Do you own an SRE 300 Model Inverter Heater. This product is known by several different brands such as Kero and Ruby, it is a very popular model in Italy & France and is distributed throughout the UK and Europe by Brico Bravo.
The SRE 300 Model is sometimes also sold as SRE301 and SRE 4600 and the error codes on this page apply to all of these models.
If your SRE 300 inverter heater is used on a regular basis, then at some point you will probably experience a random problem with the heater, where it will fail to ignite, or simply cut out after a period of operation.
The SRE Heaters, are fitted with many safety and monitoring devices, and if these sensors trigger a fault, then the inverter heater will cut out and an error code will display on the lcd screen on the front panel. On the SRE 300 / SRE 301 and SRE 4600 these error codes are displayed as either a letter “E” or “D” followed by a single digit – eg E7
Using the list of Error Codes below, you can identify the reason as to why your heater has cut out / failed to ignite and also whether a repair is possible, or whether the heater will need to be referred to a service agent.
SRE 300 Inverter Heater Error Codes
- E0 – The “On” key has been pressed for more than 5 seconds
- E1 – Ignition Failure or Combustion is unstable, check air filter and fuel quality
- E2 – Poor Combustion / Flame Failure, check fuel for dirt and water contamination
- E4 – The Unit has been bumped or knocked in operation, or the unit is on an unstable / surface. Place on a flat surface and cycle power on/off to reset
- E7 – The Unit has overheated internally. Allow time to cool, check around the heater to ensure proper ventilation to the front and rear of the unit, and restart.
- D2 – Front of heater vent (Warm air output) is blocked or dirty
For E1 and E2 Errors, information on how to solve this problem is given here
Other Fault Indications:-
Fan Indicator Flashes – Air Intake Filter Blocked / Not enough ventilation around the heater
Fuel Icon Flashes – No Fuel / Excessive Water Contamination in fuel.
If problems still occur, then you will need to refer to a service agent.
Hi,
My SRE 300 is showing the fan signal and shutting down. All heater has been cleaned and both the intake filter and fans have been cleaned thoroughly.
Firstly on the corona heater there is a diagnostic you can run on the heater to help to pinpoint the fault, do these have something similar?
Secondly, could it be something to do with the pump as the heater is run almost always on minimum setting.
Thanks.
Given the fact its showing a fan symbol, should probably lead you to suspect the problem being related to airflow or fan speed. I would assume that the protection systems have some kind of inbuilt sensing to recognise fan failure, which would shut down the heater in the event that either of the fans failed to start, or werent moving enough airflow to prevent the heater from eventually overheating.
Normally, I would suspect obstruction of the airflow or the fan not running up to speed due to dust, etc being the cause of this, however if you have cleaned the fan intake then its probably going to be due to mechanical wear and tear or an Electrical issue.
There are various ways that fan based systems can be monitored, the first is via load resistance of the motor itself, when connected to the PCB the motor presents a certain load resistance, circuits can monitor this resistance and any variation, such as the motor overheating, burning out or failing open circuit can be detected, and even small variations result in a fault condition.
The second way, is via a third wire between the PCB and the Motor, this is often known as an ‘rpm sensing’ , and the turning motor sends small electrical pulses back to a microprosser which then calculates and monitors the RPM of the motor in real time from the number of pulses, should the RPM drop below a pre-programmed level, then the protection circuit activates.
The third, is less common and is based on using an airflow sensor in the path of the fan to monitor air movement. I’ve never seen one fitted to these heaters, so I imagine one of the two other methods will probably be employed.
Either way, I suspect that a fan in your heater is not turning at the correct speed, this could either be the combustion fan, or the rear main fan, I have no idea which. But I wouldn’t think that it would be anything to do with the fuel pump.
Hi,
I sent my heater off to Steve Grundy in Preston and after collecting it after 5 months, it was hoped thst the fan problem was sorted. Apparently the heater had been run all day on minimum setting on kerosene and was now operating fine.
I brought it home and the heater worked fine for a while but the same problem of the beeps and the fan signal on the lcd screen appeared once again. I managed to set the heater a degree higher than room so as to increase the fan speed to cancel the warning and that worked for a few weeks but now the heater is taking a lot longer to fire up and if it does, in 20 mins the beeper sounds and sadly the heater shuts down.
