I forgot to mention in my recent account of our UK trip that upon arriving at Barnard Castle Mrs C informed me that the sink tap wasn't working. Emergency! - Tea lack. A quick investigation showed that the washroom tap and the warm air circulation fan that are controlled by the same fuse also were not working.

When JohnE modified our BIP some years ago, he incorporated an earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) so that I could isolate these items over winter and leave the taps open with the van on EHU and charging the battery.

When I checked the BIP, the ELCB had tripped for some reason but when switched back on everything worked as normal. How odd. So, we went out for a walk and when we came back and tried to fill the kettle, the tap wasn't working again - but this time the ELCB hadn't tripped.

I checked the pump impeller which was spinning freely so I didn't think that that was the problem but when I checked the fuse on the BIP that protects the circuit with my multimeter, I found that it had blown. When I replaced it there was a loud 'crack' and that blew too. Having made sure that everything was switched off, I put the ELCB to off, fitted another fuse and then flipped the switch on. Another 'bang' as that fuse bit the dust.

I then did what any sane person would do in such circumstances, I rang JohnE and asked for his help.

Within minutes and after asking a series of questions, the clincher being, "Have you had the front of your fire off recently?" he had diagnosed the problem. The previous day I'd noticed that the bottom of the fire front wasn't correctly located on the peg in the frame so I'd removed and re-fitted it and in doing so must have routed the fan control wire so that road vibration had eventually shorted it out.

The cable to the fan control simply pushes onto the edge of a printed circuit board (PCB) under the dial and has a locating notch to ensure that it can only fit one way round. Following John's instructions, I disconnected the cable, fitted another fuse and tested the taps which were now working. The next step was to pull some of the fan cable forward from inside the fire to give some slack and fit it back to the PCB. The fan was also now working correctly.

I carefully re-fitted the front of the fire making sure that the cable had plenty of slack and that it went through the notch in the internal frame of the heater.

Problem solved. I could find no signs of damage or burning on the fan cable so I assume that the short circuit was somehow caused by the fan control cable having had insufficient slack. It would be a good idea to check this next time you replace the front of your heater after cleaning the fan or replacing the igniter battery. It also highlights the importance of carrying a selection of replacement fuses, just in case.

So once again a sincere' thank you' to John for guiding me through the diagnostic process so efficiently and helping me put it right.

You are a star, mate!

Quote: Aaron Calder wrote in post #1

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So once again a sincere' thank you' to John for guiding me through the diagnostic process so efficiently and helping me put it right.

You are a star, mate!

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Quote: JohnE wrote in post #2

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Thanks, Brian

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