Unusual parking heater behaviour

[RockinNRollin]

This post is about the auxiliary heater (“heat continuously”) on a T6.1 although it might be the same unit as earlier generations. Specifically it’s about turning off the heater(!).

Normal behaviour; after being on for some time; turning off causes the fan speed to increase for a short while (sometimes), but always to then run at a low fan speed for a few minutes which I assume is to cool off the innards of the heater after the flame has been extinguished.

At the weekend, having used the heater normally for the last few evenings, the behaviour was quite different when I turned it off. The fan speed went very high (like when you first turn the heating on and it’s pumping on air) but then abruptly stopped after about 5 seconds. Then there was a small wisp of smoke trickling out of the vent and a slight smell (difficult to be sure as the campsite had a lot of BBQs and fire pits going!). The next day I tried several separate heating cycles and all behaved normally. The first cycle there was a very slight burnt smell to the first air out of the vent then all was fine. On all subsequent occasions the heater shut down normally, with the fan whirring for a few minutes after deactivating the heating.

Has anyone experienced this? My guess is a glitch in the system causing the fan to cut off prematurely?

 

[sticky1]

This post is about the auxiliary heater (“heat continuously”) on a T6.1 although it might be the same unit as earlier generations. Specifically it’s about turning off the heater(!).

Normal behaviour; after being on for some time; turning off causes the fan speed to increase for a short while (sometimes), but always to then run at a low fan speed for a few minutes which I assume is to cool off the innards of the heater after the flame has been extinguished.

At the weekend, having used the heater normally for the last few evenings, the behaviour was quite different when I turned it off. The fan speed went very high (like when you first turn the heating on and it’s pumping on air) but then abruptly stopped after about 5 seconds. Then there was a small wisp of smoke trickling out of the vent and a slight smell (difficult to be sure as the campsite had a lot of BBQs and fire pits going!). The next day I tried several separate heating cycles and all behaved normally. The first cycle there was a very slight burnt smell to the first air out of the vent then all was fine. On all subsequent occasions the heater shut down normally, with the fan whirring for a few minutes after deactivating the heating.

Has anyone experienced this? My guess is a glitch in the system causing the fan to cut off prematurely?

I have never seen that in a California but have fitted diesel heaters in a couple of vehicles.
Did the smoke have a whiff of diesel or was it a more acrid smell?
As they are a heat exchanger system you shouldn’t be getting any smoke coming through the fan, my only experience of this is with a gasket failure.
I suspect you are correct about a glitch in the cool down cycle but I think I would want to ensure that all the seals are working if it happens again.

 

[RockinNRollin]

I have never seen that in a California but have fitted diesel heaters in a couple of vehicles.
Did the smoke have a whiff of diesel or was it a more acrid smell?
As they are a heat exchanger system you shouldn’t be getting any smoke coming through the fan, my only experience of this is with a gasket failure.
I suspect you are correct about a glitch in the cool down cycle but I think I would want to ensure that all the seals are working if it happens again.

It had a slightly acrid / singed smell (it wasn’t exhaust smoke). It seems to be working fine since, no trace of any fumes that I can detect. Maybe I’ll turn it on and pop a CO monitor by the vent and see if it registers anything. It’s in warranty so I’ll mention it when it goes in next.

 

[sticky1]

It had a slightly acrid / singed smell (it wasn’t exhaust smoke). It seems to be working fine since, no trace of any fumes that I can detect. Maybe I’ll turn it on and pop a CO monitor by the vent and see if it registers anything. It’s in warranty so I’ll mention it when it goes in next.

I suspect if it got very hot the main gasket can get burnt and you may have picked up the smell of that burning. Clearly not enough to do permanent damage hopefully.