Hurricane Heater

[CJR]

OK. So I know we have praised the Hurricane for being bullet proof and will work in all situations .... well...it has stopped and will not restart.

Calcutt Boats is shut until next Monday, so it seems I can't get any spares or help till then. Bloody holidays!! I suspect it is the thermal cut off which shuts down the fuel supply, or the compressor but can't be sure till I speak to someone in the know.

Anyone from Calcutt reading this that we can speak to?!

[blackrose]

They are all toys.

 

Sorry I know that doesn't help you. I know someone else whose Hurricane packed up. I think he got someone in and got it going again but none of these type of diesel heater are reliable. Why do we bother with them?

Edited December 28, 2010 by blackrose

[jelunga]

They are all toys.

 

Sorry I know that doesn't help you. I know someone else whose Hurricane packed up. I think he got someone in and got it going again but none of these type of diesel heater are reliable. Why do we bother with them?

 

Because they are like Politicians - They offer and promise so much, but when elected / bought they do not live up to their promises. But now they are there you cannot get rid of them until the a) next election or you have saved up more money.

 

And even then, at the next Election or when you have saved the money, you will vote for / buy another lying bastard that is just the same as the previous one!!

 

K

[Pretty Funked Up]

Because they are like Politicians - They offer and promise so much, but when elected / bought they do not live up to their promises. But now they are there you cannot get rid of them until the a) next election or you have saved up more money.

 

And even then, at the next Election or when you have saved the money, you will vote for / buy another lying bastard that is just the same as the previous one!!

 

K

 

Brilliant analogy 10 outta 10

[pearley]

I recall 2 or 3 years ago a thread about how susceptible the later versions of the Hurricane were to low voltage.

[RichardH]

OK. So I know we have praised the Hurricane for being bullet proof and will work in all situations .... well...it has stopped and will not restart.

Calcutt Boats is shut until next Monday, so it seems I can't get any spares or help till then. Bloody holidays!! I suspect it is the thermal cut off which shuts down the fuel supply, or the compressor but can't be sure till I speak to someone in the know.

Anyone from Calcutt reading this that we can speak to?!

 

Try Chas Hardern, he uses Hurricanes on his fleet

[alan_fincher]

I recall 2 or 3 years ago a thread about how susceptible the later versions of the Hurricane were to low voltage.

Well remembered that man!

 

At least one thread on it here

 

If you have a fairly accurate volt meter worth checking at least, surely ?

[Bat & Frog]

Why is this forum so happy to slag every thing off, one person has a problems and everyone jumps on the bandwaggon like a bunch of Lemmings. We were looking on the Hurricane after a recomendation from a friend. They had a little problem at the start, but have been using this succcessfully for over 3 years. Speaking to varoius people with Webasto/ Ebascky the main prob seems to be poor setup or trying to use it for something it wasn't designed for. So many plonkers wanting to blame the kit and take no fault ! Rant over !

[Pretty Funked Up]

Why is this forum so happy to slag every thing off, one person has a problems and everyone jumps on the bandwaggon like a bunch of Lemmings. We were looking on the Hurricane after a recomendation from a friend. They had a little problem at the start, but have been using this succcessfully for over 3 years. Speaking to varoius people with Webasto/ Ebascky the main prob seems to be poor setup or trying to use it for something it wasn't designed for. So many plonkers wanting to blame the kit and take no fault ! Rant over !

 

The main problem i see for them is their working conditions. If they were on constanly and never let the boat go below 15 degress, I reckon they would work perfectly for ages. Ask them to come on at 0 or even minus something etc. them they are going to coke up as the the moisture condenses in the chamber. Its much the same as cleaning flu and throat on a fire.

 

But then comes the issue of power, they suck a hell of a lot of juice and diesel is expensive. these 2 things put the nail in the coffin for me.

 

That said I preferred decoking my eber over cleaning flu etc

[CJR]

Why is this forum so happy to slag every thing off, one person has a problems and everyone jumps on the bandwaggon like a bunch of Lemmings. We were looking on the Hurricane after a recomendation from a friend. They had a little problem at the start, but have been using this succcessfully for over 3 years. Speaking to varoius people with Webasto/ Ebascky the main prob seems to be poor setup or trying to use it for something it wasn't designed for. So many plonkers wanting to blame the kit and take no fault ! Rant over !

 

 

This 'poor set up' option seems to be a good get out clause from some suppliers! It is still to be proven as to how good these are - there have not been enough in use to determine an overall picture of how good they are (as Blackrose has said). We have been using the Hurricane for 3 years now and had a few initial teething problems but has been running fine since. It is not the low voltage problem that others have mentioned either. I am concluding that it is either the compressor or the thermal cut off which according to our manual cannot be re-set.

Ours is showing a 'flame out' diagnostic code which could mean a componant failure which we then have to diagnose ourselves. I have done several checks and am unsure if the thermal cut off shuts off the fuel and the compressor, or if it is just the compressor.

The reason we chose Hurricane over Webasto, was that we had read reports of unrealiability in Webastos and being in Ireland we knew we needed maximum reliability. On the flip side, now that we are having problems it is very awkward for us to get parts from another country and speak to others who may have the same heater as us here. We rely on this forum for news, help and info in locating parts etc. So I welcome ALL comments!

