judy Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Can I have some opinions on whale heating please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I notice that, last month, you asked for feedback from Kemerton-owning forum-members regarding the vehicle’s Whale heating system. http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/whale-heating-in-autosleeper-kemerton/35563/ As nobody was able to provide hands-on advice about the Whale system (or the Kemerton) then, I suspect you’ll be out of luck this time. Did you try the A-S Owners forum and, if so, with what success? You could also try the MotorHomeFacts and MotorHomeFun forums, as a guick GOOGLE-check reveals that a Kemerton owner has participated on each in the past. If you are interested in comments on the Whale heating system generally, not just its installation in the Kemerton, there seems to be a fair bit of stuff on-line. http://www.google.co.uk/#q=motorhome+whale+heating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamw Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 judy - 2014-08-19 6:46 PM Can I have some opinions on whale heating please Have had experience of the Whale gas/electric space heater over the past three years in a van conversion I have owned. The van had a Truma water heater acting alongside the Whale unit. This gave the opportunity to use both gas and electric to simultaneously heat the van and water if required. I found the Whale heater well controlled and efficient in operation through a relatively simple control panel. Occasionally some people have complained that the heater is noisy and certainly on full blast it can be heard but I never needed to operate the unit at this level for a sustained period. Some people have also complained that even on a low setting it is audible at night time. Interestingly mine never caused a problem as the van converter never attached the air intake pipe to the unit but left about a gap of 10mm. This resulted in air being partially drawn in from around the unit under the bench seat and also down the air intake pipe but with very much reduced noise. It has also been suggested that if the air intake pipe is accidentally blocked or covered by bedding then this installation strategy will ensure that the unit does not cut out from overheating. A week prior to the 3 year warranty on the unit expiring I suddenly lost heating on one of the output settings using electric. It would work on the high output setting on electric and also on gas. I have to say the van converter when I contacted him showed little interest in the problem and as we were abroad seeking winter sun I was not able to pursue the problem. On our return home and beyond the warranty period I contacted Whale about the problem. Three day later an engineer turned up with a complete brand new heater and replaced without a quibble. A letter of apology arrived a day later from Whale seeking to ensure that we were completely satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judy Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Thank you both Derek and Graham for your comments. Much appreciate the time you have taken to respond to me. I have read plenty about the system but wanted to hear of first hand experience of it . So your comment are very useful to me . Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 According to a magazine review on 2015 Autosleepers, the Kemerton has been dropped. The XL version continues and that has the Truma heating system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judy Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Thanks for your reply. I have just read the article. Quite surprised as there was no mention of that when I spoke with an AS guy today . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamw Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 grahamw - 2014-08-20 2:45 PM Some people have also complained that even on a low setting it is audible at night time. Interestingly mine never caused a problem as the van converter never attached the air intake pipe to the unit but left about a gap of 10mm. This resulted in air being partially drawn in from around the unit under the bench seat and also down the air intake pipe but with very much reduced noise. It has also been suggested that if the air intake pipe is accidentally blocked or covered by bedding then this installation strategy will ensure that the unit does not cut out from overheating. I think I need to add an important note to the strategy used by the van conversion specialist outlined in my previous posting. I no longer own the vehicle but I do recall that after some time I attached the air intake hose directly onto the heater and eliminated the gap. This did result in a slight increase in noise at the air inlet. My thinking was that if there was a gas leak in the vicinity of the heater then there was always the possibility that escaping gas would be drawn into the heater and recirculated rather than escape via adjacent gas drop-out holes. I never did get to discuss this with the conversion specialist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 grahamw - 2014-08-22 8:27 AM grahamw - 2014-08-20 2:45 PM Some people have also complained that even on a low setting it is audible at night time. Interestingly mine never caused a problem as the van converter never attached the air intake pipe to the unit but left about a gap of 10mm. This resulted in air being partially drawn in from around the unit under the bench seat and also down the air intake pipe but with very much reduced noise. It has also been suggested that if the air intake pipe is accidentally blocked or covered by bedding then this installation strategy will ensure that the unit does not cut out from overheating. I think I need to add an important note to the strategy used by the van conversion specialist outlined in my previous posting. I no longer own the vehicle but I do recall that after some time I attached the air intake hose directly onto the heater and eliminated the gap. This did result in a slight increase in noise at the air inlet. My thinking was that if there was a gas leak in the vicinity of the heater then there was always the possibility that escaping gas would be drawn into the heater and recirculated rather than escape via adjacent gas drop-out holes. I never did get to discuss this with the conversion specialist. I hesitate to say this, but the gas ‘drop-out’ vents that are (apparently) mandatory for UK-built motorhome conversions are a joke when it comes to recirculatory air heaters. The logic seems to be that - in the event of a gas leak - LPG, being heavier than air, will cooperate and rush through a small hole cut in the motorhome’s floor like water down a drain - that’s never going to happen. A gas-fuelled recirculatory air heater (eg. a Whale or Truma appliance) is designed to take air from a leisure-vehicle’s living area, heat it and distribute it around the vehicle’s interior. Cut a drop-out vent near this type of heater and the heater will continuously suck air from outside the vehicle, which will hardly make for efficient heating in cold weather. There’s no doubt that, if there’s a gas leak near the air intake of a recirculatory air heater, when the heater is operating it’s inevitable that it will ingest that gas and blow it around the vehicle’s interior. It’s an unavoidable fact of life and a dinky little drop-out vent won’t stop it happening. This seems to be acknowledged by Continental-European motorhome converters that do not combine drop-out vents with gas-fuelled recirculatory air heaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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