Whale iVan installation replacing Duo Control

Some people will be familiar with the Whale iVan from other makes of motorhome or caravan, and others have benefitted from a Truma system or have undertaken a conversion to Truma from Whale.

I have, up to now, been led to believe that the iVan control system was not compatible with the Whale system fitted in the AS van conversions, but after a long and helpful conversation with Whale, I discovered that this is not the case.  There are several iVan control panels, the majority based on the Zigbee system that is not compatible, but there is one model (IV2132), that is based on the LIN system and is compatible.  A bit of woodworking is needed to make the hole larger, but otherwise it is 'plug and play'. 

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Heating and hot water are at the top.  Bottom left is the water pump, which has no connection and you use the switch on the harmony panel.  Centre bottom is the switch to set your timers on or off (with the current time) - in the photo below they are on, and the switch has a yellow outline to show this.  Bottom right is a read-out of your leisure battery.




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It has always surprised me that for the price of most AS van conversions, they fit a manual system for heating and hot water, where you would have to get out of bed on a cold morning (if like us you MH all year) and turn the temperature up with this system.

The iVan gives you complete control over timings, and whether to use electric or gas for each (or a combination).


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There are also more detailed settings for both hot water and heating:


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Finally, all tested to make sure it works fine.  I set the heating timer to come on, and you can see from the picture below that the timer and heating have been activated automatically (green), and on the heating icon it shows that it is on gas (there would be an electric symbol if that was programmed) and also that it has been activated by a timer programme.  The home button is lit up red to show gas is on.

There is a comprehensive menu of settings to set display brightness, beeps, max amperage and so on.  All in all, I'm pleased to now have a control panel that lets me set a range of programmed timers; a display that provides a great deal more information than the Duo Control - and I don't have to get out of bed to turn the heating up!!    

Regards,


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Neither do I Rocky.....

My early medieval system has the temp control right above my head, should that be tiresome I can get the wife to do it!!!

I like that. It looks like a really worthwhile upgrade. Do you think it uses its own onboard temperature sensor, or the one in the Harmony panel?

One of my concerns would be how easy it is to reset lockouts, as the space heater is a reluctant starter that often needs more than one attempt on gas.

I think it has it's own sensor because I have seen it with a different reading to the harmony panel.  I can't answer your second point, but I can't think that it would be any more difficult than the Duo Control.

There is a user manual that you can download that does have troubleshooting.  The manual is a generic one covering all the models, some of which have slightly different symbols (for example instead of wavy lines for heating, it has a symbol of a van), and some models - which are the only control panel in the vehicle - have light switching as well.  However, the basics are the same, the icons are all in the same position, the menu settings are the same, and I would expect the troubleshooting to be the same.

Let me know if you need assistance.

Regards,

Thanks Rocky for all your help and advice regarding the installation of the iVan control panel.



I'm very pleased with the outcome. I don't understand why AS didn't fit them in the 1st place.

It's so much better than the Duo control panel. As to the reason, well, cost I suppose!