can I self install for espar/eberspacher??

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eagleswing

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i have been pricing the espar D2L airtronic diesel heaters. the only tricky bits to t he install appear to be the running of proper exhaust piping out of the main heater combustion unit, and properly connecting up the fuel pump to suck diesel out of my mains tanks to supply the espar. on my retireee pension, i can afford the D2L but the professional install will double the cost and make it unworkable. (and spouse is getting fussy about 'being in a cold boat...'.) nb we had the smallest dickinson 'newport' propane bulkhead heater on our last boat -- but dickinson doesnt recommend operating this while underway, and the heater really was not too efficient.

can anyone offer pieces of advice about trying a self install on these espar units?
 
yes - it's perfectly possible to self install ... download the relevant manual and read the instructions - then read them again... then print them off and take them with you!

The hard bit is the trunking ...

We used oversized commercial insulated trunking - 10m for £40 ... it sort of works, but was a bit of a fiddle - especially the joins ...

Pickup from fuel tank is another fiddly bit - and to bleed the system through we made a seperate power lead to the fuel pump with a switch in - each pulse of power turned the pump over - so we could see when the fuel gotclose to the heater ... then swapped back
 
Voltage drop...

....yes, perfectly sensible to self install. My advice is to make sure you have a sufficiently sized 12v supply wiring loom to minimise the voltage drop between power source and heater. You need as strong a supply voltage as possible to give reliable and easy start-up. Consult Nigel Calder's bible for wire sizing and bear in mind that on start up the heater will draw about 20A.

rob
 
eagleswing said:
i have been pricing the espar D2L airtronic diesel heaters. the only tricky bits to t he install appear to be the running of proper exhaust piping out of the main heater combustion unit, and properly connecting up the fuel pump to suck diesel out of my mains tanks to supply the espar. on my retireee pension, i can afford the D2L but the professional install will double the cost and make it unworkable. (and spouse is getting fussy about 'being in a cold boat...'.) nb we had the smallest dickinson 'newport' propane bulkhead heater on our last boat -- but dickinson doesnt recommend operating this while underway, and the heater really was not too efficient.

can anyone offer pieces of advice about trying a self install on these espar units?
Click to expand...

imho you would be much better installing a Mykuni yourself ;)
 
I am also DIY'ing my shortly. Mine is also a D2 and came from an ex BT van with a solid pipe exhaust. This is being replaced with a flexible exhaust pipe that can be found online.
 
Perfectly possible.

First think long and hard about where you'll be routing your 4 inch ducting. Keep it as straight as possible, corners loose heat, the tighter the corner the more heat you'll loose and it compounds the further you go. Make sure the ducting is well protected when it goes though lockers. Once you have a run for your ducting planned you can then think about the exhaust (nowhere near fenders), and where the fuel pump will go. Make sure you don't fit the pump under a bunk, the clicking will drive the bunk's occupant balmy.

Get yourself a professional set of hole cutters and make sure you can get the drill to everywhere you need to before you start. With the eber you have to mount the heater horizontally or vertically where as webasos can be fitted at any angle.

When installing take time to insulate the ducting.
 
eagleswing said:
can anyone offer pieces of advice about trying a self install on these espar units?
Click to expand...

The best advice is that you should download the Marine Installation Manual and religiously follow all the recommendations. Almost all Eberspacher problems are the result of poor installation. In particular, pay attention to the air ducting calculations, to ensure that you use the correct size of ducting for your needs.

Having installed one myself, I can offer you two other tips - firstly, invest in a proper tool for drilling the holes in bulkheads for ducting and, secondly, fit a duct silencer (it will significantly cut the noise level in the cabin).
 
I have some questions too:

- where is it best place to fit the heater?

For example I have plenty of space in the stern locker behind the rear cabins, but there are no free flat surfaces. The largest free space is on the bottom which is the curved aft end of the hull.

- do you normally have to make a level shelf using ply, expoxy and fiberglass?

I have also plenty of more level space behind the engine compartment, next to the engine exhaust. But this is just under one the aft cabins' bed. Would this be a suitable place too?
 
Aft locker high up in the coamings or bulkhead. Don't put it on the hull side because water can run round the hull onto the heater.
 
Installed the Webasto equivalent during the Autumn, took 3 days in total including laminating a plywood piece to the side of the hull to support the heater unit. A set of tank cutters from B&Q were useful to cut the bulkheads properly rather than use the car accessory type.

Cutting the hole for the exhaust was nerve racking but worked fine and turned the round hole into an oval using a dremel in 30 seconds. Its an oval because the exhaust exits in a downward angle. Do use the exhaust insulation as the flexible pipe really does get hot although the design of the exhaust exit fitting is good and is only warm even after a hours running.

