Eberspacher heating; how hot?

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boozhound

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I have recently purchased a 2000 Bavaria 36 which came with Eberspacher D4 cabin heating system. I have no experience of these things so I don't know how well they are supposed to work. The system has two outlets, one in the saloon and one in the heads. It seems to be pumping through hot air but the cabin doesn't seem to get that warm. I have the control setting on full. The system heats up and pumps out lots of warm air for a while and then seems to settle around 13/14C at which point the airflow from the outlet slows down until the cabin temperature falls below 13C. Then it picks up again. The outside temperature is 6C. Is this normal and am I just expecting too much?

Thanks


Simon
 
when was it last serviced ? the combustion chamber could be caked up and require cleaning, also you could have a duff tempreture sensor or as i found last year a dirty fuel filter can cause the eber to be less efficient.

Also if you require the eber to be more efficient you may like to think about lagging the pipes or changing where the eber picks it's initial air up, most are from outside cold lockers if you change it to pick up from a warm cabin it works better.

don't forget your asking a lot from two outlet on a 36 foot boat, it will take a long time to get toasty warm.

we have a D5 with 4 outlets on a 38 foot boat, it takes a while to get the cabin toasty warm this time of year !
 
the D4 should heat 2 cabins ok. It sounds to be working well but cutting out. I would focus my attention on the thermo.
Where is it sited? I think that the thermo could easilly be by passed to test it ( or put it outside!!) What kind of thermo is it?
( digital or manuall.
The other suggestions draw warmed air and insulate are all good for efficiency but sort the thermo out first.
Regards
 
Thanks everyone.

The heating unit has just been serviced. The only control panel seems to be the 701 series Timer/Modulator. I have set the temperature ramp up to the top segment. There seems to be a small black plastic sensor (with a couple of bits of metal inside) next to it. I have stuck it out the window to see what happens! I will also see about moving the intake hose.

I have to say that when the unit is working at full tilt there is quite a lot of air coming out of the outlets. I suspect that it may be the sensor. I presume they are easy to get off the net?

Or I could just move the boat to somewhere warm /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
On a 36ft boat with only 2 outlets, the system is more than capable of keeping it toasty warm. Either the thermostat is not working or there is another fault.
 
The sensor has been outside the boat for 40 minutes and it has not made a bit of difference. I have had five minutes of full on heat in the past hour and the rest has been on low, so I guess that the sensor/thermostat must be the problem.
 
If the sensor is of the normal domestic type you should be able to hear it clicking on/off so should be able to tell from that if you are getting the appropriate response from the Eber.
 
I wonder if the heater itself is getting too hot, in too small a locker, though if its location has not changed since it worked ok that may be a red herring. I would focus first on the thermo ( something is telling the heater to switch off!!) eliminate that from the equation and take it from there. If the sensor has just two leads then you could test them to see if power is there on start up then disapears as the thermo breaks. Joining them together may bypass the thrmo altogether for test purposes??
 
The heater is in the space behind the aft cabins and to one side of the steering gear. It's a nice big area so I dont think that's it. The system starts off fine and then it is as if it decides that the cabin is warm enough and just puts out a faint waft of hot air to keep it at that level. That's fine except that the cabin is about five degrees cooler than I want it. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I can live with those kind of temperatures but girlies complain.

I am tempted to open up the sensor. It is the one pictured in the kit instruction manual so it must be the original.
 
"changing where the eber picks it's initial air up, most are from outside cold lockers if you change it to pick up from a warm cabin it works better."

Is this really a good idea?
If you put the initial air pick up within the area to be heated, condensation will not be removed from the cabin which is surely to be encouraged in a yacht.
CJ
 
I have a 38ft, D4 with 5 outlets - unit in aft locker - very toasty in about 20mins.
Does any body know how much diesel the D4 should consume, I know it depends on how cold it is but for instance, I left it running over night on Friday and on Saturday afternoon it had drunk 5lt of diesel - that seems a lot?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Does any body know how much diesel the D4 should consume, I know it depends on how cold it is but for instance, I left it running over night on Friday and on Saturday afternoon it had drunk 5lt of diesel - that seems a lot?

[/ QUOTE ]Shouldn't use more than 0.5 l/hr flat out - see consumption figures here.
 
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