Autoterm vs Eberbasto

[Phil_boat]

Hello

I’m planning to fit a diesel heater to my boat over the winter, 2kW should be plenty.

The 3 choices are Eberspacher, Webasto or Autoterm (no I’m not going to fit a Chinese £150 one). Are there any others I missed?

I’m mostly likely to go Autoterm but I follow one of their fb groups and there are quite a lot of posts about the heaters sooting up and a requirement to run them flat out for 30mins(?) frequently to stop them sooting. This might just be a product of a group and no one going on there to shout how theirs isn’t broken.

I’ve had Ebers previously in camper vans and I have never done anything in the way of servicing / maintenance on them and they just kept going. The only failure I ever had was a jubilee on the fuel pump broke and the heater didn’t start as it was sucking in air. One of my old heaters has now been in my friend’s van for 4years and still going strong.

So are Autoterm worse than the big 2 or just a more active forum?

Cheers

 

[fredrussell]

There’s probably not much between the ‘big two’ and Planar, except that Planar haven’t been convicted of colluding to price fix and fined several million euros each! (Seriously, look it up). For that reason alone, go with the Planar.

 

[mikegunn]

I’ve very recently replaced an ageing, temperamental Eberspacher with an Autoterm 4kW heater. So far, so good.
The kit as supplied was absolutely complete and the instructions straightforward. The new heater is of visually impressive manufacture. It’s quieter than my old Eber and seems to be more efficient, but that’s a subjective opinion. I selected an upgraded controller which is very effective in preventing undesirable temperature hysteresis. It works by effectively throttling the heater to a reduced output once the set temperature has been achieved. All in all, very satisfactory.
I made the decision to buy the Autoterm based on price and product support in the UK.
Mike

 

[ash2020]

Hello

I’m planning to fit a diesel heater to my boat over the winter, 2kW should be plenty.

The 3 choices are Eberspacher, Webasto or Autoterm (no I’m not going to fit a Chinese £150 one). Are there any others I missed?

I’m mostly likely to go Autoterm but I follow one of their fb groups and there are quite a lot of posts about the heaters sooting up and a requirement to run them flat out for 30mins(?) frequently to stop them sooting. This might just be a product of a group and no one going on there to shout how theirs isn’t broken.

I’ve had Ebers previously in camper vans and I have never done anything in the way of servicing / maintenance on them and they just kept going. The only failure I ever had was a jubilee on the fuel pump broke and the heater didn’t start as it was sucking in air. One of my old heaters has now been in my friend’s van for 4years and still going strong.

So are Autoterm worse than the big 2 or just a more active forum?

Cheers

Don't know what you've got against "Chinese" heaters. I've stripped Eberspachers and cheapies and they are identical. Probably because they ripped off Eber designs in the first place. I've had 3 in different scenarios, shed, boat, van and they run perfectly. The difference is, when they go wrong, as they all do, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on spares.
I needed a circuit board for my first Eberspacher and they wanted around £250 for the part alone. That is what's called taking the piss.

 

[jakew009]

Hello

I’m planning to fit a diesel heater to my boat over the winter, 2kW should be plenty.

The 3 choices are Eberspacher, Webasto or Autoterm (no I’m not going to fit a Chinese £150 one). Are there any others I missed?

I’m mostly likely to go Autoterm but I follow one of their fb groups and there are quite a lot of posts about the heaters sooting up and a requirement to run them flat out for 30mins(?) frequently to stop them sooting. This might just be a product of a group and no one going on there to shout how theirs isn’t broken.

I’ve had Ebers previously in camper vans and I have never done anything in the way of servicing / maintenance on them and they just kept going. The only failure I ever had was a jubilee on the fuel pump broke and the heater didn’t start as it was sucking in air. One of my old heaters has now been in my friend’s van for 4years and still going strong.

So are Autoterm worse than the big 2 or just a more active forum?

Cheers

I fitted an Autoterm from www.autoterm.store

The actual heater itself is good, I would buy it again.

Conversely to the other poster above, I found all the accessories supplied with it were pure junk and ended up replacing them all.

- the jubilee clips supplied with the kit were all zinc plated rather than stainless steel as in the eber kits
- the exhaust pipe / silencer supplied is junk
- the 'upgraded' boat exhaust they supply is also nasty compared to the proper eber one
- the fuel pipe they supply is nasty plastic stuff compared to the proper rubber fuel hoses supplied in the marine eber kits
- the fuel tank pickup is crappy, zinc plated and doesn't have a cutoff valve on it

Maybe I am just fussy, but it all went in the bin and I bought the proper stuff from Mellor. if I bought it again I'd just buy the cheapest kit from Autoterm and source all the other stuff separately.

