Eberspacher dies after 3-min start-up period...

jellyellie

jellyellie

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www.jellyellie.com
Hi

Pleeeease help. It's absolutely freezing onboard.

Schnebby (Eberspacher) has been playing up the past few days. He worked for weeks then turned himself off one evening without cooling down first and hasn't worked (turns on, fuel pump ticks, no hot air, turns off) since. Alex has fiddled around with everything - fuel is good and there, exhaust clear, blah blah.

Finally got it to turn on and fire up, which it does properly, completes its 3-minute start-up period, produces warm air etc. but then shuts off automatically without warning and without cooling down after about 4 minutes.

Any ideas??? Could really do with some proper heating on here!!

Big thank you in advance

jelly
 
Older than you, jelly! It sounds like the temperature switch has failed. You can download a manual here which will show you where the temperature switch is (page 17, part number 7).

There's also a troubleshooting manual here - it's multilingual, but has the info you need.
 
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Obvious thing to check is the electricity supply to make sure there isn't excessive voltage drop.

Having said that I do have a problem with mine starting when it is cold. My solution is to point a fan heater at it for a few minutes then start it. It works!

It still tries a couple of times though even when it is playing up and there are traces of heat coming out of the vent when it is going for those couple of minutes (although I suspect most of the heat it produces for that time is just used to warm up the piping).
 
dt4134 said:
Obvious thing to check is the electricity supply to make sure there isn't excessive voltage drop.

Having said that I do have a problem with mine starting when it is cold. My solution is to point a fan heater at it for a few minutes then start it. It works!

It still tries a couple of times though even when it is playing up and there are traces of heat coming out of the vent when it is going for those couple of minutes (although I suspect most of the heat it produces for that time is just used to warm up the piping).
Click to expand...

good point if i'm not plugged into the mains i always start the engine before firing the eber.... it takes a lot of volts.
 
Jellyellie
Was wondering where you'd got to.. Hope you're both well on board (apart from the lack of Eberspacher this evening)... 3 mins.. you should find and read my thread from about this time last week.... (Will summarise below though)

My D4 was going though startup.. ticking.. sounds like it's going.. but not much ooomph... hardly anything felt at the outlets.. 2-3 mins was all it would do!

Removed from locker.. dismantled it.. new gauze... put it all back together and same again.. 2-3 mins.

Fan I thought.. not quite getting up to speed... still no air really at the outlets but what was there had a warmth to it. Didn't really want to buy a new fan.

Started basic checks when not much air coming through... Turned out to be a plastic bag sucked across and stuck to the inlet.. it was stuck covering half the inlet vent. Hope you find the same.

If not... how fast does the fan appear to turn.. 1/3 speed.. . 2/3 speed.. .full speed.. and what smoke do you see/feel at the oexhaust? Am I right in guessing that the fuel pump and fan are stopping at about the same time.. and quickly?
 
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dt4134 said:
Exactly the symptom I'm referring to.

Or are you confusing voltage drop with no connection?
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No, I'm not confused at all. You said earlier that "Obvious thing to check is the electricity supply to make sure there isn't excessive voltage drop.". If the heater starts, and produces heat, it's obvious that there isn't excessive voltage drop (because the voltage drop will be highest during the starting phase when the glow plug operates). It's a faulty temperature switch (or faulty connections to it).
 
Sounds like you are getting some heat... Feel how much air is coming through.. does it feel like much at all..

Also - if the gauze has not been changed for a year.. it's probably sooted up. (If things like glow pin, overheat sensor or flame fail device had gone bad then it wouldn't get as far as the pump starting up... so it sounds like they are all good).
 
pvb said:
No, I'm not confused at all. You said earlier that "Obvious thing to check is the electricity supply to make sure there isn't excessive voltage drop.". If the heater starts, and produces heat, it's obvious that there isn't excessive voltage drop (because the voltage drop will be highest during the starting phase when the glow plug operates). It's a faulty temperature switch (or faulty connections to it).
Click to expand...

Well your going to have to explain how I traced exactly the same symptoms to excessive voltage drop on my boat then.

I'm not saying that is the cause in this case but it would be stupid to exclude it. It is an obvious thing to check, if you've completely diagnosed the fault in your own mind best of luck to you. I'll remember not to take your advice seriously in future.
 
Had the same problem on my D3L last year. Traced it to the filter in the pump, which needed replacing (cleaned the old one and keep it as a spare). £3 I think. 2 spanner job and be careful prising it out with a knife - the pumps are delicate. Worth a try? They can get blocked quite easily...
 
dt4134 - Yes, excessive voltage drop would cause insufficient heat to be given by the glow plug to start the flame.. I would be surprised if the unit managed to get to 3 minutes though if the flame had not lit. Usually flame fail is detected well before that. However - we did ask if any heat was felt at either the outlets or at the exhaust..

