We have a 2002 Senator with gas/electric heater with a thermostat. For the first year or so we had no problems, then last year the thermostat refused to switch the heater on - so at night we got colder and colder, unless we woke up and twiddled the thermostat then it registered the temp and switched the heater on. The service dept at the dealers could find no faults and after weeks of testing returned it to us. The problem continued.
Then, it stopped putting the electric heater on at all, no heat, nothing - but it would run off gas (weakly). After weeks at the service department (a different one) they found that the heater would randomly cut out, and diagnosed a motherboard fault and replaced it. This fixed the problem for a while.
On our last outing we had the same thermostat problem we originally had - it just doesn't register the temp and either gets hotter and hotter or, more usually, gets colder and colder and does not switch the heating on. We returned it and they can again find no fault, after weeks of testing.
So we have a van we want to use over the winter, that will run a heater off the gas but not off the electric. So the heating is either 'on' or 'off' which is not ideal.
Can anyone shed any light on this? So far it has cost us a lot to fix but has not, yet, been fixed!
Hi, Do you know if the heater has a remote thermostat ? if so it's either not working correctly has not been pluggen in correctly, or has been fitted in the wrong position, if not and you have a new board fitted then i would suggest getting one fitted, could be the switch but unlikley.
We have a little thermostat up underneath the upper lockers. Apparently the workshops both tested the themostat and said it was working ok.
Unless the second motherboard has also burnt out somehow, I am thinking this is the most likely culprit. Maybe it's worth getting a new thermostat fitted and seeing if that fixes it.
Trouble is, the workshops are no longer interested as this is an intermittent problem and they don't know how to fix it! It has cost us a fair bit so far and also rendered our van out of action for a long time! It's really frustrating! The Senator is in really good nick in every other aspect.
Hi Tigereye, check with Wizard or arc systems on this site, as I seam to recall a very similar problem with the thermostat, it had to be moved in order to work properly as it was to near the heater, it was making it malfunction in van(but when tested separately it worked fine). Find then on the Repair section at the top of this form.then Fixit Club Members Directory, scroll down and you will find e-mail link, he deals more with damp vans, but has extensive knowledge and should be able to help.
Post last edited on 07/11/2011 19:06:46
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
In the meantime while you get the thermo sorted, get yourself a delonghi bambino electric oil filled radiator. At least them you have some form of heating. These are silent, switches on and off on a thermostat and is wonderful to warm up a cold van.
Hi, the thermostat is in the wrong place, it needs to be at floor level, ideally fastened to the room heaters gas thermostat, which is where the thermostat is fitted to new Truma room heaters now.
The remote room stat fitted at high level is about the daftest place for it to be, that being where the air temperature is highest. As George says, it needs attaching to the gas fires temp sensor at floor level, here it can respond faster to cool air at floor level and of course no one complains about the gas fire working correctly?!
So unless somehow it's now not fully plugged in, which will cause problems, and you do say it once worked correctly, it would appear this stat is at least not the full problem, as a new control board has already been fitted, this leaves one more likely reason.
There are a pair of 'limit stats' these are directly behind the gas fires flue pipe, here they monitor the flue temperature, if gas and electric is used together, one or other of these stats switches the electric heating off if things get too hot.
What I have found several time now, is one or other becomes faulty, now they switch the electric heating on or off at will and regardless of temperature. Ons set at 125degC and the other 175C so nothing to do with how they should work, purely an internal mechanical fault so nothing to do with heat and does not need gas heating on.
They will also if tested check out as perfect, only solution is to change them, this though means the gas fires got to come out to get at them.
I will add, the only likely reason for the faulty stats is vibration, so first thing after replacement is to get the vans wheels balanced.
One more thing, I supply my own remote stats to improve the overall heating, they work better and they are a lot cheaper than the Truma version!
Thanks for all the info here - I will look into each aspect and see if we can rectify the problem. Lots of elements to think about!
Would you say that these things need fixing by the repair dept rather than doing it ourselves? Because all the bits test as 'working' they have returned the van to us as fixed, but we know that this problem tends to come and go.
Would wheel balancing be part of the annual service? This has not long been done.
To start at the end, wheel balance is NEVER done, not even when new! nevermind every service!!
If it was done when new it would not then be required at service, it is rare for a balanced tyre/wheel to become unbalanced unless it loses its weights or subject to a severe blow of some kind.
Also, I firmly believe it is the root cause of many silly And annoying faults, these stats being just one example
So as I said, if tested the limit stats will be perfect showing no resistance, don't be fooled, change them for new ones.
Also, as the fires got to come out the way and unless you know exactly how to reinstall so it's safe to use, then take it back to your dealer.
As I guide, it should cost an hours labour and the stats are about £14 a pair plus a bit more for a new flue seal.
Oh nearly forgot, plus my fee for fixing a fire no other one could!! LOL
Well, your fee can be my eternal gratitude and esteem!
I will get the service dept to look at it again and do the things you suggest and hopefully that should fix it! The van has been out of action a lot this year due to them testing it over weeks and weeks!
I've just re-read your 1st post, you say it's 2002 and it's now near on 2012 so 10 years old, how long have you owned it?
I ask because obviously it should not be on it's original tyres and wonder if or when new ones were fitted?
Also though because 'it worked for a year or so' so sounds like you've only had it only a couple of years and no real idea of it's history?
The other thing is about the gas fire, you say 'weakly' but the fire is 3.2Kw output so a lot better than the electrics 2Kw. I wonder if the gas fire has been barely used and this needs a service because it should roast you!?
I think then the gas valve is sticking and instead of the main burner kicking in, it's stuck on pilot flame? a common problem with little used Truma fires now of this age.
Lastly, the remote temp sensor should not yet be ruled out?.
We've had it for 2 years and it came from a main Bailey dealer, everything worked OK up until the warranty expired then the heater started playing up. They had fitted new tyres and serviced it every year since new as they sold it to the original owner until he part-exed it. Everything is pretty perfect until it developed the heating problem, very few repairs have ever been done on it.
When the gas fire works it gets too hot which is why we prefer the electric one, it worked weakly last year when we just could not get the electric fire to work and switched to gas for the weekend, but we think it was possibly because the temp dropped overnight and we had the wrong type of gas, or maybe because we rarely use it on gas, as you say (we have had to use it more since then and it is usually OK).
It was all serviced a few months ago again so the only remaining problem is this electric fire issue.
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Topic: Senator Heating Problem No one Can Fix
