Paul and Lisa P replied on 03/11/2019 13:55
Posted on 03/11/2019 13:55
We purchased a new Swift caravan 3 weeks ago and for several reasons we have taken it back to the dealer and rejected it.
One of the issues is that the Truma combi produces a terrible eye watering, throat burning, acrid burning plastic/electrical smell when the hot water and heating are running on electric.
One of us is asthmatic and these fumes triggered attacks along with headaches. This despite have all the roof vents open and several windows on the vent position.
We have been caravanning for over 30 years and owned about 10 caravans and we have never experienced this from previous Truma combi's. (this is first swift we have bought, and the last due to this and the other problems we have experienced)
The dealer says there is nothing wrong and nothing to fix on the combi, although he did agree there is a smell.
We then spoke to a technical guy at Truma who told us smell is normal and that when the boiler gets too hot, the cooling fan will blow the hot air into the living space. He also confirmed that there are some plastic parts that are probably getting too hot. Other than this information he was unhelpful.
He also said that the manufacturer (Swift in this case) had probably not bent the air vent pipes correctly and that they should be kinked with a 'trap' just like a sink waste pipe! I think he must have been joking tough?
On reading up about it, we realised this issued has been going on for some years now and it seems that many people have been advised that the smell is innocuous and not a problem, and some of you have been reassured by this advice.
However, we have read up about the fumes some plastics can give off when they get hot and they could cause serious health issues and some could even cause cancer. (not pointing at Truma as I know nothing of the plastics they use)
Please, for the sake of your health, do not assume any smells/aromas/fumes are normal, they are not.
Interested to hear your comments please.
Paul and Lisa P
Caravanner