Factory Diesel heater turns off early.

[peterkelly786]

Hi, we have a brand new T6.1 campervan with a VW factory fitted auxiliary diesel heater. We went on our first trip overnight last week and were using the heater for about 1.5 hours during the evening (on a low setting) and then during the night we woke up cold so turned it on. It stayed on for about 20mins and then went off. The screen in the heater console kept saying 'Auxiliary Heater Off' every time I tried to turn it back on. The next morning the heater kept saying the same message and wouldn't come on. I turned on the van engine and ran the normal fan heaters in the front dash for about 15mins to get some heat into the van, but still the auxiliary wouldn't turn on. When we left the campsite and on the way driving home I tried it again and it worked normally again. I'm guessing its something to do with the heater turning itself off to protect the battery, until the van battery charges itself up again, but I thought the heater could be run for much longer, especially since it's a new van. The diesel tank was full so it rules that out.
Does anyone else have the same issue or have any advice? Keen to hear. Thanks!

 

[TheOldGoat]

Hi there, my 2020 Caravelle has a factory fitted diesel air heater. This option added a second auxilliary battery fitted below passenger seat.
On my van the auxilliary heater will only run for a maximum of 60 minutes I believe. I can however turn on again for a second 60 minutes I think.
I'm due to fill up tomorrow so can test it and get back.

 

[peterkelly786]

Hi there, my 2020 Caravelle has a factory fitted diesel air heater. This option added a second auxilliary battery fitted below passenger seat.
On my van the auxilliary heater will only run for a maximum of 60 minutes I believe. I can however turn on again for a second 60 minutes I think.
I'm due to fill up tomorrow so can test it and get back.

Thanks for the info. I can set the auxiliary heater run time to a max of 120mins on my van. As far as I know, if the run time is reached, you should be able to just turn off the heater and turn it back on again to keep it going. I kept getting a message 'Auxiliary heater off' when I tried to turn it back on. It was only when I'd been driving the van for about 10 mins, I was able to turn the heater back on again. Thanks.

 

[peterkelly786]

Hi, does anyone know if the t6.1 factory fitted diesel heater would run off the van battery or the leisure battery? I have no clue. Just trying to work out which battery could have caused the problem. Thanks.

 

[Deaky]

It runs from the battery under your passenger seat. Auxiliary heater off will almost certainly mean the battery was too low to start the heater. Your heater can be set to run from 5 - 120 minutes and also infinitely from the buttons on the controller. If you start it with the remote fob then the max runtime is 120m

 

[peterkelly786]

It runs from the battery under your passenger seat. Auxiliary heater off will almost certainly mean the battery was too low to start the heater. Your heater can be set to run from 5 - 120 minutes and also infinitely from the buttons on the controller. If you start it with the remote fob then the max runtime is 120m

Thanks for the info! The leisure battery might have needed charging. I thought it was actually run off the main battery. Shows how little I know and have much to learn. The forum is great for this. Thanks again.

 

[JOG]

Thanks for the info! The leisure battery might have needed charging. I thought it was actually run off the main battery. Shows how little I know and have much to learn. The forum is great for this. Thanks again.

There is always someone on here who can advise

 

[Ali-G]

It doesn't sound to me like the factory diesel heater is designed for camping, more for a day type van.

 

[StueyStuey]

You need to use the “heat continuously” function which will come in and off as required to keep the van to temp.

It sounds as though you’ve been using the “heat immediately” which will only bring the van up to temp then switch off.

 

[Deaky]

It doesn't sound to me like the factory diesel heater is designed for camping, more for a day type van.

No issues using the heater for camping at all. The factory ‘leisure’ battery however is a different story