1997 Carver Water Heater Fault

SmilerGem
SmilerGem Forum Participant Posts: 2
edited August 2017 in New to Caravanning & Touring #1

Hi All,

I'm new to caravanning and have just purchased my very first caravan, a lightweight 1997 Lunar Meteor, to see if we like caravan adventures. The van had a leak which was fixed by a mobile repair company last week and we now have running water, hurrah! However, our excitement was short lived as the heater failed to heat the water and the fault light came on on the electric control panel. 

Am I doing something wrong? There's a switch on the front panel of the seating bench where the plumbing is, which I assume is like an immersion heater switch, so tried it with and without that switched on. We can get water out of the hot tap but it just won't heat up. 

Does anyone have any advice please? I'm an absolute beginner so have no idea if there are little switches or processes I should be following so please take your advice right back to basics as I know nothing!

Thanks in advance :)

 

Comments

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 14,097
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited August 2017 #2

    Do you know the model of the heater. If it's a Cascade there is a small swing cover on the front of the heater and under this is a reset button. Have you checked the valve that empties the heater of water is closed? The valve is a paddle and in the upright position it will empty the water and the closed position is flat to the pipe. This valve is usually in the vicinity of the heater on the floor. If neither of those suggestions solve the problem them perhaps as a last resort empty the water heater and refill just in case there is an airlock.

    David

  • Freelander359
    Freelander359 Forum Participant Posts: 107
    100 Comments
    edited August 2017 #3

    Hi and welcome to the wonderful world of caravanning !

    I'm sorry I'm not technical - hopefully someone who is will come along shortly and help you. In the meantime I googled it and found this.

     

    Hope it helps.

     

     

  • SmilerGem
    SmilerGem Forum Participant Posts: 2
    edited August 2017 #4

    Thanks David & Freelander. I'll be taking your advice over to the caravan to have a look (it's back at the storage facility now). I'm convinced it's my inexperience and this will certainly help me to either fix it or at least become more familiar with the hot water system. My googling whilst on site didn't bring much up last week so glad I discovered CAMC Community, thanks!

  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,727
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited August 2017 #5

    The switch on the bench front is for electric operation, like an immersion heater as you said.  As David said, it may need reset.

    The stuff on  the electric panel is the gas operation of the water heating.  The fault light shows  it has not ignited.  Have you checked the gas valves are open?

    It will also not ignite if your battery voltage is too low.

    If someone has switched the power on when the tank was empty, it may have overheated or even burnt out the electric element, but I would still expect it to work on gas.

    There is a flue for the gas outside, is this clear?  If spiders have taken up residence in the flue or burner that could stop it working on gas.

    Once you get it sorted, run it on gas every so often to keep it clear.  Both gas and electricity can be used together for faster HW if necessary.

Categories