WAFTY HEATER

[wheelie67]

Evening All.

The heater in one year old Bailey 76-4 has virtually no air flow on the longer 2 duct runs. It wafts (and thats being generous) rather than blows on the highest fan settings.

Has anyone added an inline fan to the ducts to boost the flow so it actually heats the motorhome?

Cheers, Ady

 

[David and Sally]

We have similar in our Burstner. Good question.

 

[M-J]

Have you checked for kinks in the pipes?

 

[Jev88]

You may need to trace pipes. They have joiners and t-pieces that can come apart.

 

[DandG5515]

what happens if you shut the nearest vents? I sometimes slightly shut the nearest vents to get the flow more even, however you can loose heat in the long runs. On some boats they have special insulation on the ducting to save heating escape.

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[Compactliner]

Test it using gas only as the fuel....a 6kw blast should firstly find out if all vents are working.
However, setting the heater towards the rear (or front) of a large van and expecting EL 2 (1800w) to cut it at the other end....
Ideally a Combi should sit amidships speeding the heating load equally front and rear but not all ugly this was important...

 

[Minxy]

Check the pipes for holes or if they have got kinked or become disconnected as this can easily happen. Also see if any of them actually go outside (ie under) the MH - we had one where they did this and I lagged them.

 

[WillH]

As above, check for disconnected ducting. I have secured all of the joints on our system.

 

[wheelie67]

Thanks Guys, checked all of the above, they are joined up, no leaks etc, turns out they're just pathetic I guess. I've thought about an inline fan, but I think it'll be too blowy and it might cause suction issues inside the heater. There's always my Christmas coat to put on

 

[Emmit]

Having read the dire warnings about the moisture created by using gas to heat the van in cold weather, I used the mains to power the 900w electric heater in the newly acquired van just after Christmas.

I have to agree about the paucity of heat BUT it was enough to keep the dial above 5 on a night when the thermometer dropped to -2 overnight.

That sort of temp. is very rare in the 'Pointy End' of the country.

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[Gromett]

2 things. It takes an age for the pipes to heat up so the long run will take the longest. As others have suggested I shut the vents closest to the heater to force hot air through the long runs.
In the 2 vans where I have had this issue the long runs have been to the bedroom and bathroom so you didn't want it really blasting out there anyway otherwise you would find it overheating.

Once the pipes and room were warmed up I re-opened the vent and the wafty output was enough to keep the rooms at the end of the long run warm.

The 2nd thing is I had one of my pipes come apart behind a cupboard. I wondered why the work surface above was getting warm and upon investigating discovered a T piece with a blanking plate to make it a straight through. Strange one. But it had come apart and the air wasn't really going to the back.

I had a similar thing happen in my self build though. The boiler (truma) had 4 outputs, on one of them the pipe had come out and fallen down by an inch. This gave a really easy escape route for the hot air so it didn't bother pushing it into the other pipes. One very hot boiler cupboard resulted. I used a tiny blob of RTV on each pipe to ensure it stayed in.

 

[Compactliner]

Looking at the photos of a Alliance 76-4 the Combi is at the front which means long runs to the rear bed/washroom are vary long...and the Combi is on the same side as the door which means that, unless the pipes cross sides to the offside, the pipe will run under the floor near the door, reducing heat.
I say again, run it on gas only and use the fan setting High and leave for ten minutes. The Combi on gas is a powerful beast and you should be able to get a decent flow even in this long van.

 

[wheelie67]

Looking at the photos of a Alliance 76-4 the Combi is at the front which means long runs to the rear bed/washroom are vary long...and the Combi is on the same side as the door which means that, unless the pipes cross sides to the offside, the pipe will run under the floor near the door, reducing heat.
I say again, run it on gas only and use the fan setting High and leave for ten minutes. The Combi on gas is a powerful beast and you should be able to get a decent flow even in this long van.

Yes you're right, they are long runs. They run under a false floor to the offside and then to the rear behind the cupboards etc. I ran it today on gas for the first time, and it was a lot better than on electric.

 

[Minxy]

Yes you're right, they are long runs. They run under a false floor to the offside and then to the rear behind the cupboards etc. I ran it today on gas for the first time, and it was a lot better than on electric.

I didn't realise you were running it just on electric otherwise I would've said to try the gas when I first read this - heating on electric is abysmal at the best of times and gas will always be a lot better, once up to temperature then just use the electric to keep it comfortable.

