Kingham Tank heaters.

Hi good folks and wise Owls, I have a 2017 Kingham which I absolutely love. Last week I was staying near Pershore ( lovely little town), and the weather was very cold when we arrived. Whilst we were setting up the fresh tank decided to empty itself, yes, I know there’s a frost protection valve, so I reset it and tried to switch on the tank heater blankets.
Under the Settee is a switch marked ‘ waste tank protection’ which I duly switched on I also put the hot water and heating on , on Gas + EHU.
I couldn’t find any mention of fresh/ hot water frost protection in the manual.
Does the one switch do both because it took some time to stop reopening and trying to dump the water!!!
Anyone out there have any idea about this
Thanks in advance

Barry the Bishop wrote:... Whilst we were setting up the fresh tank decided to empty itself, yes, I know there’s a frost protection valve, so I reset it and tried to switch on the tank heater blankets.
.....
I couldn’t find any mention of fresh/ hot water frost protection in the manual.
Does the one switch do both because it took some time to stop reopening and trying to dump the water!!!
Anyone out there have any idea about this
Thanks in advance

The Truma frost protection valve dumps the internal water system.  This is predominantly to protect the Truma hot water tank from frost damage.  It doesn't dump the external fresh water tank but if the water pump is on it will drain the fresh water tank through the Truma frost protection valve dump valve if it hasn't been closed.  The waste and fresh water tank heaters have nothing to do with the Truma frost protection valve.

I have never seen that lit on our van, maybe I am doing something wrong. Not a problem as never found the need to use the tank heaters.
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Richard

rgermain wrote:I have never seen that lit on our van, maybe I am doing something wrong. Not a problem as never found the need to use the tank heaters.
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Richard

On our WXL it only lights if the isolation switch is turned on under the couch on top of the the EC500 box

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This is the waste tank heater switch .you don’t need to have both the fresh water and waste on to save power when not on mains but the good solar mod will keep it working
A lesson for the Google people the temperature sensor in the van needs to be above the temperature limit or it dumps the water as Barry had problems with

On my 2014 Warwick Duo, the waste tank heater only comes on after the fresh tank heater has been switched on. No fresh tank heater, no waste tank heater.

FreelanderUK wrote:

rgermain wrote:I have never seen that lit on our van, maybe I am doing something wrong. Not a problem as never found the need to use the tank heaters.
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Richard

On our WXL it only lights if the isolation switch is turned on under the couch on top of the the EC500 box

I do have the switch on the EC500 box, no label and also no light, so no idea if it is on or off. Also only one switch so no idea which tank is being heated. 

Do you need to be on EHU? 

Richard

Hi no you don’t need to be on mains just a good solar mod
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rgermain wrote:

FreelanderUK wrote:

rgermain wrote:I have never seen that lit on our van, maybe I am doing something wrong. Not a problem as never found the need to use the tank heaters.
---------
Richard

On our WXL it only lights if the isolation switch is turned on under the couch on top of the the EC500 box

I do have the switch on the EC500 box, no label and also no light, so no idea if it is on or off. Also only one switch so no idea which tank is being heated. 

Do you need to be on EHU? 

Richard

No I don’t need to be on EHU and I am sure that the switch lights up, see photo below

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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]This light on the ec500 only lights up when on the mains

But if you're not on EHU, the heaters will quickly deplete the leisure battery.

As has been said on the Forum, it would take a prolonged, severe frost to freeze the tanks without the heaters - but the unlagged exterior pipework is far more vulnerable. It would be sensible to lag them if you are going to use the van in very cold weather. The fresh water dump valve is normally fine so long as the Truma heater is keeping the interior of the van fairly warm (day and night). I seem to recall that Truma make a supplementary retrofit heater to protect the dump valve. Frankly, I think it's better to get rid of that pesky dump valve and replace it with a manual valve. 

Cymro

The "water heater" switch in the EC500 is the boiler, unconnected to the tank blankets.

For the fresh / waste water tank blankets, switch on the button on the EC480 control panel (as shown in a post above.) You should not use the tank blanket on an empty tank, hence the switch under the sofa. If the LED is illuminated, you are using the waste tank blanket, if it is not illuminated, you are not.

It must be different to the EC700.  The EC700's fresh/waste water tank blankets are 12V but will only work off the PX300 i.e. if on an EHU, or, if driving and for 15 mins after driving.  They shouldn't work if the tank is less than 25% full, which is problematic if the EC700's sensors are playing up as they do, and if the EC700 sensed external temperature is above 2 degrees C.  If it's below 2 degrees a frost warning symbol should be displayed on the EC700's CP.  There is no frost dump valve for either the fresh water or waste water tanks.  

The Truma frost dump valve is covered in the Truma manual.  It is mechanical and entirely separate from the EC700.  When it senses the temperature has dropped to 3 degrees C it automatically opens and can't be closed until it senses the temperature has risen to 7 degrees C.  This can be a nuisance at the start of a winter trip as the temperature around the valve has to be raised to 7 degrees before the hot water tank can be filled and internal water system primed.  It's also important to turn the water pump off when leaving the van in cold weather just in case the temperature drops to 3 degrees which it could do if the heating system fails while away from the van.

FreelanderUK wrote:

rgermain wrote:

FreelanderUK wrote:

On our WXL it only lights if the isolation switch is turned on under the couch on top of the the EC500 box

I do have the switch on the EC500 box, no label and also no light, so no idea if it is on or off. Also only one switch so no idea which tank is being heated. 

Do you need to be on EHU? 

Richard

No I don’t need to be on EHU and I am sure that the switch lights up, see photo below

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Same as our switch on the Duo, never seen it lit and don't know if it is off or on. Only had the van since new in 2016, so just ignore it, but will have a better look tomorrow.
Richard
Richard

Thanks to all of you for your replies. its amazing how much knowledge is out there. I now understand how the system works; my manual says slightly different info to your answers but your answers work with the set up in my van (outdated manual perhaps)
Thanks again folks. Happy touring