Strange activity with Truma heating - any ideas? (1 Viewer)

[TheTwoOfUs]

We've just returned from 3 nights away and on the last day we put the Truma heating on without water heating being selected (summer mode) but the water was red hot. It's a Truma Combi4E and we were on a EHU. Prior to this trip I replaced the water pump due to a leak, other than that nothing has changed.

 

[Just smiffy]

Mine is the same as it is with all of them, perfectly normal, the blow heater is in the same chamber as the water tank so the water gets hot as a bonus… in France at the moment and heating is on a fair bit so it’s nice the water is hot for us without actually put the hot water on…

 

[JockandRita]

Our older Truma C6002 would automatically heat the water to 60 degrees Neil, if the heating was in use. The option to choose 60 or 40 degrees, was only available if using the boiler for water only.
Maybe your Combi 4E is the same.

Cheers,

Jock.

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[JockandRita]

As an aside, if we didn't want the dump valve to operate in the night, but didn't want the heating on, we left the heating control on, but turned the thermostat right down to 5 x degrees, which gave us instant hot water when needed, and instant heat when the thermostat is turned up in the morning.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

I can't say that we've noticed it before in the 7 years we've had the van, it was that hot you couldn't put your hands in the water.

 

[PDrill]

Like many have said, that's how it works. If you also turn on the water heating the difference is that then it monitors also the water temp and if it gets too low, it will start to heat the water. Now you just get the water heated as a 'side effect'.

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[WanderingWibble’s]

As in my other thread my Truma 6000 stopped working while staying in the woods and the batteries went down. The other issue was that the dump valve opened a emptied my cold water tank. Had the control on Sumer and the thermostat right down??

 

[GeoffnDee]

WanderingWibble’sI think that the frost protection dump valve would have opened due to the lack of voltage from the leisure battery, to keep it closed . (it would also open if the leisure battery was disconnected)

 

[WanderingWibble’s]

Yes I think that’s what happened most inconvenient as it dumped the only water I had for washing. So to safe guard against that I guess a feed back hose back to the cold water tank and maybe a backup battery dedicated to the heater? New to this, need a better plan, where I go has many tall Oaks and Pines covering the sunlight into the solar panel (as well as lots of leaves this time of year).

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[Pausim]

The older Truma dump valves need 12v to keep them closed. The newer ones are completely independent of electricity and only open when they get too cold, much better design.

 

[GeoffnDee]

Yes I think that’s what happened most inconvenient as it dumped the only water I had for washing. So to safe guard against that I guess a feed back hose back to the cold water tank and maybe a backup battery dedicated to the heater? New to this, need a better plan, where I go has many tall Oaks and Pines covering the sunlight into the solar panel (as well as lots of leaves this time of year).

Perhaps your leisure battery is not in good condition or a second one is needed to be added (if not already fitted) also solar is not as useful at this time of the year to replace power used and top up battery power.

 

[WanderingWibble’s]

The older Truma dump valves need 12v to keep them closed. The newer ones are completely independent of electricity and only open when they get too cold, much better design.

Can they be upgraded to the new type I wonder, Really daft design if you go off grid….

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[JockandRita]

Really daft design if you go off grid….

Ours worked a treat for the 14 x years of ownership. The only time it dumped inadvertently was when I accidently pulled the wrong fuse, ie, cutting off the 12v supply to the solenoid.

If it's less than 6°C in the MH whilst occupied, you definitely need the heating on.
If unoccupied, you need to fully drain down..........and that's where the solenoid comes into it's own, thereby saving your expensive boiler from frost damage.

Operator error methinks.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[WanderingWibble’s]

Ours worked a treat for the 14 x years of ownership. The only time it dumped inadvertently was when I accidently pulled the wrong fuse, ie, cutting off the 12v supply to the solenoid.

If it's less than 6°C in the MH whilst occupied, you definitely need the heating on.
If unoccupied, you need to fully drain down..........and that's where the solenoid comes into it's own, thereby saving your expensive boiler from frost damage.

Operator error methinks.

Cheers,

Jock.

Your probably right, this MH is new to me, a voyage of discovery, the issue was no V rather than cold so a bit unexpected.

 

[Pausim]

Can they be upgraded to the new type I wonder, Really daft design if you go off grid….

I would think so but I have no personal experience of doing it. Probably just a matter of removing the old one and making some minor alterations to the pipes. The newer ones are spring loaded when cranked to the closed position and don’t need any wiring.

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[Winger]

If I think my boiler may dump in the night I turn off the water pump. This way I only lose the full of the heater whilst retaining the water in the cold tank

 

[JockandRita]

If I think my boiler may dump in the night I turn off the water pump. This way I only lose the full of the heater whilst retaining the water in the cold tank

Providing the temperature around the solenoid is above 6°C, it shouldn't dump at all, even with the pump isolated at night.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[WanderingWibble’s]

I spoke to Truma CS and yes the dump valve can be changed to either to a manual one as per my cè or a non electrical automatic one £30 or £50 from Jackson’s , the way forward with off grid camping.

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[Pausim]

I spoke to Truma CS and yes the dump valve can be changed to either to a manual one as per my cè or a non electrical automatic one £30 or £50 from Jackson’s , the way forward with off grid camping.

I would not replace with a manual one, if you forget to drain down in time there could be expensive consequences. The new spring loaded frost valve can be operated manually but will also open automatically if it gets cold.

 

[WanderingWibble’s]

 

[GeoffnDee]

If you keep running your leisure battery so low that the dump valve activates you will damage the battery (if it has not been already ) , perhaps you are expecting to be able to stay off grid longer than your present set up of leisure batteries and amount of solar power is capable of doing ?

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[WanderingWibble’s]

I would not replace with a manual one, if you forget to drain down in time there could be expensive consequences. The new spring loaded frost valve can be operated manually but will also open automatically if it gets cold.

Yes, the Mh is a four season and I have an ambition to head up to the north of Denmark maybe Sweden so the auto valve is a best option.

 

[WanderingWibble’s]

If you keep running your leisure battery so low that the dump valve activates you will damage the battery (if it has not been already ) , perhaps you are expecting to be able to stay off grid longer than your present set up of leisure batteries and amount of solar power is capable of doing ?

Well this was the first outing off grid so it’s a learning curve, still understanding how it works. It has 2x 110amp Numax leisure batteries but lots of very tall tree cover and leaves over the solar panel, I didn’t spend much time in the van, hey ho, I can make changes to suit my way of using it.

 

[jimdob]

We've just returned from 3 nights away and on the last day we put the Truma heating on without water heating being selected (summer mode) but the water was red hot. It's a Truma Combi4E and we were on a EHU. Prior to this trip I replaced the water pump due to a leak, other than that nothing has changed.

This happened to ours after a couple of years, the garage couldn’t get to the bottom of ours, it was boiling hot. It definitely wouldn’t have originally been on with heating, this also caused our gas usage to increase: Truma didn’t come up with any solution. Sorry not much help but just to back you when many will tell you it is normal.

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