On a 31ft yacht two exits, one in the main cabin and one in the stern cabin work well to mix the air avoiding cold spots.

The fuel pump which I think is the same as the Eber is bleed by pulses of 12v rather than a constant supply. In use you can hear the solenoid click and operate the pump sending pulse of diesel down the line, so mounting it warrants some thought to minimise the sound travelling through the yacht.

I now need to add insulation to some of the heating ducts but since its expensive will only do the key areas like the cockpit locker for now. It would have been easier to fit the insulation at the same time as the trunking.

Go for it, installation was quite straight forward with ordinary tools.

Pete
 
snooks said:
and where the fuel pump will go. Make sure you don't fit the pump under a bunk, the clicking will drive the bunk's occupant balmy.
Click to expand...
Not if you fit it using a bit of pipe lagging and clamp it down with some webbing - we can't hear ours unless we lift the bedding ... (not that it's in my cabin ... ;) )
 
haydude said:
I have some questions too:

- where is it best place to fit the heater?

For example I have plenty of space in the stern locker behind the rear cabins, but there are no free flat surfaces. The largest free space is on the bottom which is the curved aft end of the hull.

- do you normally have to make a level shelf using ply, expoxy and fiberglass?

I have also plenty of more level space behind the engine compartment, next to the engine exhaust. But this is just under one the aft cabins' bed. Would this be a suitable place too?
Click to expand...
Ours is in the rear space behind the stern locker - the ducting runs are quite long and hence we loose a lot of heat - despite it being insulated ..
we didn't have the option of fitting it further forwards without seriously disrupting lockers - so we've stuck with the short exhaust run and a unit that is out of the way but slightly less efficient ...

You do need to consider where you're getting your air for heating from too ... locker air isn't the best for pumping into the cabin.
 
Couple of years ago, I got my Webasto fitted by a pro in one day.

I thought long and hard about it (ebay, ex-GPO ebers, etc), but reconciled it with the fact that I wasn't actually paying a pro to fit a heater in one day, I was paying a chap who who knew enough that he *could* pro fit a heater in one day, IYSWIM.

In future, I might DIY, but, on a cramped boat, having someone who has routed much ducting before and has decent holesaws, etc just might swing the equation. (Assuming I don't simply spec heating before I get the boat built ;-)
 
eagleswing said:
i have been pricing the espar D2L airtronic diesel heaters. the only tricky bits to t he install appear to be the running of proper exhaust piping out of the main heater combustion unit, and properly connecting up the fuel pump to suck diesel out of my mains tanks to supply the espar. on my retireee pension, i can afford the D2L but the professional install will double the cost and make it unworkable. (and spouse is getting fussy about 'being in a cold boat...'.) nb we had the smallest dickinson 'newport' propane bulkhead heater on our last boat -- but dickinson doesnt recommend operating this while underway, and the heater really was not too efficient.

can anyone offer pieces of advice about trying a self install on these espar units?
Click to expand...

it is easy! honest a 10 year old can do it, its all plug and play. My wife installed ours, all the electrics and I ran the pipe work and drilled the holes. Its one of the easiest jobs on a boat you'll ever do. Just decide where your putting the blower and work from there.
If possible you want to have it sitting in the easiest place for you to access when it fails, or need to change the glow plug or main fuse. after that its all childs play.

hole cutters ....£8.99 at any Argos or Hardware shop

Oh yes, just put a "T" piece into the fuel line from the tank and run it from that.
 
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ukmctc said:
it is easy! honest a 10 year old can do it, its all plug and play. My wife installed ours, all the electrics and I ran the pipe work and drilled the holes. Its one of the easiest jobs on a boat you'll ever do. Just decide where your putting the blower and work from there.
If possible you want to have it sitting in the easiest place for you to access when it fails, or need to change the glow plug or main fuse. after that its all childs play.

hole cutters ....£8.99 at any Argos or Hardware shop

Oh yes, just put a "T" piece into the fuel line from the tank and run it from that.
Click to expand...

That's genius, get the wife to do it !
Why didn't I think of that?
Did any of you self installers have to get someone to check the installation for warranty purposes, or is it not necessary?
 
ukmctc said:
it is easy! honest a 10 year old can do it, its all plug and play. My wife installed ours, all the electrics and I ran the pipe work and drilled the holes. Its one of the easiest jobs on a boat you'll ever do.
Click to expand...

Technically you may be right, but in terms of the difficulties of installing it I recall it as being a tiresome job. It took me a couple of weekends that included taking a lot of stuff out before I could get the ducting in. Just putting in the temperature sensor and thermostat took me half a day, leading the wires between the skins in a boat that was never intended for additional wiring.
 
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