Eberspacher glow pins (plugs)

[pagan witch]

Has anyone got a reliable supplier of glow pins (or plugs if you prefer) for Eberspacher units ?

 

My DW4 is a great heater but at £43 + VAT a time for the plugs I think they are a bit steep compared to a set of 4 for a car for around £15 on e-bay.

 

Have had a look around e-bay without much luck so far and such enquiries I have made to auto electricians reveal that Eberspacher seem to have the market sewn up, no one admitting to knowing anything about compatibles.

 

Personally I am not at all bothered if they are originals or compatibles and wouldn't mind having one in stock as its' failing stops the unit dead.

 

The Eberspacher original part no is 25 1864 01 10 00/2

[smileypete]

Has anyone got a reliable supplier of glow pins (or plugs if you prefer) for Eberspacher units ?

 

My DW4 is a great heater but at £43 + VAT a time for the plugs I think they are a bit steep compared to a set of 4 for a car for around £15 on e-bay.

 

Have had a look around e-bay without much luck so far and such enquiries I have made to auto electricians reveal that Eberspacher seem to have the market sewn up, no one admitting to knowing anything about compatibles.

 

Personally I am not at all bothered if they are originals or compatibles and wouldn't mind having one in stock as its' failing stops the unit dead.

 

The Eberspacher original part no is 25 1864 01 10 00/2

 

Hi,

 

Being a bit bored at the moment I had a look round...

 

It looks like the plug is also made by the German autoparts maker 'BERU':

 

http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/produ...p;action=step01

http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/gluehkerzen/gh.php

 

It appears the plug is used in a number of heaters for vehicles:

 

http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/produ...p;action=step01

 

This supplier has the plug under the 'GH001' part number for a reasonable price:

 

http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2192

 

cheers,

Pete.

Edited August 14, 2007 by smileypete

[pagan witch]

Hi,

 

This supplier has the plug under the 'GH001' part number for a reasonable price:

 

http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2192

 

cheers,

Pete.

 

BIG, in fact HUGE thanks for the info. Tried Beru's site but had trouble finding it then tried the VWspares site link you supplied and it sure does look the same. Have e-mailed them with the part number for conformation and will let you know the result.

 

Steev

[pagan witch]

BIG, in fact HUGE thanks for the info. Tried Beru's site but had trouble finding it then tried the VWspares site link you supplied and it sure does look the same. Have e-mailed them with the part number for conformation and will let you know the result.

 

Steev

 

They never did reply to either of my 2 e-mails but as it clearly says 'Eberspacher' on the page (I accept it is a 'compatible' despite almost certainly being made by the same company but without the Ebby badge on) I think for £15 I'll take a gamble.

[andywatson]

Hi,

 

Being a bit bored at the moment I had a look round...

 

It looks like the plug is also made by the German autoparts maker 'BERU':

 

http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/produ...p;action=step01

http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/gluehkerzen/gh.php

 

It appears the plug is used in a number of heaters for vehicles:

 

http://www.beru.com/english/produkte/produ...p;action=step01

 

This supplier has the plug under the 'GH001' part number for a reasonable price:

 

http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2192

 

cheers,

Pete.

 

GOOD POST MATEY!

When I see some of the slanging matches on the forum I try to remember that nuggets like this bit of info also crop up.

[Gibbo]

Does anyone know if they are they the same as Mikuni heater plugs?

 

Gibbo

Edited September 22, 2007 by Gibbo

[GUMPY]

Does anyone know if they are they the same as Mikuni heater plugs?

 

Gibbo

 

yes I do know and the answer is NO they are not!

 

Julian

goes away to find bosch part number for mikuni glow plug as thay are £19

 

Having found it its:

 

Bosch Pt No: 0 986 257 008

 

Hope that saves money

Edited September 22, 2007 by idleness

[Gibbo]

yes I do know and the answer is NO they are not!

 

Julian

goes away to find bosch part number for mikuni glow plug as thay are £19

 

Having found it its:

 

Bosch Pt No: 0 986 257 008

 

Hope that saves money

 

That's almost cheap enough to let them burn out once a week instead of keep ripping it out every few days to clean it.

 

I know you reckon yours gives great service. Mine is a sack of shit.

 

Gibbo

[smileypete]

That's almost cheap enough to let them burn out once a week instead of keep ripping it out every few days to clean it.

 

I know you reckon yours gives great service. Mine is a sack of shit.

