Truma Combi 4 problems / help ?

Marauder

Marauder

Free Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2020
Posts
331
Likes collected
205
Location
S.Yorks
Funster No
77,809
MH
Adria Compact SP
Exp
20 yr
.
So here I am on first journey in Fiat MJ130 Burstner TravelVan T620, in the frozen northlands.

Heater (Truma Combi 4) worked great for first few days (Space Heater only, water heater not used as yet).
A revelation to actually be warm after experiences in AS Symbol!

Then dreaded red light came on (despite enough gas to feed the stove burners on highest gas flow setting).
But, No probs, just swap the bottles.
New bottle in, nice & warm again.

Last night: red light again, "hmm only 10 days per bottle?-note to self: be colder"
anyway, swapped bottles, but no go (good job I got a nice sleeping bag).

So this AM, i fitted the inline gas pressure gismo that I saw recommended on MHF.

New bottle is in green sector. Ok, test the other bottle..... BOTH bottles in green. Plenty of gas in both.

Fan is working, red light comes on after 30secs - instead of the usual 'thump' of the gas ignition.
This model is blown air only - does not have a fire on the front

So where do I go from here (don't say 'HOME' )
Anyone else experienced this ?
Any wisdom, anything I am missing (dont say 'warmth' ) ?
Any quick fixes or easy checks ?

thanks

Steve
 
Last edited:
We had similar problem and voltage was too low at boiler but I can't remember if red light was solid or flashing.
Voltage on panel was ok but there was a big voltage drop to boiler. Worked fine on ehu. Had to replace wires with thicker ones to reduce drop/
Are you on ehu?
 
Had a quick google and it's saying gas problem. Have you tried turning it back on a few times when red light comes on?
I'll have a look at my instructions. Back in 5 minutes.
 
On a massive learning curve with this vehicle.

I only bought it in August
First starter battery £120 (wouldnt start after replacement - that was immobiliser issue)
then shocked to discover Cambelt needs replaced every 5 years - so muggins copped for that too £600
then 2 x 9yr old Tyre replacement - which to choose (Bridgestone Devanti) £ 260

I've never even looked at the Truma unit, garage is full of junk, and I'm in Scotland (so it's raining)

Why is everything about these vehicles sooo complicated ?
 
Checked manual and it's a gas problem. Do you have a vent cover to remove.? Sorry I can't be of any more help.
 
Tom A said:
Checked manual and it's a gas problem. Do you have a vent cover to remove.? Sorry I can't be of any more help.
Click to expand...
thanks Tom
I will give the regulator a bash in the AM
some posts say truma regs get gummed up
time for food and bed now
see about tomorrow
more rain methinks . . . . . .
 
try running it with the engine running to rule out low voltage

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
mitzimad said:
try running it with the engine running to rule out low voltage
Click to expand...
I have moved to friends (there's a fire here)
so now have access to mains power
will try with hookup connected tomorrow

I didnt attempt anything today - other stuff got in the way.
so not looked at regulator either.

But I will have a look at Truma now that I've got a dry space to put junk from garage.
 
20190911_172922.jpg
20190911_172931.jpg
 
there are fault code lights on the pcb

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Hi

So upwards and onwards with the learning curve . . . . .

Many thanks for inputs folks, and for the manual scans.
I have not seen any yellow or orange lights, just green - then the dread red.

Today I tried it again, with same result.
Then connected the hookup cable, and it worked.

So may yet not be a gas problem, (and I may have originally swapped out a viable bottle !)
But, that's progress: a learning curve and sherlock Holmes diagnostics all in one - Bargain !

Overnight on EHU, and Tomorrow will try it on batteries alone again.
Someone mentioned fitting thicker cables for low-voltage issue,
but as with the tyre load rating suggestions I heard from folks,
i am wondering why manufacturer would specify inadequate kit ?

If it's dry weather tomorrow, I'll try to get in the compartment and look for reset button and / or error codes.

Is it possible for Truma unit to run ok with EHU, but have a blown fuse on the 12v side ?

Also will see if I can multimeter the voltage at Truma end - see if it matches with battery end.

ongoing saga, but at least the Truma unit does still work !

Thanks for your ongoing support people, I'll report back tomorrow

Steve
 
Good luck on fixing I may be about to have a supply of used but servicable Truma combi 4e parts including PCB, both fans and analogue control switches to sell before you spend fortunes on new ones! So far the bill to repair mine is racking up towards £1000 and the engineers still haven't found the fault. "It's probably xxx, I'll fit a new one"....."No it wasn't that".... you get the picture! Let's see where we go from here. Not blaming the engineer at all, they seem to be almost impossible to diagnose the faults except by a process of elimination.
 
