Propex Heater

patbhoy

Guest
Hi, can you guys here help with my Propex Heater.
I cannot get it to work, battery fully charged, gas on at bottle, gas tap open, 12v switched on at control panel, thermostat turned fully anti-clockwise and three position switch in left hand position.
Result, nothing.
No red light, not a thing.
I have checked all the fuses at the control panel and they are all ok, I opened up the thermostat thinking there may be a fuse in there but no and likewise the black box next to the heater itself but just another circuit board in there.
I'm at a loss as where to start.
I have a multi meter but to be honest don't have a clue how to use the thing to check that there is power, can anyone suggest what I should do before I have a no doubt expensive trip to the local caravan workshop.

Thanks
Pat
 
campervan

have you tried putting a vacum cleaner on inlet its tends to clean it out works on every time :have fun:
 
patbhoy said:
Hi, can you guys here help with my Propex Heater.
I cannot get it to work, battery fully charged, gas on at bottle, gas tap open, 12v switched on at control panel, thermostat turned fully anti-clockwise and three position switch in left hand position.
Result, nothing.
No red light, not a thing.
I have checked all the fuses at the control panel and they are all ok, I opened up the thermostat thinking there may be a fuse in there but no and likewise the black box next to the heater itself but just another circuit board in there.
I'm at a loss as where to start.
I have a multi meter but to be honest don't have a clue how to use the thing to check that there is power, can anyone suggest what I should do before I have a no doubt expensive trip to the local caravan workshop.

Thanks
Pat
Click to expand...
Sending mine to propex,Spoke to them yesterday, they Saïd a lot of caravan caravan workshops send them to propex then add thier bit on
 
propex heater

Hi try flicking the switch on and of 2 or 3 times.says in the instructions on my 2000 modle that it locks out and by flicking the switch 2 or 3 times it unlocks it.Hope it works for you
 
Have just gone out with vacuum and cleaned out air inlet and also tried flicking switch on and off several times to no avail.
Looks like a trip to the workshop :cry:
 
it sounds electrical,and anyway that's the first thing to check,especially as you have no lights at all -that's a pretty big clue ! find how to set up your meter to test for 12v,any garage or halfords etc will show you
get hold of the thermostat wheel and pull it off,the undo the screw revealed. pull off the cover .i'm pretty sure there are 4 wires and 2 of them are black and red,put the probes on these to test.
incidentally most people will only use test meters for 3 things,well worth learning,very simple
12volts
240volts
continuity
 
n brown said:
it sounds electrical,and anyway that's the first thing to check,especially as you have no lights at all -that's a pretty big clue ! find how to set up your meter to test for 12v,any garage or halfords etc will show you
get hold of the thermostat wheel and pull it off,the undo the screw revealed. pull off the cover .i'm pretty sure there are 4 wires and 2 of them are black and red,put the probes on these to test.
incidentally most people will only use test meters for 3 things,well worth learning,very simple
12volts
240volts
continuity
Click to expand...

Not 100% sure how to use a meter but I did take the cover off the thermostat and there is power present.
 
n brown said:
didn't notice there 2 threads going -and now i've answered both !
Click to expand...

Sorry that was my mistake, I didn't know threads were moderated before being posted hence the second thread as I thought I had made an error
 
n brown said:
it sounds electrical,and anyway that's the first thing to check,especially as you have no lights at all -that's a pretty big clue ! find how to set up your meter to test for 12v,any garage or halfords etc will show you
get hold of the thermostat wheel and pull it off,the undo the screw revealed. pull off the cover .i'm pretty sure there are 4 wires and 2 of them are black and red,put the probes on these to test.
incidentally most people will only use test meters for 3 things,well worth learning,very simple
12volts
240volts
continuity
Click to expand...

Hi, done as you said and put probes on the red and black wires, the meter read 15v but started dropping.
If I kept the probes on long enough the reading dropped to zero.
 
Hi

I contacted Propex and they gave me the following advice.

Coming from the heater will be two cables. One goes to the little black box and the other about 12" long will go to a connector that then goes to the thermostat and your power supply. Disconnect the heater from everything else at that point and you will be left with four colours in the cable. Red, black, orange and purple. Put the red and orange together and connect direct to a 12v +. And put the black to 12v - . Do not connect the purple to anything.

If the heater now runs and tries to fire then your thermostat is faulty, if still nothing then it is something in the heater and it will need to come to us to be looked at.

I tried this and success the heater ignited and ran great so it looks like it must be the thermostat.
I tried putting power direct from the battery to the thermostat and there was nothing so it looks like a replacement from Propex for £40 unless anyone here can advise me in some other way.
I've heard of people buying thermostats from B&Q for £9.99 and fitting them.
Before I fork out the £40 any last words please.
.
 
That's what I was trying to explain in your other thread, you should be able to use a straight forward mechanical type thermostat , you will still need to connect a positive main supply wire to the red wire in the joint block but also take another from this connection to the thermostat with an on off switch in line, from the thermostat take another wire back to the joint block and connect to the orange wire in the block, obviously you still need to connect the black wire in the joint block to a negative / earth. The purple wire is for the cold run ie just the fan running with no heat if you want to use this just fit a three way switch in the red wire instead of the on / off switch and take another wire back to the purple wire in the block. Do not put an on off switch in the main pos supply to the heater as if you turn it off on the main supply the heater will overheat as it will not go through the cooling down process
 
Trust Propex

Do you want to risk you and your family's safety with a B&Q thermostat?
Your talking about a Propane Gas appliance and you want to save money???
I have just had my 1600 Compact repaired by Propex...Its 20+ years old and had a problem not
firing up if the supply voltage was under 13.8V...they sorted it for £18 including postage!
Respect
Gaz
 
bit dramatic there ... the thermostat merely makes and breaks the circuit giving power to the heater mode, no different than the original. the original unit is nothing more than a thermostat with a 3 way switch built into the casing with a couple of led lights.
 
FULL TIMER said:
bit dramatic there ... the thermostat merely makes and breaks the circuit giving power to the heater mode, no different than the original. the original unit is nothing more than a thermostat with a 3 way switch built into the casing with a couple of led lights.
Click to expand...

Sorry for that but just feel a bit strongly about gas and electricity in an enclosed space!
 
I think it looks like I'll fork out the £40 for the proper thermostat, it's not a high price to pay and should be a straight swap without any hassle.
Thanks for all the advice guys it's been much appreciated.
 
It will certainly be a better looking solution than having separate switches and thermostat which would probably cost near on half as much as the original item anyway, it would have been effective and safe but for a few extra quid I would have rather have the original, in fact I have a heater sitting here ready to sell that needs one, I'm sure it would sell better with the original type switch/thermostat as part of the kit
 
I bit the bullet and ordered a new thermostat from Propex.
Let's hope that will be problem solved.
Thanks for all the advice guys.
 
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