 

Do they run on different output levels? If so wonder if running on low instead of flat out could promote plug fouling?

 

Maybe Julians boat is fairly big so the heater would be giving it more welly.

 

I'd expect they're OK on road vehicles as the diesel is not so 'heavy' as red AIUI.

 

Also a too long/narrow intake/exhuast could make it run richer than it should.

 

Edit: I'd have thought all the heater 'sees' is the return flow and temperature and the airflow from intake vacuum/exhaust back pressure.

 

cheers,

Pete.

Edited September 22, 2007 by smileypete

[Gibbo]

Do they run on different output levels? If so wonder if running on low instead of flat out could promote plug fouling?

 

Maybe Julians boat is fairly big so the heater would be giving it more welly.

 

I'd expect they're OK on road vehicles as the diesel is not so 'heavy' as red AIUI.

 

Also a too long/narrow intake/exhuast could make it run richer than it should.

 

Edit: I'd have thought all the heater 'sees' is the return flow and temperature and the airflow from intake vacuum/exhaust back pressure.

 

cheers,

Pete.

 

Of course the other way of lookiing at it is...........

 

Most people have nothing but trouble with them.

 

ergo, they are a sack of shit.

 

Gibbo

[smileypete]

Of course the other way of lookiing at it is...........

 

Most people have nothing but trouble with them.

 

ergo, they are a sack of shit.

 

Some people see batteries the same way I bet

 

If you could swap yours for Julian's, I expect yours might work fine in Julians boat and Julians conk out in yours.

 

In other words, it could be down to the install and way it's used. Maybe you need a Mikuni guru to have a look at it.

 

cheers,

Pete.

[Gibbo]

Some people see batteries the same way I bet

 

If you could swap yours for Julian's, I expect yours might work fine in Julians boat and Julians conk out in yours.

 

In other words, it could be down to the install and way it's used. Maybe you need a Mikuni guru to have a look at it.

 

cheers,

Pete.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that your are correct.

 

I just can't work out what and why.

 

It has no inlet pipe so it can't be restricted air flow.

 

The exhaust is about 2 foot 6 long and bigger bore than Mikuni say it should be.

 

The voltage never drops even close to what they say is the low voltage limit.

 

It has a good fuel feed with minimal pipe length, dedicated just to the Mikuni.

 

Yet it still cokes up and burns plugs out for fun.

 

It's got to the point where I strip it down every 10 fire ups. Because if I attempt 15 it burns something out.

 

Sack of shit thing.

 

But of course I know nothing about diesel heaters so it's most likely something dead obvious.

 

Gibbo

[GUMPY]

The main problems that I have seen on mine and others systems:

 

1: if you run a charger at the same time as the Mikuni the charger will spike and take out the plug, took me ages to suss this one....... Mikuni do a gizmo for £60 that stops this its for the MX60 but works on the 40

 

2: as I said earlier the heater should be on a timer and not a stat.

 

3: cycling of the system: when I didnt have a heat leak radiator turned on the calorifier would not soak enough heat from the mikuni to stop it shutting down and then restarting when it had cooled, another cause of failure.

 

4: infrequent use, mine is used every day for 3 hours ones that are only used occasionally get condensation in them and get hard to start.

 

5: fuel quality: I have always treated my fuel with soltron, could this be the answer?

 

 

I doubt if its the size of the boat that makes a differance as I only have one radiator and the calorifier on.

 

 

Julian

[smileypete]

If you could swap yours for Julian's, I expect yours might work fine in Julians boat and Julians conk out in yours.

There is no doubt in my mind that your are correct.

Steady on!

 

As well as what Julian has said some more things to check appear to be:

 

6. Clean swirl holes and gauze when cleaning glow plug.

 

7. Make sure fuel filter is cleaner than clean.

 

8. Switch heat off using the 'call for heat' and let heater do its purging thing for 5-10 mins.

 

 

Beyond all this I'd look into how long the heater takes to reach full operating temp and what that temp is.

 

I expect the load on Julians is well matched to the output to let it heat up quickly without cutting out.

 

How long does yours take after switch on to go into 'half heat' Gibbo? I wonder how long this takes for Julians too.

 

cheers,

Pete.

Edited September 23, 2007 by smileypete

[Gibbo]

There is no doubt in my mind that your are correct. Steady on! As well as what Julian has said some more things to check appear to be:6. Clean swirl holes and gauze when cleaning glow plug.

