Truma Combi Heater Safety Modification

[Derek Uzzell]

This is referred to in earlier postings. Just idle curiosity really, but has anyone with a heater requiring modification chosen to have the necessary work carried out at their own home by Truma? Oh yes, and can anyone with one of these heaters say, hand on heart, that it NEVER smells when heating water in gas-only mode? (If you are able to answer Yes, please can you confirm which Combi model you have and how old it is, please?)

[chas]

Hi Derek,Our Truma ultrastore Rapid water heater which works on gas or electric or both together, never smells on gas only. It is stored under the rear seat and is about 18months old as is the van. We both pride ourselves with a keen sense of smell,( can detect someone smoking a fag at 100 paces) it has never been modified and only checked over at its last 12month habitation service. By the way, a thread I asked about a few months ago about the outside cowl , was about using the heater on electric only without removing the cowl, as you said it would be quite in order, which it is, however gas was another thing, and I can confirm that if the cowl is not removed with gas only, nothing bad happens it just sets to failure mode and shuts off, hope this helps, regards chas

[Derek Uzzell]

Chas: Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately (or perhaps "fortunately" is more apt!), the Ultrastore boiler is a very different beast from the Combi and, to the best of my knowledge, has never been a stinker. On the cowl question, I recall giving poor advice that I later retracted in a follow-up posting of 2/3/2006.

[Brian Kirby]

[QUOTE]Derek Uzzell - 2006-08-03 7:38 AM This is referred to in earlier postings. Just idle curiosity really, but has anyone with a heater requiring modification chosen to have the necessary work carried out at their own home by Truma? Oh yes, and can anyone with one of these heaters say, hand on heart, that it NEVER smells when heating water in gas-only mode? (If you are able to answer Yes, please can you confirm which Combi model you have and how old it is, please?)[/QUOTE]

Derek

I assume you ask because yours does?

Ours is a 3402, with an electric water heater element.  It is about 18 months old. 

We used it intensively last year on an 11 week trip and again this year on a ten week trip.  We mostly use sites, so generally heat the water by electricity.  We used the heating quite extensively during te first couple of weeks of this years holiday, but with water heated by electricity.

When the heater was first used, heating or water heating, it smelt, not strongly, but noticeably: a sort of baking smell.  This is stated normal by Truma, and has since gone off, or at least we don't notice it any more. 

On the few occasions when we have heated the water on gas without heating there has been no recurrance of that smell. 

On the even fewer occasions when we have used gas for water and heating, ditto. 

However, whenever the heater is working on gas there is initially a faint smell of the sort you seem to get from radiators and pipework when the boiler first heats up in the autumn.  Just a kind of "warm" smell.  I think this is mainly a little surface moisture, and maybe a bit of dust rising in the first warm air.  As with the rads etc, this soon goes. 

Since we seem to have been to some very dusty places however, I have ignored this.

Hope this is helpful.

[Brian Kirby]

Derek

An update!  Used the water heater on gas over the past weekend at Malvern.  First time on, the smell was back.  However, thereafter, it did not recur.  The heater was used two/three times per day, over the whole four days, so quite a good test.  Prior to last weekend, the heater had not been in use for about six weeks.

Any help?