Ebersbacher issues

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fifer

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I have an Ebersbacher D3L that's started having a few issues.

It has decided that it can try to start up on its own, even when the control dial is set to off. When it does this, it doesn't quite manage to fire up (you can hear clicks and a fan and there are a few wisps of white smoke from the exhaust) and then goes dormant. It will only try again if the ECU is unplugged to reset it. It was working fine last Autumn. This problem has only appeared in the last month.

I had been thinking about opening it up to give it a very basic service anyway.

Is this likely to be an ECU problem? If it is, is it worth trying to source a new one? Or should I be thinking about replacing the lot given the relative costs and age?
 
It sounds very much like blockage by carbon deposits, but can't be sure not knowing the exact model and more detailed description of the problem. Except of the very first models, the heater should have a diagnostics - what is it showing?
Either way: unless the solution is very simple (like cleaning the heater) and no parts are required, it may be cheaper to replace the whole thing by one of the new Chinese heaters. That is what I have done 2 years ago and I am more happy with them (I have two on the boat) than have I ever expected. A whole heater cost me less than replacing a blower motor on an Eber...
 
If you cant fix it or it gets too expensive the chinese heater option may not be a bad idea. I have seen them sell for under £150 and you can use your existing piping and Fittings. At that price, it may be worth experimenting.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Could someone post a link to these cheap heaters that can be retrofitted into existing installations. At £150 I'm intrigued!
 
benchmark said:
If you cant fix it or it gets too expensive the chinese heater option may not be a bad idea. I have seen them sell for under £150 and you can use your existing piping and Fittings. At that price, it may be worth experimenting.
Click to expand...

Just go to Aliexpress and search for a "parking heater". You will find heaps of offers:
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesal...12123304&SearchText=parking+heater+diesel+12v.
Not entirely sure about the 150 quid mark, with postage you may get a bit higher.
 
Not to hijack the thread but our D3L recently stopped working entirely. Used earlier in the day no problem, tried to turn on later and no sign of life at all.

Yet to investigate but any immediate tips much appreciated!
 
SimonP85 said:
Not to hijack the thread but our D3L recently stopped working entirely. Used earlier in the day no problem, tried to turn on later and no sign of life at all.

Yet to investigate but any immediate tips much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Oh dear... reading your first post, I was tempted to say "stop playing with it, or it will get in a lockout mode!"
I am fairly sure that is what happened. The dreaded lockout is entered when a certain number of unsuccessful start attempts is made. The only way to get back to normal is by using one of the Eber diagnostic instruments (often integrated with a timer). I purchased a diagnostic timer with my first Eber and found it absolutely essential. BTW: the Chinese knockouts don't have this horrible feature...
 
I have similar problems myself. I found out a few things by reading threads on Eberspacher and other heaters.

Some D3Ls have a button on top of the casing to reset them from lock-out. I think mine is one of those.
Eberspachers have a limited life. Things burn out and are very expensive to replace. They may not be totally broke but you will be if you attempt to get them repaired.
On the subject of cost, the estimate to remove, test and refit mine was nearly £400! More if anything needed fixed.
Some people seem to have had a bad experience buying Chinese or Russian heaters. The suggestion is to buy from a German dealer on fleabay.

Finally, a note of caution. There are two air streams:- combustion and heating. They should be kept separate. Recent articles in PBO dealing with at least two different installations have shown the combustion air taken from the fresh air supply to the heating stream. On one occasion when mine failed, I was surprised some time later to hear the smoke alarm going off in the after cabin. I went in to find it full of black smoke. My first thought was an exhaust failure, but the problem turned out to be harder to fix. The installation has the fault described above. The boat was on the hard and the wind was from astern. The exhaust outlet is on the transom. When the fan stopped, the wind blew the exhaust and smoke back through the combustion chamber, up the combustion air inlet into the supply for the heating stream and out through the heating vents. I have not yet found a solution.
 
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jiris said:
Oh dear... reading your first post, I was tempted to say "stop playing with it, or it will get in a lockout mode!"
I am fairly sure that is what happened. The dreaded lockout is entered when a certain number of unsuccessful start attempts is made. The only way to get back to normal is by using one of the Eber diagnostic instruments (often integrated with a timer). I purchased a diagnostic timer with my first Eber and found it absolutely essential. BTW: the Chinese knockouts don't have this horrible feature...
Click to expand...

Hmmm. I’ve heard of this too but it worked fine before then stopped. No unsuccessful half starts, just working to totally dead!
 
