Help with operation of aux heater on t6.1

[toeknee]

Hi, I have searched forum and watched some vids online but can’t be quite certain that I am understanding operation of the heater, assuming a full tank and almost full battery charge (and with operation mode set to aux heater).
1. When I switch it on, the heater indicator on the control panel lights up and it sounds like the heater is starting up; then It stops; and then it starts again. The second time it starts up the fan really kicks in. Is it normal to do this? Kind of sounds like it needs two attempts to get going. This happens every time on any setting.
2. On settings lower than about 6 it either doesn’t start up the second time or turns off after a few minutes. The heater light indicator is still on but the fan reduces to an almost imperceptible hum and virtually no air coming out of vent. This is with outside temp of about 14C. Even on the highest setting of 10 It was turning off after 20 mins. At this point the van would be quite warm but not uncomfortably hot. Is this the expected operation? It feels to me like the thermostat (wherever that is) has a very low threshold for the point that it puts the heater into a kind of idle mode? At this point the heater icon would still be on.
3. What on Earth is the difference between heat continuously and heat immediately?
4. What is the point of the circulate/ventilate option in the settings menu?

thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Steve_D]

Hi there, having recently acquired our 6.1 3 weeks ago, we too had concerns with the heater so much so in fact I asked the dealer to take a look when it was in having a couple of other minor niggles seen to.
1. Yes normal operation - the way the dealer described it was like a diesel flame thrower heating up a set of blades that a fan then blows air through so can make for stuttered and noisy start up - mine behaves in exactly the same way and the dealer said this was normal.
2. Yes had concerns here too - I think the old system had settings from 1-7 (I could be wrong) and different tollerances for the thermostat. I ran some tests with a digital thermometer and managed to achieve a reasonable steady 24 degrees on 10 and around 18 degrees on level 4.. with the heater stopping and starting. On our first night away, we slept upstairs with the heater set to 4, it wasn’t a particularly cold night but had to turn it down to 3 in the middle of the night as felt too hot.
3. No idea - both seem to operate in exactly the same way - dealer couldn’t really explain (worryingly!) and neither do any of the review vids I’ve seen.
4. Again no Idea - presumably to blow air around the van when it’s hot and you’re not running the air on with the ignition on.

One more thing with the heater and don’t know if this is normal - I’d assumed that you could set the heater to start up when you are away from the van. But having done this in the settings menu (which you have to do with the ignition on), a soon as you remove the key from the ignition the icon turns from blue to orange and the heater starts immediately - so works ok if you’re in the van, but not so much if you want to go to the pub or out for a walk etc.

Hope at least some of this helps!

 

[toeknee]

Hi there, having recently acquired our 6.1 3 weeks ago, we too had concerns with the heater so much so in fact I asked the dealer to take a look when it was in having a couple of other minor niggles seen to.
1. Yes normal operation - the way the dealer described it was like a diesel flame thrower heating up a set of blades that a fan then blows air through so can make for stuttered and noisy start up - mine behaves in exactly the same way and the dealer said this was normal.
2. Yes had concerns here too - I think the old system had settings from 1-7 (I could be wrong) and different tollerances for the thermostat. I ran some tests with a digital thermometer and managed to achieve a reasonable steady 24 degrees on 10 and around 18 degrees on level 4.. with the heater stopping and starting. On our first night away, we slept upstairs with the heater set to 4, it wasn’t a particularly cold night but had to turn it down to 3 in the middle of the night as felt too hot.
3. No idea - both seem to operate in exactly the same way - dealer couldn’t really explain (worryingly!) and neither do any of the review vids I’ve seen.
4. Again no Idea - presumably to blow air around the van when it’s hot and you’re not running the air on with the ignition on.

One more thing with the heater and don’t know if this is normal - I’d assumed that you could set the heater to start up when you are away from the van. But having done this in the settings menu (which you have to do with the ignition on), a soon as you remove the key from the ignition the icon turns from blue to orange and the heater starts immediately - so works ok if you’re in the van, but not so much if you want to go to the pub or out for a walk etc.

Hope at least some of this helps!

