Trumatic S3002 Cover Issue

[GeoffL]

The cover of the Trumatic S3002 heater in my van is driving me nuts. It sometimes unclips when we go over a 'minor road defect' so that one side is hanging in the breeze, obliging me to pull in and reclip it. This, apparently, is a common issue that started for me after I removed and replaced to cover to fit a new AA battery. I've seen recommendations to drill a couple of holes in the frame behind the top of the grille and use a couple of self-tapping screws to secure that to the main casing and also some mention of external brackets to tie to the cover to the surrounding structure. Both require me to drill holes in the cover, so I'm hoping for words of wisdom from the panel before doing anything that permanent! In the meantime, I've duck-taped the top corner to the wooden structure surrounding the unit and mentally prepared to remove the cover and stow it temporarily in a locker if that doesn't work until I've sorted the issue.
All help gratefully received....

 

[Robmac]

Velcro?

 

[wildebus]

I have the same heater and I have had occasionally had a similar rattle but just bend the clips to make it a more secure fit.

I can see adding a couple of screws to secure could work well. I don't think you need to remove the cover to access the AA Battery Holder (not on mine, anyway) and there is no need generally to remove the cover so screwing it on doesn't really have any downsides I can see?

Velcro could be a good option but I don't think it would work as the heater body gets hot to the level where I would expect the glue of the velcro would just come off.

 

[ProDave]

Not sure of the exact heater, but the (probably similar) one we had in our previous touring caravan regularly did the same. It was both fiddly to attach it and then came off again at the first bump. We just had a bungee cord hooked behind 2 existing furniture edges to secure it while travelling.

If it is like the one we had, it is hard to imagine how anyone could "design" such a poor fitting cover for something intended to be used in a vehicle.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It's my preffered heater type many of our vans had them, and the rattle could bring out the murderer in you, I did the self tapper cure, and it does work, it didn't at first so I got a couple of very small O rings to go between the cover, and the bit behind, job done, we have one in this van and it is perfect, no rattles, and it has yet to fail to light on the first attempt.

 

[GeoffL]

Thanks chaps!
I don't think Velcro would work, both because the mating surfaces available are too thin and also this is a 5kW heater (3kW gas + 2kW @ 240V) and the glue and plastic bits of Velcro would probably melt!
I don't know which way to bend those weird bent bits of wire that serve as clips -- I suspect that I just need to open the 'mouth' to make the almost circular bit a little larger? @wildebus : can you remember what you did to yours? If I can get away without the self-tappers, I shall -- if only to avoid someone later on forgetting or not knowing those screws are there and trying to wrench the cover off without first removing them! For that, I'm even thinking of a 'Dymo' label next to the cover to warn of this...
Re. changing the battery ... When I took the cover off, the igniter module was just 'floating about' and it took some searching on YouTube to discover how it should have been fitted. With that module now correctly installed, it's possible to change the battery without removing the cover (albeit with limited access and hence a bit of 'faff'!)
Thanks again...

 

[wildebus]

Thanks chaps!
I don't think Velcro would work, both because the mating surfaces available are too thin and also this is a 5kW heater (3kW gas + 2kW @ 240V) and the glue and plastic bits of Velcro would probably melt!
I don't know which way to bend those weird bent bits of wire that serve as clips -- I suspect that I just need to open the 'mouth' to make the almost circular bit a little larger? @wildebus : can you remember what you did to yours? If I can get away without the self-tappers, I shall -- if only to avoid someone later on forgetting or not knowing those screws are there and trying to wrench the cover off without first removing them! For that, I'm even thinking of a 'Dymo' label next to the cover to warn of this...

Can't really recall TBH. just bent this way and that as I thought it would help to secure. Mine has parts on the bottom that rests on the heater (like teeth I think?) and two clips on the top. It is not a great design by any means for securing and I would not hesitate to add some physical securing of the front.
Personally, I would not use self-tappers to make the fixing but make a proper drill hole. Using self-tappers often makes something slightly shift out of kilter in the process.

Re. changing the battery ... When I took the cover off, the igniter module was just 'floating about' and it took some searching on YouTube to discover how it should have been fitted. With that module now correctly installed, it's possible to change the battery without removing the cover (albeit with limited access and hence a bit of 'faff'!)
Thanks again...

I'll take a photo of the lower part of my heater so you can see the battery holder position if that is of any interest?

 

[GeoffL]

Can't really recall TBH. just bent this way and that as I thought it would help to secure. Mine has parts on the bottom that rests on the heater (like teeth I think?) and two clips on the top. It is not a great design by any means for securing and I would not hesitate to add some physical securing of the front.
Personally, I would not use self-tappers to make the fixing but make a proper drill hole. Using self-tappers often makes something slightly shift out of kilter in the process.

Thanks for that. I'll take a good look at the cover to try to figure out how the clips actually work. However, I'll take a hint from your comment I think and use Rivnuts with M4 machine screws if I fit 'auxiliary fasteners' to ensure the clips don't disengage. I'm always uneasy about self-tappers since it's too easy to 'strip' the sheet they're screwed into where that sheet is as thin as it is on these heaters.

I'll take a photo of the lower part of my heater so you can see the battery holder position if that is of any interest?

Thankfully, I found how it should be fitted from YouTube: there are two 'retainers' that the bottom part of the igniter module slides into and is prevented from coming back out by the cover once that's fitted. By all means post a photo if you think yours is different to that. At the very least, I'm grateful for the offer.

 

[wildebus]

I am tempted to do the same as it is not a great securing system from Truma at the best of times.