Using a truck 24v Eberspacher on a 12v boat

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airborne1

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Has anyone any experience in using a 24v truck Eberspacher heater on a 12v boat.
Do I need to change anything or can they be converted if necessary and if so any idea of possible costs?? Does anyone know what the practical difference is between a vehicle type and a marine type??
 
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Has anyone any experience in using a 24v truck Eberspacher heater on a 12v boat.
Do I need to change anything or can they be converted if necessary and if so any idea of possible costs?? Does anyone know what the practical difference is between a vehicle type and a marine type??

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No I haven't but I do run a 24v system and would like to point out:-
The glow plug takes a huge current for a short time, so the easy option of a 12v to 24v convertor is not applicable.
Methinks you'd need to -
replace the fan motor
replace the circulating pump motor
replace the glow plug
replace the electronic control unit.

in short - not economic - forget it.
 
Keep a 24 volt battery just for the heater and charge it through a converter.
I don't think there is any practical difference in the units except you will need to use proper marine exhaust and outlet.
 
Now why didn't I think of that!

Simple!

BUT you'd need to get a converter that's capable of charging a battery - you'll need something like 28v to charge a 24v battery AND to drop the current as the battery reaches capacity. It's a bit daft but the easiest way to do that is an inverter coupled to one of Stirling's pro budget chargers.

A bit messy but not horrendously so. Definitely not for the faint hearted though...
 
My mate has done exactly what you are thinking about doing, the only problem he has is to connect in a 24v supply when the heater is operating, he has a couple of isolator switches which he has connected up to supply the 24v when he needs it, and also uses the batteries separatly when not needed for the heater, has worked without problems for the last 5 years...
he has fitted a proper marine exhaust fitting, as mention by a previous post..
 
Would it not be possible to add an extra battery off the end of your bank of paralleled 12v batts, wired in series with the end one, thus giving you a 24v bit for just your heating circuit?

I am sure it would involve one or two extra switches, and would need to be arranged so that you can charge them all when switched back to "parallel"....

I haven't tried this and have no idea if it is considered safe practise. Please note!

Pops
 
Apart from the voltage differences think about the other items you will need to fit the truck heater in a boat:
exhaust hull fitting and S/S exhaust pipe lagging, clamps and moisture evaparator.
ducting and vents and agiain possibly lagging,
fuel pipe, tap and filter.
harness extensions.
Heater bracket.
By the time you have ammassed all these parts and either set your electrical system up to take a 24 v heater or converted the heater to 12v you would be better off waiting untill the excell boat show and getting a deal there.
you will as with all things find the copleat kit comes cheaper than the spares.
 
Not that I know much technically speaking, but as a person who spent nearly a decade on Class 1's, the Eberspacher requires a lot of power from your batteries even when it is running efficently. The twin batteries on a truck are damned well powerful but I have been stuck out in the middle of nowhere after a really cold winters night with two flat batteries courtesy of the Eberspacher!
 
Well - the D1LC takes 20amps at 12V on start up ... at 24v this drops to 10amps ... but that is just for start up.

I am in the process of fitting the D1LC and if you've got the right location then it doesn't have to be that expensive.

Hot air ducting (required!) is about £12 per meter and the same price for the exhaust pipe. The skin fittings can be got for ~£50 from ebay (waiting for mine to arrive) so the whole installation should cost us around £100 over the top of the Eberspacher ... far less than the price of a new unit (~£1k !!)
 
I installed a second hand eberspacher unit. I paid £250 for the heater and it ended up costing around a further £200 for all the installation - two outlets, inlet, fuel lines etc. etc. Not cheap, but much cheaper than a new one. Its given little trouble over the last two years.

All installation components come from ebay. I have long ducting runs, so Im installing the ducting insulation, which improves the efficiency of the unit no end.

Mine boat originally had 24 volts systems, but I changes the starters / alternators and all fittings to a 12v system as i refitted the boat to simplify getting all the new components. (Starters and alternators were alot of money but they needed overhauling anyway)

I use three 85ah leisure batteries. After two years, they are now knackered so I be enlarging the battery bank when I get new batteries.
 
24v Ebers are cheaper second hand than 12v's for the obvious reasons... not many leisure boats operate on 24v.
Converting a 24v is just not viable. Take off all the electrical stufffor replacement and there's not much left. Wiring two 12v batteries together to produce 24v leaves the problem of charging them, unless you go to the expense of a converter or disconnect them to charge off a 12v alternator/solar panel etc.
Too much hassle.
There is no difference between truck and marine heaters until you get to the exhaust and ducting. Most critical is exhaust as there is a maximum length and the air-in air-out for combustion has to be balanced.
For all that, they are worthwhile. I fitted an Ebay special one for less than £200 all-in and it makes a difference first thing of a morning on a swinging mooring.
 
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