Chausson le mor Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Looking for advice has anybody fitted the new Truma Combi digital control panel which seems to be being fitted in new vans now? We have the old fashioned 2 rotary dial controls! Is the digital display panel a simple plug in fitting? Help most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I believe the unit to be controlled has to be "CP Plus Ready", which appears to rule out anything installed before the early part of this year, and probably a lot more that were pre-purchased for subsequent line installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'm pretty sure that Truma's latest control-panel can be easily (though not cheaply!) retro-fitted to "Combi" appliances with a black outer casing. It cannot be retro-fitted to "Combi" heaters that have a grey outer casing. Best you ask the Truma technicians to confirm this Tel: 01283 586020 Email: technical@trumauk.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 We have the combi4 on our 2011 van it is not compatible, but the combi4e is. so should the combi6e AFAIK, this was the reply from Truma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 ....the Truma documentation implies that the first "CP Plus Ready" models were introduced on or around March this year, with, as Derek has highlighted, a change of body-colour from Grey to Black. Whilst it is possible that earlier models might be supported, such Truma documentation that I can find implies not. Edit ...apologies, I have just found this in the Control Panel instructions: The Truma CP plus control panel can be retrofitted with old heating systems. A software update (via Truma Service) for the heating system is needed for this. ....so, it may well be possible, but I doubt it will be cheap. Truma ahould be able to advise on the number Derek quotes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Hello, apologies for this 'reprint' from the 'caravan forum'. Posted: 11 November 2013 7:59 PM Subject: RE: Truma Combi 4E Heater Problems Autotrail Savannah I have been following this thread,as the performance of the Combi 4E in my Autotrail has been less than outstanding, so much so, that I have to carry a 'backup heat source'. It has left us 'Freezing cold' first thing in the morning and with NO hot water for a shower , more times than i care to remember. Red error light on the Control, no heat and no hot water (this is on Electric hook up, 1800w, no gas on). It's just had it's first Habitation service and I asked them to check out the Combi, and told them of the problems.... they could find NO fault, and suggested that I was closing too many of the Output grilles and the heater was 'tripping out' overheating ? we were not, even though going into the toilet was like walking into a furnace (until of course the heater stopped altogether !!) The Combi has been a pain since we picked up the van, a fuse blew on the control PCB after 1 weeks use (which is when we 'invested' in an Oil filled radiator) had to wait a week to get spare fuses,AND had to get a 'Registered Mobile Truma Engineer ' to fit it, otherwise I'd have 'invalidated the warranty' according to the Truma person I spoke to. Altogether I feel like the original OP, a bit fed-up. And wish for my Eberspacher system back (in an Autocruise) which gave me nothing but WARM pleasure and never let us down. Ray IS there anyway to check if any PCB upgrades are available for my/our heaters ? 'Recalls' etc., I would be interested to fit one of these panels to my van, as a means of 'stabilising' the control of heat throughout the van, at the moment the heat is controlled by a sensor which is located in the kitchen area, right where the kettle sits(the only place it CAN sit) and blows steam at the sensor !! Edited by Rayjsj 2013-11-11 8:01 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Rayjsj - 2013-11-11 8:09 PM I would be interested to fit one of these panels to my van, as a means of 'stabilising' the control of heat throughout the van, at the moment the heat is controlled by a sensor which is located in the kitchen area, right where the kettle sits(the only place it CAN sit) and blows steam at the sensor !! Edited by Rayjsj 2013-11-11 8:01 PM Seems a strange statement, the sensor AFAIK can be fitted anywhere in the van. p.s. on rereading I see the kettle has to sit there, well in that case move the sensor to somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Ray, i spoke to Truma at the NEC regarding another issue and aws told that there was a free PCB upgrade for our Combi 4 although ours is a 2010 model so yours may already have it. FYI this was to re profile the balance between heat and hot water when