Alde heating

[Bonkers the Dog]

Hi,

Yes, its me again.

Our van has alde wet central heating.

Is there a secret squirrel way of getting this to work?

I was poking away at the controller today like a chimp trying to type Shakespeare, mostly without result.

Eventually got it to fire up, more through luck than judgement. But it took me 40 minutes. I kept getting a "no gas" error message.

I did all the usual tests. Gaslow on, electrics off etc I left the shore line in.

Its driving me crazy-bonkers as its not the first time I've had trouble firing it up (mind you we only got it on Saturday!). There was a lot of swearing involved...do m/h's have parents? I was mostly accusing it of not...

Please, some Heating Jedi-master tell me the easy path...

 

[ambulancekidd]

It all depends on which controller you have, there are plenty of videos on You Tube.

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

Ahhhh...yes, you tube. I never thought of that. I don't have that one. Mine is much smaller and touch sensitive...ahem.

 

[Korgrocker]

There's always the last resort for us blokes - read the manual.

 

[icantremember]

If the gas has been turned off at the bottle it will take a while for gas to get back to the boiler giving the "Gas out" message in the meanwhile. Lighting a hob burner first will get the gas through quicker.

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[Bonkers the Dog]

There's always the last resort for us blokes - read the manual.

Ehhh!? Wash your mouth out with soap young man and say 12 Top Gears and 3 Bench Large Grinders as an act of contrition; and don't let me catch you at it again....

Unfortunately my manuals en francais, as its a grey import; not that I would refer to it of course...

Thanks for the gas tip, tried it yesterday. System still seems awfully slow to come on line though.

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

So, the saga continues. I have digested the manual and am non the wiser. I have perused Utube and they make it all look deceptively easy, Am I missing something?

It works when I don't want it to - ie in the middle of the night when I've set the lecky and gas to "off" and the gas taps are "off" on the gaslow and the van is on shore power. For instance, I was out in it this AM and the van was warm. How can this be when all functions are "off"?

The manual makes reference to "window switch". What is this? There is no explanation! How would it know what windows are up to? Is there a micro switch somewhere I'm not seeing?

It doesnt' work when I do want it to, when the panel is powered up , the ALDE controller is set to "on" and the lecky function is set to "on". Its getting to be quite annoying.

As it is a new van, to us, I need to get this mastered as if its not working as it should do I will need to make a warranty claim.

 

[TCG]

Why don’t you contact Alde, great customer service

 

[funflair]

Window switch will be if the exhaust vent is directly below a window it might have a switch that cuts the heating on gas if the window is open, there is also a setting on later models that turn the system onto electric operations as soon as you plug it in,I think it’s called “auto on”

Martin

 

[sonny]

Is it using the Sargent controller if so turn off the timers set the temp required to more than is in van touch gas picture job done

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[Chipster]

Sounds like you have night function enabled?

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

So the plot thickens.

Yes, night function is enabled.

Yes, good Idea, I will call Alde help tomorrow.

We took her out Saturday night and went off grid for the evening afore we travelled to Edinburgh for the Scottish Bike Show at Ingleston.

Anyway. We fired up the heating at about 1700, bit of a faff but we got there, or so we thought. We also used the Trauma Blower to boost the heat for about 20 mins as it was, as we say up here, Baltic! At 1845 we went out for dinner, we left the heating on, 1Kw lecky and gas, just to keep her toasty for our return at about 2045. We left the lecky on because despite the new Gaslow system we aren't quite sure if the Alde heating system is running at all on the gas.

So, at about 2200 or so the heating goes off. About 30 mins later, just before the end of the Martian, which the wife was really enjoying, all the power went off. It was all the more frustrating for me as I was on the throne! Everything went off, even the flusher! Ooops...now where's the bog roll? We checked the panel and it was reading 11 volts, dodo dead. Hey ho, we went to bed.

About 0115 I was awoken by a loud, continuous beeping. She wasn't, curses! I fumbled around and it eventually went off, I don't know why, I think I powered the panel down although when I checked the panel again and it didn't even register.

0630 sunday morning. No batteries. Dead, no reading and it was F**kin' 3 degrees, and I don't mean the singing kind. My wee boys teeth were chattering, just like a cartoon. Tried to fire up the heating, lights and pumps - nothing. Couldn't even open the front shield, had to use the manual winder and has to run the engine for an hour just for a heat and to get the dish down.

Eventually at about 0900 we were on our way.

So cut to today and I get the meter on the batteries, twin 110A sealed lead acid units, I think at least one of them is new. Even after a two hour drive home yesterday they were only reading 12.26v. Not enough to run anything meaningful. I plugged the shore line in and got an immediate 13.5v (ish). That was at 1100 hrs Sunday she is still plugged in. There was no hot water though. However, through the day the bloody heating is on! Aghhhhhh!!!! I just cant' get it al to work as I want it. It makes me feel like the village idiot as I know it can't be this complicated and I'm smarter than your average monkey!

