# Burstner Elegance - Alden heating problem



## Bubblehead

Hi

We may have a problem with our heating, but Im not sure.

The control panel has the ability to select 3 levels of 240v power to heat the van / water. As I understand it this refers to 1, 2 and 3 KW. It also has gas supply which has a 6kw rating, and heats the van in about 30 minutes. 

The actual heating level is determined by a rotary dial (set to max for this)

When I switch the electric power on to level 1 the heating / water takes ages to heat up. The heating can take all day to reach a warm level. I expect that this is quite normal.

If I switch the heating to 2 or 3 it seems to make no or very little difference in the heat output. On Saturday we went out for 4 hours and left the heating on level 2. On our return the van was warm enough to sit in with just a T-shirt on (ie a little to warm).

Is this normal and Ive invented a problem or should it heat up a bit faster?

When I switch the heating on and increase from 1 to 3 the control panel shows no change in the current draw, but I'm not sure if it should.

Whilst this hasn't stopped us using the van, I just want to ensure that everything is working as it should.

Andy


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## Imbiber

Hi Andy,

It seems you have the same setting levels as our van has.

Having spoken with someone at Alde about the same sort of problem his thoughts were thus:

Electric Only:
Level 1- waste of time
Level 2 - ok but does take some time to get going
Level 3 - don't bother with as it's of no added benefit to the 2Kw setting.

He recommended Gas as by far the most efficient option and even more so if used with the level 2 elec. option.

Just on a final note if you still feel that there is no improvement in the warmth of your van check to see if there is not an additional thermostat in the van. which may cancel the control pannel settings?

Not too sure on what happened but we had one just inside the hab. door (little blue dome) and this was effecting the thermostat settings on the control pannel. In the end the dealer disconnected it and now we are as warm as toast!


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## Bubblehead

Imbiber said:


> Hi Andy,
> 
> It seems you have the same setting levels as our van has.
> 
> Having spoken with someone at Alde about the same sort of problem his thoughts were thus:
> 
> Electric Only:
> Level 1- waste of time
> Level 2 - ok but does take some time to get going
> Level 3 - don't bother with as it's of no added benefit to the 2Kw setting.
> 
> He recommended Gas as by far the most efficient option and even more so if used with the level 2 elec. option.
> 
> Just on a final note if you still feel that there is no improvement in the warmth of your van check to see if there is not an additional thermostat in the van. which may cancel the control pannel settings?
> 
> Not too sure on what happened but we had one just inside the hab. door (little blue dome) and this was effecting the thermostat settings on the control pannel. In the end the dealer disconnected it and now we are as warm as toast!


Hi Imbiber

Many thanks for the response. We have been using it on level 2 and gas, which works fine. Ive also blead the air out of the system by using the vent bleed valves and the then with the fast pump setting.

Intresting comment about the additional thermostat, I will check to see if we have one fitted.

Our freind has the same system fitted to his Concorde and his heats up in half the time. I suspect that our heating may be working correctly, its just not as efficent.

Do you know what type of fluid is put in the heating (car anti freese ?)

Andy


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## tramp

Hi all ,
The trouble with these "electric back up" heating systems is they aint powerfull enough to cope with all those outlets [blown air] or the volume of water in Alde .

As the MAN said best to use gas to get warm then electric as a backup/cost saving option.

BUT at the 2kw setting doesmt leabe much wattage on the site hookup for owt else 

we just use the gas  :lol:


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## 96299

Bubblehead said:


> Imbiber said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Andy,
> 
> It seems you have the same setting levels as our van has.
> 
> Having spoken with someone at Alde about the same sort of problem his thoughts were thus:
> 
> Electric Only:
> Level 1- waste of time
> Level 2 - ok but does take some time to get going
> Level 3 - don't bother with as it's of no added benefit to the 2Kw setting.
> 
> He recommended Gas as by far the most efficient option and even more so if used with the level 2 elec. option.
> 
> Just on a final note if you still feel that there is no improvement in the warmth of your van check to see if there is not an additional thermostat in the van. which may cancel the control pannel settings?
> 
> Not too sure on what happened but we had one just inside the hab. door (little blue dome) and this was effecting the thermostat settings on the control pannel. In the end the dealer disconnected it and now we are as warm as toast!
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Imbiber
> 
> Many thanks for the response. We have been using it on level 2 and gas, which works fine. Ive also blead the air out of the system by using the vent bleed valves and the then with the fast pump setting.
> 
> Intresting comment about the additional thermostat, I will check to see if we have one fitted.
> 
> Our freind has the same system fitted to his Concorde and his heats up in half the time. I suspect that our heating may be working correctly, its just not as efficent.
> 
> Do you know what type of fluid is put in the heating (car anti freese ?)
> 
> Andy
Click to expand...

