# Alde heat advice



## dependencies (Nov 17, 2010)

General question,

Went out to camper last night expecting another frost intending to power it off 240v from home and leave it heating lightly overnight against damage by cold.

Now, my heating is controlled off a night heater type panel
 Three swithes and a dial.

1: elec input 240V (wattage control?)
2 elec/gas input
3 hot water/heat
Hot water+ heat

Best I could get was hot water to work but no heat,
And not much but a fleeting LED off the thermostat,

I turned on the gas as well, tried as many configurations as possible but no heat,

What am I doing wrong people?


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## AndyC (Nov 17, 2010)

Which model is it?

AndyC


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## dependencies (Nov 17, 2010)

TBH I was hoping ALDE might be a generic desiign,
I'll have to look its book up tonight for model number,

Thing is I had problems working it in the summer but only because I'd forgotten the method,

Last winter I left it 'ticking over during the worst weather,
And its only 2006 old so hopefully operator failure
On my part.

I'll look again and post that info after work cheers


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## maingate (Nov 17, 2010)

I have just done a very long and detailed reply to your thread and this bleeding website has screwed it up.

Sorry but I am not doing it all again.

Short reply: Your system needs bleeding. Read your Alde manual.

Do NOT use Alde heating in winter when parked up. Use an oil filled radiator or fan heater.

Drain all water.


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## syldale (Nov 17, 2010)

*Alde heating*

 hi dependencies. maingate's right don't leave any water in the van anywhere it only takes one night's hard frost and it will cost you a lot of money i did years ago to my cost . i don't know anything about alde heating i do know about frost damage if you plan to use the van in winter it doe's not take long to fill up in  the long run it's the right thing to do. happy camping


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## dependencies (Nov 17, 2010)

Oh dear, I didn't know about that problem.

Better get the book out again and read up on bleeding it,
Can you tell me from experience (bitter or otherwise)
How involved a task it is?


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## AndyC (Nov 17, 2010)

Without knowing the model it's impossible to give specific advice but I'm not sure why it shouldn't be used in the winter 'when parked up'. The system is designed for all year round use. 

If the van is likely to be in use then it is a good idea to keep it 'ticking over' on a 240v mains hook up if available. Providing all the relevant pipework is internal then that should prevent any problems with it freezing up. 

The Alde system itself should contain antifreeze, so, providing that it has been checked and is at the right strength, it won't need draining.

AndyC


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## maingate (Nov 17, 2010)

Dependencies,

For the second time today my post to you has failed.

Ignore speculation by well meaning people. Your manual will tell you what you need to do.

I need to pm Phil.


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## dependencies (Nov 17, 2010)

I've had problems accessing this site all day myself, although its been no trouble up until this morning of course,
and not one notification of reply so far

Right the manual says compact 3000,

it covers  troubleshooting  and mentions both a reset button and drain tap.
Maingate I can't PM you so please attempt a reply with any help.

what I tried was restarting it after using its reset button from cold,

the boiler makes all the usual noises but the LED on its control panel only flicks on and off near either the bottom or top of its travel.

no shortage of hot water quickly and if its heating is produced by the water circulating around the hot water boiler and the Two large bore plastic pipes presumably heading off towards the rads are hot as can be, the rads remain stubbornly cold,
I'm thinking  air lock possibly,
it was in use one night only a month or so ago, with only one or two cold nights outside the house since


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## AndyC (Nov 17, 2010)

Sounds like either an airlock, or the circulating pump is not working, or there is not enough water in the header tank.

Are you running it on 230V mains? I think the red led only relates to use on gas.

Assuming you want to run it it on 230v mains, the left hand slider on the control panel should be on any of the top three positions depending on the heat input you want, the middle slider (gas control) should be at the bottom (off), with the right hand slider set to the middle position the pump should be controlled by the thermostat. As you turn the thermostat up you should hear the pump running. 

If it's not running then it might just be stuck - take it out of the header tank and turn the impeller by hand, if it still doesn't run then you'll need to check for 12v at the pump terminals. If you have 12v there without the pump running then the pump is probably faulty, if you don't have 12v there then it sounds like there may be a fault in the control box.