I suspect, although I can't confirm, that despite requesting the system to run on gas it ran off the batteries and lasted all of 5 hours. But how do I check that?

So, the plan is that tomorrow I will have a final bash at getting it all to work as it should. Then I will call Alde, or visit the local agent.

So questions...

Will that deep discharge have damaged the cells?

Does an alde system prefer to run on lecky? As mine does...

How can I check that it is drawing gas? I know the gas is working as the hob works.

How long does it usually take to come on line? Ours seems very slow to warm. I'm talking barely blood warm after 20 minutes. Am I being over ambitious in comparing it to my domestic system?

It had a full service, hab check and PDI before we collected it from a reputable dealer two weeks ago.

 

[karalal]

So the plot thickens.

Yes, night function is enabled.

Yes, good Idea, I will call Alde help tomorrow.

We took her out Saturday night and went off grid for the evening afore we travelled to Edinburgh for the Scottish Bike Show at Ingleston.

Anyway. We fired up the heating at about 1700, bit of a faff but we got there, or so we thought. We also used the Trauma Blower to boost the heat for about 20 mins as it was, as we say up here, Baltic! At 1845 we went out for dinner, we left the heating on, 1Kw lecky and gas, just to keep her toasty for our return at about 2045. We left the lecky on because despite the new Gaslow system we aren't quite sure if the Alde heating system is running at all on the gas.

So, at about 2200 or so the heating goes off. About 30 mins later, just before the end of the Martian, which the wife was really enjoying, all the power went off. It was all the more frustrating for me as I was on the throne! Everything went off, even the flusher! Ooops...now where's the bog roll? We checked the panel and it was reading 11 volts, dodo dead. Hey ho, we went to bed.

About 0115 I was awoken by a loud, continuous beeping. She wasn't, curses! I fumbled around and it eventually went off, I don't know why, I think I powered the panel down although when I checked the panel again and it didn't even register.

0630 sunday morning. No batteries. Dead, no reading and it was F**kin' 3 degrees, and I don't mean the singing kind. My wee boys teeth were chattering, just like a cartoon. Tried to fire up the heating, lights and pumps - nothing. Couldn't even open the front shield, had to use the manual winder and has to run the engine for an hour just for a heat and to get the dish down.

Eventually at about 0900 we were on our way.

So cut to today and I get the meter on the batteries, twin 110A sealed lead acid units, I think at least one of them is new. Even after a two hour drive home yesterday they were only reading 12.26v. Not enough to run anything meaningful. I plugged the shore line in and got an immediate 13.5v (ish). That was at 1100 hrs Sunday she is still plugged in. There was no hot water though. However, through the day the bloody heating is on! Aghhhhhh!!!! I just cant' get it al to work as I want it. It makes me feel like the village idiot as I know it can't be this complicated and I'm smarter than your average monkey!

I suspect, although I can't confirm, that despite requesting the system to run on gas it ran off the batteries and lasted all of 5 hours. But how do I check that?

So, the plan is that tomorrow I will have a final bash at getting it all to work as it should. Then I will call Alde, or visit the local agent.

So questions...

Will that deep discharge have damaged the cells?

Does an alde system prefer to run on lecky? As mine does...

How can I check that it is drawing gas? I know the gas is working as the hob works.

How long does it usually take to come on line? Ours seems very slow to warm. I'm talking barely blood warm after 20 minutes. Am I being over ambitious in comparing it to my domestic system?

It had a full service, hab check and PDI before we collected it from a reputable dealer two weeks ago.

you will get no heat unless you are connected to the mains
the batteries are just running the pump

 

[karalal]

​

 

[karalal]

You can download the manual in English from the alde website

​

not knowing how old your van is the touch screen controllers are 3010-613 or in a new van they are 3020-112 colour touch . just look on alde.co.uk left side of screen and scroll down to downloads

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[Bonkers the Dog]

Seargeant controller? Ques ce cest ca?

I have the manual. Its not much help. I follow it, I fail. Despair, scream silently into sleeve, start again.

 

[karalal]

Seargeant controller? Ques ce cest ca?

I have the manual. Its not much help. I follow it, I fail. Despair, scream silently into sleeve, start again.

Which alde controller do you have?

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

The wee one, digital , touch screen, two buttons on the bottom under the screen, about 10x8cm. it shows "3010" when fired up. Seems to be working fine, no error messages. Although the green micro -indicator LED on the power switch is very hard to see, but then it is mounted high and I'm a proud short-arse.

 

[karalal]

I have the 3010 in my van .
when you set 1kw or 2 kw on the display you must be connected to mains electric for the boiler to work
If you are using gas what temperature is set on the 1st line on the display ?