This is really useful information, thank you. Just saved me a trip to the dealer.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Hi there, having recently acquired our 6.1 3 weeks ago, we too had concerns with the heater so much so in fact I asked the dealer to take a look when it was in having a couple of other minor niggles seen to.
1. Yes normal operation - the way the dealer described it was like a diesel flame thrower heating up a set of blades that a fan then blows air through so can make for stuttered and noisy start up - mine behaves in exactly the same way and the dealer said this was normal.
2. Yes had concerns here too - I think the old system had settings from 1-7 (I could be wrong) and different tollerances for the thermostat. I ran some tests with a digital thermometer and managed to achieve a reasonable steady 24 degrees on 10 and around 18 degrees on level 4.. with the heater stopping and starting. On our first night away, we slept upstairs with the heater set to 4, it wasn’t a particularly cold night but had to turn it down to 3 in the middle of the night as felt too hot.
3. No idea - both seem to operate in exactly the same way - dealer couldn’t really explain (worryingly!) and neither do any of the review vids I’ve seen.
4. Again no Idea - presumably to blow air around the van when it’s hot and you’re not running the air on with the ignition on.

One more thing with the heater and don’t know if this is normal - I’d assumed that you could set the heater to start up when you are away from the van. But having done this in the settings menu (which you have to do with the ignition on), a soon as you remove the key from the ignition the icon turns from blue to orange and the heater starts immediately - so works ok if you’re in the van, but not so much if you want to go to the pub or out for a walk etc.

Hope at least some of this helps!

Haven’t taken delivery of mine yet so can’t check but I was under the impression that you could switch the heater on remotely using the ‘We Connect’ App on a smartphone? Even schedule start/stop times?

 

[Rololux]

My understanding of ventilate mode is exactly that - to ventilate the van with outside air. Possible uses are getting air circulating in the van on a hot day, providing outside air ventilation if you're cooking in the van and it's not practical to open all the windows and removing pungent air from the van after having cooked an especially fragrant vindaloo! In this mode the heating element is not used.

Again, my understanding of Heat Immediately is that it will run the heater for a fixed period of time - possibly 2 hours - likely to be configurable somewhere, but I've not found out where as yet (my manual is in German ). Heat continuously leaves the heater on until you turn it off, or some other parameter is breached.

One thing to be aware of for new users is that it does take some time for hot air to be produced - it is easy to assume that it is not working properly as you get only cold air for quite some time when you first turn it on. But be patient and it does eventually work very well. Same when you turn it off. The heater continues to run for several minutes after you turn it off - it needs to cool down the diesel heating element.

Hope this is useful.

 

[Steve_D]

Haven’t taken delivery of mine yet so can’t check but I was under the impression that you could switch the heater on remotely using the ‘We Connect’ App on a smartphone? Even schedule start/stop times?

No you can’t control the heating via the app which is a little disappointing - provides some useful vehicle info but in terms of control; it can control the locks, horn and hazard lights but that‘s about it! There’s the heater key fob, but only tried in the drive and not sure of range or what comes protocol it uses. Settings are strange I’ll be honest, you can set 3 different ‘departure times’ for the heater to start, but again the key has to be I the ignition and as soon as you remove the key, the heater fires up regardless of time - couldn’t find anything online about this and the manual doesn’t help.

 

[toeknee]

My understanding of ventilate mode is exactly that - to ventilate the van with outside air. Possible uses are getting air circulating in the van on a hot day, providing outside air ventilation if you're cooking in the van and it's not practical to open all the windows and removing pungent air from the van after having cooked an especially fragrant vindaloo! In this mode the heating element is not used.

Again, my understanding of Heat Immediately is that it will run the heater for a fixed period of time - possibly 2 hours - likely to be configurable somewhere, but I've not found out where as yet (my manual is in German ). Heat continuously leaves the heater on until you turn it off, or some other parameter is breached.

One thing to be aware of for new users is that it does take some time for hot air to be produced - it is easy to assume that it is not working properly as you get only cold air for quite some time when you first turn it on. But be patient and it does eventually work very well. Same when you turn it off. The heater continues to run for several minutes after you turn it off - it needs to cool down the diesel heating element.

Hope this is useful.

Excellent thank you. I did panic a bit the first time I turned it off and it continued running!