Bodach na mara said:
I have similar problems myself. I found out a few things by reading threads on Eberspacher and other heaters.

Some D3Ls have a button on top of the casing to reset them from lock-out. I think mine is one of those.
Eberspachers have a limited life. Things burn out and are very expensive to replace. They may not be totally broke but you will be if you attempt to get them repaired.
On the subject of cost, the estimate to remove, test and refit mine was nearly £400! More if anything needed fixed.
Some people seem to have had a bad experience buying Chinese or Russian heaters. The suggestion is to buy from a German dealer on fleabay.

Finally, a note of caution. There are two air streams:- combustion and heating. They should be kept separate. Recent articles in PBO dealing with at least two different installations have shown the combustion air taken from the fresh air supply to the heating stream. On one occasion when mine failed, I was surprised some time later to hear the smoke alarm going off in the after cabin. I went in to find it full of black smoke. My first thought was an exhaust failure, but the problem turned out to be harder to fix. The installation has the fault described above. The boat was on the hard and the wind was from astern. The exhaust outlet is on the transom. When the fan stopped, the wind blew the exhaust and smoke back through the combustion chamber, up the combustion air inlet into the supply for the heating stream and out through the heating vents. I have not yet found a solution.
Click to expand...
The rest button is only on the very first (DL) models. I don't think there are still many of these in use.
You are spot on with the excessive cost of part. Shocking, totally unjustifiable.
The problem with the exhaust gasses getting in the heating air is fairly common. The easiest solution is to have the heating air sucked from inside the boat - effectively recirculating it. While it removes the option of using the heater for cooling and refreshing the air, it will make it more efficient. I have both my heaters installed this way. BTW: a carbon monoxide detector (around 10 quid) should be installed in any space a combustion heater is operating.
Sucking exhaust gasses in the combustion suction is more complicated issue. Ebers need fairly balances pressure between the suction and exhaust, or the gizmo stops working. That makes any attempt put the ports further apart very difficult - a bit of wind from certain direction and you have flame-out. A bit of experimenting may be needed in every individual case having the pressure difference issue on mind.
 
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SimonP85 said:
Not to hijack the thread but our D3L recently stopped working entirely. Used earlier in the day no problem, tried to turn on later and no sign of life at all.

Yet to investigate but any immediate tips much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Have you tried pulling out the fuses and the wires from the bottom of the ECU, leaving for a couple of minutes, then plugging all back in?

Resets any faults in the ECU and lets it run again
 
fifer said:
Have you tried pulling out the fuses and the wires from the bottom of the ECU, leaving for a couple of minutes, then plugging all back in?

Resets any faults in the ECU and lets it run again
Click to expand...

I've not had a chance to look at it at all unfortunately but hope to tomorrow. It has been powered on/off though - assume pulling out the wires/fuses does something different?
 
SimonP85 said:
I've not had a chance to look at it at all unfortunately but hope to tomorrow. It has been powered on/off though - assume pulling out the wires/fuses does something different?
Click to expand...

You are, of course, right. I have finally noticed you have the VERY old D3L model :-). It is the one that has that reset button. There is no ECU or diagnostics on this one worth to mention, the button is only to reset overheating sensor and it should be the first thing to try. If no success, send me your email and I will send you a complete troubleshooting manual and electrical diagram. I was trying to attach it here, but the PDF file exceeds the size this forum allows.
BTW: in the more recent models with diagnostics disconnecting the power WON'T clear the error codes. They can be , as I said before, cleared only by the Eber diagnostic instrument.
 
jiris said:
Oh dear... reading your first post, I was tempted to say "stop playing with it, or it will get in a lockout mode!"
I am fairly sure that is what happened. The dreaded lockout is entered when a certain number of unsuccessful start attempts is made. The only way to get back to normal is by using one of the Eber diagnostic instruments (often integrated with a timer). I purchased a diagnostic timer with my first Eber and found it absolutely essential. BTW: the Chinese knockouts don't have this horrible feature...
Click to expand...

The D3L doesn't have the ability to be locked out!
 
A quick update.

Due to the location of the ebersbacher and how its mounted, hauling it out (solo) for a service was a little daunting so I tried a different approach.

A few gentle squirts of Easystart in the combustor air intake during intial start-up, and then a few long squirts once it is running and hot seem to have improved things considerably. It doesn't always manage to start on the first attempt from cold, but now catches on the second go which is much better than before.
 
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