Hi we bought a new caravan last year and it has a few snags in it so its back at the dealers getting sorted out. The heating only sends heat out at the front of the caravan and just blows cold air out at the back and in the bathroom even when we've had it running for a long time.
The dealer is telling us that they are all like that and that we have to buy some grills to put over the front heaters so it will send heat to the ones at the back. I'm feeling like they are fobbing us off as why sell the system as heating for the van if this is the case? They didn't mention anything about it when we bought it and therefore i feel we have been missold it as clearly it is not fit for purpose if this really is the case.
Has anyone else had experience of this? The caravan is brand new
Hi,
We had Truma blown air on our previous M/home and there were the usual pivoting plastic disks to isolate a duct but with them all open heat came from front and back.
Probably slightly shorter system than yours but I would agree with you.
Have you tried all three settings and played with the thermostat settings?. Sometimes it appeared not to be working but was working to the thermostat.
Unless they have totally redesigned the system I would question the dealer.
Our present van has Whale blown air and same applies.
Regards,
Greg
Thanks Greg. We haven't messed with it too much with it being new to us and us not knowing much about it but we've tried different temperatures and speeds and it doesn't seem to make a difference.
Hi,
Well I would question the dealer as to why a blown air heating provided in a brand new caravan needs "added extras" to work correctly.That sounds nonsense to me.
Unless more knowledgeable people come up with anything else I would be wary of the whole thing.
Regards,
Greg
PS As an afterthought,anyone near you with a similar outfit that you could compare notes with ?.
if its anything like the heater in my van there is only one fan blower motor.. this connects up to the heater where hot air comes in and a bunch of pipes going to the various outlets..
the shortest run of pipe or the one nearest the fan blower gets the most heat.. the hot air takes the path of least resistance.. with all the flaps open this is the shortest pipe runs..
by closing the flaps (fully or partially) on the shorter pipe runs this makes the air (or more of it) take the longer routes..
the dealer does have a point.. but some warm air should always make it to the longer runs.. but on a large van with longer pipe runs maybe not enough..
if no air comes out of an outlet a pipe may have come off.. mine did i taped it on with masking tapes.. they are a loose push fit..
Quote: Originally posted by trog100 on 10/9/2016
if its anything like the heater in my van there is only one fan blower motor.. this connects up to the heater where hot air comes in and a bunch of pipes going to the various outlets..
the shortest run of pipe or the one nearest the fan blower gets the most heat.. the hot air takes the path of least resistance.. with all the flaps open this is the shortest pipe runs..
by closing the flaps (fully or partially) on the shorter pipe runs this makes the air (or more of it) take the longer routes..
the dealer does have a point.. but some warm air should always make it to the longer runs.. but on a large van with longer pipe runs maybe not enough..
if no air comes out of an outlet a pipe may have come off.. mine did i taped it on with masking tapes.. they are a loose push fit..
trog
Trog,
As you say ,pipes do come loose easily ,I have done the same as you but would you agree you should get a certain amount of warmth from every duct (agree totally about the short run) without buying extras?.
Also ,surely a dealer would pick up on loose pipes .
Regards,
Greg
Tosh. Our Swift has a rear bathroom with heater right at the front of the ' van, which is very quickly toasty warm when the heat goes on. The two vents further forward also work very well.
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We had similar issues when we bought our van, having studied various posts on the swift forum I contacted my dealer with some of the forum posts and suggested they rectify the issues as described in the posts. A new pipe Y shaped connector was fitted onto the pipes going towards the rear of the van replacing the T shaped connector that is fitted as standard and new adjustable grills were fitted to the vents near the caravan door and below the wardrobe. The result of this modification is that there is now acceptable heat to the rear of the van and when on gas and electric the rear area is as hot as the front. We use our van all year round and the heating working correctly is essential for us.
Enoch's post seems to make sense. I would expect the dealer to pay for the extra modifications to make it work properly.
Different layout vans will have widely different results from the heating. On some vans the duct runs under the van so out in the cold. This will lose a lot of heat.
Our little 2 berth is really warm with the same system. We have an end washroom and the duct runs under the kitchen from the heater to the bathroom so short and only loses a little heat. There are flaps on both front outlets and I keep these fairly closed.
Bailey do say you need to use it on gas to get it to work fully, electric is much less effective. You can also use both for a quick warm up.
Sound like either a pipe off or something is blocked then. We have truma blow heating in our Bailey Ancona which is reasonably long at 7.37m. All the blow air vents blow hot air, in fact as we close the toilet/bathroom door when you open it you get hit by the heat at times.
One assumes the heater is set to max watt If on electric (on ours you set fuel type and 2 sparks for Elec mean full power 1800w I think and one Elec spark sign is 900w, dependant on the temperature to start with some times it need to be in full power and high heat fan mode for 5 mins to warm up then we can normally turn it down.
One point when the fan first kicks in for 20 seconds or so the air can be cold for the boiler to kick off the heat come through to all. So all,in all cold are in your bathroom vent should not be happening one suggests.
Hope you get it sorted, not what you want after investing in a shiny new van.
my van being on the smaller side does not need all the pipes.. i mostly have the ones at the front and rear off.. the heater is in the middle of my van and enough heat comes directly off it and the outlet nearest to the heater to warm the entire van quite evenly..
if i dont run the fan at least on its lowest setting i get a rather toasty wardroom.. but the van still gets warm enough..
to be honest i think all the pipe outlets are there for show more than anything else.. if a cold closed off bathroom is a problems i would try closing some of the other vents completely..
fitting grills is just fitting a permanent restriction to some of the vents.. in a way if dealers do suggest doing this on regular basis its an admission that goes along with my own thoughts.. too many outlets for the given sized blower..
the term " blown air heating" sounds good in the sales talk but a caravan is small enough not to really need it..
We have the Truma system. Better in every respect than the Whale heater in our previous van. Van gets warmer quicker and the shower room sometimes gets a bit too warm so we open up the door to even out the heat. It shouldn't need any blanking covers - the dealer is talking rubbish. perhaps you should get it checked out or do it yourself with a thermometer in different areas to see what the temperature difference is.
Thanks everyone for your help with this. The dealer sent us a text message (yes a text message) to say swift had rejected our claim - we had a few little niggles such as a cupboard door had been hung upside down also!! Anyway, my husband rang them and quoted trading standards and advised them that as the caravan is not fit for purpose and has been sold under false pretences that we wouldn't be going back to collect it and we are waiting for a full refund instead. Surprise surprise all of a sudden they have agreed to resolve all the issues and apparently it will be ready to collect on friday.
I just don't know how these companies expect to get away with such shoddy service. I love our caravan, it is a perfect layout for us and i did loads of research before buying it but it does take the shine off it after all this messing about and hassle.
Lets just see if everything is fixed when we return!
Well done, make sure they run the system before you leave with your van to ensure, prove to you, that it is working correctly, as it should have been from the start.
I you are a member of Swift talk you Will see this has been raised times and has been sorted by dealers,in fact some had Trauma engineer rectify.Your dealer was just trying on with you.Be wary of them if you have any future faults as it has been proved on the forum that dealers have said Swift refused claims.The beauty of belonging to the forum you can contact Swift direct and times it has been found dealers had not even put a claim in.
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Topic: Truma blown air heating advice please