I really like the tayosan but my dads corona has never had any problems and I don’t get why his is different.
Frustrating for sure and I don’t want to keep gassing the kids with the fumes all the time whilst I struggle with it.
Don’t know what to do………
Regards
David
I’ve not come across this problem before, my SRE300 has worked flawlessly since I bought it nearly four years ago. I tried to Google the fault, and although I found some Amazon reviews, and discussion on several French forums about the heater in general, I didn’t find anything relating to the error you describe, even with Google Translate. Other than servicing my heaters by stripping them down, and cleaning them down to the burner every spring, before they are drained and put away for another Winter season, i’ve made no modifications, nor replaced any parts, apart from a Flame Rod in the Corona. So if anything, the Corona has been less reliable in my personal experience than the SRE-300, albeit the Corona is a year older. There is the advantage that there are Corona spares available, but they do tend to be very expensive, so a large component failure may equally make a repair uneconomical on these, so it really is swings and roundabouts.
In relation to your situation, then personally, if i’d paid a business to sort out the problem, and it still remained, then it would be going back again and again until they’d done the repair i’d paid for originally. I still think your issue is Electrical though, probably a sensor.
Incidentally, if the heater reportedly worked fine for hours on the test bench, have you considered increasing the ventilation in the room where you are using it?, perhaps running it in a different (larger, better ventilated) room or even an outbuilding just to see if the heater runs without the error?. An early sign of poor or limited ventilation is reflected in a lot of yellow flames appearing in the burner window during the time it is running.
No product is perfect and I suspect that you get the odd one with component failures, as you do with any appliance, and i’ve yet to see a perfect appliance with a 100% satisfaction and reliability rating on any internet review site, and the current national press recall of tumble Dryers does indicate how delicate the manufacturing balance is, even for the household names.
I also wouldn’t say that the Corona’s are immune to problems either, given that the Corona Error Code page on this blog has the third highest amount of internet traffic for the entire site, so it does show that people out there are having problems with the expensive models.
If you are looking for Corona Heater, then Brico do these at a discount also, about £45 – £50 cheaper than the UK Vendors. They list the Corona 3016 Model for £200.28 including Shipping to the UK.
Its interesting that Grundy’s were happy to run / test your Inverter on Kero, I thought that the Heater Retailers themselves were actively against doing this.
Thanks for your honest reply. Very much appreciated. I have seen the same from Brico for less than £150 so am probably going to order on tonight as I need one to be working.
As far as the ventilation, the room its in currently is approx 30m square. And it is sat as per manufacturer instructions at 50cm from any object behind it to ensure max airflow. I have also, after gassing the kids for about an hour, tried it outdoors and still the same result.
I will send it back to Grundys and will update you.
Even if they had tested on the tozane, the heater ran for 2 tanks without any issues on normal kero then about half way through the 3rd was when it played up. Odd. I just wish I knew more about electronics as I can strip and clean it in the pitch black of night. Got to be something simple. Just a shame that any savings are lost in buying another to run whilst I send the first one back.
Thanks for all your advice.
David
I would at least get them to replace the flame rod, or flame sensor as it is sometimes known, this is the device that feeds back the presence of a flame to the control unit, the changes that it feed backs are very tiny, so any small deviation from wear can cause erratic results.
As you are aware spares for the SRE series are hard to come by in the UK, but with the correct translation, they can be found elsewhere in Europe where use of the heaters is far more widespread. A lot of the different heaters all share the same parts, and I believe that this Flame Sensor for the European SRE3000 / SRE3001 models are the same as is used in the SRE300, but its worth a visual check with the existing one which is in the heater, to compare before any purchase. (Although Grundy’s should be able to provide their own parts for in house servicing)
http://www.sav-pem.eu/6370-controleur-de-flamme-pour-poeles-%C3%A0-petrole-inverter.html
I would also get the copper injector pipe cleaned out too, this is the pipe which leads from the pump to the burner.
Hi,
I have a Tayosan SRE 300 inverter heater. It is giving me an E3 error. However, I am unable to find out what the error is. Any suggestions.
Thank you.
Valerie
Hi
E3 indicates an error with a non serviceable part, it may be a failure of the CO2 sensor, ignition system, Fan Motor, or an Electronic Component failed on the control circuit board. A description of events leading up to the E3 code being displayed may lead a bit closer to the component which has failed, for example does the E3 code appear as soon as the heater is switched on, or does it appear when the heater tries to ignite?.