Hi Andy

The heating on electric in ours seems to do the job better than what your experiencing although it does take a while to kick in and get up to temp. I would phone Alde and see what they have to say about the matter, just to put your mind at rest.

I have topped my header tank up up in the past with 50-50 normal anti freeze and water, as recommended by a Camper Uk techie. No problems to report.

Steve


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## ob1

Andy

We have had two vans with Alde heating systems and find them great. They do take a time to warm up, especially on electric, 
however, you have to realise that it is a central heating radiator system and, just like your central heating at home, a slow warm up is normal.

We have found that the electric first setting is OK for such as a chilly spring/summer evenings or to maintain a low overnight temperature in winter, even a freezing French one. The second electric setting is fine for most occasions but it does take time. In this case we turn both the gas and electric on for a quick start-up and then just use it on electric once up to temperature.

You can use normal car antifreeze (no more than a 50/50 mix) in the system but make sure the antifreeze is specifically for use with aluminum.

Ron


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## Sonesta

Hi Andy,

We are new to the Alde heating system as we only got our new MH on the 1st March and prior to this, our previous 2 vehicles used the blown air heating system. However, so far we have been very impressed with the Alde heating system and during our first trip in the new van, we have been playing about with all it's new and different features, switches and functions etc and we discovered on one campsite, that if we had the heating set on the 3kw setting it blew the EHU fuse but on the 2kw setting it was fine. I think the campsite we were on at that time must have had a very low amperage as my friend could not even use her low wattage electric kettle either and she doesn't usually have a problem! However, once we switched the heating over to the 2kw setting, we found that by keeping it on electric only, this proved quite sufficient to keep our van comfortably warm!

Our vehicle also has the Alde engine heat exchanger installed, which enables us to switch a pump on whilst we are on the move and the heating and hot water system is heated by the engine during our journey. This means that when we arrive at our destination, we already have hot water for washing and showering, plus a lovely warm van too and by just switching over to the electric only setting once we have hooked up, we found this was quite sufficient to maintain the van's temperature.

If you haven't already got the heat exchanger installed as standard on your van, then I think I am correct in saying that it can be retro fitted and you might find a heat exchanger a useful addition to have fitted? It really does make a huge difference to arrive where you are heading with a lovely warm van, plus lashings of lovely hot water and it also means that you have basically heated all of your MH completely FREE of charge and without having to use any of your gas supply! You might as well use the diesel/petrol that you use during your journey to do two jobs at once and apart from powering your engine, it is also powering your heating system at the same time! If you then immediately switch straight over to the 2kw electric setting when you arrive on site, you could then keep your van all nice and warm by just using the campsite's electricity supply! As you would obviously be using a lot less gas this way, I think it could well work out far cheaper for you in the long run and a heat exchanger would probably soon pay for itself?????? 

I will keep you informed of how we continue to find the Alde heating system the more we use our van but so far, we personally are finding the Alde heating system a much better and far more efficient system than the blown air and even I can operate and understand all it's functions and switches. 8O I could never quite fathom out the blown air switches and dials and being high up over the hab door made it even harder for a 5 foot shortie like me! 

Sue


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## 96299

Sonesta said:


> Hi Andy,
> Our vehicle also has the Alde engine heat exchanger installed, which enables us to switch a pump on whilst we are on the move and the heating and hot water system is heated by the engine during our journey. This means that when we arrive at our destination, we already have hot water for washing and showering, plus a lovely warm van too and by just switching over to the electric only setting once we have hooked up, we found this was quite sufficient to maintain the van's temperature.
> Sue


Hi Sue

If I've read your post right and it's the same as mine, you do not need to switch on the PUMPE button, just hot water and heating and then set the thermostat. I have never used it, but I think the PUMPE switch is for the reverse effect of heating up a cold engine before setting off.

Steve


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## Sonesta

Hi Steve,

We will have to check what you advise out as we were told to switch the pump on that is located behind our passenger seat and this would operate the cental heating and water whilst travelling. We could have misunderstood though as there was so much to take in during the handover but we must have done something right cos we arrived at our destination with lashings of hot water and warm radiators. 

