[kazuo]

@kazuo I am just looking at it again today...one other thing I just thought of, once drilling thru the body trim do we need worry about water getting in behind it (the trim) thru the opening for the port. I fully intend to seal up the plastic trim inserts inside the van, but my greater concern is excess water sitting in between the trim and body panel, particularly as the outer diameter of the hole in the trim needs to be a little bit larger to let the truma get air thru the intake, that or the intake needs to be raised a bit

Which panel were you thinking of putting it thru?, I am, looking at the driverside where the slider door would be

Yes about 40 inch's aft of the gas filler port, I was thinking to space it so that the intake would be unimpeded, I will know more today after I remove the trim peace. The easy way would be to mount it at the peak of the convex curve, and bob's your uncle.

 

[eljefe]

My buddy has one in his Winnebago Solis and raves about it. I really love the idea of a combined furnace and water heater and plan to put one in my build. My biggest struggle is figuring out exactly where to put it.

I browsed the thread and didn't see anyone post the USA sale link:
Truma Combi 4 eco Propane Combination Furnace and Water Heater Kit – Truma Heaters

 

[Intruder]

My buddy has one in his Winnebago Solis and raves about it. I really love the idea of a combined furnace and water heater and plan to put one in my build. My biggest struggle is figuring out exactly where to put it.

I browsed the thread and didn't see anyone post the USA sale link:
Truma Combi 4 eco Propane Combination Furnace and Water Heater Kit – Truma Heaters

There is no USA link. The Canadian link is where to purchase it. The ship fast a free to the US.

 

[cobratom]

Might be a good idea to call. Support | Truma

I doubt if they won't service a grey market DIY if they will supply parts. They might not even sell parts for DIY service if you have a US factory built vehicle that came with one.

When the Canadian Co. runs out of the liquidation inventory they purchased, I'd think they won't be able to provide parts.

Hey, Tom here from TrumaHeaters.com. I just wanted to address this. We ran out of components to support full kits about half a year ago, We have a strong relationship with a German Truma distributor, that has been providing us with parts. The trouble is and always will be cost affective Trans-Atlantic shipping. We will support our customers for as long as we can for parts (years, not months), several of our customers have had no trouble ordering individual Truma components (ducting, etc) from both Winnebago and Airstream dealers as an alternative.

We also prepared early on to shelve 10% of our inventory in anticipation of warranty claims, freight damage, freight loss, accidental damage after the fact.
We have been around for about 20 months and have shipped a large number of units. (I don't want to get into the numbers on a public forum)
Our warranty claim stands at 0%
0%!!!
It's simply amazing what a high quality reliable product the Truma is.

Yes, we have had some growing pains, figuring out packaging, missing a piece here or there, shipping an incorrect part. All of these have been improved. quality Instapak packaging, heavy duty double wall boxes, staging shipments.

What disappoints me is Truma NA opinion of the DIY/Aftermarket world. We have proven over and over again the aftermarket/DIY install world that is prepared to spend this kind of money on a quality product is excellent and the installations are more planned out and careful than a factory install. Truma Germany knows this, but Truma NA fears the US lawsuit culture and just wants to leave the liability on the van builder.

 

[njvagabond]

Hey, Tom here from TrumaHeaters.com. I just wanted to address this. We ran out of components to support full kits about half a year ago, We have a strong relationship with a German Truma distributor, that has been providing us with parts. The trouble is and always will be cost affective Trans-Atlantic shipping. We will support our customers for as long as we can for parts (years, not months), several of our customers have had no trouble ordering individual Truma components (ducting, etc) from both Winnebago and Airstream dealers as an alternative.

Thanks for chiming in on this. Great to hear of your plans to provide ongoing parts support.

 

[Kabouter]

Newest road test was a doozy. Snowboarding up in the UP of Michigan this weekend. Night 1 was -10F, up to -8F during the day. Night 2 got down to -18F. Wind was about 10 mph. Full family loaded up, so we kept it hot! Truma kept the van at 70, but we burned through a full 20# tank by the second morning. Whoa. I think this solidifies that I need a second tank stowed somewhere in this van.

Here are pics of my install. Not the best, but we have been using it (not taking pics)!

And here is one picture of Skadi providing ski-in-ski out access at Big Powderhorn.

 

[cobratom]

Newest road test was a doozy. Snowboarding up in the UP of Michigan this weekend. Night 1 was -10F, up to -8F during the day. Night 2 got down to -18F. Wind was about 10 mph. Full family loaded up, so we kept it hot! Truma kept the van at 70, but we burned through a full 20# tank by the second morning. Whoa. I think this solidifies that I need a second tank stowed somewhere in this van.

Here are pics of my install. Not the best, but we have been using it (not taking pics)!

And here is one picture of Skadi providing ski-in-ski out access at Big Powderhorn.

Looking good! So this was a full 20LB tank used in 2 nights, or was the van hot during the day as well? How well insulated is the van?
The trouble I find with the 20lb tanks is they are rarely filled correctly, commonly under-filled.

