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Hydronic diesel heater repair


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1 minute ago, rgriffiths said:

Does anyone know where to get one of these repaired/serviced? There is white smoke coming from it and while there are lots of videos showing how to service it yourself I wouldn't mind a professional to take a look. 

 

 

Best to say where you are, then!!

 

You glow plug is busted, I reckon.

 

 

 

On reflection, you might just have a flat battery.  Try starting it with the engine running.

 

 

 

What make and model is it anyway?!

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, rgriffiths said:

I am in London. Happy to post it. It does fire up but smoke is seen coming out of the sides and the air filter. 

 

Oh dear, that sounds terminal. You really mean smoke, not unburned fuel?

 

"Hydronic" is not a brand or model of heater AFAIK. You need to say what it is for anyone to suggest a repair specialist. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the tip.

 

I ended up sending it to https://www.bowersautomotive.co.uk - very nice guys. They told me it was the blower and possibly aslo the board. They changed and tested the blower first and it still didn't work. And so it was a decision of either a new blower and board, or a new unit. There would not be a huge price difference.

 

So we took a deep breath and went for the new unit hoping we might be able to do something with the old one selling for parts. New one was just under £1000 and repair about £850. Hopefully this one will last!

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17 hours ago, rgriffiths said:

Thanks for the tip.

 

I ended up sending it to https://www.bowersautomotive.co.uk - very nice guys. They told me it was the blower and possibly aslo the board. They changed and tested the blower first and it still didn't work. And so it was a decision of either a new blower and board, or a new unit. There would not be a huge price difference.

 

So we took a deep breath and went for the new unit hoping we might be able to do something with the old one selling for parts. New one was just under £1000 and repair about £850. Hopefully this one will last!

Useful to know.  Good to hear it's resolved - pricing looks competitive too.

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7 hours ago, GRLMK38 said:

Useful to know.  Good to hear it's resolved - pricing looks competitive too.

Only if they were right, and they weren't right the first time when they changed the blower, we're they.  Replacing the whole unit ought to result in something that works, true, but what if it wasn't actually the board either, but something else? :(

 

You can probably tell I'm not a big fan of the "let's throw one of those at it and see if it fixes it" approach to diagnostics and repair! ;)

 

(To be fair, the diagnosis might be fair and the course of action credible, but reports like  "They told me it was the blower and possibly aslo the board" dont fill me with confidence.)

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1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Only if they were right, and they weren't right the first time when they changed the blower, we're they.  Replacing the whole unit ought to result in something that works, true, but what if it wasn't actually the board either, but something else? :(

 

You can probably tell I'm not a big fan of the "let's throw one of those at it and see if it fixes it" approach to diagnostics and repair! ;)

 

(To be fair, the diagnosis might be fair and the course of action credible, but reports like  "They told me it was the blower and possibly aslo the board" dont fill me with confidence.)

True - my point was in relation for a replacement for under £1000 on the basis I thought they more.  Their relay and alternator pricing is certainly less than a supplier I have used in the past.  

 

Presumably they could have tested the blower on the bench?  They are after all an Eberspacher agent.

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4 minutes ago, GRLMK38 said:

True - my point was in relation for a replacement for under £1000 on the basis I thought they more.  Their relay and alternator pricing is certainly less than a supplier I have used in the past.  

 

Presumably they could have tested the blower on the bench?  They are after all an Eberspacher agent.

Oh I agree - the replacement does sound good value.  I did footnote that the diagnosis may also have been credible, and likely enough it was here.

 

Can't help my alarm sounding every time I hear expensive component changes being the diagnostic method though! :)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 02/11/2019 at 17:46, Sea Dog said:

Can't help my alarm sounding every time I hear expensive component changes being the diagnostic method though! :)

My cousin was a TV repair man once upon a time. He gave it up when the ‘fix’ was to swap boards until the problem went away. It seems that no-one does component level diagnostics and repair these days.
 

I recall changing a surface mount transistor on a £30k broadcast video camera back in the 90’s (once I could track one down) because Sony’s fix was a £1500 replacement board. 

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43 minutes ago, WotEver said:

My cousin was a TV repair man once upon a time. He gave it up when the ‘fix’ was to swap boards until the problem went away. It seems that no-one does component level diagnostics and repair these days.

Yes, me too. I have fond memories of searching the inside of the TV to find the component that had gone up in smoke or melted!

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1 hour ago, Keeping Up said:

Yes, me too. I have fond memories of searching the inside of the TV to find the component that had gone up in smoke or melted!

My favourite story was the lady who explained that ‘the picture is dripping out of the back of the TV and getting smaller and smaller’. When my cousin went to visit he found a little pile of melted wax on the Lino behind the TV which had come from a failing cap in the HT circuit, causing the frame to slowly collapse. :D

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One of my favourites was an old lady who got us to collect her tv for repair, tying a label to it that said "I can see two of everything." Sure enough the horizontal hold was way out of adjustment, displaying two identical images side-by-side. We easily fixed it, and before sending it back the boss wrote on the back of the label "No fault found, no charge, try taking more water with your evening drinks"

  • Happy 1
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2 hours ago, WotEver said:

It seems that no-one does component level diagnostics and repair these days.

Yep. I recall the Navy changing the repair philosophy from component level diagnosis and the ability to manufacture to repair by replacement of the lowest unit. Shortly afterwards, we ended the lengthy and expensive training of Artificers and went instead for a significantly shorter and shallower training package and a resultant de-skilling to Technician. Still good guys and girls mark you, but the world had moved on. 

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16 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Yep. I recall the Navy changing the repair philosophy from component level diagnosis and the ability to manufacture to repair by replacement of the lowest unit. Shortly afterwards, we ended the lengthy and expensive training of Artificers and went instead for a significantly shorter and shallower training package and a resultant de-skilling to Technician. Still good guys and girls mark you, but the world had moved on. 

Were you a 'Tiff'? (Hoiks up a grolly and spits it out)

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How much do you want for the old Eberspacher? As an ex 'tiff' myself I have just sorted my own out. Only did it last week. Where in London are you , should you be willling to part with it.....and finally, if you are, have you got the controller/timer and the loom?  If you are close enough I can pop down and remove them. 

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