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Webasto problem


James1

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Hi, hope somebody maybe able to give me some advice. 
 

I have a Webasto system fitted on my narrowboat but can’t get any heat to come through the radiators at present!

 

The system feeds 5 radiators including bathroom. 

 

Can anybody suggest anything to try?

 

The Webasto runs and gets very hot, the pump is running and I can feel water moving in one of the pipes. I have disconnected the pipe to the pump to allow water out and pushed the pipe back in to clear any air lock, which there didn’t appear to be any. 
 

I’ve bled all the radiators on the boat and there doesn’t appear to be any air coming out.

 

The header tank is full and the Webasto keeps running and doesn’t cut out. 
 

I don’t know the system very well as I’ve only recently purchased the boat. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated?

 

Thanks. 

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1 minute ago, Tony Brooks said:

No mention of how long you have had it running. IT may take a fair while to start to heat the radiators so how long have you had it running for at any one time?

That is a good point, there is a lot of water to heat up, mine takes about 20mins before they feel at all warm.

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Hi,

many thanks for this advice both. Each radiator valve is open but I haven’t checked the calorifier for any valve so I will give that a go later.

 

Ive run it for around 20 minutes, and the engine had already been on all day cruising, so already hot water. 
 

So it should have started to heat the radiators within those 20 mins with already hot water? 

 

 

 

 

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My system has isolation valves fitted to adjust water volume to both the cauliflower circuit and the heating. As others have said look for valves and they Coul be in an obscure place and may be the crappy ones adjusted by a screwdriver so harder to see. It does sound like that or an air blockage. Is the header tank at a correct level?  Ahh u say tank is full. 

Edited by mrsmelly
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1 hour ago, James1 said:

Hi,

many thanks for this advice both. Each radiator valve is open but I haven’t checked the calorifier for any valve so I will give that a go later.

 

Ive run it for around 20 minutes, and the engine had already been on all day cruising, so already hot water. 
 

So it should have started to heat the radiators within those 20 mins with already hot water? 

 

 

 

 

You say you have checked each radiator valve. There should be 2 valves on each radiator, one being a lockshield to enable balancing the system.  20 minutes is hardly long enough to heat 5 radiators much with the very cold temperatures we have at the moment.

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It takes mine at least an hour for my system (calorifier / cauliflower 3 very large single rads and one double) to get even tepid and that sometimes is after cruising all day. This latter demonstrates that even if the hot water part is hot there's very little heat gain (if any) into the radiator system. I assume it's the way life is, so you're not alone

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Thanks for the tips. I’ve checked the Calorfier and I can only see one value which has a screw to turn and that is in the on position... I can’t see any other valves on it. I checked for an air blockage (bled radiators and took the pipe off connecting to the pump on the webasto. 
 

still no joy :(

 

I will put the system on for a few hours and and see what happens. 

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17 minutes ago, James1 said:

Thanks for the tips. I’ve checked the Calorfier and I can only see one value which has a screw to turn and that is in the on position... I can’t see any other valves on it. I checked for an air blockage (bled radiators and took the pipe off connecting to the pump on the webasto. 
 

still no joy :(

 

I will put the system on for a few hours and and see what happens. 

You have a very odd system if you only have one valve on each radiator.  I suggest you turn off the valve to the calorifier to force the water around the radiator circuit. This would at least prove that the pump is moving the water or not.

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5 minutes ago, Flyboy said:

You have a very odd system if you only have one valve on each radiator.  I suggest you turn off the valve to the calorifier to force the water around the radiator circuit. This would at least prove that the pump is moving the water or not.

Umm - isn't he referring to the colliflower and not the radiators in the above?

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I’ve checked all the radiator valves (2) and I can only find one valve on the calorfier and that is in the correct position. I’ve also adjusted to off to see if anything happens and then put it back into the on position but still no joy. 

I had the system running for around 1.5 hours but the radiators are completely stone cold. 
 

I guess there must the some

sort of fault on the webasto unit it’s self? 
 

I guess that could be an expensive job.. 

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3 minutes ago, James1 said:

I guess there must the some

sort of fault on the webasto unit it’s self? 

If it’s running and getting hot then I’d say there’s nowt wrong with it. Follow the pipes and try to draw out how the heat is supposed to flow around the circuit. 

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8 minutes ago, James1 said:

I’ve checked all the radiator valves (2) and I can only find one valve on the calorfier and that is in the correct position. I’ve also adjusted to off to see if anything happens and then put it back into the on position but still no joy. 

I had the system running for around 1.5 hours but the radiators are completely stone cold. 
 

I guess there must the some

sort of fault on the webasto unit it’s self? 
 

I guess that could be an expensive job.. 

Maybe the pumps running but the impeller is not.  The heat must be going somewhere if it runs for 1.5 hours. The unit would shut down if not.

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30 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

How do you know the Webasto is running?  

Is the pump external to the Webasto?

I am not sure that I understand when you say the valve is in the "correct" position?

He says the Webasto is getting hot.  Maybe it is but then shutting down due to not pumping around the system.

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I can hear it running and also the pump. The pump to be position next to the webasto unit in the engine bay. 
The system ran for about 1.5hrs and the exhaust was hot and I could feel the hot air coming out of the exhaust pipe. 
 

The Webasto unit is getting very hot, and I can feel the pump running and one of the pipes getting hot. When I say valve in the correct position I mean that the screw is in line with the pipe, to allow the water though on the calorfier. The screw isn’t turned so the value is off. 
 

I just can’t work out why it’s not pumping it around the radiators? I will try and follow the pipe feed as far as I can tomorrow. 
 

thanks again for the all advise and suggestions from everyone. 

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1. The water is taking a line of least resistance through the cauliflower?

2. There is a valve to the rads you haven't found?

3. The rads were topped up with neat AF giving AF/thin AF blockages?

 

Do you have another pump in the system in addition to the pump in the Webasto unit itself? Is it a marine Webasto or an "ebayed" diy job?

Which model is it?

Just thoughts trying to help until an expert arrives.

Edited by system 4-50
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1 hour ago, system 4-50 said:

How do you know the Webasto is running?  

Is the pump external to the Webasto?

I am not sure that I understand when you say the valve is in the "correct" position?

Any easy way to confirm if the Webasto is working or not is to put your hand in front of but NOT too close to the Webasto exhaust.  Mine is about 200c up close, so it is very hot.

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Are the flow and return pipes that the radiators are connected to getting hot?

 

If so then the problem is with the radiators. I had this when the antifreeze mix in my heating system was 50%. I drained it, reduced it to 25% strength and refilled and bled the system and it then worked fine.

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