modem for diesel heater

[Farnorthsurfer]

The post is below, the warranty address and form is on their website

www.autoterm.store

Diesel heaters for boats - Lorries - Campervans - 4x4 - Welfare Vehicles

planarheaters.co.uk

I sent mine to:

Autoterm
Warranty department,
Unit 11b
Home farm
Wrexham road,
Wrexham,
LL13 OHG

Would recommend ringing them to confirm the above

View attachment 219884

Do you have to be in warranty to get this update done?
Can't believe they are only doing this through Facebook,, typical

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

Just been for a poke around on the planar heaters UK website. There is no mention of SIMCOM issues that I could see and interestingly or not there are no SIMCOM modems for sale in the shop.
Don't think I will waste any more time on the problem.

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

What would you like the modem to do? If you just want a way to turn the heater on to preheat the van, then it easy and cheap to do.

I have an autoterm heater on my camper and have fitted a remote gate opener to it. There are two wires on the heater that when connected together will put the heater on. The gate opener is setup to close the contacts for a few seconds when I call it, and pops the heater on for me.

Only downside, there is no way to control the temperature, see fault codes etc etc. it will just put it on full power. For me, it works well. For under £15 I have no complaints.

This is what I bought 2G Wireless Door Access Remote Control GSM Gate Door Opener Relay Switch | eBay

Good information thanks.
Could you expand a bit on the connections to be switched for remote on? Presumably it also turns off if you break the connection?
I am thinking a remote garage door opener relay with key fob switch would be more use than the phone SMS system.

Sorry I think I have found it, thanks for the info @Dundee_Kev

Heater can also be started with vehicle alarm wires in two ways:

• If brown and white wires are connected to an impulse relay (with an impulse between 1-
  3 seconds), heater will work on previously set work mode for two hours.
• When brown and white wire is connected continuously (for example, using a rocker switch) heater will work on previously set work mode as long as these wires are
  connected (i.e. rocker switch is on).
  For heaters manufactured from November 2019, when connected with impulse or continuously, heater will work on maximum power setting and only for 2 hours.

 

[Huba]

Do you have to be in warranty to get this update done?
Can't believe they are only doing this through Facebook,, typical

Mine was over 2 years old

The modems are sold out till next week (or so facebook group says)

Plugged my modem back in with the new firmware and everything is working as it should now. Turned it on remotely this morning and got into a warm van for commute.

Its a nice luxury to have this time of year for really cold mornings or to warm the van up if on a walk, but it is a luxury

 

[DXX]

I tend to walk faster to keep warm on a cold day, I suspect there are a few Scandinavians on the Forum marvelling at the plights of a British winter.

 

[T6 Syd]

Good information thanks.
Could you expand a bit on the connections to be switched for remote on? Presumably it also turns off if you break the connection?
I am thinking a remote garage door opener relay with key fob switch would be more use than the phone SMS system.

Sorry I think I have found it, thanks for the info @Dundee_Kev

Heater can also be started with vehicle alarm wires in two ways:

• If brown and white wires are connected to an impulse relay (with an impulse between 1-
  3 seconds), heater will work on previously set work mode for two hours.
• When brown and white wire is connected continuously (for example, using a rocker switch) heater will work on previously set work mode as long as these wires are
  connected (i.e. rocker switch is on).
  For heaters manufactured from November 2019, when connected with impulse or continuously, heater will work on maximum power setting and only for 2 hours.

Interesting. Does that apply to the brown and white leads to/from the display/operating panel or do you have to find a different cable or the heater control unit itself? There are brown and white conductors shown in the wiring diagram connected to a vehicle car alarm system relayout no connector block/loom is identified for those.

Are the two sets connected internally in the control unit, so effectively the same thing?

Does switching the heater on in this way switch the display/operating panel on as if you had pressed the buttons manually on that display?

Thanks, I could be tempted now!

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

Interesting. Does that apply to the brown and white leads to/from the display/operating panel or do you have to find a different cable or the heater control unit itself? There are brown and white conductors shown in the wiring diagram connected to a vehicle car alarm system relayout no connector block/loom is identified for those.

Are the two sets connected internally in the control unit, so effectively the same thing?

Does switching the heater on in this way switch the display/operating panel on as if you had pressed the buttons manually on that display?

Thanks, I could be tempted now!

