Combi 4 E boiler - winter heating

GrahamCardiff

Hi,

I've just purchased a Sunlight Cliff 600 camper van (1 year old). It has a Truma Combi E fitted.

I've drained the reservoir for winter so obviously won't use it for hot water, but could anyone clarify if the blown-air function is still useable without water present in the system? The manual suggests it is, but it's not very clear.  I just wanted to double-check. Thanks!

young thomas

yes, you can use the heater (on electric, gas or mixed) with the boiler drained...

i don't know if you have the CP Plus contol panel (black rectangle) or the twin knob system...

with the CP plus, it's pretty easy, just turn hot water to off.....and use heating with temp/fan control as you would normally.

with the twin dial system it's a little more 'tricky' but I'll only get into this if that's what controls you have...

nice van by the way....

Metheven

As an aside, can you blow cold air (fan only) using the CP Plus control?

My twin dial system won't allow it but it could be upgraded if the CP Plus can.

JVB66

Yes you can it has been very "helpful" in the summer heat this year

Metheven

 

Oh, so an upgrade might allow it 

Cheers 👍

GrahamCardiff

Thanks for clarifying and for the compliment, it's our first van and we're looking forward to testing it out  It's the dual dial control - which I think I've worked out but any tips welcome. 

Metheven

 but any tips welcome

Yes, you can't blow cool air on nice hot days with dual dial control 

It takes a while on electric to get up to blowing some worthwhile heat but add a bit of gas and the time is cut down considerably.

DavidKlyne

Just had mine on in the van this morning as we were making the bed in readiness for our next trip. You have obviously discovered the setting, which is one down from the middle/off position. We use it regularly over winter to air the van between trips away.

David

GrahamCardiff

Thanks! I'm assuming the gas/electric mix is achieved automatically?  Can you use gas without electricity - for example, off-grid/without hook-up, as I'm guessing the leisure battery would drain quite quickly if you didn't (you can tell I'm new to all this!) ? 

GrahamCardiff

Good tip, thanks

Tammygirl

Yes you can select gas only, electric only or a combination of both, this is the fastest way to heat the van from cold. The gas will go off once the van is up to temp and then be maintained by the electric. The heater works of mains 240v, however the fan is 12v. 

young thomas

M, yes you can upgrade but you need a new PCB (to interpret the new functions) as well as the CP Plus control panel....so won't be cheap

however, advantages include setting the fan speed to high or low, rather than the unit deciding....you can get much more out of the heater by setting it to high, even when on electric 1 (900w)...

..you can also prioritise heat over water (or vice versa) by selecting boost...

to find the 'cool air' setting, both heating and hot water MUST be in the off position (I fell for this one....) and then the option 'vent' appears which can then be controlled by the fan....between 1 and 10 I think.

so, yes, it's less confusing to use and has quite a bit more flexibility.

oh, and although it's iNet compatible, Truma will want to sell you another bit of kit to 'complete the interface'....

needless to say, I didn't bother...

just to add to TG's informative post, when on gas only (off grid camping) you will just use the leisure battery for the fan....this should no ok for a few days, but if you're going to be doing this a lot, I would seriously look at two or three things......

firstly a solar panel (80/100/120 watt) to constantly top up the leisure (and vehicle) battery and secondly perhaps a 2nd leisure battery to increase time off grid.... the by product is that the SP will keep all batteries well charged while van is t being used....immobilisers and alarms can be a drain.

also, if off gridding, you'll use more gas (especially in winter) and Calor refill aren't cheap...a refillable system from Gaslow/Gasit etc will allow purchase of LPG at around 25% the cost of bottled gas.....additionally, if you decide to tour abroad, the refillable system can be used all over Europe (with an adaptor or two) whereas bottles can't be exchanged.

again, good luck with the van. 

JVB66

And of course is another plus over the Aldi system 

GrahamCardiff

Thanks. Is there a selector switch or is it automatic? If there is a switch, I can't see it!

young thomas

had to cast my mind back a bit but here goes.....

the first picture is the power selection switch....to select midxed mode you need either the bottom setting (gas + electric II, 1800w) or one up from there (gas + electric I, 900w).

whats confusing is that, on this dial, Truma use the flame symbol for 'gas' whereas in the other picture (the function dial) the flame signal means 'heat' (whatever the power choice) ...

So, to use heat but no water, it's the one down from the 'O'.

GrahamCardiff

Yes, I heard about the refilllable system - we’ll see how it goes but might be worth investing in it for our European trip next year...

Metheven

Thanks for your upgrade reply ''BB' 👍

DavidKlyne

M, yes you can upgrade but you need a new PCB (to interpret the new functions) as well as the CP Plus control panel....so won't be cheap

I looked into doing this but came to the same conclusion, I think we got to about £600 by the time labour was added! An easy way to tell what boiler you have is apparently the colour! If it has a grey cover it is expensive to upgrade but if its all black it only needs the programmer display panel, still probably not cheap. Looking forward to having the fully programmable version in our new motorhome.

David

Tammygirl

Looking forward to having the fully programmable version in our new motorhome.

We like it David much better than in the SE, I take it you won't have Alde in the new MH then.

 

DavidKlyne

TG

No we don't, that is reserved for the Autograph range. We have ordered one of the new Alliance range the 66-2.

David

GrahamCardiff

Thanks all for your helpful responses!