 

[M-J]

Have you spoke to the dealer/took the MH in?

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[Bonkers the Dog]

The day operating temp is set to between 19-23 degrees, it seems to want to be that high just to get up and running. The night function is set, but off, the temp mismatch facility - can't remember its real name-is adjusted. My wife's a computer/IT boffin, she's a whizz with anything techy and is borderline OCD, so likes to run with a challenge; I'm pretty good with machines and tech as well so we aren't a couple of halfwits. We are however getting quite frustrated at all this faffing about.

I read in all the literature about ALDEsystems whilst doing my pre-purchase due diligence about "ease of use" and "user friendly" "top of the line" "must have system" etc which is turning out to be bollox, so as you can probably imagine, my patience, our patience, is waring thin!

No, I haven't spoken to the dealer YET. I want to explore all options just in case it is operator error. But if I don't get a solution soon they will be getting the call, especially after all the bloody money I spent on it!

Forgot to say earlier that it is all mounted in a Pilote Exploratuer G782 Diamond Edition, 2013, fully loaded, fiat on alko; so we are not talking about a clapped out charabanc here!

Whilst I'm on, cheers for the inputs, much appreciated.

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

I have the 3010 in my van .
when you set 1kw or 2 kw on the display you must be connected to mains electric for the boiler to work
If you are using gas what temperature is set on the 1st line on the display ?

So does that mean the ALDE heater will not be operating on gas but will draw power from the leisure batteries? Even though you request gas on the controller? I don't get that... surely running on gas would draw negligible current? Initial ignitor and small circulation pump? Why default to 12v alternative? Meno comprendo!

None of this is mentioned in the manual.

 

[funflair]

The ALDE should not run off the batteries I say "should not" as it is possible if you have an inverter that is wired into all the 240v electric sockets and you inadvertently leave the inverter on or leave the ALDE on electric it won't last long at all though, if you want to know if the ALDE is running on gas just go outside and feel for warm air coming out of the ALDE exhaust.

Martin

 

[CazPaul]

Ours is the old 3000 model and is surprisingly easy to use, sorry re controls.
Put it on EHU, set the Alde to electric, much quicker on gas though to get up and running, we have an additional Truma boiler for instant heat.

It's like everything else, the older it is the easier and less complicated it is to use.

Our first van with Alde, 2005, find it great but only because it works and seems reliable touch wood.

 

[Simon Select]

https://www.alde.se/uk/support/manuals-downloads/operating-and-installation-instruction/

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[sonny]

Is it using the Sargent controller if so turn off the timers set the temp required to more than is in van touch gas picture job done

Sorry ignore my post (wrong controller)

 

[ceejayt]

Alde can be slow to heat up - you said you also have a blower heater - that will suck the batteries if you are not plugged in.

Start from thew basics, turn off night mode. Make sure electric is set to off (just take out EHU - Alde will still work as long as gas is turned on and set to on)

Where is your header tank for the fluid? have you checked the level - there is a Min and a Max setting - it may need topping up - can you hear the pump going in them tank or can you feel the fluid heating up?

 

[The Dudess]

Have you tried a complete reset which will reset it to factory settings? You can then start from scratch. Still not sure which control panel you have but this is a pdf file showing a photo of a 3010 control panel/reset button.
https://www.alde.co.uk/downloads/alde_3010-213_quickstart.pdf
On ours the reset button is found by pressing the Menu button and going into Settings.

 

[Hems]

This may sound daft, but is your clock displayed (it is optional in settings to show the time on the screen) and set to correct time? If not, it may explain why it works when you don’t want it to!

 

[two]

It's a while since I had Alde heating, so things (and memories) may have changed since.
You should be able to hear the gas roar when it's burning, from outside where the flue exits. I think the flame is assisted by a fan.
There are several controls to protect the system that might prevent it from working (battery voltage, water level, ...). But you suggest that it has been working?
If it has been left with the pump running continuously, the pump may have burned-out.

If the habitation batteries are suspect, connect to mains and have the charger on (it probably will be). That will overcome any problem due to weak batteries (temporarily).
Do you get hot water? Assuming you do (be patient - there's a lot to heat) then you need to discover why there is no heating.
Check the controls to see that heating has been requested and there are no error codes.
Feel a pipe, if you can find one, and see if it gets warm. (Use both electricity, on the high setting, and gas to get the quickest response.)
I think your problem may be poor batteries. EHU will mask that. If they've been left flat, they may never recover full capacity and I'd seek a replacement. There are, however, many things that might be the cause (one of which is often user error) so it's difficult to direct you with certainty.

You should be able to get an English version of the manual from Alde, maybe off the web. Reading through that may help you understand its operation better.

It's no fun being cold, especially as you get older. By the time you've reached my age, I hope you'll have got it all sorted and had a good laugh.
Chin up!