# Carver Cascade - No Hot Water



## 101316 (Oct 9, 2006)

Total newbie here. Just purchased an elderly Elddis 300 MH. It came with no gas bottle so I expected the lines to be full of air and lighting everything first time to be a fiddle. Heater, hob, oven and fridge all ignite just fine. 

The Caver Cascade 2 water heater though is producing no hot water. 

1. Water pumps and flows from all taps just fine. 
2. The gas valve right by the water heater is set with the arrows aligned with the pipe - I guess this means it is open? 
3. The Carver's control panel (which at first I hadn't spotted behind a cushion!) is showing one green light - according to the basic instructions this means it's "working". If there is a gas ignition problem a red light is supposed to show. I noticed when turning it on and off the green and amber LEDS flash briefly to show they are working but the red one does not - so possibly the LED itself is not working. 
4. Whilst testing the electric hookup (at home) some hot water did appear for a time presumably from the inbuilt immersion heater. Once hookup was removed the water ran cold again. 
5. There is defo no heat/fumes coming from the external gas vent. I removed the cowl to have have a poke and was rewarded with a good soaking from the pressure relief thingy. I couldn't see the thermostat wheel that the instructions alluded to. There didn't appear to be anything else to fiddle with. 

I find it frustrating that as with the space heater you cannot see any flames/pilot light to know if you are making progress. 

I plan to wild camp in Spain starting in two weeks' time. I can take any hardship, including managing with just a headtorch for lighting if batteries run low. But I am a total wuss without a hot shower everyday! Help!


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## sergeant (Jun 7, 2006)

Hi, The Carver if looked after is a superb bit of kit, the adjuster wheel you refer to is only on the early burner units. Your problem is either the wall switch or the burner unit. Unfortunately the burner unit is £100 while the wall switch is about £20. Checking is by substitution. Have you a friend with one ? If so try the wallswitch first. Either way a dealer shouldnt charge you for fitting time as it is only a 2minute job to change either of the items, Where are you as I might be able to suggest someone,Steve


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi
Steve has covered the ground but if you want to see "exploded views" and a fault finder chart for the Carver go >HERE<

Mike


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## 101316 (Oct 9, 2006)

Thanks both.
I'm in West Yorkshire, 15 miles south of Leeds. So far I don't know anyone to try swapping parts with. I could run to a control box at £20 otherwise it'll have to be one of those plastic bag solar showers hung from the ladder - al fresco :lol:

EDIT! Just peeking on ebay for carver parts and saw this DIN lead:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Caravan-Carve...ryZ36798QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
There is a lead just like this lying forlorn under the same seat. I had just assumed the lead was from some huge non-working stereo speakers in the back of the van. Sooo, where to plug this baby in. The boiler is wrapped in polystyrene and inaccessible from the side nearest the front of the van without ripping all the seats out.


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## sergeant (Jun 7, 2006)

Hi rawpower, listen carefully now! Make sure your gas is turned off, take off outer square cover(4 no2 pozis). Now you will see an aluminium plate covering the lower half of the burner assembly, remove the 2 screws holding this on 7 remove the plate. If you look down either side of the gas valve(the round verical tube to the right) you will see a no2 pozi screw. Undo these two, they will not fall out. You can now pull the burner unit forward towards you & you should see the lead you refer to plugged into the back of the burner module, if not plug it in & as they say refitting is the reversal of removing.NOTE, check there are still 3 rubber o rings on the mounting face DO NOT put any sealant or similar on there,just fit dry. While you have it out if you have access to an airline it is worth blowing the dust out, if it is rusty it could be near the end of its life. Average life is 6 to 8 years although i have seen them last 15 years, Good luck,Steve


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Excellent post, Steve.

"Average life is 6 to 8 years although i have seen them last 15 years"

Makes me feel I "won", then, having had almost 12 years of trouble-free use before I sold it 

Dave


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## sergeant (Jun 7, 2006)

Hi Dave, wish you had not said that as I have just had to change my own this morning & it was only 4 years old, Steve


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Now where else could you get that sort of advise, let alone just for a tenner.what a wonderful group of chaps you all are.


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## 101316 (Oct 9, 2006)

Absolutely 
Thanks for all the information! I waited until I'd had a chance to take a proper look at the unit before responding.
I removed as described above, burner looked very good, only a couple of rust spots on it; connected it up to the DIN lead and..... nothing happened 

Repeated the 3 minutes, try again routine but still nothing. Btw, there was another socket on the unit next to the DIN socket, maybe that's an optional thing as I don't have anything to plug into that.

Anyway, someone's had a look at it before - the seal covering the box of electronics at the back was broken.

I guess the next step is to take it to a caravan workshop.

Thanks again.


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

*carver water heater*

Whilst you have the gas burner/control box out if you take the lid off you will find a glass barrell fuse inside that may be blown, found this on a kon-tiki we had a few years ago. As the seal has already been broken it won't do any harm to check.
Cheers Duncan.


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## antnjac (May 12, 2005)

Hi, Been looking at a friends new (to him) camper today noticed instructions for carver stated leisure batt must give at least 10.5 volts or it wont work, also orange or red light would come on (forget which)


Good Luck Tony


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## Don-Tucker (Sep 10, 2006)

Rawpower,You mentioned that the gas taps are on when the arrows are in line with the pipe,with all my years in engineering the valves were always on when the handle was inline with the supply pipe,which makes sense to me but on my Holdsworth and the Autosleeper I had before they are on when the handle is across the pipe,I wonder if this was done just to confuse me.
Don


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## sergeant (Jun 7, 2006)

Hi Rawpower Steve here again, dont worry about the other socket on the burner module as you have the early loom with the din plug but later looms used a different plug so they made the modules with both sockets to suit either loom. If it was low battery you would get a yellow light, a red light for no gas. As you are getting a constant green i am afraid it is the burner unit but if you take it to a dealer he should check both the wall switch & the burner unit before selling you either item as it only takes a couple of minutes. We certainly woulnt charge for checking, Steve


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