 

[donkey]

Having read the dire warnings about the moisture created by using gas to heat the van in cold weather, I used the mains to power the 900w electric heater in the newly acquired van just after Christmas.

Not sure what you are referring to. Yes water vapour is formed when burning gas, but your heater should have a sealed (balanced) flue, so any water vapour will exit along with the exhaust. None of it should in any way affect the van interior.

Geoff

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[Emmit]

Geoff

donkey My Quote above is a misquote. Sorry but you will NOT FIND the whole of the those comments that you have attributed to me being used by me.

I request and require that you withdraw that misrepresented QUOTE ASAP.

 

[denisejoe]

Having read the dire warnings about the moisture created by using gas to heat the van in cold weather, I used the mains to power the 900w electric heater in the newly acquired van just after Christmas.

I have to agree about the paucity of heat BUT it was enough to keep the dial above 5 on a night when the thermometer dropped to -2 overnight.

That sort of temp. is very rare in the 'Pointy End' of the country.

Moisture will be expelled from the outside heater vent.

I always shut the toilet/shower vent as some they are always the smallest room and don’t really need heat.

 

[Itsmcb]

donkey My Quote above is a misquote. Sorry but you will NOT FIND the whole of the those comments that you have attributed to me being used by me.

I request and require that you withdraw that misrepresented QUOTE ASAP.

'Donkey' has accidentally typed his reply to you in the box containing your quote. However his statement is correct, the Truma will not expel any moisture into the van.

 

[Emmit]

'Donkey' has accidentally typed his reply to you in the box containing your quote. However his statement is correct, the Truma will not expel any moisture into the van.

"However his statement"?
That 'statement' has been attributed to me. I didn't make that statement.

I appreciate what you have pointed out but that doesn't make attribution correct.

 

[donkey]

Emmit

It would appear that I have offended you in some way.

If you look at post 10, that is where I read the comment about moisture being a problem and it is a post by you. So where have I misinterpreted anything please?

Geoff

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[donkey]

Emmit

I appear to have received a post from you that does not appear on the thread. I guess it must have been a private post, not too sure as I have never done one of those.
Regarding editing my post 15, Edit does not show as an option, I assume it can only be done within a small time frame.
Anyway, please accept my most humble apology for attempting to assist you with, what I considered to be an inaccurate comment regarding moisture from burning gas in a room sealed device.
It would appear that I inadvertently typed my comment in the wrong place.
I am just getting used to this forum and it is obviously slightly different to other forums I use, in that quotes are handled in a different way. I am sure I will get the hang of it, in time.
Geoff

 

[Minxy]

donkey My Quote above is a misquote. Sorry but you will NOT FIND the whole of the those comments that you have attributed to me being used by me.

I request and require that you withdraw that misrepresented QUOTE ASAP.

Is this better?

Having read the dire warnings about the moisture created by using gas to heat the van in cold weather, I used the mains to power the 900w electric heater in the newly acquired van just after Christmas.


I have to agree about the paucity of heat BUT it was enough to keep the dial above 5 on a night when the thermometer dropped to -2 overnight.

That sort of temp. is very rare in the 'Pointy End' of the country.

Not sure what you are referring to. Yes water vapour is formed when burning gas, but your heater should have a sealed (balanced) flue, so any water vapour will exit along with the exhaust. None of it should in any way affect the van interior.
Geoff

With the new 'quote' system it's easy to accidentally write in the quoted block, but there are ways and means of asking for it to be changed, hopefully the above is what you wanted.

 

[Compactliner]

I didn't realise you were running it just on electric otherwise I would've said to try the gas when I first read this - heating on electric is abysmal at the best of times and gas will always be a lot better, once up to temperature then just use the electric to keep it comfortable.

Re Mel's point above....you can achieve the same 'effect' by selecting Mix2 as the power source. This will use 1800w of electric plus gas (at either 2kw or 4kw (depending on model and temperature) and rapidly heat the van, even via those long rear runs.
As the temp increases the gas will reduce from 4kw to 2kw and gradually to nil, leaving the 1800w of electric to maintain the heat level.
If it finds it can't do this on its own, the 2kw has burner will ignite and assist until the temp is reached...and so on.
This is a fully automatic process, making the best use of both fuels, especially if you're paying for a hook up.
Good luck.

 

[Emmit]

Is this better?





With the new 'quote' system it's easy to accidentally write in the quoted block, but there are ways and means of asking for it to be changed, hopefully the above is what you wanted.

Minxy Girl

I have sent a message to 'donkey' since your interjection.