 

[Janus9]

80+ degree delta is huge. No wonder you burned so much propane.

The fact that it could do it, that heater must be putting out some large btus for a van.

 

[kazuo]

Looking good! So this was a full 20LB tank used in 2 nights, or was the van hot during the day as well? How well insulated is the van?
The trouble I find with the 20lb tanks is they are rarely filled correctly, commonly under-filled.

AmeriGas and Blue Rhino agreed with each other in 2008 to lower the amount of propane in their pre-filled propane tanks from 17 pounds to 15 pounds without also reducing the price, according to the class action lawsuit. This allegedly inflated the price of propane for consumers.

 

[turbodave]

Kabouter:
With that usage I'm rethinking my propane tank size.
Dave

 

[Sg1]

It is impossible to comment on propane usage without knowing how you insulated your van. In my experience it is very important to separate the cab from the insulated cabin. The cab is not insulated and looses a huge amount of heat with the big windows. Even a thick padded curtain between cab and cabin makes a big difference if the cabin is insulated.
I spend quite a few nights with similar temperatures and a lot less propane usage but I had a camper on my Transit with 1.5´´ composite (fiberglass-foam-fiberglass) panels (similar to the ones Total Composits is using)and a door between cab and camper build with the same panels.

 

[Kabouter]

Yes, it was at 70F for about 40 hours straight. So we were maintaining about a 80+ delta the whole time.

The van has a 1" coating of sprayed foam, and most of it is finished with mineral wool to fill the remaining voids. Rear doors, slider, and front cab does not have insulation yet (other than thinsulate window covers). So those are large areas that will be improved.

My propane tank is not a BBQ exchange. I have it filled.

 

[cobratom]

Yes, it was at 70F for about 40 hours straight. So we were maintaining about a 80+ delta the whole time.

The van has a 1" coating of sprayed foam, and most of it is finished with mineral wool to fill the remaining voids. Rear doors, slider, and front cab does not have insulation yet (other than thinsulate window covers). So those are large areas that will be improved.

My propane tank is not a BBQ exchange. I have it filled.

So lets assume there was 17litres of propane in your tank.
If there is such a massive delta the unit was most likely close to full flow the entire time.
17L/40hrs = 0.425L/Hour

The maximum flow through the Truma is 290 grams/hr (0.59L/Hour), so your Truma was on 72% of the time assuming 17L in the tank.

 

[Kabouter]

So lets assume there was 17litres of propane in your tank.
If there is such a massive delta the unit was most likely close to full flow the entire time.
17L/40hrs = 0.425L/Hour

The maximum flow through the Truma is 290 grams/hr (0.59L/Hour), so your Truma was on 72% of the time assuming 17L in the tank.

That sounds about right. It is definitely good motivation to get the doors done at least!

 

[gsk]

The Truma Diesel heaters have a kit for high altitude use:

Altitude kit for Truma Combi D 6	Necessary for extended operation of Truma Combi diesel heaters at altitudes of 1500 to 2750 metres. Ensures the correct air-fuel ratio so that the heater works perfectly.

How do the North American Propane versions do at high altitude? It doesn't seem like they require any such kit, but I wanted to make sure.

 

[Kabouter]

No kit needed for high altitude. I camped a week between about 8.5k' and 10k' with no operation problems at all.

 

[cobratom]

The Truma Diesel heaters have a kit for high altitude use:

Altitude kit for Truma Combi D 6	Necessary for extended operation of Truma Combi diesel heaters at altitudes of 1500 to 2750 metres. Ensures the correct air-fuel ratio so that the heater works perfectly.

How do the North American Propane versions do at high altitude? It doesn't seem like they require any such kit, but I wanted to make sure.

Propane does not suffer any altitude issues as its self compensating and the fuel is clean so it does not produce any soot or carbon build up.

 

[Kabouter]

Well, like a complete idiot, I forgot to drain my water system when we got home last week. So the freeze test of my system is under way. It was well below zero degF here for a week solid. Fresh water tank is bulged, filter casing exploded, but my pex lines appear fine. Heat is on and drain line installed. I will report back later tonight with either "wow this system is tough", or "I am a huge failure of a human."

 

[Intruder]

That's not good. Hope you get lucky this time. Let us know the damages when things thaw.

 

[cobratom]

Well, like a complete idiot, I forgot to drain my water system when we got home last week. So the freeze test of my system is under way. It was well below zero degF here for a week solid. Fresh water tank is bulged, filter casing exploded, but my pex lines appear fine. Heat is on and drain line installed. I will report back later tonight with either "wow this system is tough", or "I am a huge failure of a human."

I remember seeing a freeze report when these were tested. The Stainless tank is VERY tough. Usually the small pex lines and hot cold/fittings break off along with any plastics outside of the system that get brittle when cold.
I hope you got lucky, but if you did not we will get you fixed up. I have a new tank here sitting on my shelf with your name on it if you need it.
Tom