If the pump is running and there is sufficient water in the header tank but the rads are not getting hot then there is probably an airlock in the system somewhere. The bleeding procedure depends on the way the system has been installed, you'll probably need to refer to the owners manual for the motorhome to find out where the bleed points are.

AndyC


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## dependencies (Nov 17, 2010)

Just been reading a similar story elsewhere actually, where the pump was replaced,
won't jump the gun anyway and take a long look at it over the weekend and work through it.

The LED 'seemed at least' to respond when gas was present  I confess I'd not noticed just what it does before, since I'd not had the camper that long.

Would I actually hear/feel a pump running in normal use, hopefully I can detect something running by feel in daylight,


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## maingate (Nov 17, 2010)

Open the small bleed valve on each radiator to get rid of air. Keep bottle topped up. Do it as many times as necessary (its a bugger)

Check diameter of pump motor. If it is 30 mm buy a new one, they are crap. if motor is 40 mm dia. you are OK.


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## maingate (Nov 17, 2010)

Left hand slider: first position = 1 kw, second = 2 kw, top position = 3 kw (probably no 3 kw element fitted), stick to middle position.

RH slider: Top position for rads only. The pump will run continuous in this position (irrespective of thermostat). That is why you cannot use Alde long term in winter. Pumps are £100+ to change. If you put slider to hot water/rads, you will need to have water in boiler. not recommended!!!!!!!!!

GET OIL FILLED RADIATOR or FAN HEATER.


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## dependencies (Nov 17, 2010)

Is the motor easy to locate on the boiler, 
and are they eaasilly removable,

Only since the campers in for some cosmetic repair (please don't ask) 
in a weeks time,  and I could as easilly add it to the list of things to look at,

Still taking a look on saturday anyway as its annoying me not knowing now
(which informs the cosmetic damage issue BTW)


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## AndyC (Nov 17, 2010)

dependencies said:


> Is the motor easy to locate on the boiler,
> and are they eaasilly removable,
> 
> Only since the campers in for some cosmetic repair (please don't ask)
> ...


The pump/motor is in the top of the header/expansion tank, easy to remove. See the installation manual for a pic of it: http://www.alde.co.uk/downloads/alde_3000_install.pdf

AndyC


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## maingate (Nov 17, 2010)

dependencies said:


> Is the motor easy to locate on the boiler,
> and are they eaasilly removable,
> 
> Only since the campers in for some cosmetic repair (please don't ask)
> ...


 
It`s right what they say..... there`s nowt as queer as folk.

You are willing to pay big bucks to a dealer to sort out your heating problems when you could pay £15 to get all the wilding spots and get hundreds of pounds of free advice on here (by PM).
I doubt if I will be on here much for a few days so AndyC can sort you out. I have asked you to look at your Alde instructions as everything is there that you need and you have obviously not bothered to do that, judging by the questions you are asking.

If you have a vehicle and you have no idea how things work, then you must have plenty of money to run it. Please do not ask for free advice, just take it to the dealer.


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## dependencies (Nov 18, 2010)

And that concludes my journey here on wildcamping

go **** yourself


not you Andy, your OK oh and VW alan of course


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## maingate (Nov 18, 2010)

He could have at least thanked me for all the time I spent trying to help him before he told me to **** myself.


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## John H (Nov 18, 2010)

Maingate, are you making a bid for that Christmas number one spot? Stick with me kid and between us we can empty this site!


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## David & Ann (Nov 18, 2010)

maingate said:


> He could have at least thanked me for all the time I spent trying to help him before he told me to **** myself.


 
Brilliant, my keyboard is drowned in tears of laughter. I really do enjoy this site.


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## Tony Lee (Nov 19, 2010)

maingate said:


> He could have at least thanked me for all the time I spent trying to help him before he told me to **** myself.



Don't knock it. At least you did get feedback of a sort. All too common to spend a lot of time only to never hear another word about the outcome.


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## maingate (Nov 19, 2010)

Hi Tony,

I have just had a look at the threads that dependencies has started in the past. I appear on most of them and I (along with others) have given him a lot of help. If you have some free time, I suggest you do the same and look at his replies to other members helpful advice. I think he has been winding members up deliberately because nobody can be that thick.


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