Truma D6E Review

[@PeteLeuenberger]

I would be nice if you talked about maintenance, because that's where Truma is a no-go for me. Because Truma does not consider or care about the end user, they do everything needed to seduce manufacturers to buy their products. Truma is NOT interested one bit in the end user : ZERO information on how to service your unit yourself, and the ONLY way to service the unit is to take it out entirely, disconnect all lines and electrical wires. So if you have a truma, you are going to have to travel to one of 3 states that have a truma service provider, bring them your truma and pay them to service it. If you live in your RV full-time, expect to do this yearly at a minimum. Once I had forgotten that I had shut off my propane line to the truma and got an error. I tried again once, then realized my issue, put the gas back on but the truma did not start at my next try (likely needed a couple of tries before it worked again). But then had another error, undocumented in my manual. Saturday, high altitude below freezing camping, no heat, no hot water, no info, no support available. Monday I called my dealer and he had to contact truma to know what the error was. Truma said it required a hard reset at a dealer / service facility. BUT there was nothing wrong with my truma nor my propane. So truma decided to build their product to stop working for good even if everything is fine and to provide no recourse. Again, this goes against the point of RVing. So terrible company that is good at one thing : building a product that manufacturers want to buy. For the rest, they do not care.

[@CraftyCampervanners]

Very interesting. Until today, we had no idea that Truma made a 'D' edition. Pete & Kaz

[@01sbrown]

I've watched a lot of videos and I've found yours to have the most info, nice work and NICE VAN!

[@nasty.nick.p]

Have you seen the JP diesel heater it is an exact replica of the truma d6e it even has the same controller and same model number as well, good point of it it's only £1300 all in with all the fitting kit and hoses

[@thefirst555]

I have one, its great

[@HughTube]

Cheers Nick, thanks for this, never heard of them until these comments so really intrigued but also a little suspicious. Would be very interested about why there is such a huge price difference if they are the same. is it missing CE marking or similar?

[@thefirst555]

@@HughTube They're CE marked and have the certs. They have official distributors in NZ, not in the UK as yet though. Mine arrived from China in 5 Days.

[@3dmixer552]

@@thefirst555 CE only means that they have right to sell it in the EU. It does not have anything to do with the quality

[@thefirst555]

@@3dmixer552 never said it did. Just answered Hugh's question.

[@porakone73]

Very, very nice video with all the nerdy specs and so on. Thank you. And also nice to see that someone buys something else than the simplest and cheapest China stuff, and I actually believe most people don't even know about Diesel Trumas (at least where I live, read on) at all. Our previous van (Hymercar 322, sold 2/2021) had the 4kw LPG version and it was fine except it was a bit down on power when it went below -10 celcius *AND*AND* the LPG itself was terrible especially in winter. Here in Finland we use almost exclusively 11kg bottles (usually there is place for two in every vehicle) which we replace with a full one when it gets empty. It's no problem in the summer because a bottle can last for a month, but in winter it could easily be up to one bottle per 36 hours and so it was a constant play with the bottles and buying new ones every second day and changing them in a parking lot. Our next van will have the D6E, looking so much to that. It will also have dual batteries (2x95Ah) because the D takes more power and even with the LPG version 2 days @ -10c drained the 150Ah pack quite good. Remains to be seen how the batteries stand up, hopefully the new car will be a bit better isolated. And BTW, did you know 'those Chinese' make also copies of Truma heaters? Look for JP Parking Heater. Once I thought about replacing the Combi LPG with one those, but after adding the freight and taxes etc the price wouldn't have been that much cheaper than the Truma so I forgot about that idea. And eventually decided to get another car completely :-D And another thing. The fuel pump ticking. Those pumps are virtually silent (at Webasto they even go to say they are completely silent) when mounted correctly. The fuel lines have to have specific bends and the pump has to be mounted with specific parts and so on, but they really can be (almost) unheard. One question still. Like you said, the heater is too big for your car. Have you noticed how it works when you are on an easy weather and you need only the tiniest amount of heating? Let's say the temperature is +10c and you want +20c inside. It will most likely be achieved quickly, but can the heater turn it self to so low power that it still runs but doesn't over heat the cabin? As I've learned with Webastos, if you have too powerfull heater it has to turn off completely not to overheat the cabin (if the heater can't go to low enough powersetting) but after 5 minutes the temperature decreases and the heater has to start all over.

[@HughTube]

Wow thanks for sharing all that! Really interesting how much gas you have to go through in temps that cold! Can’t believe you would get through 11kg in 36 hours. I haven’t really been able to test it in conditions as you mentioned where it only needs to heat up the space a small amount, so I can’t comment.