NFCN - Yes, lack of fuel due to dirty filter could cause the flame to go out after having lit.. . again - reason for asking fan speed and how long it appears to try though. Perhaps as the fan speeds up from 1/3 speed the flame is failing.. need to know approx fan speed.

Jellyellie - if you do decide to check the fuel filter undo the correct side of the pump. One side (inlet/lower) is filter.. the other is the metering adjustment. Don't touch that side.. or try to avoid adjusting it by accident!
 
I agree with pvb that the most likely cause is the temperature switch.

An obscure possibility (since you are presumably on a marina supply via a battery charger) however is OVERVOLTAGE. My 1985 eber cuts out if the voltage exceeds about 15.2v. (yes!...I know it should never be that high.....).

Vic
 
Thanks for everyone's help so far, I really appreciate it. It's not much fun living aboard in these temperatures without Schnebby.

Martin_J said:
Jellyellie
Was wondering where you'd got to... If not... how fast does the fan appear to turn.. 1/3 speed.. . 2/3 speed.. .full speed.. and what smoke do you see/feel at the oexhaust? Am I right in guessing that the fuel pump and fan are stopping at about the same time.. and quickly?
Click to expand...

Hi Martin - nice to be back on here. I'm actually now living in Brighton on my boat as I split up with James in the summer, and am living with my girlfriend Alex, who happens to be a professional bosun so is a bit handy when it comes to things like this!

Smoke is thick and grey. And yes, fuel pump and fan stop at the same time, suddenly.

pvb said:
Older than you, jelly! It sounds like the temperature switch has failed. You can download a manual here which will show you where the temperature switch is (page 17, part number 7).

There's also a troubleshooting manual here - it's multilingual, but has the info you need.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, pvb - these links are an absolute lifesaver. Have had a look and it diagnoses either the temp switch as you say, or the glow plug, which we had an issue with before and if I remember rightly we actually replaced it with a second-hand one so perhaps that's died. Do you know if that would cause these symptoms?

Martin_J said:
Sounds like you are getting some heat... Feel how much air is coming through.. does it feel like much at all..

Also - if the gauze has not been changed for a year.. it's probably sooted up. (If things like glow pin, overheat sensor or flame fail device had gone bad then it wouldn't get as far as the pump starting up... so it sounds like they are all good).
Click to expand...

There is a fair bit of air coming through, it definitely doubles on switching it from half to full speed. Will check the gauze though, thanks.

NFCN said:
Had the same problem on my D3L last year. Traced it to the filter in the pump, which needed replacing (cleaned the old one and keep it as a spare). £3 I think. 2 spanner job and be careful prising it out with a knife - the pumps are delicate. Worth a try? They can get blocked quite easily...
Click to expand...

Alex reckons the fuel pump is working OK - there's clean fuel going in (drained it all today), air going in, exhaust is clear now - there was a lot of soot in it earlier (we both ended up with face-fulls of the stuff).

Once again thanks for everyone's help so far. We're currently trying an alternative method of warming up - Morgan's Spiced Rum, £12 a litre from Asda! Time to cook - that'll warm us up a bit too...
 
jellyellie said:
Thanks so much, pvb - these links are an absolute lifesaver. Have had a look and it diagnoses either the temp switch as you say, or the glow plug, which we had an issue with before and if I remember rightly we actually replaced it with a second-hand one so perhaps that's died. Do you know if that would cause these symptoms?
Click to expand...

Can't be the glow plug, otherwise it wouldn't have started to produce heat.
 
Sounds like a gauze to check then.... do you have the tool to take the glow plug out.. If the glow plug wire is built into the plug then the tool (a socket) needs a split down the side. You probably know you'll mangle the old gauze taking it out.. .new ones available from somewhere like PFJones http://www.pfjones.co.uk/eberspacher-heaters-eberspacher-parts.html with next day delivery. Think the tool comes with the new gauze.. if not I'll pop one in the post...

I'm on board right now.. just discovered neither gas cylinder had enough ooomph to let any gas out.. It's cold outside!.. New gas now, back on board.. and another forum thread has reminded me to drain the cockpit shower head... before that cracks.

Hope the rum keeps you warm for now... electric blankets are quite good...

D3... You're lucky. The wire unbolts from the top of the glow plug. Special tool not required.
http://www.pfjones.co.uk/eberspache...-d3lcc-spare-parts/d3lcc-12v-spare-parts.html


Edit - If it is sooted up.. you might find sooty black marks around the exhaust.. and it might sound a bit rough.. or poppy.
 
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