Fit an Alde load monitor and outside temperature sensor

Use these sensors to check temperature and power usage, says Nigel Hutson

IMPORTANT! Electricity is dangerous. Disconnect any mains supply and the 12V battery before you start. Seek the advice of a professional if in doubt*

An outside temperature sensor and a load monitor are well worth fitting. The latter is especially useful if you tour abroad, where the electricity supply can vary a great deal.

Before starting either job, make sure the 230V mains and 12V battery are disconnected from the caravan, and the

Alde system is turned off.

Temperature sensor

Tools required for the job are:

n Screwdriver

n P-clips

n Small screws and cable ties

First, find a place to mount the sensor, ideally away from heat sources but close enough for the lead to plug into the Alde boiler. Extension leads are available from Alde if the latter is difficult.

I mounted ours under the floor just inside the skirt, at the bottom of the sidewall, and under the front offside seat where the boiler is.

Next, secure the sensor to the floor using small screws. Feed the cable through the floor and into the caravan. Then the lead is secured to the floor using a couple of P-clips.

Working inside the caravan, remove the black cover from the top of the boiler. This lifts from one end and unclips.

Inside, you’ll find a printed plan of the plugs/sockets. As you look at them, the point required for the sensor is at the top right-hand corner.

Connect the brown plug on the cable from the sensor onto this connection, and then secure the cable within the underseat area using cable ties. Next, replace the cover on the boiler.

Reconnect the 12V battery and turn on the Alde heating system using the control panel. The outside temperature will be displayed below the internal one on the home screen.

Should either of these figures be incorrect when checked against a thermometer known to be accurate, you can simply adjust the ‘offset’ through the Alde control panel.

Load monitor

To fit the load monitor, you’ll need the following tools:

n Screwdrivers

n Stanley knife

n Snips

n Cable ties

n Insulating tape

The first job is to dismantle the electric hook-up (EHU) inlet socket, but before starting, check you have easy access to the mains cable behind the socket inside the caravan. The load monitor needs to be as close to the inlet as possible.

Working outside, remove the screws holding the EHU socket, and pull the unit out from its housing. If you meet resistance, don’t just keep pulling: stop and check what’s holding it.

With that done, remove the cover on the socket, so you gain

access to the terminal pins. Make a note of whichch wire goes where, then disconnect the wires. es. Feed the cable into the van. Carefully cut along the orange outer cable, where the brown inner wire re runs, for about 15cm, m, as the brown wire needs to be separated from the main cable because it must pass through the centre of the load monitor.

Trim a couple of centimetres from the end of the orange cable, without damaging the blue or the green/yellow inner wires. This will ensure enough of each wire is exposed, so they can be reconnected to the EHU inlet socket terminals, because in effect, the brown wire will have been shortened as it passes through the load monitor.

Pass the brown wire through the hole in the centre of the load monitor, then use cable ties to secure the monitor to the orange cable. Feed the end of the brown wire back into the orange cable, and cable-tie each end of the cut in the orange cable. Wrap the area between the two cable ties with insulating tape. Pass the end of the cable through the hole and reassemble the EHU inlet socket.

You could now connect the 230V mains supply and use a mains polarity tester to check connections in the EHU socket are correct. The lead from the load monitor now has to be

connected to the appropriate terminalterminal inin the Alde 3020 boiboiler. Remove the blablack cover from the top of the boiler, t and you’ll see on the printed plan where the various plugs/ sockets are located. The one for the load monitmonitor is at the top left, by the outside temperature sensor. Now slide the white plug on the end of the cable from the load monitor onto this connection.

Use cable ties to secure the cable between the load monitor and the boiler, and replace the black cover.

With the mains supply and battery reconnected, turn on the Alde system using the control panel. On page two of ‘settings’, you’ll see the top centre icon (Load Monitor) is greyed out.

Go to page four and touch the ‘Installed Accessories’ icon. Now ‘check’ the Load Monitor box. Work back to page two and you’ll see the Load Monitor icon is blue. Touching that icon, you’ll get to the Load Monitor page and see that it is ‘off’. Touch the + icon and you can set the monitor to 5-17A.

Although 16A is usual for UK campsites, check when you arrive on pitch and select the correct supply on the Alde control panel before turning on the heating, and avoid tripping the EHU bollard.