We had problems with ours and ended up going direct to Truma. It would turn off after a few minutes for no apparent reason.
Engineer stripped it down and it turned out to be a crack in the main body. Cost £600 for new body and labour costs but fingers crossed it's been fine since. It was the engineer at Truma who said replace the two wires. Nearly 2 volts drop between battery and heater.
 
Tom A said:
We had problems with ours and ended up going direct to Truma. It would turn off after a few minutes for no apparent reason.
Engineer stripped it down and it turned out to be a crack in the main body. Cost £600 for new body and labour costs but fingers crossed it's been fine since. It was the engineer at Truma who said replace the two wires. Nearly 2 volts drop between battery and heater.
Click to expand...
£600! How much is a new one?
 
Stopped making the model we have but the replacement was just short of £1200.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
If you cannot hear a "click" before the igniters start their firing sequence then it could be that the gas solenoid is not opening properly. This will cause the red light to come on. This has been my problem. I have found that driving the van over a bumpy surface or just giving the whole boiler a bit of a waggle usually sorts the problem as it obviously frees up the solenoid. Apparently, like the regulator, the solenoid can also get bunged up with gunk. I actually need to get the solenoid out and see if I can get it cleaned out ( I read somewhere that if you heat it up with a hairdryer and then put some compressed air through you might be able to clear the crap out it). However, the solenoid on my boiler ( C6002) is right at the bottom of the boiler and isn't readily accessible without taking the whole boiler out of the van. I may have to do this sometime ( or, more accurately, get someone who knows what they are doing to do it for me!). I hope though that it either doesn't start causing problems again ( it's working perfectly at the moment) or that it can be cleaned out because it is no longer made by Truma and there are no spares ( 30 mbar gas solenoid) to be had anywhere.
 
thanks people.

so today I had opportunity to get stuff out of garage and have a look at the pcb thingie
it says 'OPEN' on the cover, but it should say 'SLIDE UPWARDS'.
one of the silly little plastic clips broke and skittered off inside the Truma housing.

But at least now I understand more about orange and red lights, and perhaps the error code -
is the error code represented by flashing sequence of the red led ?

its like morse code on mine, but how do I translate that into English ?

green came on, orange came on, unit fired and seemed to be working as normal, but no heat came from vents. Then after a couple of minutes the whole thing shut down, and the red led began repeating a flashing sequence with 5 seconds pause between each repetition.

( it's now on a mains hookup EHU )

Anyone any ideas how to proceed ( winters coming and it gets cold this far north)

Steve
 
Tom A said:
Had to replace wires with thicker ones to reduce drop/
Click to expand...
Ok thanks Tom,

Looks like I need to eliminate this option.

how / where did you measure voltage at the Truma end ?

How did you physically get the old cable out / & new in ?

Steve
 
If I remember correctly I removed black cover on front of boiler. This was where +ve and -ve wires were attached.
I checked voltage here.
To replace wires I took charge unit from wall and followed wires from boiler to back of unit. These were then disconnected and new thicker wires ran to boiler.
It was 4 years ago so a bit vague in my memory.
 
Marauder said:
thanks people.

so today I had opportunity to get stuff out of garage and have a look at the pcb thingie
it says 'OPEN' on the cover, but it should say 'SLIDE UPWARDS'.
one of the silly little plastic clips broke and skittered off inside the Truma housing.

But at least now I understand more about orange and red lights, and perhaps the error code -
is the error code represented by flashing sequence of the red led ?

its like morse code on mine, but how do I translate that into English ?

green came on, orange came on, unit fired and seemed to be working as normal, but no heat came from vents. Then after a couple of minutes the whole thing shut down, and the red led began repeating a flashing sequence with 5 seconds pause between each repetition.

( it's now on a mains hookup EHU )

Anyone any ideas how to proceed ( winters coming and it gets cold this far north)

Steve
Click to expand...
Here’s a link to the flashing fault codes.

There will be a series of 8 short and long flashes (s and l in the attached list).

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Stroppy Bird said:
Here’s a link to the flashing fault codes.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this .pdf
according to this, my fault is gas pressure or bad earth

is there a method to de-gunge the regulator ?

Or might it be something within the Truma unit itself ?
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top