ hour to reach max heat

 

How easy was the install did you have to remove the boiler tank or did you manage to do it in situ one assumes that you can get between the insulation ok ??

Just looked at a pic online and seems like a fairly basic setup for £200 + but if there is no facility to install an element then thats what I will have to do

ips