UKC

My camper van heater isn't working and I was advised to check the voltage in the leisure battery. It's reading 12.5 volts after 12 hours of charging. Is this what it should be?

The heater is a Blown air gas Propex 1600w fan assisted heater. It clicks when switched on and clicks again 5 secs later but no ignition. Also the fan doesn't blow cold air on that setting.

Any ideas for simple solutions before I take it to the garage?

In reply to estivoautumnal:

12.5 volts seems fine (presumably with the engine off?). Sounds like something in your heater is bust. If the fan is blowing any sort of air, perhaps the fan motor has broken?

In reply to ByEek:

Yes. that's with the engine off, and there's no air being blown at all. Just a couple of clicks when I turn the switch on.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

Presumably you've tried it with the engine on, and also directly off the engine battery. Do that and you'll be certain if its a battery problem

In reply to estivoautumnal:

12.5 sounds okay.
I would check it with the heater on and off. If it is holding about 12.5 volts in both states then the battery is good.
If it drops significantly when the heater is on then it is more likely to be the battery.
It could also be worth checking that there is voltage on the input to the heater, just in case there is loose connection/broken wire in the harness.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

Have you checked the voltage with the fan turned on ? A battery under no load might well read 12.5V but not be able to sustain that with a load connected.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

is it definitely an electric heater? My heater stopped working (car) and it turned out to be a coolant leak - check your bottle!

In reply to wercat:

It's a gas heater with electric start. The gas is flowing but not igniting.

In reply to dapoy and others:

Will try under load. Thanks.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

Could it be the thermostat ?? Our Caravan heater had a similar problem and it turned out to be the 2 stats. Bought a couple of them off the net, changed them and all is good.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

I have the same heater, I find the thermostat to be highly flakey - usually I have to turn the thermostat to max (and then play about with it just for luck before I can persuade the unit to turn on the heater.

however, the cold air blower will always work - as long as the battery isn't dead.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

I'm not sure I have got this, if it is just ignition it sounds like the crystal is not sparking.

Stick a taper(long match in and light it manually to prove the flow)

If it is working, check the connections and click it on (in the dark) to see if there is a spark.

In reply to Jonathan Emett:





I had an issue with mine where one of the soldered joints on the three way switch had cracked and it would intermittently make or break contact on startup.

In reply to Jim C:

It's a sealed unit, you can't really get inside to light it.

To the OP, I think it is battery voltage, your leisure battery doesn't have enough oomph for first startup. Mine is much the same when the batteries get low

In reply to woolsack:

I think the battery may be ok. With inside lights on the voltage drops from 12.4 to 12.3V, and when the heater 'clicks' it drops to 12.25. Then goes back to 12.5 when everything is off.

The thermostat also seems to be working and the heater tries to light (clicking) when I turn the thermostat up and down.

I don't fancy sticking matches near it.

Thanks everyone but I think it's off to the camper van garage.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

I am having exactly the same issue with the same heater, have you checked all connnections and checked the voltage actually getting to the heater, not the charge in the battery, mine works with the engine on which makes me pretty sure it is a bad connection as the battery is a new one, going to check it tonight so will let you know how i get on. But if its less than 10v at the thermostat/heater it wont start.

Fingers crossed.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

Sounds like it could be the battery to me. You say the voltage of the battery after charging is 12.5v. Is that with no load, immediately after charging ? If so its low because the charger should raise the voltage to 13.5 to 14 v or so, after which will decline over a couple of hours to 12.5 or a bit more. A battery which wont hold a decent voltage is usually duff and wont support a high current drain, for example for a heater start. I sometimes have a similar problem with the diesel heater on my boat where if the battery has not been charged recently the voltage is not high enough to get the glow plug hot to start the heater. As someone else said a good way to check this is to start the heater with the engine on and the battery (presumably) under charge.

In reply to estivoautumnal:

Sounds like the heater itself. Propex can ignite at 11.5v and even run at that level. Are you sure gas is being supplied and are you using propane as butane won't light at current temps?

In reply to Saor Alba:

I think you are right about the heater.

With jump leads from the car the voltage in the battery goes up to 13.5. (The camper van's 12v system won't work when the van engine is running). No change.

I'm using butane but it's 11 degrees today so should be ok. It wasn't working during the summer months either.

I'll take it to Highland Campervans.