Good questions. Unless someone pops in to the conversation that has done it I will have to wait until I can be bothered to pull the van apart a little to do some investigation.
The parts for a key fob system should be about £20 on Amazon, probably less on eBay so that sounds more practical for my use than the SMS system.

 

[Dundee_Kev]

Good questions. Unless someone pops in to the conversation that has done it I will have to wait until I can be bothered to pull the van apart a little to do some investigation.
The parts for a key fob system should be about £20 on Amazon, probably less on eBay so that sounds more practical for my use than the SMS system.

As posted earlier, I have done it with a simple gate opener. I just use a Giffgaff SIM and loaded it with £10. Cheap and works. If all you want is to prewarm the van, then it works great. I did think about using a remote control, but not great when your a mile from the van out walking and want to pop the heater on.

The good thing with the gate controller, it has an input for a switch. So you could pop a switch in the sleeping area and put the heater on without getting out of bed.

Connection wise, it is not done via the controller wires. You will need to access the heater. There will be a brown and white wire heat shrinked together, this is the wire to use.

Don't make the mistake of using the brown and white wire on the main 6 pin multiplug. I initially did that and couldn't get it to work. I just assumed as the opposite side of the multiplug had no wires in it I would add my own as it seemed the obvious wires to use!

DO NOT apply any voltage to the wires, it must be a volt free contact. Just extend the wires into the van to your required location and make the connections to your switch or whatever you use.

As my heater is newer than 2019, it will only put the heater on full power and switch it off after 2 hours. If I give the heater another call, it will power it off. The earlier heaters will use the last setting or full power. Depends if you keep the switch closed or momentarily closed. When the wires get connected it will power up the control panel up. I have the comfort controller, so it'll lights up red to say it's heating and the controller can be used as normal.

This might not suit everyone as you have no control over the heater other than on and off, but to be honest, most people just want to get the van heated before going into it. Save £100 and do it this way.

 

[Samro]

I tend to walk faster to keep warm on a cold day, I suspect there are a few Scandinavians on the Forum marvelling at the plights of a British winter.

Man... you're tough! I make sure I start the heater in my van well before I have to leave my warm office in the evenings now that it has cooled down a bit! I like to be warm and don't see the need to tough anything out these days!

 

[DXX]

Man... you're tough! I make sure I start the heater in my van well before I have to leave my warm office in the evenings now that it has cooled down a bit! I like to be warm and don't see the need to tough anything out these days!

Definitely more to do with being hairy than tough. Seriously though it’s just a case of whatever you’re used to.
I’m pretty sure it’s not possible to start up a Wallas remotely in heater mode as it always starts in cooking mode and requires the thermostat control to be cycled full scale twice to switch to heater on thermostat.

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

Thanks for the extra detail @Dundee_Kev much appreciated. Your idea of putting an auxiliary switch by the bed is a good one. I will look into the SIM unit you linked.
It was a bit of a pain during the summer remembering to ping the unit to keep the GiffGaff sim alive but that's a proper first world problem.

 

[Dundee_Kev]

It was a bit of a pain during the summer remembering to ping the unit to keep the GiffGaff sim alive but that's a proper first world problem.

Just put a monthly reminder into your phone to call the heater. Remember you should run the heater once a month on full power to keep it running clean etc.

 

[Nickdaw]

Hi All , I already have a Autoterm heater fitted but would now like a modem so I can operate from my phone.
Is there a how to guide to installing (I’ve had a brief look on Y/T but no luck ) and can anyone recommend somewhere to purchase this from ?
Thanks

I have a modem unit which I installed along with my Planar unit from new. The instructions were rubbish and the support was worse. I did get it working but it failed to work when I went to use it the second winter it was in. Tried and failed to get any support from the UK importer on warranty and eventually gave up with it.
My advice would be to not bother fitting one. The implementation is very poor and the hassle of keeping a SIM card in it on credit when it gets very little use is a pain.
For sure it was nice to warm the van up from the house or pub on the way back to it but in fact it takes very little time to warm up when you get in anyway.
Just my own view, lots of others may have had no bother at all with theirs.

I have one of these and must admit it has worked as it should, I have had no issues with it (apart from no mobile signal). I use a 1p mobile sim works fine.
I have the original instructions if any use. I fitted it a few years ago and still working fine (hope I haven't jinxed it now)