Caravanning on my lonesome with the kids and Im having a few issues with the heater. We are using it on the hook up and I have it on auto and set the controls but it doesn't always kick in, cant take up to an hour but normally less - I can have it set at 2000w on setting 9 and on occasions nothing happens, then all of a sudden it will just start itself up and then obviously Im boiling. In this situations I've had it on all output and heat settings and nothing can get it going until it starts itself up. Its not a complete disaster as it does work eventually just can get a little chilly in these intervals
Ah right will have to wait until OH comes tonight then. Caravan is only 2009 and the previous owners were fairweather caravanners so its not really had much use until this week.
I didn't realise until recently but when on auto, the max fan speed is limited to the setting it is on. I always thought auto did it's own thing. If you have it on 1 and on auto it will only speed up to 1 ! Not sure this is of any help at all though !
These rather hopeless heaters have been put in caravans since the 1970s. They have never been that satisfactory but manufacturers have continued to install them without a great deal of thought IMO.
It really is about time they were either replaced with a more modern unit or ditched altogether in favour Alde heating. Swift, Coachman and Bailey are obviously working towards it.
They rattle, gather dust,smell and push all the available heat out of the nearest blow hole which in our case is the bathroom. Rest of the van and particularly the back only gets mildy warm.
Come on some brave manufacturer, tell Truma where to put them for next years models!!!!
It's not the Truma Ultrastore - that's a water heater. You mean the Trumatic blown air heating system.
I agree it's not the most responsive system, and the thermostat on ours is fiddly and, I think, in the wrong place, but with a bit of experimentation I've managed to get it to work reasonably well. There are two vents on our system: one in the lounge at the front of the van and one in the washroom at the rear of the van.
If I let the system blow out of the lounge vent, it quickly heats the front of the van (where the thermostat is) and shuts down, whereupon it blows cool air into the washroom. However, if I restrict the front vent it blows most of the warm air into the washroom, which stays toasty, and the thermostat then takes care of keeping the front of the van comfortable.
I had to fiddle with the thermostat and the fan setting to get it working properly, and it sounds daft that you have to almost close the vent in the area you want to heat most (some heat comes from the fire itself, of course). It's not simple, but if the heater and fan are actually working correctly it's not too difficult either. Certainly not "hopeless".
------------- * You never know where you're going 'til you get there...
We had ours on this week for the first time and it was terrible, had to go and buy an oil filled heater from Argos and it was fantastic, running off the hook up also.
Quote: Originally posted by shirl250 on 30/10/2010
Our heater is fabulous and works a treat. We do also have a two berth caravan though. Perhaps they just take a while in the biguns ?
The longer the van the further the hot air has to travel.
Yeah, they have to warm up the ducting before they will give you warm air, and the longer the ducting the longer it takes to warm up. You can get instant heat at the fire itself by not using the blown air system, so use it as a single-point heater first, then go to blown air once things have got warm.
Also note that some daft designers run the ducting outside below the caravan, with little or no insulation, which is ridiculous and takes an age to warm up.
------------- * You never know where you're going 'til you get there...
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Topic: Truma Ultrastore heater
