Truma boiler problem

[Champstar]

Hi we have a problem with our truma boiler and wondered if anyone has any ideas.

 

It is a truma B 10 EL boiler with both gas and 230v electric operation. When on site we mostly use the electric option to save gas if hooked up.

 

Recently upon using the leccy we got no hot water...tried switching van rcd off and then on...this used to solve the problem if we forgot to switch off.

This did not work..so tried the gas and hey presto hot water (lol) (lol)

 

When we got home I tried over 3 days to get the leccy water working with no avail...phoned my dealer as still under warranty and booked it in to be looked at. :-S :-S

 

Meanwhile we had a weekend away and used the gas...tried the adjustable thermostat all the way to 70 degrees to check gas was working properly.

 

Anyway we we got to the dealers they had a look and said nowt wrong :$

tried it 3 times and got hot water.....now the only thing I had done was set gas to 70 degrees and drained down the boiler to protect from frost when not in use during the week.

 

No when away last weekend..tried leccy and 1st time got hot water but not near 60 dergrees as we used to...2nd time only luke warm and 3 rd time tepid (?) (?) (?)

Used gas up to 70 degrees again and then next time on leccy got hot water.

 

Can anyone suggest what is wrong so I have some knowledge before another 100 mile trip to dealers.

 

ta very much in advance

[geordie01]

could be the thermostat on the 240 side stickingcan you check it with a multimeter when system is below 60/70 degrees there should be continuity across the stat, if not the stat is faulty.

[Derek Uzzell]

On 230V a Truma B10 EL works like a low-powered electric kettle with the 10 litres of water it contains being heated by an 850W 'immersion' element. Selection of water temperature is not possible: you move the rocker-switch on the Electrical Operation control panel to the "On" position and (if 230V power is reaching the appliance and everything's working OK) the water in the boiler begins to be heated. A thermostat shuts down the heating process when the water temperature attains roughly 70C and restarts the process if that temperature falls naturally or is lowered by hot water being drawn from the boiler. Heating a boiler-full of water from 15C to 70C should take around 45 minutes. The heating element has an excess temperature cut-out (presumably to protect the element should the boiler inadvertently be run empty of water), but this automatically resets when the appliance is switched Off and back On.

 

Although your boiler's heating on 230V is unpredictable, it does appear to be working after a fashion. It's essentially a simple system with just 3 parts - heating element, On/Off switch and 70C thermostat. If either the heating element or control-switch were at fault, it seems reasonable to assume the boiler wouldn't work at all. But you seem to be getting full or partial water-heating and (as geordie01 diagnoses) these symptoms suggest to me that the 230V thermostat has become faulty.

 

The fact that the boiler co-operated when you took it to your dealer (machines are like that!) complicates matters. It's doubtful that the fault will self-correct but, should the boiler suddenly, magically, begin to work properly and reliably on 230V, I suggest you still write to your dealer (with perhaps a copy-letter to Truma) expressing your concern. Otherwise the damn thing will just wait until the 24 months warranty expires before going wrong again.

 

Best thing would be for you to seek expert advice from the technicians at Truma(UK) - (contact details are on www.trumauk.com). Pity you are so far from Truma(UK)'s HQ or you could arrange to take the motorhome there to have the boiler checked out.

 

Once the cause of the problem has been identified, could you please post details on the forum?

[Champstar]

Thanks for your ideas geordie01 and Derek.

 

I was thinking myself that the thermostat was wonky...but how to prove it to my dealer (?) (?)

 

I took the trouble to email Truma UK about my problem and got an email reply today...only thing..it sounds very technical and I would be worried about breaking something if I didnt quite know what I was talking about :$ :$

 

here is the email reply:

 

Could you try, physically dis-connecting the element from the caravan ring maine, either by seperating the JST plugin the power cable, or removing the cable from the fuse spur. This will allow the bi-metal switch in the element to re-set. After around twenty minutes re-connect the power supply and re-try the unit, if you still do not have consistant hot water you may need to replace the element. You should know that these work on totally different temperature stats and not physically connected to eachother.

 

Regards

 

Jason

 

Service Engineer

[geordie01]

hi

the way he is talking if you just disconnct the mains hookup cable your motorhome this would have the same effect and the bi metal switch would reset every time you did this when you were traveling or the van was not being used ie in storage .in my experience with heating elements in emersion heaters they either work or they dont you can test them with a multi meter set for resistance readings but i think that the element would be ok as it would be tripping your rcd on the van if it had a live /earth or live /neutral fault but what do i know im only a plumber. i would check the connections to the 240 v stat and the conections to the 240 v element to see if they were tight. if so my guess is its the 240v stat

good luck

regards

geordie

[Derek Uzzell]

I suggest you telephone Truma(UK) about this as e-mail technical inquiries can often result in 'techno-babble' replies. It sounds like your Truma contact thinks that the excess temperature cut-out may be the culprit, but I ain't convinced. As geordie01 suggests, check for loose connections (just in case), then try Truma again.

