Jayco Truma Aventa Air Conditioner problem...

[Hitting the road]

I had a problem with the Truma air conditioner last week. It has been working fine, but as you expect the day you hook the car up it decides to stop playing.

When I went to turn it on before leaving it would not turn on and showed a solid red LED in the remote sensor on the unit, and would just flash red 4 times when I pointed the remote to start it.

I did a manual start with a toothpick in the sensor and it showed the blue LED and appeared to start up ok and soon the compressor kicked in and it began to cool. After about 5 minutes it shut down again and when trying to prod it to start again, it would show the blue LED for a few seconds, kick in to life then stop.

There must be power to it as it still will do that when trying to manually start it, run for a second or two then stop with the solid red LED glowing.

I had a cover over the van and had not run the air conditioner for a couple of weeks. Would anybody have a clue as to what might have caused this?

Cheers

 

[Boots in Action]

I had a problem with the Truma air conditioner last week. It has been working fine, but as you expect the day you hook the car up it decides to stop playing.

When I went to turn it on before leaving it would not turn on and showed a solid red LED in the remote sensor on the unit, and would just flash red 4 times when I pointed the remote to start it.

I did a manual start with a toothpick in the sensor and it showed the blue LED and appeared to start up ok and soon the compressor kicked in and it began to cool. After about 5 minutes it shut down again and when trying to prod it to start again, it would show the blue LED for a few seconds, kick in to life then stop.

There must be power to it as it still will do that when trying to manually start it, run for a second or two then stop with the solid red LED glowing.

I had a cover over the van and had not run the air conditioner for a couple of weeks. Would anybody have a clue as to what might have caused this?

Cheers

Hi @Hitting the road and welcome to the forum. I had a look at some of the other forums about the Truma a/c unit and found the following the closest to matching your problem, Also, as the unit fires up and runs for a short time before shutting down, that could indicate a thermal overload switch on compressor being activated. The fact that the red light is on and comes on indicates a fault in the electrical system and only by bypassing the normal systems do you get it to operate albeit for a short time only. Good luck.

Re: Truma aventa comfort​

by ourannie Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:50 am

Mids wrote:You dont say what the initial problem was and how it was resolved. Do you have the title of YouTube clip

The initial problem was there are three lights which come on when working, blue for cool air , orange for warm and red when there is a fault. For no reason at all because we had never used the air con a red light came on, stayed on a few hours then went off, same thing again and again but the light was staying on longer and longer until when you plugged into 250v it came on and wouldn't go off until it was unplugged. We rang our dealer and was told about the temperature being below 16 degrees and having to wait until it was higher because it won't work below that which we thought was nonsense but took it as read, we live over a hundred miles away from the dealer so asked if we could contact Truma which was nearer for us, they were quite happy about it so booked it in with them. When we got there they explained it was more than likely the room temperature sensor fault built in the unit which it turned out to be and it was replaced. The clip on youtube is not not what we thought but we may have got the wrong thing, fortunately they did show us how to work it and have done so since getting home.
I would ring them again if ever we needed to without any hesitation, the chaps in the workshop where more than happy to help us, plus they have all the parts there because its a training school for their engineers and dealers.

ourannieMember

Posts : 42
Joined : 2019-04-20
Location : west lancashire
Auto-Sleeper : Bourton
Vehicle Year : 2019

 

[Hitting the road]

Thanks Boots, I had scanned the Forum but hadn't seen that one.
It is particularly annoying as i have only just bought this 3 year old Jayco, and this was the first outing. All worked fine at the sale, and for the couple of times I had it running while carrying out some additions and alterations inside.
Mine displayed similar, the red fault light was on for as long as the 240v was connected...no change.

I think for what it's worth I'll take it to a Dealer and let them sort it out....I want it to be working next outing. At the same time the television set decided to quit as well...it worked fine at the sale too!

 

[Drover]

While I keep clear of Truma gear I do know drama with RV TV's , might be able to help if you describe the problem.

 

[Hitting the road]

G'day Drover, the TV issue is strange. It worked fine at the sale, and I hadn't used it since. (only really a couple of weeks). It's one of those Jayco Sphere things. It has the usual wind up Windgard antenna. It winds up fine, rotates from inside etc.

But when the TV set is turned on it comes up with a blue screen and displays "no signal" bouncing around the screen. The set is plugged in to the 12v lighter outlet, the aritenna connection is plugged in to the point adjacent, the green LED is aluminated indicating power to the antenna.

I have switched the antenna on and off via the small internal button; I have wound the antenna up and down; I have removed all plugs and plugged them in again...still nothing. Visual inspection of the antenna on the roof showed nothing unusual, all cables seemed intact....all internal cables appear undamaged and look ok.

