# Volume of hot water - 2012 Comanche



## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Hi


My 2012 Comanche does not appear to provide as much hot water as my Bessacarr e795 despite having what appears to be the same water heating system. This is noticed after Mrs GMJ takes a shower. After she has finished and I run some hot water to do a few dishes, the hot water runs out. She takes short showers and does turn the water on and off whilst in there (so it doesnt just run continuously). I think she will run out of hot water when she comes to wash her hair whilst we are on holiday!


I got the dealer to check the temperature when it is set at 60 degrees and they claimed it was running at 62. My thought was that she wasn't mixing as much cold due to a lower temperature and hence that was why the hot was running out. Not so if it is at 62.


Does anyone else find this or have a solution?


NB The 'solution' isn't for her to use site facilities either which she would struggle with due to her MS.


Any help/thoughts appreciated


Thanks


Graham:smile2:


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## A14GAS (Oct 9, 2014)

Hi GMJ I have the same problem in my Pilote Galaxy 270 with a Truma water heater.
Water temperature is fine at 60 but the volume of water is very poor.
One shower even switching off to lather up and on to rinse soon depletes the hot water supply.
It is fine for washing up etc but not a lot of good for showering.
My vehicle is 15 years old so I was thinking maybe scale build up in the bottom of the heater reducing the water volume.
Alex.


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

Hi Graham.

I know from your previous posts that, in the main, you tend to use proper sites so presumably you normally use the Truma on mains power.

We tend to be on CL's or Aires most of the time so normally the Truma is being gas powered. On those occasions when we do have an EHU I've noticed that the warm up time (and the reheat time) are much longer. This is because the gas burner produces more heat than the electric element. It may be worth running it on gas next time you're away to see if that improves things at all.

A possible longer term fix is the *CP Plus Control panel*. According to the bumph it gives a "boost" function to improve warm up times. I looked into it but as well as the cost of the panel I would have to have a new PCB fitted to the boiler which took the price too high for my pocket.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Thanks chaps


Good (in a perverse kind of way) to know Im not alone:frown2:


Phil: I'll try the tip re gas when we are away...worth a shout...and certainly cheaper than the CP Plus option:surprise:


Cheers


Graham:smile2:


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

Do you keep the heating switched on whilst showering/washing up? For some reason this makes quite a difference. We regularly use the onboard shower for both of us, one immediately after the other without problems.

I have found that heating up is quicker with gas and even quicker using both gas and electric at the same time :laugh::laugh:

JohnW


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Wizzo said:


> Do you keep the heating switched on whilst showering/washing up? For some reason this makes quite a difference. We regularly use the onboard shower for both of us, one immediately after the other without problems.
> 
> I have found that heating up is quicker with gas and even quicker using both gas and electric at the same time :laugh::laugh:
> 
> JohnW


Yes we do...but I'll try the electric and gas variation though (NB Does it actually use both at the same time? In my 'minds eye' I had it that it used one or t'other depending on what was available...but Im usually wrong :grin2

ta

Graham:smile2:


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

GMJ said:


> Does it actually use both at the same time? In my 'minds eye' I had it that it used one or t'other depending on what was available...but Im usually wrong.
> Graham


On the occasions when I have forgotten to turn on the water heating early enough I have used both fuels at the same time and yes it does seem to work.

JohnW


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Well if the heating systems are the same it may be that the Comanche shower head delivers more water when running than the previous shower head, just a thought ?

Terry


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

GMJ said:


> Yes we do...but I'll try the electric and gas variation though (NB Does it actually use both at the same time? In my 'minds eye' I had it that it used one or t'other depending on what was available...but Im usually wrong :grin2
> 
> ta
> 
> Graham:smile2:


I'm not certain that it works in gas and electric mode during the summer when only the boiler is being used (i.e. no blown air heating), according to the manual anyway :wink2:

_Summer operation
(boiler operation only)
Gas operation or 230 V electrical operation is used for hot
water preparation. The water temperature can be set to 40 °C
or 60 °C.
With gas operation the water is heated at the lowest
burner setting. Once the water temperature is reached, the
burner switches off.
Depending on the fuse protection at the camping site,
power of 900 W (3.9 A) or 1800 W (7.8 A) can be manually
selected for electrical operation.
Mixed operation is not possible. With this setting the
unit automatically selects electrical operation. The gas
burner is not enabled.
_


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## DBSS (Jun 30, 2013)

Graham an interesting post as we too have a Comanche but have rarely experienced the same hot water issue. For summer, with EHU I still use the hot water and heating setting but set the heating thermostat at its lowest setting thus no heating but seems to provide more than sufficient hot water for two showers with I guess 20 mins between showers. We leave the dishes till the showers are over and done with.
I tend to agree with the comments re gas, when not on EHU and just gas, the water does seem to heat quicker and again sufficient for two showers. One can hear the gas burner kick in when just on gas before and after showers.

