Carver P4 Blown Air Heating System Removal

Ok,

I've looked under the Duetto, and found the pipes (I've also found the instruction manual & full understand now how it works now). I've tried many times, but, after running for a few minutes, I believe the fan is trying a sort of flue clearing cycle. It then shuts down & gives me the 2 light flash.

Could be a blown element or a blocked flue (unlikely)

REMOVAL
Just to confirm (if anyones done it), to remove the P4 unit from the van, I need to:

1) remove the screws on the 2 brackets (on top of the fan)
2) remove the hoses that vent into the van.
3) (not sure how I'm gonna do this) lift the fan up to access the screws on the 2 clips that hold the inlet/outlet hoses (that go outside the van).
4) remove the gas hose (also difficult to get at) on the back of the unit.

If anyones done this procedure, I'd greatly appreciate any pointers.

Well it looks like you've pretty well sussed it out but have a look at this thread from last year when a similar question was asked..

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The only other advise I can give is to make a very careful note of how the pipes underneath are routed as they are not as flexible as you would like them to be when putting it back in and you really need someone to help with pushing them through. If mine ever went wrong again, I wouldn't bother trying to fix it, you can get a lot of electric hook-ups for the cost of a replacement (well over £500 for Propex or Truma or Whale units). Good luck!

Found this on a boat forum (these heaters are also used on boats). It contains some hints and tips on repairing your heater ...

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Thanks for all your help so far.

I tried this test this afternoon.

Hooked up on mains
Fridge on gas
Oven & rings on
Water heater running on gas.

The fault: the p4 wouldn't even start the fan, it gave 6 flashes, so If I turned something off (ie hot water or fridge) It would start, and then pressing the heat button started the usual cycle of runnning with no heat for a bit before shutting down.

So, the question is, should the Duetto be able to run with all appliances on in this fashion? I would think that it should, & all the lights on as well.

Why is my p4 Not wanting to even run the fan when I run all other appliances? That's just plain old weird!

Any thoughts or speculation would be greatly appreciated.

You'll know from the manual that 6 flashes means control panel fault which is what I had so it's strange that yours was giving 2 flashes and now 6. I thought the control panel was something inside the thermostat control so bought a new one but that made no difference so I was about to swop it for a Propex that I got off Ebay when a P4 came up for auction so got that and swopped the P4's over and all is well but second-hand P4's are just not out there, so I would go the route of the boat forum above and first off lubricate the fan, it might be just so tight that it needs a really hefty battery charge to get it spinning.

Something seems a bit funny. You say that when you switch fridge and hot water off the fan works OK. They both work off the mains and the fan works from the battery. I would look at the battery. If you do need to take the Carver P4 out I found it easier to take the wall panel off ( under window between drivers seat and cooker ). It means you can take the gas connection off before you move the heater. As Paul says you could do with someone underneath to feed the pipes up and you need to clear the crud around the pipes

Regards
Pete

Hi,

Probably not very helpful, but my P4 has never worked 'efficiently' and eventually packed up altogether. I tried a number of times (20-30 cycles) to fire it up and each time it failed. It also seemed to give different fault 'codes' each time. (2, 4, 6 mainly).

I started to investigate removal of the unit and decided that for the use it got and, as Paul has stated you can get a lot of EHUs for the cost of replacement of a new Truma, we bought a 500watt electric heater which does the business!

Mike D