Hi.
Decided to buy another whilst sorting my old one out. The Brico Bravo one is trademarked as Kero and not tayosan as sold by both dry it out and Grundys in the uk. Back to perfection again.
I however suspect that the fuel pump is the problem on my older tayosan. I dont really want to swap bits from my new one but I can’t diagnose without….. so going to do it now.
I have tried and failed to source a replacement fuel pump. The pumps are totally different from the corona version and I think dry it out possibly have them but am going to call them to find out. French companies have been discussed for parts but as yet I have not found a replacement for under £75. When a whole new heater is £150 its a difficult decision to make. If I can find one for £50 then happy days but no luck so far.
Regards
David
Hi again.
Right, I have swapped the pump from my new Kero heater into my old Tayosan (SRE300). Unfortunately my old heater with the new pump did not fire up. I was confused after thinking it was the pump for sure. I decided to take a risk and fit the old pump into the new Kero heater. Lo and behold it fired up with no issues.
So something is stopping the pump from running?
Any thoughts please? As there are no other fault codes coming up tham the one consistent with the pump not running.
Regards
David
Hi David,
I still think the problem relates to the air flow through the heater as per my original reply, I can’t think of any other reason for the heater displaying a fan symbol, prior to shutting down. My first guess was perhaps a fan not running at the correct speed, but it could also be related to a faulty CO2 air sensor, incorrectly beliving that there is a high amount of CO2 in the air and shutting the heater down. however without Electronics Knowledge finding which component is at fault will continue to be a process of elimination.
If this was me, i’d be removing the main control circuit board from the known ‘good’ heater and putting it into the ‘faulty’ heater, this will eminate any faulty components or sensors on the control board. I do have an Electronics background though, and whether you have the confidence to do the same is of course a personal decision. If you do, its worth taking a few digital photos of the circuit board, and the connectors and which plugs are plugged into them before you take it out. Its fairly hard to get them mixed up as most of the time they are ‘keyed’ differently so they cannot be plugged into the incorrect socket, but it does help having something to refer to, when re-assembling. Be very careful when unplugging the connectors too, hold the mating part of the connector on the PCB when you unplug, so you don’t damage the copper tracks underneath, and some connectors may have small locking barbs on them, which need pushing inwards to release.
Unfortunately, with no service manuals existing, at least not in the public domain, and a UK agent seemingly unable to repair it at the first attempt, then that is what it comes down to, fault finding by elimination, simply by swapping components over to identify where the problem lies before paying to get a replacement.
Thanks for the advice. Instead of removing the pcb from the new heater, I will remove it off the old one and just swap the plugs over and leave it connected to the new one. Guess that’ll show me if its that.
Will try that first and see whats what.
Thanks,
David
Hi.
I disconnected the pcb from the non operating heater and plugged into the working one. EXACTLY the same happened on the new heater, ignition then blew the flame off the burner.
I am guessing that the fan motor in the old one is ok, and I know that the pumps are both ok so it has to be something on the pcb which has failed.
After plugging the wiring back onto the new heater and firing up all is well.
Am going to try to find out how to test the various components of the board and go from there. I will also contact brico bravo to see if they are able to source a replacement pcb.
Regards
David
Following a very helpful youtube video on testing the pcb, I have ended up finding a burnt out capacitor. I am going to take it to maplin and see if they can confirm if my finding is correct and then supply me with a replacement. I am as ever, hopeful that all the rest is ok as it goes through the motions until ignition.
Will update tomorrow.
David
Sadly no problem with the part I thought was toast……
Going to have to try to find a replacement pcb as the manufacturer has scraped the numbers off the parts so people like me can’t replace them. Tedious.
Time to research……..
David
If you don’t get any Joy with Brico, try Essege
The Following European Distributors have helped others on here with Spares, the PCB probably won’t be listed but its worth shooting them all an email.
Technoair Systems
Ricambi elettrodomestici Srl (Email address at bottom of page)
Sav Meches
SAV PEM
Thanks for the info. Brico just sent a message to contact the manufacturer? Don’t know who that is but will look on the web later.
If successful I will post the contact here.
