Webasto Heater Control Application - Dangerous?

oGaryo

oGaryo

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Just been reading October's issue of MBM and on page 57 there's what appears at first glance, a neat application to turn on the heat!! The Webasto Heater Control allows you to turn on the boat heater at the tap of a button on the smartphone from literally 100's of miles away so that everything is nice and toasty for your arrival. Thing is, would you risk it? I mean, what's the odds of the boat having a heating 'mishap' by the time you arrive and if that happened, would your insurance pay out? I doubt it.

what do you reckon, a potentially dangerous little app?
 
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I had to smile Gary. I was in the US last week, and a colleague had an App on his iPhone that allowed him to turn up the air con in his house, remotely. He got an alarm when his wife turned down the 'stat, so he could turn it up again! Talk about tighter than 2 coats of paint. :D
 
oGaryo said:
Just been reading October's issue of MBM and on page 57 there's what appears at first glance, a neat application to turn on the heat!! The Webasto Heater Control allows you to turn on the boat heater at the tap of a button on the smartphone from literally 100's of miles away so that everything is nice and toasty for your arrival. Thing is, would you risk it? I mean, what's the odds of the boat having a heating 'mishap' by the time you arrive and if that happened, would your insurance pay out? I doubt it.

what do you reckon, a potentially dangerous little app?
Click to expand...

Calculate the number of hours the webastospacher is on unattended due to the app and divide by the number of hours it would be on without the app. Take the number of times a boat catches fire 'cause the heater is on and multiply it by the the number you first thought of number and you have the number of times a boat is likely to catch fire due to the app. Ignoring the number of times someone has spotted a problem and stopped it getting worse and a few other things...

Given you're in a marina though an app that turned on a safe electric heater (oil-filled radiator?) might be a bit less worrying and more reliable. I would imagine there's something out there but I don't know of one.
 
I think if a heater like Webasto or Eber were likely to fail unsafe there would be loads of negative publicity. Also if you were asleep or ashore local to your boat with the thing cycling on and off it could equally go wrong.

Most of the Eber threads on here and PBO forum are about the things simply not working, not failing and bursting into flames.

These are widely used in colder countries on trucks and other vehicles, and are well deigned to perform safely, and the timers for these, including the one on my boat, are a complex 7 day dual cycle programmer.

Just make sure you don't dangle brand new fenders in front of the exhaust outlet !:(
 
grumpy_o_g said:
Calculate the number of hours the webastospacher is on unattended due to the app and divide by the number of hours it would be on without the app. Take the number of times a boat catches fire 'cause the heater is on and multiply it by the the number you first thought of number and you have the number of times a boat is likely to catch fire due to the app. Ignoring the number of times someone has spotted a problem and stopped it getting worse and a few other things...

Given you're in a marina though an app that turned on a safe electric heater (oil-filled radiator?) might be a bit less worrying and more reliable. I would imagine there's something out there but I don't know of one.
Click to expand...


mmmm probability very low. impact jolly high. overall risk, medium. medium's too much for me to chance it mate :)
 
In car/bus/truck/camper applications remote start (or timed by programmable clock) has been known for decades with not many (any?) reported issues.

If you feel a need to check that all vents are free, air supply is good, fenders are safe etc., you never should run it without monitoring all aspects. But that hardly is a problem with the app (or any of the manufacturer supplied equals).

All imo.

BTW: Would you run the heater at night, when you and your friend Remy Martin are at sleep? ;)
 
grumpy_o_g said:
Given you're in a marina though an app that turned on a safe electric heater (oil-filled radiator?) might be a bit less worrying and more reliable. I would imagine there's something out there but I don't know of one.
Click to expand...

I agree.

You would also have to leave 12v power on which isnt good practice and may cause a problem.

I use an oil filled rad on a mobile phone operated 240V switch.

I can send it a text to confirm on/off
I can send it a text just to check I still have 240v on the boat
I can phone it while driving to the boat and it switches itself on so the boat is warm on arrival.
cost one off £25 ish plus ongoing £1 year for pay as you go text calls.


Oil filled rad is left on a thermostat and left in a safe place prior to being plugged in before I leave the boat.

switch is rated to 10amps, I use a 900w oil filled rad which is well within safety limits .
 
I would have no issue with this whatsoever, I've kept my webasto on with the thermostat set at around 10c during winter months without being close to the boat. It cuts in nicely, gets the boat to the right temp and cuts out. When really cold it does this a couple of times a day.
If I thought like you I would be more concerned keeping it on while sleeping in the boat......
 
Last winter I turned off the Ebby with the switch in the cabin, light on the controller went out etc etc and left the boat. Next week when I returned to the boat it was like a furness, due to a fault in the D4 itself it had been running all week. Damage=burnt a fair bit of diesel, but boat was very dry. (Yes D4 now has a new brain plus a full service and I'm £600 lighter)
 
There are really no safety issues with remote controllers that I am aware of, short range radio type or the SMS or the more sophistocated web based Wallas type which is very interactive and reports back on voltage, temperature etc. I have had a number of enquiries about this app since it was in MBM, a simple "you know it needs a £400 bit added on to the heater to make it work don't you?" usually ties the comversation up nicely. I actually made one from a light sensitive relay board in a dark box and an old phone years ago so I could turn the heater on on my way to the boat in winter, it worked but I never really needed to use it
 
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I checked with HK about having diesel fired heating on when not on boat, there reply Ok if installed correctly. I used to have heating on several times over a 24 hour period. So could not see an issue with remote control system. Check with your insurer as they tend to differ on policy.
David
 
oGaryo said:
mmmm probability very low. impact jolly high. overall risk, medium. medium's too much for me to chance it mate :)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't argue with that. If I had a boat, especially one that gets the attention lavished it on it yours does, I'd don't think I'd be that comfortable with knowing that I'd just remotely switched on what is basically a cross between a flamethrower and a welding torch in the engine bay - regardless of the actual risk :eek:
 
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