The only thing I had done since purchasing was put a full caravan cover over the van while parked up...I can't see how that would effect anything, but both the air cond and the TV have played up since the cover went on?? (didn't run the air with the cover on of course)

I did not have a ladder while on this last shake down trip so wasn't able to properly access the roof, but with the pop top down and standing on the tool box on the draw bar was able to see the antenna and cables and they looked fine.

It's gotta be something simple that I am missing...

 

[Drover]

First off check that the TV source is TV not HDMI or one of the other inputs, has caught me a few times.....

The easiest way to check the TV and aerial lead is to remove it from van and plug it into the house system and tune it in, then you know the TV and lead works or not, if all good I would start at the aerial making sure the plugs are done up, then remove the socket panel in van, it will have a 12v connection and 3 aerial connections often the aerial leads will be loose, check the plugs they are an "F" type and may have been crimped by pliers and the core gets cut, my old Jayco had been chewed by pliers and I had to replace them as the wire core broke, if they are okay and it still doesn't want to play then a continuity test on the leads to aerial will show if they have a break..............

If your house aerial has the elements vertical and you have a horizontal Wingard then if your more than 6 kms from the transmitter you may not get reception so TV won't get reception..... also the aerial has a front and back to it.

Let us know how you go, with a van a multi meter is very handy bit of kit.

 

[Hitting the road]

First off check that the TV source is TV not HDMI or one of the other inputs, has caught me a few times.....

The easiest way to check the TV and aerial lead is to remove it from van and plug it into the house system and tune it in, then you know the TV and lead works or not, if all good I would start at the aerial making sure the plugs are done up, then remove the socket panel in van, it will have a 12v connection and 3 aerial connections often the aerial leads will be loose, check the plugs they are an "F" type and may have been crimped by pliers and the core gets cut, my old Jayco had been chewed by pliers and I had to replace them as the wire core broke, if they are okay and it still doesn't want to play then a continuity test on the leads to aerial will show if they have a break..............

If your house aerial has the elements vertical and you have a horizontal Wingard then if your more than 6 kms from the transmitter you may not get reception so TV won't get reception..... also the aerial has a front and back to it.

Let us know how you go, with a van a multi meter is very handy bit of kit.

Thanks Drover...yeah I had done the input check as you suggest, had tried all the input options in case there was something weird going on...to no avail.

I will carry out the other checks you outline and look for any cracks or breaks in wiring. I do carry a multimeter and other electrical kit, but as I didn't miss having the TV had planned to do a signal check back here as the signal where it would not work up at Bargara may not have been that flash anyway...though there were other vans around me with Winegard antennas up with some reception.

I'll post what the outcome is...cheers

 

[Boots in Action]

Thanks Drover...yeah I had done the input check as you suggest, had tried all the input options in case there was something weird going on...to no avail.

I will carry out the other checks you outline and look for any cracks or breaks in wiring. I do carry a multimeter and other electrical kit, but as I didn't miss having the TV had planned to do a signal check back here as the signal where it would not work up at Bargara may not have been that flash anyway...though there were other vans around me with Winegard antennas up with some reception.

I'll post what the outcome is...cheers

@Hitting the road , further to what @Drover has said, from my understanding there is an RF amplifier in series with the input line between the antenna and TV set. Make sure the amp is switched in. Power for this amp is supplied via the coax centre wire and the braided shielding. If the amp itself has failed, then NO signal at all will be passed to the receiver from antenna although power may be present at the amp. If you have some spare coax lead with "F" type connectors, try disconnecting the coax between antenna and amp and run spare cable direct from antenna to tv set. If you have reasonable signal at home in Brisbane, you should be able to pick up enough signal to show picture on screen. This could then point to amp failure in the line or in the cabling close to antenna. Then you can concentrate on the cabling/connections. A multimeter test for continuity will indicate an open circuit with the failed? amp in the circuit. Basically what @Drover said but removing the amp from the equation.

 

[mikerezny]

I will carry out the other checks you outline and look for any cracks or breaks in wiring. I do carry a multimeter and other electrical kit, but as I didn't miss having the TV had planned to do a signal check back here as the signal where it would not work up at Bargara may not have been that flash anyway...though there were other vans around me with Winegard antennas up with some reception.

