on/ ooff switch

[AlanS]

Frad - 2017-02-05 3:46 PM

 

Thank you Alan and Dereck and everyone else save's me searching any more. alan

 

Frad

 

Just a quick point to add in that the water heater is 850 watts so almost 4 Amps at 230 volts. If you are on a site with low current EHU as is often the case in Europe (6 Amps and sometimes less) you will have to remember to switch the water heater off at the Sargent EC500 Panel before you boil a kettle, use the toaster etc. and similar when you are using the Ultraheat - pain in the backside at times but you soon get used to it.

Alan

[Derek Uzzell]

Based on Auto-Trail's handbooks, this is what seemingly happened regarding the mysterious present-or-not “Ultrastore”-marked 230V switch for the water-boiler.

 

Up to and including model-year 2007 Auto-Trail fitted gas-only Truma boilers, so there was no 230V switch.

 

For model-years 2008, 2009 and 2010 Auto-Trail fitted gas/230V Truma boilers and a Sargent electrical system with a EC225 power-supply unit (PSU).

 

In the 2008 handbook the following advice first appeared regarding operating the boiler on 230V

 

"230V Operation

To use the water heater on 230V mains simply turn the clearly marked switch into the ‘ON’ position. The switch is clearly marked with?an ‘ULTRASTORE’ label.

The position of this switch can vary from model to model so please familiarise yourself with the location of this switch before using your vehicle for the first time.

Please note, when the water heater is used on mains the temperature is fixed to approximately 70 ° centigrade, this is?not adjustable.”

 

This was presumably correct as a Sargent EC225 PSU does not have a switch to turn the water-boiler’s 230V heating-element on and off. The identical advice continued to be printed in the 2009 and 2010 handbooks.

 

For model-year 2011 the EC225 Sargent PSU was replaced in Auto-Trail motorhomes by a EC500 PSU that DOES have a switch to turn the water-boiler’s 230V heating-element on and off. This would have made the “Ultrastore”-marked 230V switch redundant and the reference to the “Ultrastore”-marked 230V switch should have been deleted from the 2011 and subsequent handbooks.

[AlanS]

Derek

I am not sure where you got your information from but I have a 2006 AT Handbook and they definitely had gas and electric heating for the hot water Truma Ultrastore and I have just looked at the 2006 Brochure and all but 3 of their MH models had this facility (these three having the Truma Combi.).

Alan

[Derek Uzzell]

The 2006 A-T handbook can be viewed here

 

http://www.auto-trail.co.uk/assets/downloads/files/e47e3f37a74c73264b99f595a92abe19967fc6c4.pdf

 

Page 44 covers the “Ultrastore” boiler and merely refers to it as “...a 10 l capacity liquid gas storage heater”.

 

Now, it has to be said that a) Pages 41 to 44 are missing, b) Page 25 does say

 

"230V Electrical Operation (Hot water only)

When the rocker switch is in the ‘on’ position (j) the switch will illuminate to show that the water heater is operating. The water temperature is automatically regulated to 60°C.”

 

and c) the pictures of some of the switches don’t match the text.

 

Although the 2007 A-T handbook was revised

 

http://www.auto-trail.co.uk/assets/downloads/files/859c1e1075ad6d18caa3669e511fed4dedb42bc6.pdf

 

the same “230V Electrical Operation (Hot water only)” advice appears on Page 25 (though there’s no sign of a photo of the switch) and Page 63 describes the “Ultrastore” boiler similarly.

 

It has to be said that it surprised me that A-T seemed to be fitting gas-only Truma water-boilers as the gas/230V variant has been the norm for UK-manufactured motorhomes since Year Dot, and I accept that my assumption regarding the pre-2008 model-years was wrong.