David
After several days of fruitless emails and calls I have managed to get a replacement board from Roger at dry it out. £50+vat. Am happy with that.
If another company gets back to me I’ll update the comments on this thread.
Thanks for your help.
David
Unfortunately no further emails back so I guess the uk suppliers have that covered. However now I have an up and running unit anyone who needs some diagnostics done on the tayosan or kero units, I can help out wherever possible.
Cheers
David
I have recently purchased SRE300 worked fine for about 4 weeks, errors codes E1,E4,E9
sent it back to suppliers told me its working fine on auto function and told me not to use save function they returned SRE300 after 3 weeks unpacked and followed instructions now its has the symbol of fuel tank (next to the fan symbol) melody and flashing when i turn it on. they got no idea so they got get in touch with the manufactures to see what the problem is, and inform me in due course. so not to impressed with this purchase any one had the same problem or errors
Ian, as i’m sure that you are aware, the fuel tank icon flashing and melody is the low fuel alert. Assuming the cap spring mechanism on the tank isn’t sticking and there is fuel transferring correctly from the main tank to the internal one to keep it topped up, then my thoughts would turn to the fuel level sensor within the internal heater tank.
Either way, the heater is still under warranty so you shouldn’t need to start looking for an internal problem yourself and be looking at solving them at your own expense. Did you buy the heater from a UK supplier or the Italian one?, if you bought it from within the UK, then send it back as not fit for purpose under the sale of goods act, given that you have already given them one attempt at repair and they have failed to address the problem, when you gave them the opportunity (Telling you not to use it on ‘Save’ is not a satisfactory resolution, but if you have that advice in writing then it will go a long way to proving the not fit for purpose claim as they are basically admitting that its not working as the manufacturer intended).
If you bought it from Italy, (or indeed anywhere within the EU) then there is a similar legislation to the UK Sale of Goods Act, in fact the EU one is a little more comprehensive. Here is the link, should you wish to forward it to the vendor as part of your complaint and request.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV%3Al32022
You’ve given them more than enough time, so you need to reject it, and ask for a replacement or refund, citing whichever legislation is relevant to where it was purchased. In addition, if you paid for the purchase with a Credit Card, then with the purchase being over £100 the card company are also jointly liable to securing you a refund, should the vendor refuse a replacement or fail to resolve it satisfactory and you need to pursue that route – but give the Vendor the opportunity first.
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/problem/can-i-claim-on-my-credit-card-when-something-goes-wrong
Just to note, that if a heater has been run on standard Kerosene rather than the correct manufacturer recommended fuel then if the vendor raises it as an issue, they can reject a warranty claim, however i’m assuming that since the Vendor appears to have already had it back once under warranty (For the ‘E’ errors), then this probably isn’t a factor in Ian’s case so all of the above advice would still apply. A section 75 claim may still be possible, even if the correct fuel hasn’t been used, provided you can prove that the fault isn’t fuel related or due to the failure of anything which is in contact with the fuel or burner, i.e rear fan motor failure or the main PCB requiring replacement.
Hi Ian.
Totally agree with admin. The heater must have a fault that is manufacturer based.
I have had my original sre300 for over 18 months now. I use standard central heating oil with a mr funnel, which removes any residual dirt and water but certainly not the expensive fuel advised by the manufacturer. As you can see from my posts I have ended up buying another whilst i sorted the first, because the first was not playing ball however this doesn’t deter me from what essentially is a cheap replacement for my central heating. My friend has 4 set up around his home and swears by them. I have just bought a second heater for my father so I personally would request a replacement unit and buy a mr funnel, they are available on ebay for around £11 and filter everything going in the tank. I have also found that you can strip and clean the fuel pumps as the tiniest of specs in the fuel can quickly cause a partial blockage in the jet which could throw up your fault codes.
Yes they can go wrong but the key is diagnosing exactly whats wrong as the parts are getting more available as time goes on.
Regards
David
Hi, the Error 3 on the heater appears as it is just about to light up. It switches on but as soon as it begins to light a flame the error 3 code comes up. I noticed that the green light blinks and I am unable to switch off the heater with the off button. I have to unplug it.
Regards,
Valerie
Hi,
I forgot to mention that when the error 3 occurs the fan still works and cool air is emitted from the heater.
