Eberspacher D5LC black soot from exhaust

[haydude]

Well, it has been 3 weekends of hard work to install my central heating, and finally on Saturday it fired up!

Before fitting the D5LC to the boat I have overhauled it, I have fitted new glow plug, screen, seals, and I have tested the system on the bench in my garage without intake duct and with 2m exhaust (the whole uncut exhaust that I had). It was great.

When I started I did not realize how big a job it was going to be. Hundreds of bits to order and to fit. Ducting, screws, clips, outlet, fuel hose, fuel filter, insulation you name it! Back and knees are sore.

God bless Bavaria because they fit a spare fuel pick up, so I did not have to drill the tank.

I have still one more outlet to fit in the forward cabin, the intake silencer and the exhaust silencer are also on order ... The exhaust duct fitted now is about 1m long.

But this Saturday and Sunday I have had heating in the main saloon and the two rear cabins.

Now here is the problem, the exhaust after a while began dripping black soot. It does it mostly when the heater is turned off, possibly when it turns the glow plug on at the beginning of the shut off cycle to burn the fuel residues.

I did not notice this when I run the heater it in my garage, and the problem is that it stains the gelcoat under the exhaust outlet.

I was wondering if this is normal or if it is the symptom of a problem. Could it be because I have no intake duct (yet) and no exhaust silencer (yet)?

I hope that you may help.

 

[pcatterall]

The black soot may be worse now as you have just started up again after your garage tests. Some excess fuel may have been purged during the restart process.
But, having said that there is always going to be the occaision when a poor start or some other mishap will give you the same problem.
Is there a drain in your exhaust? I think this is good practice in a boat installation..... a dip in the pipe and a drain so that any condensate ( with soot) can be drained off.( rather than running back to the heater ar blocking a loop in the pipe) I test heaters in my workshop and do get this problem now and again.
I don't think that the silencers will make much difference. On that subject I guess that your exhaust silencer will be the proper 'marine' version rather than the vehicle one ( which 'leak')?

 

[pvb]

The heater should burn fairly cleanly and, whilst you may get some condensate dribbling out of the exhaust fitting, there shouldn't really be a lot of soot. Does the D5LC have a combustion air volume regulating plug, like earlier models? And, if so, have you adjusted it?

 

[haydude]

Thank you all for both replies above.

With regards to Does the combustion air volume regulating plug, yes it does. How do I do the regulation?

 

[pvb]

Thank you all for both replies above.

With regards to Does the combustion air volume regulating plug, yes it does. How do I do the regulation?

Well, the best answer would be you shouldn't touch it, but should get an Eberspacher service guy to set it up properly using a CO meter to get the air mix right.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I am not sure if its helpful or not, but our Eber (which was new when fitted) always burns perfectly cleanly and we've never had any soot from the exhaust. Its five years old now. I suppose the only helpful part of this is to use it to say that, yes, something is not quite right with your installation/heater setup. I hope you get it sorted because properly set up and installed they are very reliable and effective heaters.

 

[pvb]

I am not sure if its helpful or not, but our Eber (which was new when fitted) always burns perfectly cleanly and we've never had any soot from the exhaust.

My guess is that the OP bought a used heater.

 

[john_morris_uk]

My guess is that the OP bought a used heater.

I guessed that as well - and I was trying to encourage him to not give up as they do burn perfectly cleanly when set up properly....

 

[pcatterall]

Dont 'mess' with it until it is 'run in'. It is common that after the initial installation if ( for any reason) the heater doesnt fire up first go then unburnt fuel will be purged ( orrible black smoke) the heater should then settle down to burn normally.

 

[haydude]

Update

Finally I have installed both an exhaust elbow with drain and the exhaust silencer. Both original Eberspacher, therefore good quality (I expect).

But immediately during the first test run I saw exhaust air coming out of the drain (the coiled copper tube). I was so concerned about that flow of CO into the stern that I have decided to remove it.

