propex 1600 problems..!!! erghhhh

daisymini

daisymini

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Trying to get van ready for my winter travels and my bloomin propex heater will not ignite...

I press switch to left (flame) on thermostat the heater fan comes on I hear a click then after about 60 seconds the heater turns off, both lights remain on on the thermostat... It did work but id only really tested it a couple of times since fitting it last year as i never needed it through the summer. Now I DO need it the blinking thing wont work...!!


Anybody got any ideas???

Ive googled it till it comes out my ears and i cant find a solution..!!
 
Don't know the model, but it needs gas & a spark to ignite the flame & there will also be a flame failure device.

So; make sure there is gas getting to it; make sure there is a spark for the ignition, can you see the flame lit? Presumably you need to keep the starter or some switch depressed to over-ride the flame failure until it heats up. If the flame goes out as soon as you release the override, even if it stays alight for ages while you hold it, then the flame failure thermocouple needs replacing (or at least checking & contacts cleaning).
 
Do these have a thermacoupling (sp), fi so, it could be that, that needs replacing.?

jt
 
Have you tried contacting propex? I found them to be very helpful when i was installing mine and had numerous technical queries.
 
Im not sure about them having a thermocouple, but from what i can gather it might need the air intake pipe blasting with air as there is a fan that sometimes gets clogged up with dust etc so will try that tomorrow and see what happens....
 
Make sure you have enough power in your batteries. Try with engine running.
 
daisymini said:
Im not sure about them having a thermocouple, but from what i can gather it might need the air intake pipe blasting with air as there is a fan that sometimes gets clogged up with dust etc so will try that tomorrow and see what happens....
Click to expand...

If it has a flame (it's the only way it will get hot really) then it will have a thermocouple flame failure unit. And possibly some sort of overheat device too if the intake gets clogged.

If you have heard the fan running then it probably isn't clogged with dust, but there could be spider nests & muck in the intake reducing the airflow leading to overheating. have you looked at the Propex 2000 pdf & manuals on their web site? I guess yours is an earlier model, but there may well be some good clues in it.
 
don't blast with too much power as the fans are aluminium turbines and you could bend one,if the fan blows on the cold air button then it's ok. these things don't have a thermocouple as we know it,but something that looks just like a sparker.this can get a bit dirty and need cleaning.i would ring propex as hextal says,very helpful there,and if you have to send them the unit they sort it quite quickly.is it the 1600 Compact ?
 
n brown said:
don't blast with too much power as the fans are aluminium turbines and you could bend one,if the fan blows on the cold air button then it's ok. these things don't have a thermocouple as we know it,but something that looks just like a sparker.this can get a bit dirty and need cleaning.i would ring propex as hextal says,very helpful there,and if you have to send them the unit they sort it quite quickly.is it the 1600 Compact ?
Click to expand...

I can understand the sparker for ignition & that will need power (check fuses & connections) but there MUST be some sort of temperature sensor to turn the gas off if it doesn't light - otherwise it will go KERRR_BOOM!!
 
n brown said:
don't blast with too much power as the fans are aluminium turbines and you could bend one,if the fan blows on the cold air button then it's ok. these things don't have a thermocouple as we know it,but something that looks just like a sparker.this can get a bit dirty and need cleaning.i would ring propex as hextal says,very helpful there,and if you have to send them the unit they sort it quite quickly.is it the 1600 Compact ?
Click to expand...

Yes its a 1600 compact...and it did work when i fitted it but ive probably only had it switched on once just to test it...so i thought the cobweb dust theory could be the problem and was worth trying to blow out with air..apparently propex suggests this as something to try first
 
forgot to mention,it can take 5 or 6 attempts before it lights ,but you've probably done that many !
 
it sounds like the flame failure thing,the reason I said it looks like the sparker is that it's situated right next to the sparker and looks exactly the same !to get at it,the top cover comes off after undoing all the little self tappers round the base and one on top,there may be some resistance when you try to pull it off as they use a heatproof silicone mastic to seal the joins when they put the cover on,steady pressure and it'll unstick. next bit's a nuisance if it's the same as mine !
you can see the tubular burner unit and this has 2 wires coming from 2 electrodes screwed in the sidesthese electrodes have to come out and be cleaned with a bit of fine emery paper.trouble is ,on mine you had to undo the 2 larger screws underneath which hold the exhaust outlet,once these are out,the burner unit ,which is a very tight fit going through the red wall,can be tuned a bit to allow access to the screws and electrodes.don't get them mixed up !
 
n brown said:
it sounds like the flame failure thing,the reason I said it looks like the sparker is that it's situated right next to the sparker and looks exactly the same !to get at it,the top cover comes off after undoing all the little self tappers round the base and one on top,there may be some resistance when you try to pull it off as they use a heatproof silicone mastic to seal the joins when they put the cover on,steady pressure and it'll unstick. next bit's a nuisance if it's the same as mine !
you can see the tubular burner unit and this has 2 wires coming from 2 electrodes screwed in the sidesthese electrodes have to come out and be cleaned with a bit of fine emery paper.trouble is ,on mine you had to undo the 2 larger screws underneath which hold the exhaust outlet,once these are out,the burner unit ,which is a very tight fit going through the red wall,can be tuned a bit to allow access to the screws and electrodes.don't get them mixed up !
Click to expand...

OOOhhhh nige that sounds complicated..!!! are you going to the medieval meet??? if i dont get it working before then would you be kind enough to have a look?? please....can always come down your way a couple of days earlier if needs be....:help::help::help:

Hopefully can sort it myself!!!
 
Before you strip to much if you can get it apart you will find a very small fan type thing on the circuit board, looks like miniature computer fan, from memory about an inch square, these little fans have to be moving before the heater will fire up might just need a good hard blow to get it moving, if this fan doesn't rotate when the heater starts drawing air in the heater will not fire up. if the heaters are not used they can seize up or just get a little sticky through lack of use and build up of damp and dust etc. If you have access to a garage with a decent airline a quick blast of air up the heater exhaust pipe and /or the air intake might just be enough to free it off.
 
certainly i'll have a look but you might think about ringing propex see what they say,and of course you can pop round !
 
I would check the battery voltage first of all, if its below 12 volts
it will be very difficult to ignite the heater. I have a truma diesel heater and that is what happens if the battery is low, it goes through the ignition sequence but but it does not fire up.:newhere:
 
diesel heaters need an electric heating element to fire them up which is why the battery needs to be good. OP has a Propex which is a Propane burning heater, a simple spark will ignite gas, so there is no need for high current heater elements.
 
with my truma heater I had a similar problem after leaving it with out use for a while when i tried to start it it just clicked and the fan didn't start it needs to run for a few seconds to clear any gas that may have accumulated then while running it ignites the gas, Just tapping the fan housing with a screw driver handle started mine
 
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