Truma 6E heater system failure

[John Ex Ltm]

Hi, I have a Hobby motorhome with a failed Truma heater 6E system, 3 years old with 9000 miles done.

Heater works on Gas but not electric, we have a faulty element, cost to repair the element is over £1100 incl labour.

Any ideas on who could repair this more economically please?

[Labby]

Have a look at www.thermotechnica.com  who should be able to help, but you may need to get the heater to them.

[simians]

DIY ? 

£1100,  Could be a body off job to justify that cost 🙂

[Derek Uzzell]

This page from the Thermo Technica website (suggested by Labby)

https://www.thermotechnica.com/product/caravan-motorhome-combi-boiler-heater-elements-240v/

quotes £460 for a 'genuine' Truma Combi 230V element kit, with a fitting service offered for £350.

However, it will be seen that the company can offer much cheaper 'copies' of the elements and Trustpilot reviews are mainly positive.

(Replacement of a Combi's 230V elements will almost always be an 'on the workbench' job and some motorhome manufacturers have delighted in installing the heater and then building the rest of the motorhome around it. In such cases (unless the owner is able to DIY) labour charges for removal and refitting the heater can be expected to add considerably to the overall cost of the task.)

[Robinhood]

25 minutes ago, Derek Uzzell said:

.....quotes £460 for a 'genuine' Truma Combi 230V element kit, with a fitting service offered for £350.

As I've always read it, that £350 fitting service is an all-inclusive price if you choose their (rather than Truma's) elements. (see the "inclusions"). It makes it rather attractive against an £1100 quote, even if one has to remove the unit oneself (or arrange help)

(As I've family in the area, a visit there with mine should they ever/when they "go" is on the cards).

[mtravel]

In more than thirty-five years of motorhome travel (even in the cold) I have always used gas or diesel.

In the latest Truma I found the electric heater option.

In three years used once just to try it.

You can survive even without it.

[Derek Uzzell]

53 minutes ago, Robinhood said:

As I've always read it, that £350 fitting service is an all-inclusive price if you choose their (rather than Truma's) elements. (see the "inclusions"). It makes it rather attractive against an £1100 quote, even if one has to remove the unit oneself (or arrange help)

I agree - almost a bargain.

https://www.thermotechnica.com/product/element-fitting-service/?date=2023-03-20&time=0800

[simians]

56 minutes ago, Derek Uzzell said:

some motorhome manufacturers have delighted in installing the heater and then building the rest of the motorhome around it. 

Not so long ago motorhome manufacturing was considered a 'cottage' industry and could have been forgiven the odd amateur design cockup. Nowadays no reasonable excuse. Having said that I've owned a mercedes car or 2 necessitating removal of suspension along with subframe and fuel tank all to replace £10 worth of rusty steel brake line. Presumably primarily to suit factory assembly line convenience.

[ColinM50]

Just had my Whale heater replaced by Propex in Ringwood. Excellent service and half the price of a Whale original

[colin]

1 hour ago, simians said:

 Having said that I've owned a mercedes car or 2 necessitating removal of suspension along with subframe and fuel tank all to replace £10 worth of rusty steel brake line. Presumably primarily to suit factory assembly line convenience.

Had a discussion with GM design engineer about clutch replacement on Cavaliers, at one time it was probably the easiest car in world to replace clutch, it then became one of the worst, his view was that cost of production overruled maintenance as clutch isn't  covered by warrantee.

[Adiebt]

Just had the same replaced with Truma parts £795 all in A and E Leisure Cheshire . 

[simians]

1 hour ago, ColinM50 said:

Just had my Whale heater replaced by Propex in Ringwood. Excellent service and half the price of a Whale original

Hopefully not replaced with a Propex Malaga 5E 🙄

[John Ex Ltm]

13 hours ago, Adiebt said:

Just had the same replaced with Truma parts £795 all in A and E Leisure Cheshire . 

Thank you, I would rather get the job done by someone rather than remove the heater myself

[ColinM50]

JohnEx, delivered my M/H to Propex Ringwood, wandered into town (2 mins away) and they called me after an hour to tell me all installed tested and working fine. Got a two year Whale guarantee on it too. Can't recommend highly enough

[simians]

One advantage of carrying out a selfbuild is that you ask yourself at construction time (obviously!) the question, "how the hell do I extricate this when it goes u/s". At least that has always been my approach, and just as well, because I've had reason to remove, replace, repair,  Propex Malaga 3 and 4 water heater boilers due to poor manufacture, on at least 7 or 8 occasions, sods law dictated that this occurred usually on the road somewhere in deepest Euroland 🥴 

[Brian Kirby]

On 3/15/2023 at 1:17 PM, John Ex Ltm said:

Hi, I have a Hobby motorhome with a failed Truma heater 6E system, 3 years old with 9000 miles done.

