Trumatic S3002 problems

Hi,

We bought a 2005 Inca EK a few weeks ago. After picking her up from the dealers, we ventured off on our first trip. During the night, the Truma heater tripped the RCD. We reset but next morning but it went again along with the water heater. We reported this back to the dealer who have had a look and say there is no problem with the system.
When the heater is on electric only and set on 2000, the left side of the heater gets extremely hot, yet the right side is only warm. Is this normal???? 

My feeling is that perhaps an element has gone and the heater is putting too much heat in the remaining element, so the first line of defence is the circuit breaker????? Yet the dealer recons that there isn't a problem.
Any ideas of what we are doing wrong???

Any info would be great as we are planning to go away for a week, but want to make sure that the dealer has mended it first. Glad we took out the extra warranty.

Shaun

Cannot help really with your problem , on the rare occasion that I have had my space heater on 2000 I switch the water heater off, if on a site it is too much, it trips,  same if I am using an electric kettle and heater is on I switch the water heater off, found this was the best way from having caravans for decades , I never have the water heater on over night anyway, in a van it is not like your house, you have to moderate your electric usage.

Probably as the dealer says nothing wrong with the appliances just using too much at the same time.

Hope you get it sorted, nice van by the way, looked at one same year at Malvern just too big to use as an everyday vehicle as I do mine.

Thanks Daisy mae, but does your heater only get hot on one end, or is it equally hot all over the grills?

Also, we tried it at home by request of the dealer, and with nothing else being used in the van, it still tripped??
Any ideas??

Thanks for the help on this Peter. I will phone Truma tomorrow before speaking to the dealer who has the van in their workshop. I didn't think the element would be just one side. Do you think the element fault could be the cause of tripping the RCD?

Hi Shaun
Lots of good trouble shooting info on the Truma website .
Boaby

shaunS wrote:Hi,

We bought a 2005 Inca EK a few weeks ago. After picking her up from the dealers, we ventured off on our first trip. During the night, the Truma heater tripped the RCD.

Exactly which breaker is tripping and what is it rated at?

AS no reply I'll explain.

The RCD (residual current device) is connected into the live and neutral feeds at the input to the power supply unit, the output of the RCD feeds the circuit breakers through which the live feed to each 230v circuit passes.

If the RCD is tripping then there is an insulation fault as the breaker is detecting different currents in the live and neutral feeds - when all is well those currents should be equal.

The circuit breaker that feeds the Ultraheat should be rated at 10A, the highest current drawn on 2KW approaching 9A. This feed goes to a power electronics circuit board where the control unit directs feeds to the elements to facilitate the ratings of 500/100/2000W.

Hence the need to know exactly what is happening.

Sorry Peter, but at work all day and only just got online. The RCD is rated at 10 A. The dealer has called today and said again that they can't find a problem, although still not actualy aditting that the element only heats at one end. I spoke to Truma this morning who say that it is very rare for an element to go, but there is always a first time. The element should heat equally................and so the dealer still say nothing is wrong????????? My argument with them is on hook up at home, with no other electrics being on in the van, the heater still trips its own RCD switch..............................

The RCD will be rated in Mamps probably 20 MA. As you are mentioning 10amps then I have to presume you are not talking about the RCD but about the circuit breaker.

If it is the 10A circuit breaker tripping when EXACTLY does it happen? If you switch the main switch in the wardrobe on does it trip then? If you switch the control from 0 to 500W does it trip? If you switch from 500w to 1000W does it trip? If you switch from 1000w to 2000w does it trip? When it trips is it instantaneous or after a while and if after a while, how long?

I cant help without accurate information.

Hi Peter, you are correct, it is the circuit breaker/trip switch that is 10 A. It doesn't trip straight away. We put on the heater on 2000 setting on electricity only, no gas. The van warmed up nicely, although the front of the heater was hot to touch on the left, but not on the right. We turned down the heat as to have a nice ambient temp for sleeping. No other electric on at all apart from the fridge. Woke up in the early hours feeling really cold. The heater had tripped so reset. worked again until morning when we had the water heater on, then after a while both tripped. The dealer asked me to try at home on hookup which again after a few hours would trip. Yet they have supposedly tried it for hours in the workshop and it hasn't tripped????

I'm not surprised the dealer is having problems locating the fault, there are dozens of things that could be causing that. First thing to try is to swap the two 10A circuit beakers in the PSU and see if the fault still occurs.

Thanks again Peter. I wil try that on saturday when I get her back. I will of course keep you posted, but as complete newbies to motorhoming, your help in gratefully received.
 

We set of in the morning for 3 weeks camping. My response will be erratic during that period.

If its not a faulty breaker than you really need a truma qualified engineer who holds spares that he can try substituting without you having to buy them.

When you rang Truma die they mention the power circuit board as a possible cause?

Truma said it is unusual for any issues to occur but it does seem odd that the element only gets hot on one end?? The dealers are adamant that there is no problem. With taking out a 3 year warranty with the dealer, I am a little annoyed that they are not listening to the facts. Truma are happy to help either myself or the dealer. They are also happy to have the van in but at a cost. Don't see that happening as the dealer should sort. It is a problem from the first minute of leaving the forecourt, not 6 months down the line.

Truma HQ is just 15 miles down the A50 from me but a long way from Newton Abbot. Many mobile caravan engineers are Truma qualified - Truma produce a list, but as you say your dealer should sort it.

What temperature do you have the thermostat set at?

to start, it was on full, then turned down during the night to give us a nice temp, but tripped sometime during the night

The thermostat controls the power circuit board that switches the feeds to the heating elements on/off.  I haven't been able to find any detailed circuit diagrams to see exactly how they work together but normally when you connect a circuit you get a high 'inrush' current.  A circuit breaker rated at 10 Amps will be able to take twice that for a few milliseconds to survive that inrush but if faulty may trip.

The way I use the heater on electric is to leave the thermostat on full, switch the fan to Auto and use the fan speed control as the temperature control.  You get a better heat distribution that way, particularly to the bathroom.

Well the bathroom was like a sauna..............lovely. We tried it on both settings but it has tripped 3 times. As we are picking her up on Saturday, we will have to keep testing. If it still happens, I may contact a mobile Truma technician, then send the bill to the dealer. Hope you have a great time away. We plan to do the lake district next year, but we are going away end of October for 4 nights. 
You are from my neck of the woods ish. I originate from Burton on Trent.
Many thanks for all your help.

shaunS wrote: I originate from Burton on Trent.
Many thanks for all your help.

Live here now and like it but am from the proper Newcastle.

For several years now we have attended an ASOC rally in the car park of the Albion in Shobnal at the beginning of the year and when everything clicks (not often this year) I take my model helicopters to Burton Model Flying Club.

Lovely place cheadle. 
i have just had a look at our book pack and I have a full RCD circuit diagram.......probably make way more sense to you than me though

Bit nippy in Ravenglass this morning so heater on 2000w. Left side very hot and right just warm so guess that is normal and your element is ok