[@porakone73]

@@HughTube The Combi 4 tech spec is 320g/h at full blast and when it's colder than -10c at least in our car (Hymercar 322) it was at full power virtually all the time (if adjusted to for example +20c) so the 36 hours I mentioned is quite right. Originally the temperature sensor was in the wall as high as possible and the gas consumption was considerably lower BUT it didn't work very well. Warm air goes up -> Truma thinks it's warm -> power down -> cold in the waist height not to mention feet. Then I moved the sensor to about knee height which made a great improvement to the temperature stability and over all comfortability BUT that's also when the gas consumption went up. Some people here say they get 2+ days of one 11kg bottle in a Ducato no matter how cold, but at least in our car it would have required coping with considerably lower room temperature than we wanted (+20c). And one hilarious thing about the temperature sensor being located high. In the winter time when you cook something and all the heat goes up, Truma could even turn completely off (no wonder if it's 25c at the sensor) and it didn't start again before the cooking ends (or you order more heat resulting in a sauna at your head level). I don't really understand positioning the sensor that way, and that way it seems to be in our future Hymer too.

[@mausie1967]

I'm a big fan of you're channel and looking forward for your videos. Thank you for your inspiration and greetings from Holland.

[@HughTube]

Thanks so much!

[@turkeyphant]

Do you rate those miboxer lighting controllers?

[@skitteryoh9949]

what about the sound as far as stealth camping?

[@janemack1933]

Could we please have a video about your shower, while you’re at it? I’m intrigued about access to the cab area among other things.

[@HughTube]

Hi Jane no problem, I am putting together a video about it but each process is taking so long (drying times etc) it’s taking me ages to get the content haha but it is incoming

[@thefirst555]

I have the JP heater copy of this. Cost me around £1200 for the diesel version, but there doesnt seem to be the difference in price between gas and diesel that Truma charge . Love it so far, and you get all the ducting etc with it which truma charge you an arm and a leg for. Ive had a truma previously, and everything is the same.

[@CasLaz]

Would love to see a video of it running! Really tempted to get one

[@thefirst555]

@@CasLaz kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIGuemdqbtOIkNk

[@CasLaz]

@@thefirst555 Thank you !!

[@sandtreader]

Really useful video, thank you! Just to note there is now a D4E - still expensive (£1895 online), but not *so* expensive!

[@kevgermany]

Thanks. Good review. Couple of minor additions. The models are all the same in water capacity, so you're paying for heat ability between the 2/4/6. Diesels shouldn't be oversized. If they cycle too often, the glow system can get clogged with carbon deposits. Gas models also need the exhaust away from Windows/doors. I'm learning the hard way that I should have planned the layout of pipes/hot air ducts right at the start. Guess your experience with other heaters/conversions avoided some of this. Gas models can be used on the road if a crash cut out is used on the gas supply.

[@HughTube]

Thanks so much for adding this! Yes I agree about oversizing diesel, I would have loved them to provide a smaller diesel version but I will just have to run mine hard and hot every few months.

[@porakone73]

@@HughTube These things do a 'cleaning burn' every now and then (If I remember correctly, Webasto does it every 15minutes) by leaning the mixture -> raising the temperature to clean them selves. So there shouldn't be need for 'manual cleaning'.

[@123prestolee]

Hi, appreciate your content - any chance you could explain a hard reset on this model? Need to remove E122 H error.

[@theoteam4641]

You said when your on hookup your basically have unlimited hot water, does that mean that when your on electric it would keep heating the water as you use it do yoy can have a long shower?

[@bobbrayshaw1179]

Hi Hugh, you mentioned a really good manual for the D6E. I’ve bought one, but it doesn’t have any fitting instructions in it, only user instructions. Is yours the same. I think I can muddle through but fitting instructions would make it easier. Cheers

[@HughTube]

Hey Cathy, sorry I just remembered I found it online (its the ozzy version): www.manualslib.com/manual/1246695/Truma-Combi-D-6-Au.html

[@TAR412]

Hi Hugh, does the Truma kit come with the diesel pump or is this a separate purchase? Any info would be great

[@HughTube]

sorry for the late reply! all diesel truma kits I have seen should include the pump

[@user-kx5uo9or1o]

Hey mate what’s that app you’re using for monitoring your electrics ?

[@CasLaz]

Nice review Hugh, torn between getting trauma d6e or the Chinese version, JP D6E for a fraction of the cost. Truma D6e also out of stock everywhere at the moment :( Would love to see how loud the truma is when its running on diesel?