Cheers 
Ian


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Cheers Ian


I'll have a play while we are away and hopefully it will solve the problem


Cheers


Graham:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Graham - maybe you've only got one element working and the recovery rate is poor as you're only reheating with 900w. Try and determine how long it takes to heat up a tank full of water on i) 900w and ii) 1800w to 60 degC. One should be roughly half the time of the other.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Thanks DfD


I got the dealer to test the system for me hence knowing it was 62 degrees. I didn't specifically ask for the elements to be tested however I guess that this may have been picked up when they tested to the heat level that they did.


Mind you with the dealer I bought from anything could have happened:surprise:


I'll run some 'time trials' when we are away


Graham:smile2:


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

UPDATE


Gas worked better than electric in terms of heating the water however as it was so warm whilst we were away Mrs GMJ had mostly coolish showers so there was plenty of water for her.


I guess we'll see how it fairs over winter!


TA


Graham:smile2:


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Just read this topic.

I can believe possible different heating times with gas/900w/1800w but surely if the lights indicate that the water has reached the 60C the heating time is irrelevant.

I assume you wait till the 60C is indicated - I sometimes have trouble seeing the lights in sunny conditions.

I note you did not get an answer to the hot water tank capacity, but does the manual not contain that info? I cannot help with our Truma info as MH and manuals are 900 miles away.

All other things being equal I would think that the flow rate may be different than you experienced before, due to a stonger pump and/or shower head letting greater flow. There are special low-flow shower heads - maybe worth considering.

Geoff


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Thanks Geoff:smile2:




Now you mention it I remember changing the shower head too for one of those ones that Thames Water bosh out for free. That would certainly have made the water last longer as well.


You are right 60 degrees is 60 degrees regardless off how you get there.


Winter touring will be the acid test


Cheers


Graham:smile2:


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Update

Well, after a few trips away since October we do not appear to have a problem. No complaints from the boss at all so problem (if there was one) solved :smile2:

Both temperature and longevity of water are fine. Indeed after the boss's shower there is plenty of hot water left to wash some dishes

We are away next weekend; then 5 nights after Xmas; 2 weekends in Jan; and a week in Feb: that should sort the men from the boys :grin2:

Graham:smile2:


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Graham, the Truma boilers usually hold between 10 and 12 litres, depending on model.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

To be fair to Mrs GMJ she is quite vigilant with the water and tells me switches it off in between wetting and shampooing and conditioner-ing...whatever that all means:grin2:

Not really an issue for me: every 2 weeks I have a crop courtesy of one of these...

http://www.johnlewis.com/babyliss-f...c136bc8&s_kwcid=402x351824&tmad=c&tmcampid=73

Great piece of kit...not that I have that much to play with :surprise:

Graham:grin2:


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

philoaks said:


> Hi Graham.
> 
> I know from your previous posts that, in the main, you tend to use proper sites so presumably you normally use the Truma on mains power.
> 
> ...


All the 'BOOST' function does is turns off the habitation heating until the hot water reaches temperature, thus putting all the heat available into the water! You can do this yourself, without the CP Plus control panel.
Truma now have an 'add-on' small tank which links to the original hot water tank, to increase the capacity of hot water, not sure of, at what cost thought!


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Am I right in thinking that the electric heating is a collar around the tank, as apposed to the domestic idea of an immersion element in the tank.
Would in this case be because it would be difficult to make a fitting for this type of heating element, due to it not being steel or copper.

Which leads me to ask why we cannot have a domestic type of hot water tank.Or can we.

cabby


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

Yeah, it not immersed but heating the water externally. That's why it takes so long to reheat the water if heating the blown air too.


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

They do say that you should heat using gas then use elec to hold the heat, as it is not very efficient at heating primary function.

Anyone know why we cannot have immersion tanks in a motorhome.obviously it would have to be a separate item.


cabby


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

I don't see any reason why not. As you say, it would be separate to the habitation heating, so use more space I would think. A combi unit is probably cheaper, and only one installation, one unit.


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