By William Coleman
Since meeting Truma’s Managing Director, Martin Fitzpatrick, on the Bailey of Bristol #Bristanbul tour last year, myself and the CaravanTimes team have spent quite a lot of time getting to know the team behind one of the industries biggest on board heating and air con manufacturers. We wanted to find out more about how they make and fit their products and last week we got the chance to visit their HQ to see where all the magic happens.
Truma have offices in 5 countries around the world where they deal with a whole range of Truma products, design, R&D, manufacturing and fitting. I visited their Darby site to see how the team put together units and then fit aftermarket systems to caravans and motorhomes.
One thing that I was not aware of was just how large Truma’s warehouse is, it really is absolutely enormous and has a good amount of staff running the well oiled operation. The size of it reminded me of the last scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where they store the Ark, row after row of goodies.
Within the warehouse you have teams putting together products before they are then boxed for sales or fitted to vans that are booked in for aftermarket fixtures. It was an eye opening to see the products I have used for years being assembled.
While I was at Truma Lee Davey, Mr TinTent himself, was booked in to have a new air-con unit fitted to his Bailey Phoenix 760. I was quite interested in how the aftermarket fitting process would work and what actually needs to be done to mount and install a rooftop unit.
The process really is quite surgical and once the unit is fitted you’d think it came from the factory with it already in place. They really do a fantastic job in quite a short amount of time. Something as simple as removing a sky lights and popping in an air-con unit and there you go, fully automated air conditioning with zero impact on the van’s structure.
Once the Aventa Compact Plus was fitted we went inside for a demo and it is amazing just how powerful something this small is. Within a few minutes the van was very chilly and had an even temperature throughout. A few taps on the iNet app and then just like that the van warmed back up to a very comfortable climate. The tiny, almost soundless, Compact Plus pumps out 2,200 watts of cooling power.
After the fitting and test I spoke with Truma’s head fitter and he gave me a bit of a run through of how exactly Truma’s air con works and the best way to use it to ensure you get the optimal effects. One of the main aims Truma have is the way in which the air con works with the entirety of the caravan or motorhome.
One key point that was explained, one I was totally unaware of and never even thought of, is that the air distribution has been designed to ariate everything from space all the way to the fabrics within the van. So not only will it call down the van it will also cool mattresses, curtains, duvets and sofas.
Having spent a day at Truma I have gained a fair understanding of their products and the reasoning behind why it is so important to them to provide products that are totally customer focussed. From the cold testing chamber all the way to aftermarket fitting, Truma really do have an amazing set up.
