Faulty Thermopure system (PART II)

[dazmond]

i met a guy who i used to go to school with today.....he s also a wc now.....he spent £6k on a cold water system from ionics!(400L tank system)a few years ago.....he could have got a grippatank 9kw hot water system fitted AND bought a PF electric reel,tank and crash tested frame for that amount of money and have a few hundred quid left over!

 

[dazmond]

so phil is your hot water system working fine now?

 

[Davy G]

Yeah Phil, how's it going for you? 

 

[chelmsclean]

I've read that you can't use split charge relays on most vans newer than 2015, as the ECU controls the charging / alternator to save fuel.

Could this be the route of the problem?

 

[spruce]

I've read that you can't use split charge relays on most vans newer than 2015, as the ECU controls the charging / alternator to save fuel.

Could this be the route of the problem?

It can't be because the unit was working fine with the engine running.

Its a Transit Custom he has. I don't care what Ionics are saying but my gut is telling me they haven't fitted the fuel pickup correctly. They needed to insert a suck up pipe into the auxillary fuel takeoff connector on the fuel pump when commissioning the heater.

It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't fit this pipe which is part of the kit, or if they did, they didn't fit it properly and its dropped off and floating inside the fuel tank.

There was a suggestion made to fill a supplementary fuel container and put a hose into that connected to the fuel pump to see if fuel starvation is the problem.

Unfortunately the o/p joined the site on the 23rd May 2019 with this problem and reposted the same problem on the 28th. He last visited the forum on the 29th May 2019. I don't know why or what that means exactly. If it follows a similar pattern to a few other posts on the forums over the years, there is every probability we won't hear from him again so will never know the final outcome.

The sad thing is that the o/p paid top bucks for his Ionics system that has never worked properly since day one. Even if it did work properly, I believe there are better designed wfp hot water systems out there using the same Webasto heating unit.

 

[chelmsclean]

Ionics should be sorting this properly not fobbing him off with 15 mins testing

 

[spruce]

Ionics should be sorting this properly not fobbing him off with 15 mins testing

Agreed. Unfortunately to identify a fuel pickup problem means the fuel tank has to be dropped again which isn't the best job in the work.

Having worked in the motor trade mechanics will do anything to fob off getting involved with troubleshooting. It costs them unproductive time and they loose out on weekly bonus payments. Most new mechanics haven't a clue how to trouble shoot either. 

My gut tells me that Ionics don't know how to identify the problem. Replacing a wiring loom was an indication of this. They also had the van back a number of times in the past year and still haven't found the problem.

This is why I suggested the o/p start fault finding himself. A good starting point was suggested by another cleaner and that was to uncouple his existing fuel feed and put a pipe into a seperate container full of diesel and run the system. If it works fine then he knows where the problem is.

To me the Webasto printout is a spec sheet and the hand written report says nothing constructive. I don't know how Ionics have setup their system but as @kevinc250 has said it should have an led light on the on/off switch which should blink a fault code - a different number of blinks refer to different faults. For example, 5 quick signals followed by 3 long flashes indicate an under or over voltage. 5 quick signals followed by 2 long flashes indicate a fuel supply problem. It shouldn't take them long to rule those out.

 

[Pjj]

It can't be because the unit was working fine with the engine running.

Its a Transit Custom he has. I don't care what Ionics are saying but my gut is telling me they haven't fitted the fuel pickup correctly. They needed to insert a suck up pipe into the auxillary fuel takeoff connector on the fuel pump when commissioning the heater.

It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't fit this pipe which is part of the kit, or if they did, they didn't fit it properly and its dropped off and floating inside the fuel tank.

There was a suggestion made to fill a supplementary fuel container and put a hose into that connected to the fuel pump to see if fuel starvation is the problem.

Unfortunately the o/p joined the site on the 23rd May 2019 with this problem and reposted the same problem on the 28th. He last visited the forum on the 29th May 2019. I don't know why or what that means exactly. If it follows a similar pattern to a few other posts on the forums over the years, there is every probability we won't hear from him again so will never know the final outcome.

The sad thing is that the o/p paid top bucks for his Ionics system that has never worked properly since day one. Even if it did work properly, I believe there are better designed wfp hot water systems out there using the same Webasto heating unit.

My my thoughts are exactly the same as yours as to the diagnosis of the problem , but you cannot tell ionics anything , I would have taken legal action long before things went on for this long