[@HughTube]

Hi Cas, thanks so much, I have just heard about these JP copies from other comments. Interesting but it also throws up some worries. When I do my final van tour video I will look to show how quiet the Truma is if that helps

[@carlosguy576]

Hola. usted pudo hacer funcionar solo con la bateria? si es asi cuanto tiempo pudo hacerlo andar? tengo uno igual pero no puedo hacerlo andar mas de una hora y me agota la bateria de 200 ap. Quiero saber si es asi el alto consumo o tiene una falla el mio. gracias

[@dukespursuits1810]

Hi Hugh, off topic if the video but what plywood did you use. Is it birch?

[@HughTube]

for the walls I used 9mm whitewashed poplar and the kitchen it is 15mm poplar with a real oak veneer and a 15mm birch top as poplar isn't dense enough to handle worktop abuse

[@derekt7606]

Hope you do not get the Truma burning smell that many report. I certainly get it.

[@HughTube]

Hi Derek, no but if I do is it just a smell or the start of the system burning up?

[@derekt7606]

More than newness. Plenty of posts about the problem.

[@alexdubois6585]

I went with 4E so that even when I don't use the van, I am thinking of leaving the Truma to heat up the van to limit humidity/condensation

[@HughTube]

Yeah I even started using the phone app when I woke up to pre heat the van in the morning before setting off

[@BobbyandJemima]

Do you find it's noisy?

[@urbanarkoverland]

I’ve literally just tested this. Bout 13 litres. And about 5 minutes 👍🏻

[@HughTube]

Thanks for this, what shower head are you using?

[@urbanarkoverland]

@@HughTube hey man. Didn’t want to do shameless plug. But literally day before you put this out I put a video up. Ran a few tests. Maybe check it out 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 Tried normal vs one of those coffee bean looking ones. Full power and low power 👍🏻

[@HughTube]

Good video matey, I am buying a shower head to see if I can get that shower time up

[@urbanarkoverland]

@@HughTube it’s definitely more about the usage mate. Like how powerful you select. Maybe get a little 4lpm restrictor 👍

[@cyberfuker85]

@@urbanarkoverland do i understand this correctly? it cant produce constant hot water? just few litre for a few minutes for that price tag?

[@897aa33]

Is this JP heater for 700 or actual truma?

[@HughTube]

The actual Truma

[@rodbtelenetbe]

So much easier that diesel heather.... No more running for gas every week in winter. Thanks

[@damienhayden9307]

Hi just wondering what app you downloaded to run the combi D6 E great video as well as I have just got one and i did not have a clue how to work it.

[@HughTube]

really sorry for the late reply just been on a bit of a break. So I am on IOS and in the app store it is called 'Truma'.

[@livingthedreambuildingthedream]

Amazing thank you.

[@marriedbyjay7573]

Nice review they are great until they start stuffing up

[@nigel_ivy]

How loud is the Truma 6 DE? Have you compared how loud it is to the gas versions? I find some of the Chinese diesel heaters to be quite loud.

[@HughTube]

really sorry for the late reply just been on a bit of a break. So if you can soft mount the pump so the click is inaudible then the loudest bit is the fan which in reality is a lot quieter than the 'chinese diesel heaters' there is a start up noise but nothing noisy and my truma is next to my bed closer than the fridge and my fridge is louder. I have never been woken up by the heater but have been by the fridge funnily enough

[@salvothegermanshepherd4399]

I'd advise everyone out there not to touch a truma diesel heater with a barge pole. Ours is only 4 years old, minimum usage and has already cost us £400 in repairs and still not working correctly. I'm going to replace it with a Chinese diesel heater and carry a spare in case of total failure. That's under £200 for two heaters that'll work better than the pile of junk we have. Truma doesn't care about your problems they just want your cash. If you need hot water that bad, either boil a pan or go to a motorway stop or campsite for a shower. The 2 grand price tag doesn't justify hot water.

[@T8RTU]

Another great video Hugh with lots of useful information for folk considering fitting either the Truma or a Chinese version. I would love to know how the quality and performance compares between the two and just how similar they actually are. For me it’s a ‘you get what you pay for’ choice but interesting nonetheless. Reckon you will get great results from your system. 😎👍✅

[@HughTube]

Cheers Andrew I am pretty sold on these Truma systems but I am on the hunt to meet someone with the cheaper version to see

[@andyhutchinson5487]

Why aren't you using the Wallas hob from your last van? You'd then be entirely free from LPG.

[@HughTube]

Hi Andy, the wallas is an expensive bit of kit and is a heater and hob so would be overkill of a system in the van. I plan to hopefully go induction in my van once I have done a bit more testing but we will see