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Cleaning the Webasto / Eberspacher Central Heating System


JoeC

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My Webasto was put into my 2001 boat 3 years ago by the previous owner - it replaced a faulty Eberspacher - and I have had the boat one year.

Recently I got the metal central heating header tank replaced with a clear plastic one and it is showing scum marks within it which I am guessing means that the coolant is not good. It has got blue MEG antifreeze in it so is due to be changed anyway. Should I put a household central heating cleaner in it to help clean the system prior to flushing and then putting in new MEG antifreeze? Or should I just drain, fill with water and run it for a while, drain and then fill with antifreeze?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Joe

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We had a similar, not the same, issue recently. Replaced Alde gas boiler with an Eberspacher diesel. Lots of crud etc. ended up replacing the rads and pipework. The muck mucked up the Eberspacher all the time even though we drained and refilled a number of times. All okay now, touch wood. 

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13 minutes ago, blackrose said:

If you're changing the antifreeze and flushing out the system why not replace it with red 5 year antifreeze rather than the same 2 year stuff? You can also extend the life of your antifreeze by adding Ankorsol.

 

https://www.ashleypower.co.uk/morris-ankorsol-anti-corrosion-fluid

Why not put Central Heating Anti Freeze in

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I bought some central heating anti freeze, not cheap. Mentioned to an Eberspacher ‘expert’ and he said it’s a very big no no. It doesn’t do the unit any good at all. Now got bog standard antifreeze.

 

Anyone want nearly five litres of CH anti freeze.

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2 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

I bought some central heating anti freeze, not cheap. Mentioned to an Eberspacher ‘expert’ and he said it’s a very big no no. It doesn’t do the unit any good at all. Now got bog standard antifreeze.

 

Anyone want nearly five litres of CH anti freeze.

That is strange. I was advised to use central heating antifreeze by a Webasto agent

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I've been using a 30% concentration of Ford Premium Longlife 10 year antifreeze in my Webasto for the last 9 years without any issues.

 

I check it annually by drawing a sample and leaving a nail in it to see if it goes rusty. So far it hasn't.

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What I have learnt so far from various places and engineers :

 

- Don't use household central heating system cleaners as they are not designed for a boat system and could do damage.

- You could use vehicle radiator flush but make sure all fluid is well drained, fully flushed through afterwards otherwise it will weaken the new anti-freeze.

- You could drain down, flush, fill with water and run that for a while to give a bit of extra clean. Then drain down and fill with anti-freeze.

- Only use MEG anti freeze.

- An engineer said do 50/50 dilution.

- Dilute BEFORE adding to the system.

 

Hope that helps.

Joe

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2 hours ago, JoeC said:

What I have learnt so far from various places and engineers :

 

- Don't use household central heating system cleaners as they are not designed for a boat system and could do damage.

- You could use vehicle radiator flush but make sure all fluid is well drained, fully flushed through afterwards otherwise it will weaken the new anti-freeze.

- You could drain down, flush, fill with water and run that for a while to give a bit of extra clean. Then drain down and fill with anti-freeze.

- Only use MEG anti freeze.

- An engineer said do 50/50 dilution.

- Dilute BEFORE adding to the system.

 

Hope that helps.

Joe

 

I initially used a 50% solution in my Webasto and the radiators wouldn't get hot. Following @Tony Brooks advice i diluted it to 30% (which still provides adequate protection against freezing in the UK} and all worked as it should.

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Just now, cuthound said:

 

I initially used a 50% solution in my Webasto and the radiators wouldn't get hot. Following @Tony Brooks advice i diluted it to 30% (which still provides adequate protection against freezing in the UK} and all worked as it should.

 

To be honest, I can't see why it did not work unless there were some unmixed water or weak mixture already in the system. However, as antifreeze has a lower specific heat capacity compared with water, 50% would take less heat from the boiler than a 30% mixture. That might cause a shutdown caused by combustion (not liquid) temperature overheat.

 

50% worked fine on my Ellis and Alde 2928 gas boilers. One gravity circulated and the other pumped.

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3 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

To be honest, I can't see why it did not work unless there were some unmixed water or weak mixture already in the system. However, as antifreeze has a lower specific heat capacity compared with water, 50% would take less heat from the boiler than a 30% mixture. That might cause a shutdown caused by combustion (not liquid) temperature overheat.

 

50% worked fine on my Ellis and Alde 2928 gas boilers. One gravity circulated and the other pumped.

 

There was no unmixed antifreeze as I filled the system after mixing the water and antifreeze. Perhaps the 50% solution caused the boiler to shutdown, because I could get the radiators hot by heating them with a hot air gun (on the advice of a friend who is a heating technician) after which the heating worked perfectly until I turned the system off, after which the radiators again refused to get hot, only warm.

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On 23/03/2023 at 17:00, JoeC said:

What I have learnt so far from various places and engineers :

 

- Don't use household central heating system cleaners as they are not designed for a boat system and could do damage.

- You could use vehicle radiator flush but make sure all fluid is well drained, fully flushed through afterwards otherwise it will weaken the new anti-freeze.

- You could drain down, flush, fill with water and run that for a while to give a bit of extra clean. Then drain down and fill with anti-freeze.

- Only use MEG anti freeze.

- An engineer said do 50/50 dilution.

- Dilute BEFORE adding to the system.

 

Hope that helps.

Joe

Use deionised water to mix with the antifreeze, tap water contains to many minerals.

Deionised water is notvexpensive.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152632387563?

Less than £16 for 25Litres

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On 24/03/2023 at 17:28, Loddon said:

Use deionised water to mix with the antifreeze, tap water contains to many minerals.

Deionised water is notvexpensive.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152632387563?

Less than £16 for 25Litres

When I was at work we always topped out engine coolant systems up with deionised water 

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