Alde Heating Newbie

catherinef
catherinef Forum Participant Posts: 647
edited April 2016 in Caravans #1

Don't really know how to try and explain, but I'll give it a go.

We were having issues last night with the new heating system and were puzzled by the fact that it didn't seem that warm yet the display was showing the caravan to be reasonably warm.  The Swift Control Panel was showing the van to be a lot cooler than the
Alde Panel.  The only way I could get the heating to kick in was to amend the temperature offset but then we started to cook.

This morning I did a factory re-set and everything seemed to be working well.  Caravan was showing 22 degrees, we decided to say we wanted it to be 21.5, the pump/boiler stopped recirculating - all was good.  It stopped raining and the caravan started to
warm up as we are now at 24.5 and having to open windows.

Can anyone help or advise?  I rang the dealer who said that from what was on the screen, all was well.  

 

Comments

  • catherinef
    catherinef Forum Participant Posts: 647
    edited April 2016 #2

    Also should add that the temp increase from 22 - 24.5 was with the Heiki open at the front.  

  • davehurst
    davehurst Forum Participant Posts: 48
    edited April 2016 #3

    I was a little confused with getting the tempreture correct, it seemed to go up beyind what you would normally expect, so much so that i actually bought a thermometer to see if the reading matched, they did. You will find the tempreture inside a modern Caravan
    can start to go up pretty quick even though it may not seem very warm outside.  Go with it, you will be fine.

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,311 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2016 #4

    When you say the temp increased from 22 - 24.5 I am assuming the control panel was not showing that the pump / heating was running. As long as that is the case, as davehurst says, I would not worry. A couple of people moving about generate a fair bit of heat, as does any cooking or sun on the outside. On an evening if we have the oven going it can get very warm indeed and the heating switches off for several hours.

  • catherinef
    catherinef Forum Participant Posts: 647
    edited April 2016 #5

    When you say the temp increased from 22 - 24.5 I am assuming the control panel was not showing that the pump / heating was running. As long as that is the case, as davehurst says, I would not worry. A couple of people moving about generate a fair bit of
    heat, as does any cooking or sun on the outside. On an evening if we have the oven going it can get very warm indeed and the heating switches off for several hours.

    That's correct, no pump running.  Fingers crossed tonight that after I've reset everything this morning that the heating will come on tonight.

     

  • catherinef
    catherinef Forum Participant Posts: 647
    edited April 2016 #6

    Well I'm pleased to report that we awoke this morning to a caravan at a nice temperature and no condensation on the insides of the windows.  I did turn the heating up by 1.5 degrees when we gotup and then something odd happened.  There was an awful lot of
    spitting/gurgling coming from the boiler.  There was a lot of steam coming from the flue (it was a frosty morning).  There appeared to be water fizzing on the lower lip of the boiler flue.  I went into the wardrobe to look at the expansion tank and the fluid
    was bubbling away and way over max, but lower than the ALDE lettering on the plastic housing.  No fluid had overflowed.  I did go and turn the boiler off at the control panel as to me it wasn't right.    The boiler is running on elec/gas with preference to
    elec.

    People on Swift Talk have suggested it doesn't seem right.

  • jeffcc
    jeffcc Forum Participant Posts: 430
    edited April 2016 #7

    Hi Catherinef, it would seem to me as though you have an air lock in the central heating side of the system hence the fizzing and bubbling as the air tries to bleed out, i would suggest that you bleed the radiators out assuming you have some of the correct
    fluid to refill the tank? the instructions for bleeding are in the handbook pack( or should be)

    p.s. the steam from the flue was more than likely the gas section of the boiler operating as they can steam quite a bit on cold mornings.

    hope that helps p.s. i am also on Swift talk

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,311 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2016 #8

    Air in ours seems to collect in the bathroom towel rail, which has an easy to get at bleed valve. If the towel rail is not getting as hot as it should, this will be air. The fluid level will fall when you release the air, so you may need to top up.

  • catherinef
    catherinef Forum Participant Posts: 647
    edited April 2016 #9

    Thanks guys, hello Jeff :)

    I did wonder if it was air in the system.   I've now switched it just to electric only.  The glycol level is still over max at the moment, but the temperature is still over 50 degrees, so until it cools down I won't know what the exact level is.  

     I assume the other possibility of the niose this morning was the auto bleed on the boiler as well as the gas kicking in?

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