Guest Robert Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Does anyone have any suggestions for the following problem? Our Truma water heater is tripping out when connected to mains electric, but all is fine when using gas. Our motorhome is only 3 months old and has been working fine until now.We have checked the main fuses and the 5amp fuse in the main heater switch. We are contacting our dealer but don't hold much hope for a speedy reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Robert, can you answer the following questions please? 1. What's the make/model of your motorhome? 2. I'm guessing that the problem-appliance is a Truma Ultrastore water-boiler (either a B10 or B14, depending on capacity). Is this correct? If not, what model is it? 3. What do you mean by "tripping out"? 4. Does the problem occur immediately you switch the boiler's 230v switch to the ON position, or is there a period when water is actually being heated by mains power and then the fault occurs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Robert Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Mnay thanks for your prompt reply Derek. Our motorhome is an Ace Napoli, 2004 model. The appliance is a Truma Ultrastore water heater, 10 litres (so I guess it is a B10) The fault is occurring when the water heater switch in the wardrobe is switched on - the main circuit breaker trips out immediately (the Ultrastore dial has already been set to 230v) so there is no period when the water is being heated. Hope this clarifies the issue!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Thanks for the feedback Robert. My snap-diagnosis would be that a short-circuiting fault has developed with your boiler's 230v heating-element, but it might be worth exploring the problem from square one. I'm aware of a number of models of Truma's Ultrastore B10 boiler - a marine variant (that I'll ignore) and the following 3 leisure-vehicle versions (A): "Basic" - gas-only operation lacking independent control of water temperature. The appliance is switched on and water is heated until the boiler's factory-pre-set thermostat switches off the gas burner. (B): "Normal" - gas-only operation with independent control of water temperature. The user can select a water temperature from 30C to 70C and, when the boiler is switched on, the water will be heated to the desired temperature when the gas burner will be switched off. (C): "Special" - gas and/or 230v operation. Essentially a (B) model with an additional 850W 'immersion' element allowing water heating separately via mains electricity or, for fast heating, in conjunction with gas. During 230v operation there is no independent control of water temperature which will eventually rise to around 70C until the element's built-in thermostat cuts off the heating process. Logically, your Ace has a (C) version of the B10, but I'm not 100% sure how this has been wired up. Truma market a variety of control-units/switches for their heaters and normal practice for Continental European-built motorhomes would be to have separate similar-looking controls for gas or 230v functions. The gas control-unit has concentric dials and 2 tell-tale lights: one dial is the ON/OFF switch and the other selects the water temperature. The matching 230v control-unit has a rocker-switch and a tell-tale light. On page 129 of August 2003 MMM there's a photo of the boiler installation in the wardrobe-base of their test Napoli. I've studied this but I can't see any sign of the Truma controls I've just mentioned, nor can I spot either of them in the report's other photos. You say "the Ultrastore dial has already been set to 230v", which suggests you've got a different control-unit to the ones I've just mentioned. (There's something in the centre of the photo that looks promising, but it's too small for my magnifying-glass to pick out. If your B10 has no water-temperature control, it's possibly a 230v variation of the "Basic" (A) model. Dunno...) However, as your boiler still works OK on gas and the 230v and gas systems are discrete, let's not obsess over this. When a Truma 230v control-unit is employed, the mains electrical supply cable leads from the motorhome's RCD to a purpose-designed Truma distribution box. This box facilitates connection of the 230v supply cable, the control-unit and the cable from the boiler's heating element. However, as the 230v control-unit is just a fancy ON/OFF switch, it seems common practice with UK-built 'vans to dispense with it and the distribution box and connect the cable from the boiler's heating element directly to a domestic-style fused switch. Based on your description and the MMM photo, that's the set-up with your Ace. You said originally that 230v operation of the boiler used to be fine. Assuming your RCD is OK and there's nothing funny about the 230v power coming from it (you could confirm this by sticking an LED mains-tester in one of your 3-pin 230v sockets), then there's either a fault in the cabling leading from the RCD to the boiler or a fault with the boiler itself. Perhaps a wire has worked loose at the RCD end or within the ON/OFF switch in the wardrobe. Certainly these would be the first things that I'd check. If I failed to find anything wrong there I'd disconnect the cable from the boiler's heating element from the wardrobe-located ON/OFF switch, put a 3-pin plug on the cable-end and plug it into an extension-lead itself plugged into an external 230v switched-socket with an RCD upstream (like in my garage). If that RCD tripped when the socket was switched on then (unless there's a fault in the boiler's heating element cable) I'd assume the heating element had failed. The element is a very simple thing - just a heating-rod with a thermostat to switch the power off when the water temperature hits 70C and an excess temperature cut-out that shuts off power if the rod overheats. Unfortunately, they can fail and replacement is the only cure. (Despite the excess temperature cut-out, accidentally using 230v heating with no water in the boiler will contribute to an element's demise. It's unlikely you've done this, but I mention it just in case.) If a new 230v heating element is needed, I don't know what the chances are of in-situ replacement. Probably approaching nil - they usually are! Whether the boiler can be removed easily through the aperture above it is anybody's guess: the MMM photo suggests the fire might have to come out first. As your Ace is still under warranty this problem is something your dealer is obliged to address. The boiler will be individually warranted by Truma and, if a Truma agency is conveniently located for you, you could ask them to have a look. However, although Truma would fix a boiler fault for you free of charge, they will (normally) charge for time and effort spent on investigation and for removal/replacement of the appliance. But, if your dealer is long distance and Truma close, you might wish to discuss this option with your dealer. Hope this helps and let's hope it's just a loose connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 A brief follow-up... We visited the Stratford show today and I took the opportunity to poke my nose into a Napoli wardrobe to check out the electrical/boiler installation. In fact, in the MMM photo, the thing on the wardrobe wall I thought might be a control-unit turned out to be a relay, and I discovered the standard concentric-dials Ultrastore gas-operation control outside the wardrobe itself, alongside (in the model I inspected) a 2nd Truma control-unit for 230v Ultraheat air heating. It's a pity Swift didn't go the extra metre and add the boiler 230v control to this group where it would be much more convenient than buried at the back of the wardrobe. Having said that, Swift's control-unit placement is a masterpiece of common sense compared with a Compass 'van that had the boiler control units in the central gangway at ankle height! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Robert Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Many thanks for your comprehensive reply Derek and all your efforts on our behalf. We will carry out your suggestions and failing that contact our dealer (unfortunatly they are over 2 hours drive away - we all learn by our mistakes!). Luckily Truma are closer to us, so we may need to try them next. Hope you enjoyed the Stratford show - we will be going to Lincoln in July, assuming no further major faults develop ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest martin h Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 hi. I took my NEW moby to Truma at Burton on Trent cos it didn,t smell good! They didn,t laugh . They were great. Checked it out for ages gave me coffee and loads of advice. FREE.Try them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.