Eberspacher exhaust (still) smoking

stu9000

stu9000

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I serviced my eber airtronic d4 for the first time a couple of weeks ago.
Sometimes it would fail to start and billow white smoke.
I think this was as much to do with the leisure batteries being below 12.8v but I read a sooty gauze is a common cause. So I removed the unit and replaced the burner gauze. It was quite gummed up.

In removing the unit the aging exhaust pipe cracked. I replaced it yesterday and added a silencer.
Works well once started but on start up some white smoke seeps out from the joints of the exhaust.
Where the pipe meets the unit.
Also where the pipe attaches to the silencer.

I have a particulate sensor and monoxide sensor on the boat but I'm not that keen on seeing exhaust gasses being sucked into the air intake.

Jubilee clips were used to attach the pipe. The pipe is the correct diameter.
The exhaust isn't restricting flow.

I'm going to try tgetting a better seal on the joints with heat proof aluminium tape.

Maybe I need to disassemble completely to see how much coking up is in there but it runs fine after about three minutes.



Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
Jubilee clips may not be good enough for the exhaust. Usual fitting is a clamp. That said when I bench test ebers I just push the pipe over the outlet and I have yet to see smoke.
Possibly you could use some jointing compound?
Why white smoke anyway? unless it goes soon then there is still an issue.
 
pcatterall said:
Jubilee clips may not be good enough for the exhaust. Usual fitting is a clamp. That said when I bench test ebers I just push the pipe over the outlet and I have yet to see smoke.
Possibly you could use some jointing compound?
Why white smoke anyway? unless it goes soon then there is still an issue.
Click to expand...

Why white smoke...? I figured it was excess unburned fuel evaporation before ignition. Probably made worse by a couple of false starts due to low volts. It is much less of an issue now gauze has been replaced. I do wonder whether the burn chamber is a bit coked up though.
 
pcatterall said:
Jubilee clips may not be good enough for the exhaust. Usual fitting is a clamp. That said when I bench test ebers I just push the pipe over the outlet and I have yet to see smoke.
Possibly you could use some jointing compound?
Why white smoke anyway? unless it goes soon then there is still an issue.
Click to expand...
The clamps dug into the pipe and, to my untrained eye, did not seem to offer anything above jubilee clips.

These are the old clamps I didn't use
Eberspacher or Webasto Heater 24mm Exhaust Clamp and Endcap for sale online | eBay
 
stu9000 said:
Why white smoke...? I figured it was excess unburned fuel evaporation before ignition. Probably made worse by a couple of false starts due to low volts. It is much less of an issue now gauze has been replaced. I do wonder whether the burn chamber is a bit coked up though.
Click to expand...
if the gauze was coked up then so will be the chamber. Run it on some paraffin for a hour, this will clean up the combustion chamber. Just take the inlet that goes from the tick pump to a bidon of the stuff.
 
stu9000 said:
Interesting article.
I might change over to parafin on a permenent basis.
It is certainly worth having it run on the stuff for a few hours to clean it out.
Click to expand...

The Eberspacher on my last boat ran on red diesel for 24 years and was still running well when I sold the boat. I think the secret is to run the heater flat out for an hour or so regularly.
 
pvb said:
The Eberspacher on my last boat ran on red diesel for 24 years and was still running well when I sold the boat. I think the secret is to run the heater flat out for an hour or so regularly.
Click to expand...

I'd concur with that, my experience is these heaters don't like being run on low heat with red diesel, it cokes them up. I assume they don't coke up anywhere near as quickly with ordinary diesel...
 
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