Regards,
Valerie
@ Valerie – Do you hear the usual ticking / striking sound from within the heater at the point where you would normally expect the heater to ignite its burner?. If there is no obvious mechanical attempt to ignite the burner then I would suspect a related fault, either with the ignitor itself, or the circuitry which powers it. If the heater does make attempts to light (indicated by the sound of the ignitor striking), but fails to ignite the burner then I would suspect a fuel related supply problem, and the first suspects for checking on my list would be the internal fuel supply pipe to the burner (cleaning) and then looking at the Fuel Pump. If the burner does successfully light and then immediately extinguish, then I would suspect either that the combustion chamber needs cleaning or the flame rod (flame sensor) needs replacing.
Do you get a strong smell of Kerosene or any smoke just prior to the Error code?, if you don’t then again, I would be suspecting a fuel supply issue.
Unfortunately with these non specific “Return to service agent” type faults which are not documented in the user manual, finding the cause is down to simple trial and error based on all of the events leading up to the Error, followed by physical fault finding, and occasionally, advice from others who have had identical faults, sharing their repair methods. I haven’t experienced the E3 error myself so I don’t have an exact resolution to give you, other than the fault finding procedure which i’ve described above.
Hi. I have had an SRE 300 for about 5 years now. I have cleaned it regularly but after a few minutes from start up it completely cuts out. A few minutes later the power come back on and an error F0 (NOT an E series) appears before it starts up again. Any ideas what this means please. Thanks.
Alan. Beyond the user manual, the only documentation for servicing these units at a technical level, comes in Chinese – or at least i’ve never seen an English one. A quick online translation of the error from such documentation, reads (directly as translated) “Problem on plate electronic Replace the unit combustion operation plate unit / Redo the welds”. Basically, this would indicate that there is some kind of a fault with the main control circuit board, and the solution given is to replace the circuit board, if first checking the solder joints on the pcb for poor soldering / dry joints doesn’t yield a solution. So I would check the solder joints on the underside of the circuit board, looking for badly soldered connections (Flexing the sides of the PCB gently, may reveal cracks or loose joints). My own feelings in relation to how you describe the fault, would be check the power supply side of the circuit board, checking any fuse holders, and connectors for poor soldering, loose connections etc.
Hello,
I stumbled across your page. Looks like I’m on the right web page here. I have a SRE 3002. Unfortunately I had to dismantle it, because a mouse used it as a temporay living quarter. IT did eventualy die at the rear cables (the white ones). After putting everything back together I get a blinking red “On” light, E3 indication. No ignition sound noted, the fan starts. I don’t hear any noise from the pump (never heard it before).
Fuel is fresh, cables properly routed. Now I fear that the mouse might have short curcuit something. Any ideas about the big white cables. Looks like they use a lot of current, which killed the mouse. Thnak you for your help.
Oh, one more thing. It goes throught the warmup phase, about 5 mins, then it switched to the set temperature on the gage, then, it will show the E3 indication with a blinking On light. No igitor sound…
Hi,
Mine keeps beeping & switching off.
Gives the code Ed.
It’s definitely ‘Ed’ – but I can find no reference to this anywhere.
Any solution? I’m freezing to death!!
Thorsten, yes the thick cable sounds like the cable which feeds the igniter which strikes and lights the burner, this is low current but strikes at a very high voltage (several thousand volts), so yes it is certainly capable of giving a very nasty shock and could probably kill a mouse, although the mouse would have had to come into contact with the copper inside the cable, hence it might indicate the cable has been chewed through at some point.
So, the most obvious thing, if you have not done so already, is to check for rodent damage throughout the inside of the entire heater, i.e chewed cables, not just around the white cable, but also the cables running to and from the control circuit board, its also worth checking that the control board hasn’t been nibbled also, and check for traces of mouse urine, which is corrosive and could certainly cause damage to the control board if powered up.
So, its entirely possible that the mouse has chewed through the igniter cable, or in fact any other live cable at mains voltage, its also possible the mouse has made contact with a live section of the control board shorting it out, there are lots of variables and how you proceed beyond checking for more obvious damage such as chewed cables and traces of rodent urine depends on your skills at fault finding on electrical circuit boards.
If you require some help, you can upload a high resolution digital photo of the control board to a website such as https://postimage.org/ and then post the link to the image in your reply here, I can then look at the photo and at least tell you which section of the control board to check.
