Caravan water heater fault - Truma

[Stephen Biddle]

Hi All

Does anyone have experience of the Truma water heater? I've got one that won't light.

[Roger Mills]

I've been out of caravanning for a few years, but I used to have one.[1] It sometimes took a few attempts to light, but I don't think it ever failed completely.

What exactly are the symptoms? If you Google for 'Truma water heater', there are quite a few hits related to fault finding. Basically, it needs a gas supply which has been purged to get rid of any air in it and it needs a 12v supply from a decently charged battery.

[1] I'm not sure that mine wasn't a Carver - but they're basically similar.

[Chris J Dixon]

Does it work OK on electric? Does it try to light? Have you got the manual? They seem to be available here:

Chris

[Harry Bloomfield]

Stephen Biddle explained on 29/06/2015 :

Mine failed on 240v electric, two weeks ago when we arrived in Pembrokeshire. Got the tools out checked it and couldn't find anything amiss and soon the water was hot. Next time it was cold again and so it went on. Never got to the bottom of it, because every time I looked at it, it came on. Prime suspect is the DP on/off switch, because eventually I found I could get it to work when it wasn't by switching it on and off a few times.

The second week it performed absolutely flawlessly.

[Brian Reay]

Check the gas tap is on, there is often an isolation valve. The cover on the vent outside is removed (it unclips). If it still doesn't light, check there is a supply of 12V and the sensor is clean.

The vent could also be blocked if you've not used it, spider webs etc.

Air in the gas line is an option but it would probably clear after a few tries.

When we bought our motor home I was told that people often forget to remove the vent cover. Also that the put it under the vehicle and then reverse over it.

I normally use ours on electric but on the odd occasion I've used gas, I remember those tips.