Truma Gas Regulators

[rolandrat]

When are Truma going to come up with a gas regulator that doesn't keep letting some of us down. I've just had to renew mine and my motorhome is only 15months old. I've come accross numerous owners who have been let down and one after only 3 months use. It seems that Truma won't accept that there is a design fault and say that the cause is contamination. I only use Calor which I buy from my local agent so now I've added a spare to my toolbox.

[Keithl]

Hi Roland,

 

Are you still using a rubber high pressure hose?

 

If so you either need to re-route it so any liquid runs back into the cylinder or even better replace it with a Stainless Steel hose from the likes of Gaslow. These SS hoses have a 20 year life so are a real 'fit and forget' solution to your problem.

I changes ours last year as the old rubber hose was then over 5 years old and at the end of it's life.

 

Keith.

[rolandrat]

Hi Keith,

thanks for that, it was mentioned on Saturday so I've ordered one from my local agent.

[Brock]

I had three failures in just over 12 months. Hymer UK replaced all the first two at no cost to me. On the third occasion they fitted stainless steel hoses and replaced the regulator again just for the trade price for the hoses. The van was just out of warranty.

 

In the last four years, I have had no failures with my stainless steel hoses.

[Guest peter]

Forget the Truma/Gok and do as I've done and fit one of these.

 

1 x Clesse 466CV Caravan 30mb Euro Low Pressure Calor Gas Regulator (730000) - Clesse 466CV Caravan 30mb Euro Regulator - 8mm Compression Outlet (730000/8) - £25.22 Delivery - Small Parcel - £5.95

I bought it online from here, http://www.socal.co.uk/Toolbox/Regulators/Caravan_Regulators/Clesse_466CV_Caravan_30mb_Euro_Low_Pressure_Calor_Gas_Regulator/431/16343

 

It's a single stage regulator and does not clog up like the twin stage Truma. It's a direct replacement and a damn sight cheaper to boot.

[pkc]

Excellent post Peter, I think you may have solved a long standing niggle I have with my gas setup.

I run a 11kg Gaslow cylinder and a similar size orange Repsol bottle for when I’m in Spain,

Both have their own regulator; I change cylinders by swapping the rubber hose between them.

What caught my eye on your link was the regulator with the change over valve at £49.

If I use this with the GasBOAT 4021 - Jumbo Adaptor to 21.8LH Male on the same page on the link with a couple of hoses, would this work?

Or am I constructing a nuclear powered mouse trap thingy?

 

[Derek Uzzell]

As far as I'm aware, there was no certain answer to the Truma/GOK-regulator failure problem, with Truma blaming the gas companies for marketing 'dirty' LPG and the gas companies strenuously denying this was so.

 

With hindsight, it seems likely that the design of the Truma/GOK product makes it particularly vulnerable to LPG entering the regulator in liquid form. Although the regulator should be able to tolerate installation in any reasonable orientation, in practice, to reduce the chance of failure it seems to be necessary to install it in such a way that the opportunity for liquid LPG getting in is minimised. This means installing the regulator as high in the gas-locker as possible, vertically oriented with the regulator's inlet uppermost, and using as short as practicable gas-hoses that rise all the way from the gas bottle to the regulator.

 

If that installation is not 100% practicable, then I'd suggest that the last part is the most important - that, whatever sort of hoses you are using, you should make sure they are not uneccessarily long and AWAYS ensure that the hose angles well upwards for a reasonable distance from where the hose connects to the gas bottle.

 

Replacing 'rubber' hoses with all-stainless versions plainly will side-step any likelihood that it's the hoses that were causing the regulators to fail. (An explanation always denied by Truma as far as their own-branded hoses were concerned). And, obviously, if you dump the Truma/GOK regulator and replace it with the Clesse product Peter mentions, you won't get any more Truma regulator failures! Don't forget that, if you choose the Clesse route, you'll need to match regulator outlet-size to your motorhome's gas pipework (8mm or 10mm) specification.

 

I don't know whether similar failures have shown up on Truma/GOK "SecuMotion" regulators, that are variants of the original failure-prone design. But it's perhaps worth saying that, if you plan to replace a SecuMotion regulator with an alternative make/model that has no 'driving with the gas-heater on' safety features, you need to bear in mind the legal implcations of doing this if you do run your heater while driving in countries (like France) that have laws that generally forbid that practice. The SecuMotion regulator has been recently superseded by the Truma "MonoControl CS" regulator ("DuoControl CS" with automatic bottle-changeover) that carries a crash sensor rather than SecuMotion's trickier gas-flow sensor.

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnP]

I am just having to replace my "Secumotion" regulator after 14 months. The safety gas flow sensor will no longer stay in position to allow gas to flow.

[woody.]

Fit a stainless steel hose with a gaslow easy-fit connector and youll never have any problems and youll never have to use a spanner again . ;-)

[Guest peter]

pkc - 2010-10-05 7:29 AM

 

Excellent post Peter, I think you may have solved a long standing niggle I have with my gas setup.

I run a 11kg Gaslow cylinder and a similar size orange Repsol bottle for when I’m in Spain,

Both have their own regulator; I change cylinders by swapping the rubber hose between them.

What caught my eye on your link was the regulator with the change over valve at £49.

If I use this with the GasBOAT 4021 - Jumbo Adaptor to 21.8LH Male on the same page on the link with a couple of hoses, would this work?

Or am I constructing a nuclear powered mouse trap thingy?

It will certainly work. Actually they sent me the Marine version (£29)as they had no Clesse ones in stock. You can probably fit the changeover valve to the smaller Marine one instead opf buying the bigger one. Mine is the smaller one by the way. But make sure it comes with an 8mm adaptor to fit your existing pipework.

 

[Derek Uzzell]

peter - 2010-10-05 10:20 PM

 

pkc - 2010-10-05 7:29 AM

 

Excellent post Peter, I think you may have solved a long standing niggle I have with my gas setup.

I run a 11kg Gaslow cylinder and a similar size orange Repsol bottle for when I’m in Spain,

Both have their own regulator; I change cylinders by swapping the rubber hose between them.

What caught my eye on your link was the regulator with the change over valve at £49.

If I use this with the GasBOAT 4021 - Jumbo Adaptor to 21.8LH Male on the same page on the link with a couple of hoses, would this work?

Or am I constructing a nuclear powered mouse trap thingy?

It will certainly work. Actually they sent me the Marine version (£29)as they had no Clesse ones in stock. You can probably fit the changeover valve to the smaller Marine one instead opf buying the bigger one. Mine is the smaller one by the way. But make sure it comes with an 8mm adaptor to fit your existing pipework.

 

The Clesse regulator + manual change-over valve (10mm outlet connector) is available more cheaply via

 

http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Caravan_Manual_Changeover_Regulator.html

 

It may be possible to obtain the change-over valve separately (see link below)

 

http://www.mytub.co.uk/product_information.php?product=366826

 

but, as there is no image of the item, it's impossible to know exactly what is being offered. Rationally, you'd buy the regulator with the valve already fitted.

 

There is also a Clesse 30mb regulator with automatic change-over capability. The Part No. is 5165CV4 and the UK price is around £85.

[pkc]

Peter, Derek,

Many thanks for the information, I am obliged.