Internal repairs

Self builds and DIY projects
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FinAde
Posts: 185
Joined: September 16th, 2014, 8:13 am
Location: Somerset, nr Wedmore

Internal repairs

Post: # 995Post FinAde
September 18th, 2014, 7:34 pm

I've left Ade to the external repairs - legs, motors, newly found rot...

Apart from cleaning, emptying the toilet cassette (yuk!) and replacing the lip seal, I've had the task of sorting out fried battery connections and burned out water heater.

Water heater first. PCB board mapped and still can't decide whether its a Malaga 2E or 3E. Immersion element, gas burner and thermostat trips replaced. Can't get too excited yet as the 12v supply is shot so I can't test it. It may need a new PCB board yet, which won't be a bad thing as it will upgrade it to the 4E.
Tischer 230
VW Amarok

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zildjian
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Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 997Post zildjian
September 18th, 2014, 8:20 pm

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zildjian
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Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 998Post zildjian
September 18th, 2014, 8:22 pm

Wish I understood the electrical system more,
there seems any amount of surplus cabling here and there, presumably for extra unspecified functions.


Still perhaps Fiona can explain it (to me) in laymans terms later on!

FinAde
Posts: 185
Joined: September 16th, 2014, 8:13 am
Location: Somerset, nr Wedmore

Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 999Post FinAde
September 18th, 2014, 8:55 pm

Took me a while but nothing is surplus... just disconnected... ☺. Hopefully all figured out now. Just have to sort the 12 system and we'll have hot water.
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VW Amarok

FinAde
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Joined: September 16th, 2014, 8:13 am
Location: Somerset, nr Wedmore

Re: Internal repairs - We have hot water :)

Post: # 1043Post FinAde
September 21st, 2014, 8:44 pm

We have hot water !
When we got the camper, among the items which had been taken apart and not put back together was the water heater. Apparently it kept overheating and tripping out so the manual reset was held in until it melted !

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It’s a Propex Malaga E water heater – either a 2 or 3, I still can’t tell which it is. It is supposed to be gas only/gas and electric/electric only but for some reason this one is not wired for gas only. I downloaded a manual from the Propex website http://www.propexheatsource.co.uk which includes a wiring diagram. It’s not as complicated as it looks – to remove the heater from its location in the van, we had to unplug the 12v wires, disconnect the 240v wires, gas and water pipes. The rest remains attached to the heater.

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The drain tap had snapped off, and the cold water inlet is a one-way valve, so draining it of 13 litres of water was a slow process. Once drained, I removed the immersion element which consisted of about 5 parts - the external electrical connector, a rubber seal, a metal plate and two more rubber seals, all of which were leaking. The new element is just 2 parts – a moulded element and a single seal. Next job to remove the burner. This meant disconnecting the ignition wire from the PCB board, and the gas pipe from the burner, before removing the burner itself.

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Both element and burner were corroded and probably not working at all. New parts ordered direct from http://www.propexleisure.co.uk and reinstalled. The immersion element is a new version with slightly different connections on the front, as it now has its own automatic reset thermostatic cut-off which needs to be wired to the other two, but it does come with a ‘link wire’ to connect it with.

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Once it was all put back together and reinstalled in the van (and refilled with water by filling the water tank and running the hot tap til water came out), we tried to fire it up. Nothing. I hadn’t had much faith in the PCB board as it was so old, so was guessing we’d have to replace that too. There is a small fuse by the hot water outlet which looked intact. This replaced, we tried again. The gas igniter clicked a few times and then nothing. The malfunction light came on. Then we realised the 240v switch was off… switched that on and tried again. Green light, ignition clicked and the gas burner fired into life. It was so quiet we thought it hadn’t ignited but, on checking the flue, it was warming up. 15 minutes later – hot water !
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zildjian
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Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 1048Post zildjian
September 21st, 2014, 9:02 pm

Still not displaying properly, right time for another look :o


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zildjian
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Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 1050Post zildjian
September 21st, 2014, 9:53 pm

This one ?

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FinAde
Posts: 185
Joined: September 16th, 2014, 8:13 am
Location: Somerset, nr Wedmore

Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 1051Post FinAde
September 21st, 2014, 9:58 pm

That's it. That's how the new element is connected slightly differently.
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Mike
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Joined: August 23rd, 2014, 8:36 pm
Location: near Yeovil

Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 1052Post Mike
September 22nd, 2014, 8:41 am

Great photos and post I have same unit seems to have the same strange connection in that gas only does not work but gas / electric works when only on gas or only on electric so all bases covered but not logical. Glad you got it working,
2008 Ford Ranger 3.0 Wildtrack
Nomad ( Ranger ) Demountable

FinAde
Posts: 185
Joined: September 16th, 2014, 8:13 am
Location: Somerset, nr Wedmore

Re: Internal repairs

Post: # 1053Post FinAde
September 22nd, 2014, 11:17 am

Yes really pleased with it. I'm not overly concerned we can't use gas only - I'm not a lover of using gas in such a confined space anyway so glad it has the electric only option for colder days when the windows aren't going to be open.
Tischer 230
VW Amarok

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