Smoking Webasto Thermo Top C

[Markinaboat]

You can get a guaranteed refurb for around £400. 

[Rick P]

On 21/05/2021 at 08:47, Mike Adams said:

The change in motor note could be due to fluctuation in supply voltage (when the ceramic heater goes on you could get a voltage drop), or it could be a bad connection or the motor going out but is could also be due to water entering the combustion chamber, turning to steam,increasing the pressure in the combustion chamber and making the fan work harder. If you disconnect the fuel supply from the burner and try  listening to the fan running that may give you an indication as to the source of the problem. There are numerous versions of these heaters but most of the mechanical/electrical parts are similar the main variations seem to be with the control circuit board. I had a feeling you could get just an exchange unit from Webasto.

Thanks, Mike. I'll try running it with no fuel supply connected. I hope to get a diagnostic kit soon, which will allow me to run the fan in isolation, but it's being posted from Bulgaria, so may not arrive in time.

[Tonka]

On 21/05/2021 at 11:46, Markinaboat said:

You can get a guaranteed refurb for around £400. 

Marine one ? Where from ?

[Matt R]

On 29/03/2021 at 20:44, Rick P said:

My Webasto Thermo Top C is smoking, settings off the CO alarms and turns itself off after a few minutes. I'm wondering what the likely cause is and whether it is worth repairing or whether it is time I replaced it. Please, could anybody with experience with these post their thoughts.

 

The Webasto unit still heats the radiators (when it is not shutting itself down) and the exhaust vents are not blocked. However, over the last few days of use it has quickly gone downhill.

 

An experienced service engineer looked at it and noticed that there was diesel dripping onto the exhaust. He fixed the leak and instructed me to to run the heater for a couple of hours in order to burn off any excess diesel from the exhaust jacket. At the time the fumes seemed to emanate from the exhaust. However, after running for about 1-2 hours the unit shut itself down again and then, after a few restarts, it would only run for a few minutes and plumes of smoke and vapour could clearly be seen jetting from gaps in the units case and from under the units lid. (The engineer had gone home by then.) On occasions the smoke smelt sweet, as if it included burnt anti-freeze. At other times it just smells smokey.

 

So, I have a choice. I'm required to rely on the marina for all engineering work that I don't do myself, whilst the boat is in the marina and they are recommending a removal of the unit for service and fixing. However, I'm expecting this to be expensive and if the unit is at the end of it's natural life then I'm wondering whether I'd be better off cutting my losses and replacing it with a new one. I don't know how old the unit is, we've only owned the boat for 7 months.

 

I'd be grateful if you've seen a similar issue and know what it might be, to help me decide what to do.

 

Here's a couple of videos of the unit running. At this stage the unit was able to operate for a few hours and the smoke wasn't yet emitting from the case in any noticeable amount, it seemed to come from the exhaust and only a little from the case. It has gone downhill since.

 

https://youtu.be/P5FCNUOd0Ro

https://youtu.be/p7kLH1zPb5E
 

Thanks for any help and thoughts that you want to share.

Hi do you have a number of an experienced webasto engineer for narrowboat? 

On 29/03/2021 at 20:58, GRLMK38 said:

 

It doesn't sound as if you do.

 

To give you a rough idea, I am aware of a Webasto Top C being replaced with a new Eberspacher Hydronic S3 D4 12V Kit.  The kit was £1350 from Midland Chandlers and a local engineer charged £350 to remove the old one, replace and test the new one.  For the same work, another "provider" quoted nearly £3k.

Hi do you have a number for rhe guy who serviced your unit, installed it etc? 

[Markinaboat]

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Edited September 13, 2023 by Markinaboat
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