Swift 664 heater problems

[Imala730]

Anyone out there got a problem with their Truma heater? We bought our van new last year hoping to camp all year round. We could not get warm when on site in the cab area as the vent did not blow any wam air out. This is an ongoing problem for which their seems no answer. Having taken it back to the dealer they have taken photos of the underneath of the van and the heating ducting travels around 3 cross members is very long and is the reason for the lack of heat in the cab area. We are being bounced back and forth from dealer to swift and still not got the problem solved. Plus the heating packed up in December and we had to have new heating elements.

 

[ambulancekidd]

Are you running the heater only on site mains? If so, the temp will be quite poor. Running on gas should make a considerable difference.
Hope this helps.

 

[WillH]

Never had a problem if I use the gas and we have a bit of ducting under the van. Once the outside temperature is down around 5C you probably need the gas on.

 

[Imala730]

Why use gas when we have paid for electric. This problem is due to the length of the outside trunking under the van.

 

[peterc10]

Why use gas when we have paid for electric. This problem is due to the length of the outside trunking under the van.

The answer to that is simple. With the Truma the gas gives about 3 times as much heat as the electrics do. The electrics simply can't cope because the Swift is not a winterised van so a lot of heat is lost when it gets cold, and electric element is not strong enough to cope with that heat loss on its own.

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[Imala730]

Even with gas there is not enough heat that comes out of the front vent. The problem is that the pipe to the front vent goes under the van, is about 4 metres long, goes round 3 cross members and is exposed to the outside. So the hot air in the pipe goes cold before it gets to the front. The other vents blow out plenty of warm air but it does not reach the front.

 

[ambulancekidd]

In my humble opinion the Truma system isn't really fit for purpose, but before you all fire abuse at me I of course refer to the Truma system running on site mains.
I personally prefer the ALDE system, even on mains its well able to keep the temprature up. However our current moho has Truma

 

[peterc10]

I used to have a Truma heater. Now I have an Alde heater. Both worked fine in the middle of winter, but both were properly designed and installed systems in insulated vans. However both needed the boost of gas to get them up to temperature within a reasonable time in the winter. Once up to temperature both could maintain that temperature just using electrics.

Having said that I prefer the Alde heating we now have, but then all of the pipes are within an insulated double floor. Really makes for a warm motorhome.

Please don't blame Truma for the problems you have, you need to blame Swift who designed and installed the system. A 4M long un-insulated pipe under the motorhome will loose of all of its heat in cold weather. It should have been designed to run inside the motorhome for most of its length.