Have decided to return to caravanning & have just bought an excellent later model (96) of the 93 Compass Lynx 340/2 we used to have.
This one has had the original spec Carver 1800SC gas fire removed & a free standing 240v oil filled radiator put in its place. I can only imagine that a previous owner got the willies on hearing about an unfortunate but freak death caused by Co2 poisoning from an earlier incarnation of the 1800 & had it removed. I have just bought a used 1800SC & was hoping to install it ASAP myself. I'm not a complete novice as I'm a joiner & even used to be CORGI registered.
Having just unwrapped the fire & inspected it I felt there might be one or two problems so phoned the Caravan Dismantler I bought it from who said that although the fire was tested & found working before it was removed from the caravan, he'd give me a full refund inc P&P if I wanted to return it. You can't say fairer than that. Now I come to think of it though............. I bet he didn't check the flame failure device was working.
These are the "problems":-
- The peizo igniter doesn't click. I am assuming right, aren't I? That the ignition is just like the earlier Carver 1800, being a peizo one that makes a loud click when you turn the control knob anti-clockwise & press down? The supplier said that it needs a 12volt connection to make it work but.......... the earlier model used a peizo & didn't have any 12 volt connection I was ever aware of &, in any event, peizo's just don't need power..... they create it when struck. Even if I'm right, then what's the cable for?
- The gas knob just goes round & round in the non-depressed mode. Is this normal?
- The main gas valve that's bolted to the bottom of the control assembly & directly operated by the in-line control rod is held onto it's oval mounting flange with two set-screws. These screws are not tight enough & the gas valve is wobbling about on its mounting. Although this probably does not compromise the safe functionality of the gas valve, I hardly think it's OK to leave it like that but it looks like attempting to try & rectify it could involve opening a potential can of worms what with rusted on bits & bobs & Truma reputedly being not very obliging with bits for Carver models.
Maybe I should send it back but......... these 1800SC's are hard to find. Will another model fit without making irreversible & aggravating adaptations to the caravan. I always think that "as original" is always best.
John
There's a lovely, helpful & very knowledgeable chap called Gary of Arc Systems comes on here........... have I caused enough ripples in his pond to provoke an answer?
I had a word with a mobile caravan service chappie today & he informed me that this particular model IS a 12 volt ignition one: that's what that mysterious piece of twin conductor cable is sticking out from the little brown plastic box full of electronics. He pointed out that it has no piezo igniter unit &, had I actually looked at the label stuck on the side of the heat exchanger, the word AUTO might have made me suspect as much. What a plonker!
He also got me thinking a little more analytically &,...... I think I'll couple it up to a temporary gas & 12 volt supply & bench-test it &, if all functions as it should, then I might wrestle with the wobbly burner. Apparently, once the two easily accessible screws above it are undone, the whole assembly will drop out so,.... bit of Plus-Gas on the loose set-screws, & it should come apart.
On Holiday!!I should be so lucky and that will have to wait till all the caravans are hibernating in January!
So I understand some of this, the piezo is missing and a tube in it's place locks the piezo holder up so it cannot be pressed, the 12v connection should get it sparking, BUT, be absolutely sure you connect it right way round, the connection nearest the end of the plastic box is positive.
Now I'm getting hazy! the gas valve is held by a gland nut into a steel bracket about 4inchs long, there is then an alloy extension rod inside a tube that the control rod connects too.
The connection at the bottom to the gas valve is a plastic adaptor that forms a crude universal joint, given the control rod is 'spinning', this I expect has come out of the gas valves spindle, or the plastic has snapped?
This whole assembly has to 5mm bolts at the top and they pass through the fires base plate, the bracket holding the ignition module is then held by these bolts plus a white earth wire and two brass nuts hold it all tight.
The only screws involved are two holding the burner box on and a third holding a plastic air diffuser to the bottom of the fire box.
Trouble is this diffuser stops you getting a screwdriver square onto the other two screws and the one holding it on is also rusted solid.
Trick here is to get a strong flat blade screwdriver under the plastic and under the bracket in the centre, now lever the bracket up until the whole diffuser is clear and able to turn, then unscrew the diffuser and the screw will come with it.
You can now get square onto the other screws, it's a simple job then to tap the bracket back down and straighten up the edge of the burner box.
Glad to see your using plus-gas and not that useless WD40!, use this on the screws but also the gland nut holding the thermocouple to the gas valve, as that will also most likely be solid.
Christ Gary! This sounds like pretty comprehensive stuff &, by the sound of it, you are talking this through from memory. I, on the other hand, am just an ordinary mortal & will have to get the thing out of the back of the car tomorrow & run through your post with the fire on my lap.
That bit about the "spinning" though. The plastic "universal joint" connector piece at the end of the rod is OK &, as I've been examining the entire burner/heat exchanger unit completely free of casing & back-plate, there is no confusion as to whether the long rod with the control knob on the end is connecting properly with the gas valve spindle. The mystery is........ the valve stem, when rotated without depressing it, does come to a stop, but........ depress it & it rotates freely 360+ degrees without encountering a stop. This can't be normal gas valve rotation...... can it?
Anyway......... will investigate tomorrow with your instructions in hand & see what mysteries unfold.
