Eberspacher D3L Problem

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Pete735

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Just before coming off the boat on Sunday I thought I would fire up the Eber to check all ok. It last ran in March/April time this year.

On the "vent" position the fan cut in and ran fine. I then turned it to "heat", then was a noticeable click and then nothing. Several more attempts on "heat" produced nothing (no click), yet the fan ran when "vent" was selected. i checked the small fuse in the control pack and that was fine.

Battery was 12.6 volts, so well above Eber minimum.

I checked power to controller and it has 12v feed.

I checked the 2 associated relays and could not get power from any of the connections.

I think I am going to have to remove unit and try it on the bench, but does any one have any ideas? I pulled all connections apart several times just in case terminals were corroded, but no difference. I moved thermostat around a few times but that made no difference.

I suspect controller may be at fault, but just wondered if any forum members had any thoughts before I remove heater unit and try and bench test it?
 
Pete

Measure the on-load battery voltage...i.e when the Eber's glowplug is active. I presume that the 12.6v measurement was with no load. The on-load voltage shouldn't drop below about 11v
 
If you are not hearing any 'clicks' then the diesel pump is not operating. Mine starts slowly (one click every couple of seconds) and then speeds up (to 2 or 3 per second) once the flame is established. Presumably you have sufficient diesel in the tank?

Are you getting any error code on the controller? I haven't got the manual at home but I recall there is a troubleshooting section that details the error codes. You can probably find a copy on the net if you haven't got one.
 
'Eber' DL3

Pete735 said:
Just before coming off the boat on Sunday I thought I would fire up the Eber to check all ok. It last ran in March/April time this year.

On the "vent" position the fan cut in and ran fine. I then turned it to "heat", then was a noticeable click and then nothing. Several more attempts on "heat" produced nothing (no click), yet the fan ran when "vent" was selected. i checked the small fuse in the control pack and that was fine.

Battery was 12.6 volts, so well above Eber minimum.

I checked power to controller and it has 12v feed.

I checked the 2 associated relays and could not get power from any of the connections.

I think I am going to have to remove unit and try it on the bench, but does any one have any ideas? I pulled all connections apart several times just in case terminals were corroded, but no difference. I moved thermostat around a few times but that made no difference.

I suspect controller may be at fault, but just wondered if any forum members had any thoughts before I remove heater unit and try and bench test it?
Click to expand...

Hi,

Although your voltage checked out o.k. I would be inclined to fully charge the battery and try again. Sometimes you have to start the unit let it run, switch it off and re-start again a few times, especially when it's been idle for a time. However at risk of repetition, my DL3 is very sensitive to voltage and does just as yours is doing when the voltage is only marginally down, I have it running on a seperate battery for obvious reasons and really it needs a heavier duty battery than I have fitted, if I fully charge the battery and then leave it for a few months it will not 'fire up' the DL3 but will run the fan. Once I re-charge the battery all is well.

It's annoying because I run a 24 volt DL3 in an H.G.V. which gives no problem because obviously daily running of engine keeps batteries fully charged.

Cheers.
 
The usual cause is fuel supply. The pipes to the pump are very small bore and easily blocked with gum, bio-contamination or even water. Try disconnecting your pump at the outlet (heater) side first. When you switch on you should hear it clicking and see it pumping fuel. it will only do this momentarily as the heater cuts everything after a short time so you need to be at the pump when switched on and have somebody else switch on unless the control is close. If it clicks but won't pump its a fuel blockage. If it does not click disconnect both the inlet and outlet and try again. If it still does not work it's the pump or the wiring to it. Try intermittent connection to a seperate supply. If it still does not work (one click per connection) it's a duff pump. If it does it could be a bad connection but failing all that it's the heater or controller. I find checking this way usually identifies any fault in fuel supply and 9 out of 10 times that's the problem, especially if the unit has not been run for a while.
 
D3L Replies

djdiode - battery voltage was measured at control unit with unit turned on - but not operating of course! Previous day I had checked both engine and house battery voltages when I got onto boat (habit) and both stood at 12.3, so I do not think batteries are at fault. On previous occasions with low batteries, system has run for say 30 seconds and then shut down. Currently it's doing nothing.
playtime - as far as I know, there is no mechanism for unit to detect whether pump is working or not, unit will only find out if temp sensor near glow plug fails to get hot, then it will shut down heater. This is a 20 year old D3L, nothing fancy like error or flash codes I think.
boathead - see above, house battery is a 2 year old leisure 110 amp hour. About 2 hours before I tried heater, engine was running to switch moorings (someone pinched ours for an overnight stay), previous day with light winds it probably ran for 3 hours continuously, that's why I am doubtful about voltage faults, plus previously on low voltage it will go through start up routine and then stop, this time nothing.
boatmike - tank is third full, I agree with you about pipe bore, around 1mm could easily lead to problems. Again previously, with a fuel problem (filter blocked at pump), system went through it's startup routine for 30 seconds or so and then stopped.
claymore - I had thermstat set at 30C, it was warm outside, but not that good. However, on next visit I will check thermostat carefully as I feel it's a possibility. I hope it's not controller as that's £300 according to Eber!

I also tried reset button several times with no joy.

thanks for all your comments, I've thought carefully about replies and will relook at them next time I am on boat.
 
Eberspacher Diagnostic Readout

If you have the 701 Timer Modulator with diagnostics then you can get the readout as follows :-

With the heater switched on, press and hold the Heater ON/OFF button until the display shows “dAtA”. Release the button and the display then shows “AF—” and alternatively displays the current fault code. Each press of the ^ button will scroll through the last 5 previously stored fault codes.

I also have a PDF file with the diagnostic codes but dont know how to place a PDF file on this forum. George
 
steve28 said:
check the glowplug, thats first thing that the controller checks even before it blows.

Steve
Click to expand...

That's interesting, would you happen to know if glowplug is special to Eber? I suspect it's not, but knowing what it is a match for would be helpful. Failing that it's a trip to a helpful diesel specialist or motor factor.
 
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