 

[CaliMac]

IME, if you want continuous heat i.e. overnight, do not use the remote control to start as it defaults to the runtime limited 'heat immediately 'which then requires a short drive to reset; there seems no other way to reset it from an infinite loop error if you exceed the max runtime. I have had no issues since adopting this method.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

That’s interesting. Will file that in my known issues folder. Hopefully VW can fix that with a software update at some point.

 

[toeknee]

IME, if you want continuous heat i.e. overnight, do not use the remote control to start as it defaults to the runtime limited 'heat immediately 'which then requires a short drive to reset; there seems no other way to reset it from an infinite loop error if you exceed the max runtime. I have had no issues since adopting this method.

Hi, I have searched forum and watched some vids online but can’t be quite certain that I am understanding operation of the heater, assuming a full tank and almost full battery charge (and with operation mode set to aux heater).
1. When I switch it on, the heater indicator on the control panel lights up and it sounds like the heater is starting up; then It stops; and then it starts again. The second time it starts up the fan really kicks in. Is it normal to do this? Kind of sounds like it needs two attempts to get going. This happens every time on any setting.
2. On settings lower than about 6 it either doesn’t start up the second time or turns off after a few minutes. The heater light indicator is still on but the fan reduces to an almost imperceptible hum and virtually no air coming out of vent. This is with outside temp of about 14C. Even on the highest setting of 10 It was turning off after 20 mins. At this point the van would be quite warm but not uncomfortably hot. Is this the expected operation? It feels to me like the thermostat (wherever that is) has a very low threshold for the point that it puts the heater into a kind of idle mode? At this point the heater icon would still be on.
3. What on Earth is the difference between heat continuously and heat immediately?
4. What is the point of the circulate/ventilate option in the settings menu?

thanks in advance for any advice.

OK i think i understand answer to Q 3 now. Just for reference since i posed the question. Cut and paste from elsewhere.

Heat Immediately - this is your 'quickly get the van hot as a one off' option. You kick it off via the control panel or via the remote fob. It heats to whatever level is set in the Settings. Once it gets to that heat it switches off and will not resume. You use the fob in the morning 10 minutes before you head out, while eating your smoked salmon and scrambled egg. When you get in the van warm and the windscreen is cleared. Its not for maintaining heat - just for getting hot as a one off. It makes sense to work this way because it is activated via the fob. You wouldn't want to accidentally activate it and then its running down your diesel all day unawares. Do not use this when going to bed at night. As once the temp it reached it just switches off and you'll wake up cold in the night.

Heat continuously - unlike the other option this is activated ONLY via the control panel and you always have to specify the heat level when you activate. This will continuously maintain that temp. Switching itself on and off as the thermostat detects the desired temp. This is for when you are in the van - camping and sleeping. it will maintain a nice steady heat for you.

The manual is terrible at describing these two options. It's taken me a week to work out whats going on.

 

[Steve_D]

OK i think i understand answer to Q 3 now. Just for reference since i posed the question. Cut and paste from elsewhere.

Heat Immediately - this is your 'quickly get the van hot as a one off' option. You kick it off via the control panel or via the remote fob. It heats to whatever level is set in the Settings. Once it gets to that heat it switches off and will not resume. You use the fob in the morning 10 minutes before you head out, while eating your smoked salmon and scrambled egg. When you get in the van warm and the windscreen is cleared. Its not for maintaining heat - just for getting hot as a one off. It makes sense to work this way because it is activated via the fob. You wouldn't want to accidentally activate it and then its running down your diesel all day unawares. Do not use this when going to bed at night. As once the temp it reached it just switches off and you'll wake up cold in the night.

Heat continuously - unlike the other option this is activated ONLY via the control panel and you always have to specify the heat level when you activate. This will continuously maintain that temp. Switching itself on and off as the thermostat detects the desired temp. This is for when you are in the van - camping and sleeping. it will maintain a nice steady heat for you.

The manual is terrible at describing these two options. It's taken me a week to work out whats going on.

Now that makes sense and mine does seem to work as described - thanks. One thing; departure time’s only works with the key in the ignition, I’d raised it on a previous thread and means you can’t set the heat to come on at a certain time when away from the van! As soon as you take the key out, the heat symbol turns from blue to orange and the heater starts so of little use if you’re out for a walk or heading to the pub and want to come back to a warm van!

