Erberspacher Heater Trips Out (1 Viewer)

Sweet Chariot

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During the winter we tend to only use Caravan Club sites. Every time I use my Erberspacher on the mains it trips the site box I am connected to. Sometimes immediately and as we have noted having been on for some hours and during the middle of the night when we wake up cold.
What I find strange is the trip at the site box and not on the Van. Also if i connect the system at home on mains it tripped once but no more. Apart from any suggestions for the fault like a a possible faulty Earth does anybody also know how many amps a C.C. site box takes before it trips. We have tried it with everything else turned off and still it tripped on site.
I took it to a Erberspacher Agent who tried first of all to tell me there was nothing wrong with it but when he used a Caravan Cable it tripped but then he tried another Cable and it tripped again,just baffled that it does not trip at the Van or on house mains.:Sad:?
 
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pappajohn

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During the winter we tend to only use Caravan Club sites. Every time I use my Erberspacher on the mains it trips the site box I am connected to. Sometimes immediately and as we have noted having been on for some hours and during the middle of the night when we wake up cold.
What I find strange is the trip at the site box and not on the Van. Also if i connect the system at home on mains it tripped once but no more. Apart from any suggestions for the fault like a a possible faulty Earth does anybody also know how many amps a C.C. site box takes before it trips. We have tried it with everything else turned off and still it tripped on site.
I took it to a Erberspacher Agent who tried first of all to tell me there was nothing wrong with it but when he used a Caravan Cable it tripped but then he tried another Cable and it tripped again,just baffled that it does not trip at the Van or on house mains.:Sad:?

nearly all, if not all, cc sites are 16amp and your erberspacher shouldnt draw that much otherwise it wouldnt have a mains option.
is it the RCD (the one with the button on it)tripping or the MCB(the small plain one)

john.
 

Wildman

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it could well be the length of the cable causing a voltage drop sufficient for the eberspacher to cut out, if the heater trip then arcs it would trip the main box.

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Sweet Chariot

Sweet Chariot

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nearly all, if not all, cc sites are 16amp and your erberspacher shouldnt draw that much otherwise it wouldnt have a mains option.
is it the RCD (the one with the button on it)tripping or the MCB(the small plain one)

I have got to be honest cannot remember which one tripped but would appreciate your thoughts on the reason for either of them.
With regards to the cable length have used both 25m. and 10m with no difference.
 

scotjimland

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Hi

I checked the spec of your combi heater, and I quote " the recommended supply fuse is 10A preferably 16A " unquote.

This suggests to me that it is a ~ 2.5 - 3kw heater.. which will pull about 11A - 13A ..

Now given that the site supply is 16A this only leaves 3A to 5A to power other equipment, the fridge plus the battery charger may just put it over the 16A ..

If it were tripping the RCD ( residual current device ) that would indicate an earth fault .. but that wouldn't be intermittent, so I conclude that it is the CB that is tripping, indicating an overload ..

However this needs to be verified by a competent electrician..


Hope that helps

Jim
 
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pappajohn

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nearly all, if not all, cc sites are 16amp and your erberspacher shouldnt draw that much otherwise it wouldnt have a mains option.
is it the RCD (the one with the button on it)tripping or the MCB(the small plain one)

I have got to be honest cannot remember which one tripped but would appreciate your thoughts on the reason for either of them.
With regards to the cable length have used both 25m. and 10m with no difference.

Jims just explained it all...:thumb: so it looks like keeping warm or warm beer in the fridge.:ROFLMAO:

Hi

I checked the spec of your combi heater, and I quote " the recommended supply fuse is 10A preferably 16A " unquote.

This suggests to me that it is a ~ 2.5 - 3kw heater.. which will pull about 11A - 13A ..

Now given that the site supply is 16A this only leaves 3A to 5A to power other equipment, the fridge plus the battery charger may just put it over the 16A ..

If it were tripping the RCD ( residual current device ) that would indicate an earth fault .. but that wouldn't be intermittent, so I conclude that it is the CB that is tripping indicating an overload ..

However this needs to be verified by a competent electrician..