That seems to be the root of the problem. They get blocked up after about 15 fire ups. I fired up the air motor on its own, with no glow plug in, and there is a good blast of air coming through to the swirl holes so it aint that.

7. Make sure fuel filter is cleaner than clean.

I change it regularly.

8. Switch heat off using the 'call for heat' and let heater do its purging thing for 5-10 mins.Beyond all this I'd look into how long the heater takes to reach full operating temp and what that temp is.

There is a thermostat and time switch installed from new. They are both disabled. I switch it on and off manually.

I expect the load on Julians is well matched to the output to let it heat up quickly without cutting out.How long does yours take after switch on to go into 'half heat' Gibbo? I wonder how long this takes for Julians too.

Depends how hot the water is in the calorifiers (there are two of them) but never less than 3 hours. In winter, with cold calorifiers, it can take 12 hours or so.Once it's running it's fine. I've had it running for a full week (24/7) with no problems. If something is going to go wrong it is ALWAYS on start up. And it is ALWAYS a knackered glow plug with hard metallicy looking stuff all over it, and the same stuff in the gauze shorting the glow plug to the gauze.Gibbo

The main problems that I have seen on mine and others systems:1: if you run a charger at the same time as the Mikuni the charger will spike and take out the plug, took me ages to suss this one....... Mikuni do a gizmo for £60 that stops this its for the MX60 but works on the 40

I shall look into this but it seems doubtful that a spike should coincidentally happen EVERYTIME the Mikuni fires up.

2: as I said earlier the heater should be on a timer and not a stat.

Manuual on/off

3: cycling of the system: when I didnt have a heat leak radiator turned on the calorifier would not soak enough heat from the mikuni to stop it shutting down and then restarting when it had cooled, another cause of failure.

It has never had to switch itself off. It's rare it even drops to low power.

4: infrequent use, mine is used every day for 3 hours ones that are only used occasionally get condensation in them and get hard to start.

Infrequenct use makes it last longer. It's the number of fire ups that kills it. Irrespective of whether that's 15 fire ups in one week or 15 fire ups in 12 months. If I use it everyday I have to strip it down and get all the crap out of the glow plug and surrounding gauze otherwise the glow plug will die within 2 weeks or so.

5: fuel quality: I have always treated my fuel with soltron, could this be the answer?

I suppose it's worth a try. Or just wait til we're all stuck with white diesel which might help.Gibbo

 

When is this bloody website going to stop stealing carriage returns?

Edited September 24, 2007 by Gibbo

[GUMPY]

On the matter of spikes!

with me it didnt do it every time!

When I decided to float my batteries rather than charge/discharge it worked fine but I was blowing a plug about every 10days-2weeks.

it was only when mikuni asked if I had a charger connected the penny dropped that I had changed something.

 

If its deposits on the plug, that sounds like fuel rather than anything else.

 

Julian

[Gibbo]

On the matter of spikes!

with me it didnt do it every time!

When I decided to float my batteries rather than charge/discharge it worked fine but I was blowing a plug about every 10days-2weeks.

it was only when mikuni asked if I had a charger connected the penny dropped that I had changed something.

 

If its deposits on the plug, that sounds like fuel rather than anything else.

 

Julian

 

Will they run on parrafin? I know my engine will (long story).

 

Gibbo

[smileypete]

I expect the load on Julians is well matched to the output to let it heat up quickly without cutting out.

 

How long does yours take after switch on to go into 'half heat' Gibbo? I wonder how long this takes for Julians too.

Depends how hot the water is in the calorifiers (there are two of them) but never less than 3 hours. In winter, with cold calorifiers, it can take 12 hours or so.Once it's running it's fine. I've had it running for a full week (24/7) with no problems.

 

I think your heater is... 'sulphated'!

 

In that the heater is rarely reaching full temperature, or taking too long to get there.

 

A bit like a battery that rarely or never gets charged fully.

 

A new one will cope for a while but not for tooo long...

 

If this is the problem what's needed is a way to allow it to heat up more quickly and to a higher temperature.

 

Possible solutions:

 

1) A simple but by no means fuleproof way would be to have a bypass and valve across the radiators/calorifiers, and let some of the heated water bleed straight back to the heater.

 

2) A better but more costly way would be a thermostat/thermostatic valve like on a car that only lets water through the radiators and calorifier when the heater has heated up.

 

3) Live with it.

 

 

I'd try 1) and if it really helps do 2).