 

[HectaTheSpecta]

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information on Q.4 ventilation mode. California Chris appears to have glossed over it in one of his videos as I often find his videos very useful. A few had asked in the comments regarding the ventilation mode but largely unanswered.

From what I understand, the ‘aux heater‘ uses diesel, operates from the b-pillar there using the leisure batteries

In ‘ventilation mode’ it blows air from the front vents therefore using the engine battery (and coolant) that could potentially run it flat?

Ultimately my preference would be to run in Ventilation Mode continuously during the night i.e kick in periodically to prevent moisture buildup.

Is this possible?

 

[marek]

all very useful information about the aux heater, at last I almost understand it..last night, 4c outside, interior temp in my 6.1, with the thermometer on the glass cover over sink, with a 10 setting is 12 c after 5 hours of being in heat continuously mode. is this about right or should it be higher please?

 

[andyinluton]

all very useful information about the aux heater, at last I almost understand it..last night, 4c outside, interior temp in my 6.1, with the thermometer on the glass cover over sink, with a 10 setting is 12 c after 5 hours of being in heat continuously mode. is this about right or should it be higher please?

That doesn't sound right, we've done a few nights now & find a setting of 2 or 3 is sufficient - don't know what temperature that is but it must be something like 16 - 18 degrees.

 

[Kemper-van]

all very useful information about the aux heater, at last I almost understand it..last night, 4c outside, interior temp in my 6.1, with the thermometer on the glass cover over sink, with a 10 setting is 12 c after 5 hours of being in heat continuously mode. is this about right or should it be higher please?

Are you sure the air heater is activated, or is it maybe in ‘ventilate’-mode?
5h in heat continously on setting 10 should result is much warmer interior (even uncomfortable ), in my experience.

 

[marek]

thank you for info and asking the question. ....yes I,m 100% sure its not on ventilate mode

 

[Kemper-van]

thank you for info and asking the question. ....yes I,m 100% sure its not on ventilate mode

Then it sounds like somthing is not right with your heater. Do you feel warm air flowing from the B-pillar? And can you hear the fuel pump starting when you activate the heater?

 

[marek]

yes I can feel the b-pillar gentle heat and yes i can hear the fuel pump

 

[Kemper-van]

yes I can feel the b-pillar gentle heat and yes i can hear the fuel pump

I think you’d better get this looked at... the gentle heat should be really warm.
If I’m not mistaken, the heater only has an on/off operation, no modulation. The settings 1 - 10 define how long/often it should run to reach the required setting. So for setting 1 the run-time will be short, for setting 10 it will take long, but the heat output remains the same.

Some others on here may explain more, or point to other resolutions. Good luck!

 

[marek]

Thank you kemper-van for another piece of the jigsaw puzzle, marek

 

[nomadicjonboy77]

Can anyone confirm if it's necessary to have the ignition on in order to turn on or adjust the auxiliary heater for continuous heating at night?

 

[HectaTheSpecta]

Can anyone confirm if it's necessary to have the ignition on in order to turn on or adjust the auxiliary heater for continuous heating at night?

You do not

You’ll need to turn the ignition on if you want to put it on timer

 

[chockswahay]

So here’s a slightly different question. Is the heater meant to run non stop at a reduced heat setting? Mine comes on, gets to temp then turns off…..then comes on again for maybe 10 mins then off again etc. Each time it starts up it draws a LOT of current and makes enough noise to wake us up!

I would have thought it better to run continuously but for the fuel pump to alter the amount of fuel accord temperature.

The diesel heater on my boat is pretty basic but once turned on goes non stop on low and only draws 0.5 amp and burns 0.2 litres an hour.

 

[sidepod]

I thought heat output was regulated via the fuel pump. Hi heat/fast pump. Lo heat/slow pump.

 

[Steve_D]

I wrote A piece on this a while ago when I had my 6.1 Ocean, I now have a 2022 Coast but it’s the same Heater. The only continuous heat (in the true sense of the word) is ‘Heat Immediately’ which can be set for a maximum of 2 hours, otherwise you’re on the stop start thermostat. This and the fact that you need keys in to maintain timers, no app connect and hit/miss remote make what is a really effective heater (when on) a pretty poorly thought out system in my view - Does the job but could have been so much better!!