Proper exhaust https://www.melloronline.co.uk/Heat...stem 2m with Integrated Silencer 24mm ID.html

Proper fuel pipes https://www.melloronline.co.uk/Heat...er Marine ISO7840 Fuel Pipe Kit 6 Meters.html

Proper fuel pickup https://www.melloronline.co.uk/Heat.../Eberspacher Marine Fuel Standpipe 600mm.html

 

[Dockhead]

There’s probably not much between the ‘big two’ and Planar, except that Planar haven’t been convicted of colluding to price fix and fined several million euros each! (Seriously, look it up). For that reason alone, go witI

I've not owned one, but by all accounts the Planar is a cut above in reliability above all the others.

I've used Ebers for 16 years, with mixed results. I had the first gen Hydronic 10, and it was almost nothing but trouble, very expensive to run as it averaged one major failure every year.

Replaced with the second gen Hydronic II 12 in 2018, and have been using it now for going on 7 years without the slightest problem. Not even servicing, which I guess I'll do this year finally.

If I were starting over, however, I'd go with Planar. If you can even find them? Sanctions?

 

[vyv_cox]

Declaring my interest, the technical director of Autoterm UK is my son.

What distinguishes Autoterm from all the others is the level of support offered. Most problems encountered by users are due to the installation or operation. A text or website enquiry is usually answered within minutes, regardless of the time of day. Rare problems with the units themselves will be solved by replacement without question. Inevitably there are sometimes problems whose solution is not immediately obvious. My son will usually travel to solve these on site, all over UK.

 

[jakew009]

Declaring my interest, the technical director of Autoterm UK is my son.

What distinguishes Autoterm from all the others is the level of support offered. Most problems encountered by users are due to the installation or operation. A text or website enquiry is usually answered within minutes, regardless of the time of day. Rare problems with the units themselves will be solved by replacement without question. Inevitably there are sometimes problems whose solution is not immediately obvious. My son will usually travel to solve these on site, all over UK.

Can you remind your son that crappy zinc plated jubilee clips have no place on a boat?

 

[vyv_cox]

Can you remind your son that crappy zinc plated jubilee clips have no place on a boat?

I will. I was quite surprised to read your comment. Particularly about the exhaust hose, which I know they source outside the parent company.

 

[Mister E]

If I remember correctly the sooting problem is caused by not running the heater hot enough.
One of the causes was I think the the heater was to powerful as in an 8kw when a 2kw would be a better choice.

 

[SeasickPete]

Don't know what you've got against "Chinese" heaters. I've stripped Eberspachers and cheapies and they are identical. Probably because they ripped off Eber designs in the first place. I've had 3 in different scenarios, shed, boat, van and they run perfectly. The difference is, when they go wrong, as they all do, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on spares.
I needed a circuit board for my first Eberspacher and they wanted around £250 for the part alone. That is what's called taking the piss.

I am agree on this having watched perhaps to many YouTube videos of these Chinese ones being taken apart, compared and tested. These things are also not particularly complicated with their inner workings and the pricing of the "name brands" is outrageous for what it is. Patents have probably expired causing the influx of Chinese copies and as mentioned in this thread the "name brands" have been caught in keeping prices artificially high.

Each to their own though and I understand the willingness to pay more for the real thing when it may potentially burn the boat down in a (very unlikely) worst case scenario.

 

[mrming]

For those with the Autoterm.

I have a very old Eberspacher in my 32 foot yacht, with a single outlet in the saloon.

I’d like to replace the heater unit but keep as much of my existing pipe work etc as possible. It’s fuelled from the main diesel tank.

What do I need?
Heater, controller and fuel pump?

Also, given the comments about heaters being run too low and sooting up, should I go for a 2kw model over 4kw?

 

[JOHNPEET]

Hello

I’m planning to fit a diesel heater to my boat over the winter, 2kW should be plenty.

The 3 choices are Eberspacher, Webasto or Autoterm (no I’m not going to fit a Chinese £150 one). Are there any others I missed?

I’m mostly likely to go Autoterm but I follow one of their fb groups and there are quite a lot of posts about the heaters sooting up and a requirement to run them flat out for 30mins(?) frequently to stop them sooting. This might just be a product of a group and no one going on there to shout how theirs isn’t broken.

