Eberspacher heater smokey start

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I haven't used the boat Eberspacher heater since March earlier this year. I tried starting it recently and it would not produce any heat and after a few minutes was shutting down automatically. I tried starting it a few times but it kept doing the same thing.

After half an hour it eventually started on and was pumping hot air, to my relief. But, a cloud of white spoke was coming out of the exhaust heater for some time and eventually it cleared out. I presume the heater could not fire-up because it hasn't been used for 9 months. Do you get the same problem? Do you use the heater more regularly to avoid this?

 

[LittleSister]

From my limited experience I would think the smoking is the result of the previous several failures to start - it's just burning off the earlier unburnt diesel - rather than the time since last started.

Maybe after sitting a long time you'd got some air in your fuel supply pipe, so not (consistent) enough for proper fire up until that had cleared?

 

[PlankWalker]

Try putting the pick up pipe into a jam jar of good quality paraffin and start it on that.
It should run hotter and cleaner on paraffin and with luck will burn the soot and crud off.

Plank

 

[V1701]

Paraffin definitely helps but it will likely need decoking at some point, in my (again limited) experience these heaters don't like to be run for long periods on low heat with red diesel, it may be better if you use garage diesel I don't know. At least the one I had didn't (Eber D2). I have a Mikuni now but tend to only use it occasionally & when I do I run it at full heat...

 

[Ian_Edwards]

I had the same problem a few years back after replacing a failing glow pin, and multiple failed restarts.
Don't worry about it, it's just burning off excess fuel in the combustion chamber, but as Plankwalker says, run it hot for awhile to burn off any remnants of the excess fuel. I just turned the thermostat up to max and let the unit run for an hour or more at full blast.
In the long run, you may have to de-coke the combustion chamber, but in my experience, a working Eberspacher is best lest alone for as long as possible.

 

[vyv_cox]

I agree with the other posters about the white smoke. A reason the unit refused to run multiple times could well be the power supply. I suggest you check any in-line plugs and sockets for good electrical contact. My D3L finally refused to operate after only running when the engine was running. It turned out to be poor connection at a plug and socket close to the unit in the stern locker.

 

[Pye_End]

If it keeps happening (ie. difficulty in starting) it would be worth your while checking the fuel filter next to the pump.

 

[Big John]

I would check for water in the bottom of the tank.

I only run mine now with kerosene. (I have a separate tank) Runs cleaner, the burner does not get sooted up. I have not noticed any difference in heat output. More importantly SWMBO does not complain about the smell of diesel fumes burning.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Many thanks for all the replies and tips.

 

[JerryHawkins]

I've had my eber Hydronic 5 (same principle as the air heaters) for about 14 years. In the early years I ran it on red from the main engine tank and I had to strip and decoke it at least once a year. About 5 or so years ago, I switched to a seperate tank and run it on standard white road diesel. I haven't had to strip it down to clean it since switching ( did have to recently to replace the air blower motor and the rest of it was nice and clean - virtually no carbon build up). My local eber dealer said it would make no difference - I can only tell you what I've found from personal experience.

 

[Big John]

This site has a lot of good advice. https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/eberspacher_intro_1.html

Fuel problems are covered in depth. https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/fuel_problem1.html

Read "Fault 4" almost at the bottom of the page. Running on Kerosene is a good thing.

 

[mordase]

I had a similar but not exact problem in so much as my eberspacher would start ok first time but would produce lots of white smoke for the first 5 minutes or so. In my case the problem was the gauze was full of carbon. The actual combustion chamber was pretty clean. A new gauze and thorough cleanup up solved the problem. Hope this helps.

 

[tpb]

I have not had a problem with our Eberspacher but a few years ago an Eberspacher service agent advised running it on full power for 20 mins once a month in order to clear carbon. We have done this regularly even in the heat of the Algarve and Canaries.

 

[pvb]

I have not had a problem with our Eberspacher but a few years ago an Eberspacher service agent advised running it on full power for 20 mins once a month in order to clear carbon. We have done this regularly even in the heat of the Algarve and Canaries.

Yes, like diesel engines, they last longer if they're given a good blast regularly.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

In my experience it’s also helps reliability if you run the Eber at full chat for a few minutes before shutting it down, rather than when it’s throttled back to low heat.
Like others have mentioned it seems to run better on white diesel. If de-coking using paraffin be careful. The exhaust gets a LOT hotter so keep an eye on your insulation lagging and hull fitting.

 

[vyv_cox]

If de-coking using paraffin be careful. The exhaust gets a LOT hotter so keep an eye on your insulation lagging and hull fitting.

Good point. I am told that an Autoterm Planar heater will burn out if run on paraffin, so best not to experiment.

 

[matthewriches]

I'd normally advise running on full heat for a few hours a few times a year to keep it tickety boo. I generally give my D5 a good belt at the end of summer incase it starts to be required and then again mid spring as it gets put to bed for the summer. No faults since I bought the boat.