servicing eberspacher heaters

[Elissaar]

Oh heavens alive..,just been speaking with Krueger UK about servicing my heater on my boat. I have heard good things about this company so in one regard its not so bad. On the other hand the prices!

My DC3LC compact thingy is 7 years old and has never been serviced. It still works and its not urgent at the moment (having said that it will probably fail this weekend). Price list:

1 To have someone come out on site and do it while its in the boat its 1 and a half hours labour at 30 pounds per hour plus VAT (can't the marine trade get a grip and start including VAT in their prices?) plus parts (glow-plus, screen and filter - 35 pounds +VAT) Total cost is 150 +VAT.

2. To have someone come to the boat, remove it, take it back to workshop, test it, decoke it, replace parts and put it back on the boat is 4 hours labour plus parts. Total cost is about 250+VAT.

3. Time to travel to said boat (local) is 28+VAT (wish someone would pay me to travel to work)

Anyone any idea what I should do?

On the plus side, very impressed with the detail knowledge at Kreuger.

Kind regards

Simon


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[Talbot]

You could always download the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.espar.com/htm/tecmans.htm>Tech Manual</A> and do-it-yourself /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[JerryHawkins]

DIY - its easy!

I did a full strip-down service on my Airtronic D2. Time from start to finish - under 2 hours including time to remove and re-install from boat. Parts required: two gaskets, one glow-pin, one glow-pin screen (tools to install these supplied with part), one metering pump filter - cost well under £100. Extra tools required: spanners, screwdrivers and old small stiff-bristle toothbrush to clean out the carbon deposits.

Unit now runs sweater than it has for ages!

Cheers, Jerry

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[AIDY]

Would agree with Talbot. Download the manual and have ago at it.

Not a really big job to do, once you have got the parts and the case apart.

We did ours D5 a couple of months ago, took it out of the boat and brought it home only took evening to do on the kitchen table. It runs alot better now and does not smoke, it was that bad that someone ran down the pontoon once to tell us the boat was on FIRE, but it was only the eb starting up !!

Have a look at the manual first, if you don't like the look of it, get someone else to do it.

<hr width=100% size=1>/forums/images/icons/wink.gif <font color=blue> Regards Andy </font color=blue>

 

[Elissaar]

Thanks for everyone for their comments, Talbot is right, I should do it myself. The thing that put me off was the doom scenario which the chap at Krueger went on about (he was a bit patronising actually). The heaters have a chip which needs to be reset once it has serviced but I have no idea if this is the case. Anyway, I will have a look at it myself, I used to service my own cars so I suppose I should be able to do this?

If I get stuck is there anyone who you would recomend who could do this - or at least rescue me from my own mess! I am based in Gosport.

Kind regards

Simon

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[Talbot]

IUf the worst came to happen you could always put it into a box and take it to Kreugars! They do have quite a good name to justify their costs. IIRC the chip re-set is only required if it fails to start after about 6 goes and is a safety circuit to stop you starting the machine with a whole lot of diesel inside the heater, and thus going Booooom (although that would remove the carbon deposits /forums/images/icons/smile.gif)

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[allanf]

I attempted to service my 10 year old eberspacher, replaced the plug and filter but still didn't work very well. Sent the control box to Krueger and they said there was no problem with power side but suggested the problem lay with the motor. Sent the heater to them and they returned a heater that behaves as new - and very big invoice - but it's worth it!

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[Redmond]

Re: DIY - its easy!

can you tell me where you get the spares

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[Elissaar]

Re: DIY - its easy!

Dear Jerry

Thanks for your reply. The chap from Kreugers frightened the life out of me to be honest telling me tales of doom and woe. Since I have just serviced my cooker I guess I can probably manage something a tad more complex. Are there any tips you have for undoing the machine and then getting inside it? Also, I presume the soft metal brush is to decoke its inside, the chap from Kreuger mentioned decoking fluid of some sort - do you know anything about it?

Kind regards

Simon

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[JerryHawkins]

Hi Simon,

Old toothbrush - not metal brush. I didn't bother with any cleaning fluid of any sort. What would have been usefull is some pipe cleaners (i.e. the type used to clean smokers pipes). These would have been usefull to clean out the "air swirl" fins at the back of the combustion chamber. The ECU doesn't need a reset after a service (unless its already failed to start 4 times (for Airtronic)). After a successfull start, the counter is reset anyway. One thing to watch for is the time taken to draw the fuel back again after you've re-installed everything - it may wel, take two "failed starts" until fuel reaches the unit. I got round this by making up a cable for the metering pump so that I could pump the fuel up to the heater before attempting a start. Just a straight 12v supply, but only momentary contacts. The pump is just a solenoid mechanism - each momentary 12v contact produces one "tick"; just keep "ticking" until you see fuel reaching the inlet at the heater.

If you can service your car and cooker then this should't challenge you too much; just make sure you've downloaded and printed out the manual from the US Espar web site! (www.espar.com). Oh, and you'll need some torx screwdriver bits (I did on D2 anyway - check yours first).

Cheers,

Jerry

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[Elissaar]

Dear Jerry

Thank you for the tips, I think I can do this myself, ironically, I have to replace the two 12 volt batteries as well so it will give me a 12 volt supply which is portable to reach the engine bay. So I should be able to prime the fuel line before attaching it to the heater. This should reduce the number of failed attempts (Krueger said that 6 were permitted). I have the torq screwdriver bits and an old tooth brush somewhere....

I cannot believe the number of items which need replacing, I bought the boat last year July....

Thanks for the help

Kind regards

Simon

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