[Champstar]

Further to my recent posts I have once again contacted truma uk and they suggest that the electric stat is faulty but as this is contained within the element then the whole element will have to be replaced.

 

I have today contacted my dealer and forwarded the info from truma and asked them to contact me regarding the situation.

 

Will keep posted on my progress *-) *-)

[Champstar]

Just an update on my problem....no reply from dealer...second mail sent last week ...no reply phoned yeasterday and was ready to completely ballistic but to my surprise they said they would order the new element and fit it under warranty :-D

 

Maybe cause I enquired about them doing my habitation service and some accessories (?) (?)

 

How long to get the part?...not holding my breath as still waiting on a water filler cap from last year :'( :'(

[Brian Kirby]

If I may suggest, a little active dealer management is called for.  You are letting them get away with murder.  Only one chaser between October and February!!

Use the 'phone after e-mailing or writing, to see who has the correspondence, and who is following it up.  Many firms just park unwelcome letters/e-mails to see if anything happens.  If all stays quiet, so do they!

You cannot afford to sit back and wait for them to action your request.  Sadly, as a general rule, you have to take the lead and drag them along.  Human beings are lazy little blighters and, despite the rumours, dealers are merely human.  :-)

[Champstar]

Thanks for the advice Brian...unfortunately illness had prevented me from being proactive..but now I shall be pestering them on a weekly basis until my problem is solved.... >:-)

[Derek Uzzell]

Champstar:

 

Truma appliances carry thir own warranty and under-warranty repairs, if not carried out by Truma staff, need to be authorised by Truma(UK) in this country. So, unless your dealer proposes to send your boiler to Truma(UK)'s HQ (or a Truma technician pays a flying visit to your dealer) for the replacement element to be fitted, there will need to be some interplay between dealer and Truma, as much as anything to confirm who will pay for the part and the labour. I can't see that taking long however, and it's near certain that 230V elements for B10 boilers will be off-the-shelf items. If you think your dealer may procrastinate, you could always contact Truma(HQ) and ask if elements are currently in stock.

 

This is just nosiness, but is your Champ's warranty affected now that its manufacturer has gone bust?

 

 

[Champstar]

Derek

 

Have not heard anything from Lunar but I assume that the dealer is the responsible party for warranty work...they did ask how old the van was but it is still within the 2 yr period. However I did report the fault last year!!!

[Champstar]

Next update......

Phoned dealers today and guess what..had done sod all about my boiler element....said they would phone Lunar and get back to me.

2 hrs later I phoned back to find out they could not contact Lunar...upon asking why they had to contact Lunar as the part is a Truma and kept on the shelf (asked truma myself)..suddenly it was no problem but would take around 10 days to get...not so says I...next day delivery????

 

Anyway turns out can't book van in as new vans going out in March so have booked for 12th..fingers crossed

 

Another point was also going to get my habitation check done then as well but was advised not to bring it forward as this would disrupt or end my warranty period..which runs out in June....so didnt bother.

 

Will report back on the next excuse....an award winner in Practical Motorhome dealers.....not so sure!!!! but willing to change my mind if everthing gets sorted.

[Mel B]

What a pallaver you're having! I hope it get sorted soon.

 

As for what they are telling you about your warranty 'ending' if you have the habitation done early I think that's a load of b*llocks! The warranty runs out when it runs out on it's due date, not because the van has been 'habitationed' (?).

 

However, I would suggest that the best time to have the habitation done is a few days before the warranty runs out, that way if there's anything wrong it will be caught then and still qualify for the warranty to pay out, have it done too far in advance and you might have a fault develop that you don't know about until the warranty has expired.

[Derek Uzzell]

Mel B:

 

I've got this vague suspicion that Lunar warranties are insurance-company-backed (rather like an extended warranty). If this is correct, there may be very strict rules as to when obligatory servicing/inspections are carried out. For instance, it might be stipulated that an annual habitation service be performed within 30 days each side of a motorhome's 'birthday and failure to adhere to this schedule would void the warranty. Similar conditions might also apply to obligatory watertightness inspections.

 

While it would be more normal for warranties to become void because mandatory servicing/inspections aren't carried out, or are carried out too late, it's quite possible for the same thing to happen if servicing/inspections are performed too early. There needs to be some sort of control over when servicing/inspections linked to warranties can be carried out, otherwise one could (at least in theory!) have a situation where an owner of a motorhome with a 5-year watertightness warranty with obligatory 6-monthly inspections had 10 successive inspections made on the 10 days immediately after buying the vehicle and then claimed "That's it for the next 5 years".