Heater works on Gas but not electric, we have a faulty element, cost to repair the element is over £1100 incl labour.

Any ideas on who could repair this more economically please?

Have you contacted Truma over this?  It used to be possible to deliver the item to their workshop for repair.  I get the impression this may no longer be possible, as their location has disappeared from their website!  However, the contact details are: Truma Ltd Customer Services, Phone: 01283 587960  Maybe worth a try.

As others have suggested, the biggest reduction in cost is likely to come from at least dismantling the enclosure in which the heater is installed to give the repairer (presumably mobile?) immediate access, or, if you're comfortable doing the work, actually removing the heater yourself, and delivering it to a repairer.

Hobby do seem to have a sense of humour in their approach to maintenance access - although, to be fair, they are not entirely alone in this!  It may be worth asking your present repairer if they can give some breakdown of the cost as between the cost of supplying and fitting the failed element, and actually gaining access to the heater to do the work.  Have they actually seen the installation, or are they merely giving you a "blanket" price for replacing the element "sight unseen"?

£1,100 seems a very high price for fitting a £460 electrical element, even if you accept that £460 is a reasonable price for the element, which seems extortionate to me.  

There have been a number of comments over the years criticising the the durability Truma elements, with the implication that they do not survive well if subject to extensive use, particularly where not used in conjunction with gas (i.e. "E" only rather than "gas+E).  I believe alternatives are available that claim superior durability, but don't know if these are the Thermo Technica products referenced above.

[Derek Uzzell]

13 hours ago, Brian Kirby said:

...£1,100 seems a very high price for fitting a £460 electrical element, even if you accept that £460 is a reasonable price for the element, which seems extortionate to me....

Regarding the £460 price, it has been at least 6 years since Truma stopped marketing replacement 230V elements for Combi 'E' heaters. When that happened, Truma offered instead an installation 'kit' (image below) comprising two elements plus gaskets, seals and  fixings at a cost (in 2017) of around £300.

This link states that the 'elements + parts' kit has been superseded by an 'elements + heat-exchanger' kit (drawing below) intended to simplify installation and reduce the time needed to carry out the task

https://www.leisurespares.co.uk/spare-parts/popular-spares-and-miscellaneous/truma-popular-parts/3402000228uk

 

Adverts quote a price from £342

https://www.southdownsmotorcaravans.com/34020-00228-truma-heating-element-kit-combi-truma-heating-spare-parts.html

to around £480

https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/gas/caravan-gas-water-heater/truma-heaters/truma-combi-uk-gas-and-electric-heater-spare-parts/heating-element-for-mcombi-4e-and-6e

but there is likely to be old stock of the superseded product out there, so it would be necessary to check very carefully which kit one would be buying.

[Brian Kirby]

Blimey!  Not sure how to respond to that!  I'm tempted to suggest that the fitting time could be reduced even further if they just supplied a complete exchange heater!  It all seems a bit "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!".

I'd have hoped Truma might (somewhat more helpfully) have done two things.  First, examine the quality of the elements with a view to improving their endurance.  Second, review the design of the heaters to reduce the time required for element replacement. 

What they're now promoting creates a pile of (apparently) waste parts, all in order the save the unfortunate owner half an hour's labour cost which, at current cost appears to be in the region of £25 - £30!  All this, to reduce the installation time from 2.5 hours to 2 hours.  Not very "green" surely?

And we're supposed to believe that all that extra guff is only worth the said £20 - £30 cost of the half hour's saved labour?  How can that be, when the elements alone were reportedly sold (2020 cost) for about £300?  

Conclusion?  Since you can't easily avoid Truma heaters, avoid using the 230V electric option.  You could buy a lot of gas for the price of the kit alone, but of course that isn't very green, either, is it?  😞 

Speechless it is that I am!

[dougalthedog999]

You have to wonder why they couldn't have used something off the shelf, like this for example:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/tesla-copper-immersion-heater-element-11-/89280?tc=AB4&ds_rl=1249404&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8e-gBhD0ARIsAJiDsaXwMYxNCHOMMI3UYsZgWzqAC8RRuyyrlSfURVEge2Ng9llNzE-vO74aAt1CEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It's a bargain by comparison and looks to screw in.