Hi,
did you retune the tv to pick up the new channels in Bargara? The frequency of the some of the available channels is different:

Wide Bay Digital TV Channels at Woowoonga​

Affiliation	Callsign	Frequency	Power (ERP)	Pattern	Polarisation	Coverage Map
SBS	SBS6	177.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
Seven	STQ7	184.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
Ten	TNQ8	191.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
Nine	RTQ10	212.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
ABC	ABC11	219.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	abc.net.au

Brisbane Digital TV Channels at Mount Coot-tha​

Affiliation	Callsign	Frequency	Power (ERP)	Pattern	Polarisation	Coverage Map
Seven	BTQ6	177.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
SBS	SBS7	184.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
Nine	QTQ8	191.625 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
Ten	TVQ11	219.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
ABC	ABC12	226.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	abc.net.au

take care
Mike

 

[Hitting the road]

Hi,
did you retune the tv to pick up the new channels in Bargara? The frequency of the some of the available channels is different:

Wide Bay Digital TV Channels at Woowoonga​

Affiliation	Callsign	Frequency	Power (ERP)	Pattern	Polarisation	Coverage Map
SBS	SBS6	177.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
Seven	STQ7	184.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
Ten	TNQ8	191.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
Nine	RTQ10	212.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	–
ABC	ABC11	219.500 Mhz	45.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Vertical	abc.net.au

Brisbane Digital TV Channels at Mount Coot-tha​

Affiliation	Callsign	Frequency	Power (ERP)	Pattern	Polarisation	Coverage Map
Seven	BTQ6	177.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
SBS	SBS7	184.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
Nine	QTQ8	191.625 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
Ten	TVQ11	219.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	–
ABC	ABC12	226.500 Mhz	50.00 kW	Omnidirectional	Horizontal	abc.net.au

take care
Mike

I did run the channell scan a few times as I mucked around with the inputs....I did run the channel scan a few times to no avail. All I got was "no signal" continually so the issue must lay somewhere in the feed in?

 

[Hitting the road]

@Hitting the road , further to what @Drover has said, from my understanding there is an RF amplifier in series with the input line between the antenna and TV set. Make sure the amp is switched in. Power for this amp is supplied via the coax centre wire and the braided shielding. If the amp itself has failed, then NO signal at all will be passed to the receiver from antenna although power may be present at the amp. If you have some spare coax lead with "F" type connectors, try disconnecting the coax between antenna and amp and run spare cable direct from antenna to tv set. If you have reasonable signal at home in Brisbane, you should be able to pick up enough signal to show picture on screen. This could then point to amp failure in the line or in the cabling close to antenna. Then you can concentrate on the cabling/connections. A multimeter test for continuity will indicate an open circuit with the failed? amp in the circuit. Basically what @Drover said but removing the amp from the equation.

Hi Boots...it may well be the amp has failed, as the green LED light next to the antenna plug is lit indicating there is power to the amp...but maybe there is power but no action? I'll check that probability out too...thanks

 

[Drover]

If you had said Bargara first off, I would have told you the Bundaberg area in general gets a crap reception for most vans as the transmitter is over 100km away on top of a big hill, as Mikes post shows vertical transmission......... With my old 14.44 I would pull a pin on my horizontal winegard and turn it vertical so I could get reception and even then not all channels, that was in Bundy and Elliot heads....... so I wouldn't worry about pulling things apart and try again when at home in a known good reception area........

Now to find out where and type of transmitter you are close to this site is the place to look; https://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/ used to have a great phone app but they closed it down sadly........... Horizontal aerial on van and a vertical transmitter more often than not you need to be in line of sight of the tower and under 10km even then...... a snowflake winegard works for both but a Saturn works better ..................... Did a thread on this stuff somewhere once.

When you wander around you will find a retune will usually be needed, look at the houses near to see the attitude of their aerials.

I was meaning you do a continuity on the coax when disconnected I use an extension lead on my meter. ......... I can't remember if the winegard has a little red led that lights up when its active or not........ I use a sat dish now and my van has a jacks aerial which is horizontal and useless out west in a lot of towns.

 

[Hitting the road]

If you had said Bargara first off, I would have told you the Bundaberg area in general gets a crap reception for most vans as the transmitter is over 100km away on top of a big hill, as Mikes post shows vertical transmission......... With my old 14.44 I would pull a pin on my horizontal winegard and turn it vertical so I could get reception and even then not all channels, that was in Bundy and Elliot heads....... so I wouldn't worry about pulling things apart and try again when at home in a known good reception area........

Now to find out where and type of transmitter you are close to this site is the place to look; https://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/ used to have a great phone app but they closed it down sadly........... Horizontal aerial on van and a vertical transmitter more often than not you need to be in line of sight of the tower and under 10km even then...... a snowflake winegard works for both but a Saturn works better ..................... Did a thread on this stuff somewhere once.

When you wander around you will find a retune will usually be needed, look at the houses near to see the attitude of their aerials.

