Truma water heater repair #3

[Galway Girl]

We’ve been on some bumpy roads in Nova Scotia and it caused an issue with our truma water heater.

Symptom:

Louder  than normal water heater ignition.  A loud whoosh or pop on ignition.  Strong enough to blow out the flame. A smell of gas! 

Cause:

Burner tube assembly had come apart on the end of the tubes by slipping out of the retaining slots (last tube on either end) 

Fix on the road:

Removed the burner and regulator assembly and re-assembled by re-aligning and re-crimping the burner tubes into the frame.

Time: 40 minutes

Tools:

Crescent wrench & pliers for gas feed

2 Different size torx bits for burner screws

Steps:

 

Turn off gas & let burners cool down

Pull fuse for water heater

Take pix of wiring ( for re assembly)

Disassemble gas feed using backing wrench 

Disconnect various wires from plugs & headers ( Includes 2 screws to remove igniter) 

Remove 2 screws on front of burner/regulator assembly 

Slide out burner.

Reassemble burners in slots and crimp end burners

Reinstall in reverse order, checking for gas leaks before reinstalling fuse.

Run water heater to test.

Enjoy hot water !

 

The last right and left burner tubes had fallen out of the registration slots. That caused gas to flow from the two orfices directly into the burner chamber.  ( A nice big ignition event that blew out the other burners.)
 

I reassembled and crimped them back in place.

 

 

video describes which tabs need to be crimped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2024 by Galway Girl
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[rich.dev]

@Galway Girl thanks for the very informative post, sounds like this is an issue with the Truma water heater, if I remember correctly you guys had a  similar issue before? Hope you guys enjoyed NS, we will be staying at a season spot just east of Truro when we return from Arizona next year April/May until October. 

[Galway Girl]

Yes, the  last issue was from Truma factory, improper torque on the regulated gas line into the burner.  
 

Nova Scotia was fantastic.

view from site 54 at The Islands PP. 

Edited October 3, 2024 by Galway Girl
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[Galileo]

Hey there,

 

    We’ve started having a problem with our Truma Aqua-Go water heater as well. I’m thinking it’s related to the problem you encountered.

We DO get hot water - but the water heater is noisy - some noise I’d describe as “banging” or “thumping” - but that could well be the same as the “whooshing” and “Popping” you describe. I also don’t think that the heater is working on the “ECO” mode - as I don’t hear the circulation pump starting up in that mode, but perhaps just because the burner is not kicking on.

I can’t see anything wrong by looking under the burner assembly with a flashlight while it is still assembled. I guess I’ll have to go through the process you describe just to verify that we don’t (or do) have the same issue you have with induction tubes being knocked out of place.

Shame on Truma for making a device meant to be used in an RV driven over the road - and not having it able to hold together under the use for which it was (supposedly) designed….

VV

[Snackchaser]

I don't know about the noises, mine makes just a little noise.  The circulation pump keeps hot water in the small reserve tank, so it's turned off to conserve power and gas in the ECO mode. 

Good luck, Geoff

[Galileo]

On 1/11/2025 at 8:12 PM, Snackchaser said:

I don't know about the noises, mine makes just a little noise.  The circulation pump keeps hot water in the small reserve tank, so it's turned off to conserve power and gas in the ECO mode. 

Good luck, Geoff

The sound of the circulating pump and the sound of the flame coming on are normal. If you’re outside and listening very carefully, you’ll likely hear the “ticking” of the igniter and a fan noise that keeps the combustion going in the right direction. Those are normal sounds.

The Truma manual says that “boiling water” sounds means you need to descale.

Popping, whooshing, thumping, or banging are abnormal sounds associated with improper combustion from gas burning in the wrong places. That was my tip-off to the problem.

“Galway Girl’s” documentation of the loose burner tube problem is what prompted me to pull out the burner yo check the tubes. I was initially “disappointed” to see the times were all in place. “Nuts! Now what’s the problem!?” I thought. Flipping the burner over and seeing that big plume of soot on the bottom of the tubes and around the nut attaching the gas line to the manifold prompted me to check the nut. Loose. Could move it freely with my fingers. 

Though I didn’t see much in the way of “crimps” on any of the burner tubes. (They’re smaller than I was expecting - my experience being with 2 foot long tubes on household gas boilers.) Mine were all in place and tight.

 

Still, disappointing that a premium gas appliance in a premium trailer apparently didn’t get designed or assembled too carefully. Gas burning where it shouldn’t be goes beyond “inconvenient” and well into “dangerous” and “liability” territory.

We put a couple of thousand miles on our LEII every year, and I’ve had several things vibrate or shake loose causing failures. It just reminds me that a good, thorough “preflight” inspection is called for and know trouble areas need to be checked frequently. Ironically, the stuff they tell you to check - like wheel lug torque - never seem to have issues. Go figure.

[John and Debbie]

1 hour ago, Galileo said:

The sound of the circulating pump and the sound of the flame coming on are normal. If you’re outside and listening very carefully, you’ll likely hear the “ticking” of the igniter and a fan noise that keeps the combustion going in the right direction. Those are normal sounds.

The Truma manual says that “boiling water” sounds means you need to descale.

Popping, whooshing, thumping, or banging are abnormal sounds associated with improper combustion from gas burning in the wrong places. That was my tip-off to the problem.

“Galway Girl’s” documentation of the loose burner tube problem is what prompted me to pull out the burner yo check the tubes. I was initially “disappointed” to see the times were all in place. “Nuts! Now what’s the problem!?” I thought. Flipping the burner over and seeing that big plume of soot on the bottom of the tubes and around the nut attaching the gas line to the manifold prompted me to check the nut. Loose. Could move it freely with my fingers. 

Though I didn’t see much in the way of “crimps” on any of the burner tubes. (They’re smaller than I was expecting - my experience being with 2 foot long tubes on household gas boilers.) Mine were all in place and tight.

 

Still, disappointing that a premium gas appliance in a premium trailer apparently didn’t get designed or assembled too carefully. Gas burning where it shouldn’t be goes beyond “inconvenient” and well into “dangerous” and “liability” territory.

We put a couple of thousand miles on our LEII every year, and I’ve had several things vibrate or shake loose causing failures. It just reminds me that a good, thorough “preflight” inspection is called for and know trouble areas need to be checked frequently. Ironically, the stuff they tell you to check - like wheel lug torque - never seem to have issues. Go figure.

What is your "preflight" inspection?  Is that in the manual or a list you made up?  Thanks.

John

[Galileo]

Hi John,

No, not in the manual. I think the manual deserves a re-write as it’s glaringly lacking in a lot of areas. I suppose that’s the nice part about this forum, as owners either a few miles under their belts can share experiences and help others fix their issues without having to do all the sleuthing from square one. 
 

A real “preflight” on a trailer like ours would be akin to a pre-launch on the space shuttle. There are just too many systems to check in 5 or 10 minutes - or even a couple of hours - to make sure that -everything- was perfect before a trip. 
 

The “basics” would likely be all the things you hopefully already check. I’m sure someone here has already made a list that’s as good as mine, so until I have one written and perfected, I won’t post one here.

 

val