Deadly Eberspacher

awol

awol

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It started with occasional splitting headaches around 1 o'clock in the morning, then a day of headaches and gut wrenching sickness at anchor in Loch Scrisort, then a sort of burning smell when the Eberspacher fired up and then gradually a connection dawned between the headaches, sickness and going to my bunk with the Eberspacher left on at a low peep. Yesterday I turned the heater on again with a CO detector thing ready and it literally belched forth diesel smoke into the cabin. I realise that I am lucky still to be here to write this.

It is a 2 year old DL2 bought new. I still have to remove the thing from the boat and find out what has happened.
 
The flue has probably split. I've got a 3m length of the stuff lurking in my shed, bought in error.
 
Let us know...

It's unlikely to be a heat exchanger failure if it's only 2 years old, so sounds like the exhaust may be leaking in the vicinity of the air intake. Let us know when you find out. Was it professionally fitted?
 
Michael W was right - the flue had indeed split. Heater runs on the bench happily with no trace of CO in the heated air. Exhaust pipe was flexible stainless, lagged with a glass wool sock, all inside an air trunking cover - on dismantling, the pipe/lagging/outer all showed oily sooty deposits at the first bend. The exhaust pipe was considerably older than the heater having already survived (or not) the original D1L The smoke, and presumably the burning smell only comes in the start cycle, after that the exhaust fumes are pretty well odourless.

So new exhaust, addition of trunking to the air intake so that the air is taken from inside the boat remote from the heater, not just from the stern locker, and a CO alarm. Now know a lot more about CO poisoning and consider myself a very lucky laddie. And I owe Mr Eberspacher an apology for the evil thoughts I had been sending his way.
 
The lesson learnt is that the CO monitor needs to be in the same comparment as the Eberspacher, I think? I shall fit one.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The lesson learnt is that the CO monitor needs to be in the same comparment as the Eberspacher, I think? I shall fit one.

[/ QUOTE ]That would be a big mistake! The only safe place for a CO monitor is in the cabin area of the boat. A monitor in the same compartment as the heater won't detect CO in the heated air caused by a heat exchanger failure.
 
Yes, you're quite right and I had intended to fit a detector in the cabin, too. Or maybe via a probe into the duct. I think that the faulty flue issue is sufficiently serious to fit a dedicated detector.
 
Can any of you learned gentlemen shed some light ? I had my Ebersp D1LC serviced and all electrical contacts remade last year. It worked fine and a vent in the cockpit locker also cured the overheating problem. Then in Sept after a particularly frisky sail, exhaust vent often in the water as boat heeled 45 degrees or more, it's dead again. Gets to the start up stage, pump clicking, a slight air output, but it never ignites and what is more there is smoke from where the exhaust enters the unit...could it just be a blockage in the exhaust flue or is is something more sinister?
I would rather try and fix it myself and not have to pay another large bill !
 
[ QUOTE ]
what is more there is smoke from where the exhaust enters the unit.

[/ QUOTE ]
Do I take it you mean that the exhaust is coming out at the join between the unit and the exhaust pipe? If so then 2 things:
1) Your exhaust pipe has a blockage - probably water, and therefore is not installed properly as it should have a loop UP to prevent water from going right down the pipe*. You could try blowing (or using a dinghy pump) down the exhaust pipe from the heater end to see if you can clear it

2) the seal between the heater and the exhaust pipe has broken - this needs to be remade before you fire up the heater again


* when I installed our heater the skin fitting was installed so the pipe came down to it. The pipe goes right up under the cockpit cowling before coming down and along the top of the locker
 
Thanks Fireball...I think water trapped in the exhaust sounds more likely...it's a very thin wisp of smoke. I will undo the exhaust and remove it and see if it contains water..or put one of those oil change pumps down the exhaust and see what pumps out. I did have a look at the installation of the exhaust and it seemed to loop a considerable distance, dropping down before heading up to the skin fitting, but of course it's possible that there is a water lock at it's lowest point.
 
[quote dropping down before heading up to the skin fitting

[/ QUOTE ] It really shouldn't do that ... that is asking for a waterlock - it needs to rise above the skin fitting and preferably above any waterline ...

Ours does loop down beneath the heater - but right at the heater so you get a run like:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>
_______
| |
HEATER | O - skin fitting
|_____|

</pre><hr />
 
I agree, but it was probably the best they could do in a 26 footer with a canoe stern. The heater is located high up in the locker under the side seats outboard of the hatch opening... nowhere for the exhaust to rise above the heater. If the prob is a water lock and I can get it going I will be happy, better a water lock than getting water into the unit via the exhaust.
 
Just to let you know that it <u>was</u> a water lock. Managed to clear it with the Pela oil remover hose. Barely a half cup full, but enough to cause it to malfunction. I hadn't realised that the fatter hose is merely insulation for a much narrower hose. Tons of smoke when it first ignited, then ran as smoothly as anything. Better not say too much in case it's listening.
I shall plug the skin fitting with a bung when sailing in tough weather.
 
Ive currently condemned an Eberspacher (boat bought secondhand) following visible smoke in the cabin. Fitted new exhaust of the correct grade and ensured exhaust was venting thru skin fitting, however there still appears to be smoke in the cabin. Are the heat exchangers prone to burning through or is there some other explanation? I have no idea how old the unit is!
 
Go to www.espar.com and download the manual, in it is cut aways of the machine and you can see where the separations of the combustion chamber are, I have never seen or heard of a perforated combustion chamber, the gaskets dont leak as a rule. Where does it suck air to be heated from? I do know that when I fitted one a few years ago that the alloy ducting I used had machine oil from the tooling on it and it smoked for a while before it burned off.
Stu
 
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