I was meaning you do a continuity on the coax when disconnected I use an extension lead on my meter. ......... I can't remember if the winegard has a little red led that lights up when its active or not........ I use a sat dish now and my van has a jacks aerial which is horizontal and useless out west in a lot of towns.

View attachment 68083

Hmmm, thanks Drover...maybe that was the problem...no signal meaning "no signal"... Being a newbie at the caravanning thing with a TV set I have much to learn, as I never bothered with a TV set in the Camper Trailer. I do keep the van at a friends place as I have no space at home to keep it.

I may well replace the Winegard with something else going forward if it turns out that it is giving very average hit and miss reception.
I am going over on Monday to do some maintenance and will try the television again over there...keep you posted.

 

[Drover]

Reception in the Wide Bay can be pretty crap even in houses, if you replace your aerial dont get conned by the "set up for digital TV", its BS.... I will see if I can find a link to the thread I did on TV aerials.

TV Reception - a rehash

Looked around some new vans and see that they still fit TV aerials which won't be any good in some areas we travel...........Forget about the digital reception myth or the colour TV myth, in Australia your signal be it UHF or VHF can be transmitted as a horizontal or vertical configuration so...

expandasdownunder.com

Exterior - Towers - Mobile and TV

Knowing where to point your TV aerial or if there is a phone tower nearby are handy things to know when on the road, so here's two never leave home without links. Find that TV station............. .http://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/ Find a mobile tower including the freq operating from it...

expandasdownunder.com

 

[Hitting the road]

Reception in the Wide Bay can be pretty crap even in houses, if you replace your aerial dont get conned by the "set up for digital TV", its BS.... I will see if I can find a link to the thread I did on TV aerials.

TV Reception - a rehash

Looked around some new vans and see that they still fit TV aerials which won't be any good in some areas we travel...........Forget about the digital reception myth or the colour TV myth, in Australia your signal be it UHF or VHF can be transmitted as a horizontal or vertical configuration so...

expandasdownunder.com

Exterior - Towers - Mobile and TV

Knowing where to point your TV aerial or if there is a phone tower nearby are handy things to know when on the road, so here's two never leave home without links. Find that TV station............. .http://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/ Find a mobile tower including the freq operating from it...

expandasdownunder.com

Many thanks...

 

[Hitting the road]

If you had said Bargara first off, I would have told you the Bundaberg area in general gets a crap reception for most vans as the transmitter is over 100km away on top of a big hill, as Mikes post shows vertical transmission......... With my old 14.44 I would pull a pin on my horizontal winegard and turn it vertical so I could get reception and even then not all channels, that was in Bundy and Elliot heads....... so I wouldn't worry about pulling things apart and try again when at home in a known good reception area........

Now to find out where and type of transmitter you are close to this site is the place to look; https://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/ used to have a great phone app but they closed it down sadly........... Horizontal aerial on van and a vertical transmitter more often than not you need to be in line of sight of the tower and under 10km even then...... a snowflake winegard works for both but a Saturn works better ..................... Did a thread on this stuff somewhere once.

When you wander around you will find a retune will usually be needed, look at the houses near to see the attitude of their aerials.

I was meaning you do a continuity on the coax when disconnected I use an extension lead on my meter. ......... I can't remember if the winegard has a little red led that lights up when its active or not........ I use a sat dish now and my van has a jacks aerial which is horizontal and useless out west in a lot of towns.

View attachment 68083

Drover...what Sat dish do you use? i am thinking I may go down that road...

Thanks

 

[Drover]

I have a Satking dish with a Vast STB but have it set up so my Foxtel box plugs in as well, only bit that needs setting up in camp is the dish the rest is just flick a switch...the Vast gives me the FTA sat service. The initial kit I got from i Tech comes with everything you need then you just mod to suit.

 

[Hitting the road]

I have a Satking dish with a Vast STB but have it set up so my Foxtel box plugs in as well, only bit that needs setting up in camp is the dish the rest is just flick a switch...the Vast gives me the FTA sat service. The initial kit I got from i Tech comes with everything you need then you just mod to suit.

Sounds like a good set up...I want to be able to access Foxtel occasionally too, so I'll look at setting mine up similar
Cheers

 

[Hitting the road]

Sounds like a good set up...I want to be able to access Foxtel occasionally too, so I'll look at setting mine up similar
Cheers

Just an update...took the van down to Fingal Heads last week and the TV worked fine...you were spot on drover...no signal at Bargara meant "no signal". The air cond still doesn't work so have it booked in for repair in a couple of weeks...

 

[Drover]

If you check that MYSwitch web site and look at the aerials on houses it will give you a good idea on reception, usually huge long yagi's on houses means pretty poor if any in van...........