Ken, Error codes which are not covered in the user manual usually refer to electrical faults and internal failed components, the type of faults which these relate to generally involve failure of those component often referred to as “non user serviceable parts”, and of which the manufacturers don’t feel that we need to know about!. A list of these types of internal error codes rarely find their way outside of the service agents, assuming that a list of these codes was ever published by the manufacturer at all!. Hence why we all struggle to find anything in relation to them online, and why we all share what little we can find out on blogs like this one.
The only thing I can suggest, is to be a bit more descriptive in relation to the point where the heater beeps and switches off, does this happen when the heater is warming up?, the point where the heater would usually ignite?, or does it just randomly happen whilst the heater is running?. Are there any other symptoms, such as unusual noises / smells or appearance of yellow flames or the flame pattern changing prior to shutting down? (assuming it ignites). I’m afraid it comes down to trying to locate the cause, via symptomatic elimination and basic fault finding, rather than any service manual or code list!, that would be far too easy and where would the fun be in that?!.
Hi. Fished out our kero sre 300 for the winter season, but because in my old age I can’t remember ( if I ever did) the operating options ( ins book long gone ! )could i ask some questions ?
I,m ok with the power on and temp set but can’t figure out the timer.
So Can the heater be set to come on and go off at preset time,s and if so what is the procedure ? Only when I tried I had to power the heater up to set any time, I would have expected to set a future on time, the heater would be in off mode. Also I am confused by the buttons. “Timing” and “Timer” . Did try on google for user manual but seems like that been cashed in on by outfits wanting to charge £££s for a download.
Any help appreciated . Mike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNdkrP1ynok&t=1280s
This will help with the flame rod issues because of burning our normal grade parrafin. Worked on mine a treat. No error codes at all for last 2 years.
David.
I had read on one of these lists that one chap was getting a build up of a thick black sticky sludge in the crucible. 1 of mine has just started doing this. I have run it with the top open to see if I can spot anything but can only hear a soft ‘crakling’ noise coming from the burner head / crucible area (SRE300)
Any suggestions please?
It has run for 3 hours and there is a build up again? Could it be the angle of the injection pipe??
David
Hi David
If you read my page on servicing these heaters I came across the same problem, and so between my service guide and the linked video on the same page it gives information on cleaning the crucible and the injector / flame rod. There could be any number of reasons for this occurring – higher levels of sulphur in the fuel, fuel contamination, incomplete combustion or just deposits left through the combustion process. Unfortunately, there is no clean burn process with any heater or in fact anything producing combustion when running on fossil fuels, and even a visitor running his heaters on the recommended C1 paraffin supplied images showing carbon, sludge and signs of water contamination residues so its not something which can be avoided, and shows why annual seasonal servicing of these heaters is so important. Using an additive like Dipetane or one designed for AGA stoves, may cut down on this sludge.
I have a SRE 301 can anyone please recommend the best odourless fuel to use, thankyou
Any Class C1 Premium Paraffin is odourless, you can buy it online from the vendors listed here
http://electricheatingcosts.com/class-c1-paraffin/
Most DIY Stores, and even some Hardware Stores stock pre-packaged Paraffin in 4L containers, Caldo is a popular brand
If you continue to have problems, then I know of a company who are based in the Northwest and who who service these heaters for around £45. He offers either a mobile service or if out of their Mobile area you can also send your heater to their Lancashire service centre by Courier.
Please note that I have have used this company, and would personally recommend the service which he offers , the contact details for the Northwest Engineer are below should you decide to follow that route.
Alex – 07988774336
Inverter Zibro Corona service centre
33A Bonds Lane
Banks
PR9 8HG
Hi I have a tayosan parrafin heater it keeps coming up with the E2 code can this be sorted?
E2 indicates poor combustion. If you have already tried fresh fuel and cleaned out the gauze filter in the bottom of the fuel tank (which should be the first things to check) as well as checking that there is adequate airspace around and behind the heater, you will probably need to clean the combustion chamber of the heater. A guide and youtube video showing how to do this can be found here. If the E2 error still occurs even after cleaning, then the flame rod sensor may need replacing. But in most cases reported here, a good clean of the chamber will usually return these heaters to normal operation.