the winter mode (heat with hot water) is selected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 colin - 2013-11-11 7:08 PM We have the combi4 on our 2011 van it is not compatible, but the combi4e is. so should the combi6e AFAIK, this was the reply from Truma Instructions for the CP Plus control-panel can be found here: http://www.truma.com/downloadcenter/cp_plus_installation_operating_de_gb_fr_it.pdf There's a short piece about CP Plus in the November 2013 issue of "Le Monde du Camping-Car" magazine. This says that CP Plus will be available to retro-fit straightforwardly to "Combi" appliances colored black. For Combis colored grey (ie. all Combis manufactured since mid-2007 until fairly recently) a 'kit' will be available that must be installed by a Truma service centre. This tallies with the advice in the CP Plus instructions that Robinhood quotes. As colin was advised by Truma, the CP Plus control-panel is only be suitable for Combi "E" heaters. This is mentioned at the top-right of Page 16 of this document: http://www.truma.com/downloadcenter/combi_e_cp_plus_ready_operating_de_gb_fr_it_nl_dk_se.pdf (The black colour of the Combi(E) CP Plus-ready heater is evident from the picture on Page 1.) There is an earlier, less sophisticated, integrated control-panel (called CP 25-UK) for Combi E heaters. Information is here: http://dealer.truma.com/_anweisungen/Truma-Katalog/pdf_verzeichnis/30_000/34020_98600.pdf CP Plus brings together the features of a Combi E's previously separate gas and 230V control-panels into a single digital unit and adds extra facilities. It may well be that the 'programming' of a CP Plus-ready Combi E is more subtle than its predecessors, but the limitations of a blown-air heating system will still be present. The latest heaters continue to have a room temperature sensor and if this sensor is badly positioned (as in Ray's case), or the layout of the air-trunkings leading from the heater is poorly conceived, a CP Plus won't cure that. If the distribution of heat throughout a leisure-vehicle is unbalanced, fitting a CP Pus won't stabilise the system or allow it to be better controlled. If a Combi is going into fault-mode (red error light showing) as has happened with Ray's heater, something has caused this. A Combi has more in-built trouble-shooting capability than earlier Truma heaters but, if there's something technically wrong with the appliance, the causes of failure suggested in Truma's trouble-shooting list won't necessarily be relevant. Ray refers to the following thread on the Caravan Chat forum http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Caravans/Caravan-Chat/Truma-Combi-4E-Heater-Problems/32616/ in which the owner of a newish caravan reported that his Combi 4E was not heating water correctly on 230V. The Combi 4E originally fitted to the caravan had failed to work properly and had been replaced, and now the replacement heater was also playing up. Unless a fault with a 'machine' can be provoked to order, diagnosis will be difficult. If Ray's heater showed no signs of malfunction during the motorhome's habitation service, how can his dealer do other than make an educated guess about the heater overheating due to air-duct outlets being closed? Truma technicians will have superior diagnostic capabilities to a dealer's, but may still not be able to decide with certainty why a problem has occurred sporadically in the past if the problem resolutely refuses to show up under test. If the Truma(UK) technicians are provided with a Combi's serial number, they should be able to say if a recall or upgrade applies to it. Unless there's a safety issue (as was the case with a large batch of C-Series appliances) Truma's policy seems to be to react to individual complaints, rather than upgrade across the board. Essentially, unless a user complains that a heater is 'broke', Truma won't be proactive in offering a fix. (I remember repeatedly taking a VW Golf GTi I owned back to the VW dealership I'd bought it new from, complaining that it cold-started oddly (but always started eventually) and that the motor hunted in traffic. Finally the workshop manager said "You know there's something wrong; I know there's something wrong; the VW enginers who've inspected your car know there's something wrong, but nobody knows what's causing the problem. We've replaced lots of parts and the problem persists, but, as long as the car keeps starting within the time-period VW specifies as 'acceptable', we can't do any more than we have." I'd grown to dislike the car, so I part exchanged it at the same dealership for another Golf.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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