The soot problem resolved itself just by installing the exhaust silencer (before I had a straight exhaust pipe run). I suppose that now any wet soot gets trapped there and eventually is evaporated with the heat. The soot was generated during startup when water vapor produced by the combustion is cooled into water by the still cold exhaust pipe; the water then washes down the carbon deposits left inside the exhaust by previous runs.

I happy about the soot, but I was surprised that the exhaust silencer did not make any appreciable difference to the noise coming from the exhaust! In fact it sounds exactly the same.

I do not think that I will need the exhaust drain, because my exhaust run is fairly short. My installation is now running with a goose-neck, up from the heater and then down again through the silencer and another short pipe before going through the outlet positioned on the stern scoop at the height of the cockpit floor.

I wonder if those who have the exhaust drain aren't concerned as I was about the exhaust getting into their boat/stern/locker. The cost of the elbow+drain now stings a bit, that was about £100! Anyone looking for one?

 

[pvb]

Finally I have installed both an exhaust elbow with drain and the exhaust silencer. Both original Eberspacher, therefore good quality (I expect).

But immediately during the first test run I saw exhaust air coming out of the drain (the coiled copper tube). I was so concerned about that flow of CO into the stern that I have decided to remove it.

Once there's some condensation built up in the coiled tube, exhaust gas won't escape.

 

[david_bagshaw]

position of exhaust silencers is critical due to the standing wave in the pipe.

for engines it is either on the manifold, or 1/5th back from the end of the pipe.

suggest you find out from ebber the best point to install it.

 

[David2452]

Finally I have installed both an exhaust elbow with drain and the exhaust silencer. Both original Eberspacher, therefore good quality (I expect).

But immediately during the first test run I saw exhaust air coming out of the drain (the coiled copper tube). I was so concerned about that flow of CO into the stern that I have decided to remove it.

Good quality, maybe, appropriate for a marine installation? not unless its a sealed marine unit i.e. already welded into the exhaust line supplied, not a vehicle one inserted in the line, they leak, the condensate drain is best filled with water first, I find a quick suck fills it nicely, then no gas will escape.

 

[Jabamusic]

The cost of the elbow+drain now stings a bit, that was about £100! Anyone looking for one?

£100 !!! ?

What one like this...............http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-24MM-...ent_Accessories_SM&hash=item1c258d875e&_uhb=1

 

[David2452]

Well, the best answer would be you shouldn't touch it, but should get an Eberspacher service guy to set it up properly using a CO meter to get the air mix right.

Surely you mean a flue gas analyser? CO is only a minor part of it, the major setting peramiters denoting clean (or otherwise) burn on evaporator heaters of all makes is CO2 and Bacharach spotting, not CO which is always very low indeed if the heater is OK.

 

[pvb]

Surely you mean a flue gas analyser? CO is only a minor part of it, the major setting peramiters denoting clean (or otherwise) burn on evaporator heaters of all makes is CO2 and Bacharach spotting, not CO which is always very low indeed if the heater is OK.

Whatever you say the professionals use to set their "peramiters". The point is that getting it set correctly isn't necessarily a DIY job, and this is particularly important with a secondhand unit which could be seriously out of adjustment.

 

[David2452]

There is no reason for a secondhand unit to be "seriously" out of adjustment to the extent this one seems to be unless somebody who has no understanding has been really "fiddling", though they may drift out, say enough to cause premature coking and high consumption, really noticable black smoke is not something that is usually down to or can be cured by normal adjustement , possibly an inapropriate pump, slow fan speed caused by a fault or exessive duct restriction, or if it clears just a build up of fuel internally. Another possibility, I have had heaters running beautifully on my test rig which smoked when refitted and the cause was poor fuel, though I have not seen this for a while and poor fuel is rarer now. Could even be an ECU issue not giving glow pin function during shut down but that would be rare and easily checked with an ammeter.