 

When is this bloody website going to stop stealing carriage returns?

Seems to do it when adding a reply and there's already a reply on the end of the thread. For this I just copy the second reply and edit it into the first.

 

cheers,

Pete.

[Gibbo]

Pete that doesn't really tie in with what is going on.

 

To clarify.

 

If I fire up the heater for 30 mins, switch it off for an hour, then fire it up for 30 mins, I can do this about 15 to 20 times (total running time say 10 hours) by which time the glow plug will have failed.

 

I could also do the same thing but have it running for a week each time (so in total it will have run for say 5 months). After 15 to 20 fire ups the glow plug would have failed.

 

I can only avoid this by taking the glow plug out evey 10 or so fire ups and cleaning all the crap off it.

 

I'm reverting back to my old viewpoint. They're a pile of crap

 

Gibbo

Edited September 24, 2007 by Gibbo

[GUMPY]

Will they run on parrafin? I know my engine will (long story).

 

Gibbo

 

I have been told by Mikuni that they will run on heating oil with slightly reduced output power.

Also Bio diesel

 

Heating oil is cleaner then red diesel so that may solve your problem.

 

Julian

[smileypete]

If I fire up the heater for 30 mins, switch it off for an hour, then fire it up for 30 mins, I can do this about 15 to 20 times (total running time say 10 hours) by which time the glow plug will have failed.

 

I could also do the same thing but have it running for a week each time (so in total it will have run for say 5 months). After 15 to 20 fire ups the glow plug would have failed.

 

I can only avoid this by taking the glow plug out evey 10 or so fire ups and cleaning all the crap off it.

 

I'm reverting back to my old viewpoint. They're a pile of crap

I see.

 

Sounds like it's only getting clagged on cold starts/running cold.

 

 

Some ideas:

 

Fuel delivery: How is the fuel atomised? Is that bit working OK?

 

Fuel contamination: Try running it directly off a fresh can (clean!) of white from a garage. If that's OK try a fresh can of red.

 

Fuel workaround 1: If the above isn't good enough try warming fuel pipe (gently!) with hair dryer to see if that helps.

 

Fuel workaround 2: If the above isn't good enough try starting it on white or paraffin/modified red (IF OK!) to see if that helps.

 

 

I'd agree your's is probably crap and the above shouldn't be needed but I'd try out some cheap tests/workarounds, before expensive things like junking it or sending it for overhaul.

 

If its deposits on the plug, that sounds like fuel rather than anything else.

 

How long does yours take to go into 'low' after a cold start? With Gibbos problem maybe the less time it spends running cold the better.

 

cheers,

Pete.

[GUMPY]

How long does yours take to go into 'low' after a cold start? With Gibbos problem maybe the less time it spends running cold the better.

 

I think about 1/2 - 1 hour depending on how many rads I have on, but to be honest I cant remember as I am always asleep when it comes on.

I know that by 6am its on low and thats 2 hours after it comes on.

 

 

J

[Sir Nibble]

You really would have thought that folks like Mikuni and eberspacher would have got their combustion science right by now wouldn't you.

[smileypete]

5: fuel quality: I have always treated my fuel with soltron, could this be the answer?

This could be the key thing in Gibbo's case, his particular Mikuni might not run OK on plain red.

 

Eberspacher (not Mikuni I know) themselves recommend a fuel additive with red:

 

http://www.eberspacher.com/faq.php?section=support

 

"In answer to your servicing questions our heaters have a service interval of approximately 2000 hrs, this can be adversely affected by the use of Gas Oil (non BS EN 590), bacterial or water contamination. We have many customers who have taken onboard the advice we have given in the past regarding additives and now have far longer service intervals. These additives are ‘Fuel Set’ & ‘Fultron’ and are available from all good chandlers and stockists."

 

If it works OK on white I'd give an additive a try.

 

Additives get a mention in this thread here:

 

http://www.the-norfolk-broads.co.uk/printt...&Topic=3120

 

Some technical stuff here:

 

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?...9446&page=2

 

cheers,

Pete.

Edited September 25, 2007 by smileypete

[Cinimod]

Julian

goes away to find bosch part number for mikuni glow plug as thay are £19

 

Having found it its:

 

Bosch Pt No: 0 986 257 008

 

Hope that saves money

 

By any chance do you know another manufacturer which is equivalent... or where to get these from... not had a lot of joy.

 

Thanks