Don't want to delve too deeply though cos, if it needs to go back, the supplier will not credit me on receipt of a box full of mangled bits.
Well...... at last I got a battery.......... a long tale which I'll tell on the thread I started about my battery search.
I set about bench testing this fire. I even soap tested my gas connection but the wife still exited the lounge while I tested it.
I think the probs described re the control rod twizzling round was possible my unfamiliarity with this particular valve action & it might also have been sticking a little. I think there's no real problem there.
The 12v connector on the electronics control box is a bit loose & temperamental but I eventually got it clicking/sparking & the burner lit up. It won't stay lit though, no matter how long I hold the button down. So that means the thermocouple is the next suspect. The little 12v indicator neon that lights up through a hole in the control knob comes on while the burner is on in the ignition phase but as soon as I try releasing the knob to let it run, both the flames & the neon die.
Considering the problem with the loose gas valve (described in an earlier post), now the thermocouple & possibly any number of unknown problems that may emerge once it's been installed in the caravan & put through it's paces, I don't think it's worth tinkering with it & I'll probably send it back & get a refund.
Trouble is, these things are a bit like hens teeth. Where would I get another one? One that had been thoroughly tested & found to be 100% working.
Well Gary? Where will I get another?
The Damned Saga Continues.
Well I called the guy that sold me the fire who swore blind that he fully tested it before he removed it from the caravan it was in & everything, including flame failure, was working. He didn't quibble though & said he had another caravan awaiting dismantling with the same fire in it & he'd test it out & send it to me. Told me to keep the other one for spares. What a Star!!!!
It duly arrived & this one was the Peizo igniter type. Much better in my opinion as it don't rely on 12volt to spark it & the Peizo igniter is easy to replace if it fails.
I tried clicking the igniter few times &, seeing no flash or spark through the little view glass, thought nothing of it other than that maybe it was a weak spark or it was sparking just out of line of sight. Anyway, I bench tested it, as before,(in the garage this time)& made sure I purged all the air out of the fire &, although by then I'd been clicking the igniter in start mode for that long the place was reeking of gas, it would not fire up.
So, what's wrong?
I can't believe the guy that sent it lied about testing it & it being fully functioning. I can't believe the igniter just gave up the ghost in transit. The igniter connections are undisturbed & still in place. So what's happening? I can't get through to the supplier....... he must be on holiday or something.
I think I need a sure fire way of not just testing the igniter, but also testing it in-situ so that all connections as well as the business end, where the spark is supposed to occur, get tested too.
Anyone?
The weather's getting cooler & we want to do some off-mains caravanning.
John
I can only say I read 'working when removed' and know it is, shall we say, less than the truth?!
To be honest,I get sent this fires burner assembly for service all the time and these fires all suffer the same problems. Some, with luck, just need a service with no parts required, but, just as many need a complete and pretty expensive overhaul!
hi just had mine serviced by mobile fitter,we had to wait a week so he could get the parts,£55 but worth it for to keep warm and piece of mind.
------------- its easy enough to be pleasant when the world rolls along like a song.but a man is worth while if he can smile when every thing goes f------ wrong.
So, I can't raise the guy that flogged me the heater. Sounds like he is off on his jollies somewhere. He IS a professional caravan breaker so I think I better cut him some slack for a bit. He may be have an excellent customer satisfaction record I don't want to taint.......... YET.
Well, I need a heater: it's got cold. He SAID this one was working, so I'm going to check out the spark-gap & clean it up. If what he says is correct, then that's all that could hopefully be wrong with it. The worse that can happen is I waste my time fiddling with something that instead of a quick tweak, needs a fortune in parts & labour spending on it so I send it back for a refund in bits.
I took off the two screws either side of the bottom shroud but the thing still seems to be retained, probably by the screw in the centre of the plastic finned air intake. The screw is uselessly rusted, so where do I go from here?
Full instructions anybody?
Exploded diagrams?
Gary......... Help!!!!!!!!
No, sorry! Just being an idiot.
Got the burner module out & the spark electrode was actually touching the burner. So no chance of a spark there. Had already put a meter on the Piezo unit so I knew that was generating something. I levered the gap open & Bingo, a spark.
So this spark gap mysteriously closed itself up between the time Mr Caravan Breaker "tested" & passed it & I tried it out.
Will get it burning tomorrow & see if the flame failure device has also mysteriously given up the ghost in transit.
Fingers crossed.
Did some test burns with the burner module oriented 90 degrees out of line so that I could fine tune the spark gap & get a perfect fat spark that lit the burner every time then, when back in situ in the heater, bench tested it & everything works as it should; flame failure too.
I installed it in the caravan then realized that I'd not included the "floorplate clampstrip". I have an incurable habit of not reading the instructions. This strip is designed to anchor down the back edge of the heater floor plate but, considering this can be fixed down with screws & is accessible if you slide the installation box in place AFTER you have put the heater body in,......... well, it's redundant. I wont sling it though in case Gary says it has a function beyond my comprehension. All I need now is some 8 mm pipe & brass bits & bobs & do a bit of grovelling around underneath tomorrow making the connections, then a pressure drop test & it'll be done. At last.
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Topic: Carver 1800SC Gas Fire