Hope that helps

Jim

cheers Jim....saved me going through it all..:thumb:

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pappajohn

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just a thought on the house mains.

the campsite leccy is a radial circuit meaning a single cable feeding the first post then to the next post and so on finishing at the last post on the circuit and is rated at 16amp.

the house mains is a ring main meaning it is a continuous loop from the breaker and back to the same breaker and fed from both ends and is rated at 32amp.

this will be the reason for it working at home providing, of course, you dont have a dedicated hookup point on its own circuit breaker.

if the campsites were on a ringmain it would provide more than enough power for everyone. the only extra cost being the return wire to the breaker with a possible increase in cable size due to the length and a 32amp breaker(about the same as a 16amp).
of course this means everyone would use a lot more leccy and the price would go up accordingly.:Doh:
 
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Sweet Chariot

Sweet Chariot

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These are all very interesting answers which I will look at but on most occasions the Heating has been on during the day when as you say I will be using other items ie Kettle Tele. The main time it seems to trip is then during the night when the only other items would be the Fridge and Battery charger will try again and note this time which switch trips.
 
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scotjimland

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These are all very interesting answers which I will look at but on most occasions the Heating has been on during the day when as you say I will be using other items ie Kettle Tele. The main time it seems to trip is then during the night when the only other items would be the Fridge and Battery charger will try again and note this time which switch trips.

Hi , just a thought, do you have an separate electric water heater.. ?

We often trip the 16A CB on the site :Blush: it's the things that 'cycle' on and off that catch us out .. water heater, fridge, charger, oil filled heaters etc ..
this was my reason for looking for a power monitor .. plus Jan finds it hard to remember the wattage of appliances.. I'm blaming her anyway .. :roflmto:

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Sweet Chariot

Sweet Chariot

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Hi , just a thought, do you have an separate electric water heater.. ?

We often trip the 16A CB on the site :Blush: it's the things that 'cycle' on and off that catch us out .. water heater, fridge, charger, oil filled heaters etc ..
this was my reason for looking for a power monitor .. plus Jan finds it hard to remember the wattage of appliances.. I'm blaming her anyway .. :roflmto:

The water heater is run of the Erberspacher and works fine on both 240 and diesel no trips outs and have ensured water not on at same time as heating.
 
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scotjimland

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Hi

If you want to run some tests yourself, a very useful bit of kit is a Link Removed.. this will measure the AC current without the need to disconnect any cables.. you only need access to the supply cable at the dist. box in the van..

It has other very useful functions, DC current and voltage and resistance which you may or may not find useful depending on your electrical knowledge .. but don't do anything you are not 100% sure about.

Jim
 

JockandRita

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[quote="ScotJimland]plus Jan finds it hard to remember the wattage of appliances.. I'm blaming her anyway .. [/quote]
Ach away wi yae, ya big bully, leave the wee lassie alane:ROFLMAO:

It's always the van that trips out in our case, never the bollard, which I think is more sociable, and fine when it's bucketing down outside. :ROFLMAO:

Jock.

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pappajohn

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Hi

If you want to run some tests yourself, a very useful bit of kit is a Link Removed.. this will measure the AC current without the need to disconnect any cables.. you only need access to the supply cable at the dist. box in the van..

It has other very useful functions, DC current and voltage and resistance which you may or may not find useful depending on your electrical knowledge .. but don't do anything you are not 100% sure about.

Jim

Very similar to mine Jim but mine has the added function of DC Amps (1ma to 100amps) as well. difference being mine was £40.

Must have been a 'house bashing spark' that did our 230v conversion.. it has a 32A CB for the sockets .. must get round to changing it some day .. :Blush:

round about £6 at City Electrical Factors or The Electric Center (formerly William Wilson).....both sell to the public.

john.
 

scotjimland

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Very similar to mine Jim but mine has the added function of DC Amps (1ma to 100amps) as well. difference being mine was £40.


oops, my mistake John .. correct, the Maplin model doesn't do DC amps..

I'm amazed how cheap these instruments are now, not so long ago they were far too expensive for the hobbyist .. in my day a clamp meter or as we called them 'tong testers' were over a hundred quid.. cheap as chips now..

I still have my old Fluke multimeter which cost well over a hundred quid .. of course it has a calibration certificate but today you can get an equivalent for a few pounds..

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pappajohn

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mine paid for itself the first time i used it(and it was the reason for buying).:thumb:
i found i didnt need a new car battery saving around £40....just needed the radio wiring in properly. it was drawing nearly 200ma on standby instead of 9ma. two weeks without use and the battery was flat.:Doh:
 

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