This will of been asked before no doubt but I can’t remember. How hard & expensive is it to convert a truma s gas heater to dual gas/electric or is it cheaper to buy a new one? I know the cost would buy a lot of gas but it’s the flexibility of dual fuel

I have fitted the ultraheat conversion to both my Eribas. The job is not difficult if you are fairly handy but drilling the wardrobe for the control unit was a bit scary on a brand new van. The kit is just under £300 to which you would have to add labour if you were having it done. The only difficulty really is the necessity to disconnect the gas flue to fit the element and getting it tested afterwards, a new o ring is supplied in the kit. I got over this by fitting my conversion just before a service was due so the flue was tested as part of the service. The instructions with the kit are fairly clear and easy to follow. The kit contains everything you need except the electrical connector for the mains. I used the Wago connector which lust plugged in to a spare way on the circuit under the wardrobe.
It's an expensive job if you pay for someone to do it when a cheap low wattage portable heater will do the same job. Eribamotters will be along soon to recommend which one.
We just like the convenience of the Truma conversion.

Colin,
If the radiator gets really hot does the worktop extension rise on a thermal?

A quick question on converting gas fire/heater to dual gas/electric. with the usual Truma kits is there a fan ? just wondered if its just convection which i suppose would be quieter

The Truma fan is a separate thing and is an option, along with distribution trunking. It's not specifically linked to whether you have the electric heating element or not. So you can gave a gas Truma with or without fan and a gas/electric Truma with or without fan. Even if a fan is fitted, you don't have to use it. In my experience the heater body gets quite hot without a fan in use and unless the fan is turned up high it is almost silent. The fan has two options, one is for it to run at the speed you set and the other is automatic where it adjust the speed depending on how much heat is required, subject to the maximum speed you set..

Hi, having bought our 530 at the start of September and had 6 weeks tripping around France we are now ready to carry out a few mods . Our van is fitted with a Truma gas only heater, so am looking at the possibility, convenience and costs of the Ultraheat and the TEB3 fan kit to support autumn and winter camping.
Fitting the fan and the element looks to be fairly simple, however I can't work out yet how you get the ducting from the fan to under the front seating. There are duct outlets fitted and blanked off in the front under seat storage area, so the destination is clear. So the question is how/where does the ducting pass through toilet/shower room? any pictures would be great. Then the under seat storage area has the fresh water storage tank and the Truma boiler in it so not much space for ducting but I can sort of see a route. Any help or photos would be much appreciated but recognise that there a vast range of configurations available so don't expect a simple answer.

Ian

Hi Ian,
We’ve got a 530 without fixed bed but the front is common (except our Truma is under the rear bench, next to the battery).

Here are some photos of the front (hopefully)

1&2 show the pipe coming from behind the tank,,
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The third is from inside the toilet cassette door, where the pipe is squeezed underneath.(that’ll be fun for you!)
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This one is looking down behind the heater to show the routing
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…and this one shows how the pipe is split; one down to the bathroom vent near the drain plug on the floor and the left-hand fork goes over the wheel arch to pass under the loo as mentioned earlier
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Incidentally, the new heater cable goes to the spare socket under the distribution box. (Hidden behind the white outlet and controlled by the second mcb.)
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Hope this helps!
Steve.

Hi Steve, sorry for delay in replying, Thats fantastic thanks for the pics and explanations that's just what I was after. You're right the bit through the bathroom and under the loo looks fun but at least your pics show its possible. I'll go and do some more exploratory poking around tomorrow.
I noticed the tank has recess at the back of it. Ill probably remove the tank and see if i can access under the loo cassette and over the wheel arch. I feel some bad language coming on!!

regards
Ian

👍
It would be worth buying a set of fish-wires from screw fix to pull a cord through first and attach the pipe so you can pull it through.

Ive already got the fish wires from screw fix. I just need the force to be with me now.

thanks for your pics again it gives me hope.

i agree with your opinion. Im sure in most cases the ducting was in place and then built in. i think the std ducting is 65mm? i wonder if a smaller diameter would have a massive reduction on heat flow if used in the critical places for routing?

ian