Two truma issues

[SSChameleon]

I have a 2017 basecamp, took it out on two trips up to the mountains. On the first trip I set the thermostat to 65 degrees and got cooked out of the camper, so the second night I turned it down to 54 degrees and it still got pretty warm.

On the second trip I got an error code of E 69 H. When I turned the furnace off at the control panel and back on it cleared the code. Then I set the thermostat to 55 degrees and got cooked, so the second night I put it at 48 and was a bit cold.

I called Truma, they said the error code wasn't in the manual and that I should try to reset the controller. For the temperature issue they said I have to take it to dealer for service.

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if the two are related. If they are, I might save myself a trip to the dealer, or at least have the dealer fix the right issue.

[Trae and Ann]

Yes... I believe it is because the sensor located on the outside wall picks up the cold. Ours is the same way and he truma can be a bit overkill in a little trailer imo. We have done 2 winters in ours and just have a small space heater we plug in... easier to regulate. If we run the truma we keep it set around 50 anything higher and it will run you out.

[Trae and Ann]

Also I don’t know about the code but make sure when you are running it you don’t have anything sitting on the floor in the back blocking the airflow. Had ours error because of that

[SSChameleon]

Good things to know, thanks for sharing.

[pdavitt]

It's HVAC 101

You never mount an interior temperature sensing device (Thermocouple) on an external, non-insulated, thermally conductive wall.

So you have two choices:

1. Mount the temperature sensing device on an interior wall or, in the case of a TT, a partition.
2. Use a thermostat with a remote sensing thermocouple, mount the thermostat any where you want; and mount the thermocouple in the return air intake of the HVAC unit.

Pat

[ArawayCamper]

After the second use of the furnace on my 2017 Basecamp, it was relatively obvious that the temperature of the wall (cold) was making the factory thermocouple give a false indication to the thermostat about the trailer temperature. I solved this in the spur of the moment by popping the factory thermocouple out of the wall. Mine now hangs out of the wall about 2.5" and works great. Some day I may fabricate some type of tubular support for it, but the wires are generally stiff enough to keep i sticking out 2.5" in mid air which seems to be far enough from the wall. I also drilled some extra holes in the factory cap which snaps into place over the thermocouple.

[Eeziter]

Could you post a picture of what you did looks like?. I will be winter camping and I would like to have the inside temp of the basecamp be somewhat accurate and not a sweat lodge. I would probably reverse it in the summer when I don’t use the heat much, is that possible as well?

[ArawayCamper]

The first three pictures are they way my Basecamp has been for the past 1.5 years over about 2 dozen trips. The wires going to the thermocouple do not carry much power, but rather a low voltage signal. Accidentally grounding them probably won't hurt much, but could be bad for the electronics on the other end that process the small voltage differential produced by the Thermocouple.

The last four pictures are of a model I whipped up today in CAD for the kind of bracket I plan to install. I need to size the diameter's appropriately and then I'll probably 3D print one and see how it works once we change to a different filament color. (Right now we're printing red filament which isn't a good match.)

[ArawayCamper]

I should also mention that the Thermostat setting is rather particular. We usually keep it set at 63F which is warmish but comfortable. We go to 62 if we want it on the cooler side. All the rest of the settings are either too hot or too cold. I don't mess with the offset parameter. I do keep it set on the minimum of 40 degrees before we've ended the season and winterized and that seems to do okay to keep things from freezing.

[RocIngersol]

Truma Thermocouple Sensor
Hello Basecamp fans, RocIngersol here reporting for duty...…….

I have had the same temperature issues described in this post except for the error code.

Similarly, as described by the immediate prior post, I fixed the problem using a simple 5/8" OD diameter automotive rubber hose cut to about 2 1/2", then cut about 3/32" off diameter down to the rope core about the last 3/4" at end of hose. You are then left with an offset rubber hose in which the end can basically screw into the wall - it does fit tightly.

So the procedure is basically then, 1. remove thermocouple from wall, 2. remove the two electrical connections, 3. insert the two electrical wires into the rubber hose, 4. connect the two electrical wires then to the thermocouple, 5. insert thermocouple into rubber hose, and finally 6. screw in the rubber hose with a clockwise/counter clockwise rotation so as not to twist the electrical wires. Done.

I have attached a picture so you can see the end result and also you can see a spare rubber hose with the cut end.

Significantly improves temperature reading and truma performance.

Cheers!

RocIngersol