I’ve had Ebers previously in camper vans and I have never done anything in the way of servicing / maintenance on them and they just kept going. The only failure I ever had was a jubilee on the fuel pump broke and the heater didn’t start as it was sucking in air. One of my old heaters has now been in my friend’s van for 4years and still going strong.

So are Autoterm worse than the big 2 or just a more active forum?

Cheers

You asked if there are any others, so I’ll throw MV Heating into the mix.

Sailboat and Motorboat Heaters

I have an MV Hydro 9 which I’ve been using for three and a half years and up to now I’ve been very happy with it.

 

[mikegunn]

See my post #3. I’ve recently removed and discarded a twenty five year old Eberspacher. I could have reused most of its ancillaries but chose not too. For example, I considered the Autoterm exhaust skin fitting to be of superior construction. The silencer too has been edge welded to prevent gas leakage. Infinitely preferable to some of the Chinese versions which have their joint faces spot welded, leaving voids.
Incidentally, the original Ebar’ installation had been made using galvanised exhaust clips and apart from having acquired a patina, displayed no signs of corrosion.
I would agree with Post #5 that some of the screws supplied by Autoterm might be better if stainless. However, Zinc passivated Jubilee type clips are preferable over stainless when used for exhaust fittings. The reason being that carbon steel (as opposed to stainless steel) is very tolerant of thermal cycling of the extent suffered by heater exhaust systems. Stainless steel has little elasticity and repeated strain on its grain boundaries can lead to low cycle fatigue failure. At the end of the day it’s a matter of using the best material, with consideration to its application.
To answer your final question, I would agree that with a single outlet a 2kW heater may well be adequate. However, Autoterm will be in a much better position than I to help you make that decision.
Mike

 

[Graham376]

Don't know what you've got against "Chinese" heaters. I've stripped Eberspachers and cheapies and they are identical. Probably because they ripped off Eber designs in the first place. I've had 3 in different scenarios, shed, boat, van and they run perfectly. The difference is, when they go wrong, as they all do, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on spares.
I needed a circuit board for my first Eberspacher and they wanted around £250 for the part alone. That is what's called taking the piss.

I replaced 20+ years old Eber with a Chinese one, working well but I did buy a spare just in case. I agree they look the same as Eber but a very big difference in weight, indicating the casting is thinner.

 

[NormanS]

I replaced 20+ years old Eber with a Chinese one, working well but I did buy a spare just in case. I agree they look the same as Eber but a very big difference in weight, indicating the casting is thinner.

I did exactly the same, for £50 each!
I'm on the boat just now, and it's ticking away quietly (on kerosene) keeping us cosy.

 

[oldgit]

Hello

I’m planning to fit a diesel heater to my boat over the winter, 2kW should be plenty.
(no I’m not going to fit a Chinese £150 one).

Assume the ones online for just under £60.00
Keep the heater/pump and tank. bin the rest.
Have installed both Planar and Chinaspacher and never had any problems .

Skipper next door to me has just spent £1200** on a brand new replacement D5 Eberspacher for his boat, old one is still working perfectly but changed " just in case."
Refused to consider anything else.

** Reduced by £1000.00 according to main dealer advert.

 

[Frayed Knot]

Replaced my aging and unreliable Webasto with a 4kw Autoterm two years ago, retaining the original exhaust and fuel lines. No problems and certainly quieter and quicker to heat the boat, even after an expensive service on the Webasto.
One definite improvement is that the Autoterm is happy to start up at a lower voltage - both the Webasto and the Eber on my previous boat would require the engine to be started if the battery was anywhere below 12.4

 

[Whaup367]

I replaced 20+ years old Eber with a Chinese one, working well but I did buy a spare just in case. I agree they look the same as Eber but a very big difference in weight, indicating the casting is thinner.

I have to admit that I'd be tempted to buy a replacement Webasto, if & when mine dies: It's nearing 30 years old but still works reliably, so if I was confident that current models were as durable and dependable then the value could easily exceed the price!
(that's a big IF: I see many people looking for help with AT2000s, which doesn't bode well).
Parts for mine are getting hard to find- but at least searching for them is a warm, dry job in a comfortable chair...

Are there lots of 25 yo Planars in use and how's the parts availability for older ones?

 

[riverteign]

I used MV Heating for a plug and play replacement for my webasto and it has worked well.