Thanks for the info and I will let you know the outcome as soon as we've checked it out.

By the way you really ought to try using your heat exchanger, as it must be more cost effective than using your gas to get your van up to a nice warm temperature during cold weather? We thought it was great and couldn't stop singing it's praises!

Thanks again.

Sue


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## 96299

Sonesta said:


> Hi Steve,
> 
> We will have to check what you advise out as we were told to switch the pump on that is located behind our passenger seat and this would operate the cental heating and water whilst travelling. We could have misunderstood though as there was so much to take in during the handover but we must have done something right cos we arrived at our destination with lashings of hot water and warm radiators.
> 
> Thanks for the info and I will let you know the outcome as soon as we've checked it out.
> 
> By the way you really ought to try using your heat exchanger, as it must be more cost effective than using your gas to get your van up to a nice warm temperature during cold weather? We thought it was great and couldn't stop singing it's praises!
> 
> Thanks again.
> 
> Sue


Hi again Sue

Ah- yours sounds different to ours. The switch that I refer to is on the panel above our kitchen sink with the thermostat and heating controls ect, and it Says "PUMPE" . Sorry if I've caused you any confusion, I just thought being a Burstner it must be the same as ours but, I dont think it is ?

By the way, we always use the heat exchanger during the winter whilst travelling. As you say, it's great to have everything warm and hot when you arrive at your destination. 

Steve


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## Sonesta

Chigman said:


> Hi again Sue
> 
> Ah- yours sounds different to ours. The switch that I refer to is on the panel above our kitchen sink with the thermostat and heating controls ect, and it Says "PUMPE" . Sorry if I've caused you any confusion, I just thought being a Burstner it must be the same as ours but, I dont think it is ?
> 
> By the way, we always use the heat exchanger during the winter whilst travelling. As you say, it's great to have everything warm and hot when you arrive at your destination.
> 
> Steve


Hi Steve,

The trouble is with all these kind of things they keep on updating and adding different things to their systems and as a result, they end up changing all the functions don't they? It's hard to keep track of what all the different knobs, switches and dials do then isn't it? :?

My husband is going to read the user manual later to just check we know exactly what we are doing, as a lot of the gadgets and gizmos on our Burstner are still quite alien to us and we just haven't had time to properly play with everything yet! It seems, what with work commitments and my hubbies bad back, we just don't seem to have had much time to really familiarise ourselves with everything. However, his back is starting to feel a bit better now so fingers crossed he can get on with all the little jobs he has planned like organising the garage etc and have a thorough look into everything.

Apologies for assuming you hadn't used your heat exchanger yet but I thought with you saying you hadn't used your pumpe that you were referring to the heat exchanger! It is great though and like you say it's wonderful in the winter months to arrive at your destination with a lovely warm van!

We are really impressed with Burstner though and are keen to get out on the road and enjoy a proper trip away in our new motorhome.

Sue


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## Avante524

*Alde Heating*

Hello

we have a 821 Elegance with the heat exchanger fitted and as said it is brilliant to arrive at site and the van is all warm and hot water in the tank.
If you have the exchanger fitted it should have a tap/switch fitted in line or on top and you can switch the unit off during the hot summer months, if you have it on you simply set what you want with the normal heating/water controls (i.e. heating only, water only or both together).
The pump switch we have on ours (which lights up with a yellow light when on) is used to circulate the hot water in the central heating to the engine which aids cold start ups and you use less battery power with the glow plugs, once the engine is started and you are on your way simply switch the pump off.
The whole system works really well but I must agree the 1kw setting on electric is poor, in the cold simply fire up the gas for 10-15 minutes then turn off the gas and let the electric take over it works very well.
I hope i've explained this okay??

Cheers.....Still Smiling..


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## Bubblehead

Hi

Well Ive blead the system and check all the various settings and I think Im right in saying that its working OK, going by what youve all said. Thanks for all the advice.

The bit Ive been getting wrong was not setting the controls to hot water & heat or hot water when Im expecting the heat exchanger to do its thing. Ive had it switched on (valve in line with the pipe) but didnt realise that the controls had to be set as well (guess I though it was left to the magic porridge to sort out)

Again many thanks for the advice, top as ever.

Andy

PS: Magic porridge is great stuff and has more uses that WD40 - its what makes your gear box and clutch work, it how a sunset ends up on your PC via the little box of magic porridge!!  

Andy


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