Edited December 29, 2010 by CJR

[blackrose]

Why is this forum so happy to slag every thing off, one person has a problems and everyone jumps on the bandwaggon like a bunch of Lemmings. We were looking on the Hurricane after a recomendation from a friend. They had a little problem at the start, but have been using this succcessfully for over 3 years. Speaking to varoius people with Webasto/ Ebascky the main prob seems to be poor setup or trying to use it for something it wasn't designed for. So many plonkers wanting to blame the kit and take no fault ! Rant over !

 

I don't think the forum slags everything off, just the things that have been shown over time to be unreliable.

 

Nobody's slagging off solid fuel stoves for example because they seldom go wrong.

 

The record of eberspachers, webastos and mikunis speaks for itself (I'm not jumping on any bandwaggon - I speak from personal experience), and although hurricanes seem to be a bit more reliable I have heard enough anecdotes to add them to the list.

Edited December 29, 2010 by blackrose

[sharpness]

The record of eberspachers, webastos and mikunis speaks for itself (I'm not jumping on any bandwaggon - I speak from personal experience), and although hurricanes seem to be a bit more reliable I have heard enough anecdotes to add them to the list.

 

No it doesnt, I too speak from experience & mine is the opposite from yours. Our Mikuni has never let us down yet except one low voltage event. I do think though that a lot of problems can be caused cutting corners on the installation.

 

Steve

[bristol & argo]

OK. So I know we have praised the Hurricane for being bullet proof and will work in all situations .... well...it has stopped and will not restart.

Calcutt Boats is shut until next Monday, so it seems I can't get any spares or help till then. Bloody holidays!! I suspect it is the thermal cut off which shuts down the fuel supply, or the compressor but can't be sure till I speak to someone in the know.

Anyone from Calcutt reading this that we can speak to?!

 

Have you checked through this lot of info..itr heat link

 

something there may be usefull.

 

 

I've now done some reading, try this one and fault find yourself...huricane training manual link

 

Simon.

Edited December 30, 2010 by bristol & argo

[CJR]

Have you checked through this lot of info..itr heat link

 

something there may be usefull.

 

Simon.

 

 

Hi Simon. Thanks for the link - we have already seen this and downloaded it onto the ipod for easy viewing. It seems to be a fuel and air problem, but we will have to wait till Monday before we can get parts and speak to the supplier.

Cheers everyone anyway. Thank god for the Morso Squirrel to keep us warm!

 

Just saw your second link - that manual looks useful I have not seen it before. I am about to digest....many thanks!

Edited December 30, 2010 by CJR

[Bat & Frog]

Just a thought, have you checked the diesel supply to make sure its not gelling, the heater wouldn't be able to draw the fuel through.

[blackrose]

No it doesnt, I too speak from experience & mine is the opposite from yours. Our Mikuni has never let us down yet except one low voltage event. Steve

 

I've heard lots of stories of mikunis going wrong and that I'm afraid is a record of unreliability. If yours hasn't gone wrong then that's great, I'm sure there are also webastos and eberspachers out there which have yet to fail. I'm afraid none of that diminishes the general record of this type of heater.

Edited January 1, 2011 by blackrose

[CJR]

Hurray! The expensive beast lives! I called Calcutt today and one of their engineers kindly called me back (on a Bank Holiday too) and ran through lots of probable causes and tests, and we came to the same conclussion of the compressor not functioning. I asked how much a new compressor would be and was told £230 plus VAT (which is going up tomorrow with the VAT increases!) - so thought I would just bench test it first before parting with lots of cash! And behold - the compressor was dead when tested with a battery. Took apart the motor of said compressor and found lots of black dust inside, so cleaned it out with an airline, re-assembled and VOILA it is working again!!

 

I have no idea how long it will work for though, as something is obviously wearing out inside. It has done 2000 hours so wonder what could be wearing down inside to cause the dust, and would it be repairable or do we need a whole new compressor?

 

It is going to be interesting to see how the cost of parts and reliability of the Hurricane compare to the overall cost and reliability of the webasto and similar burners... there are several parts in the hurricane which could go wrong and be very expensive by the look of things. In the 3 years running, we have had only 2 things go wrong - the circulation pump last year and now the compressor so maybe we are judging too early.

[davidandheather]

They are all toys.

 

Sorry I know that doesn't help you. I know someone else whose Hurricane packed up. I think he got someone in and got it going again but none of these type of diesel heater are reliable. Why do we bother with them?

 

Crap our Hurricane has been working for 5 years with no problems

[blackrose]

You're obviously one of the lucky ones. My eberspacher worked perfectly for 4 years before it packed up.

Edited January 5, 2011 by blackrose

[steelaway]

Unlike solid fuel stoves they do need servicing. If you choose to ignore that fact, it going to go wrong and fail.

Properly maintained they run trouble free for years.

Unlike a fire its a sophisticated bit of kit, but you dont need to revert back to pre historic times to get some heat. Nor do you have to empty the bloody thing of ash - every day.

 

Alex

[blackrose]

Unlike solid fuel stoves they do need servicing. If you choose to ignore that fact, it going to go wrong and fail.

Properly maintained they run trouble free for years.

Unlike a fire its a sophisticated bit of kit, but you dont need to revert back to pre historic times to get some heat. Nor do you have to empty the bloody thing of ash - every day.

 

Alex

 

But even if you do the servicing on some of these diesel heaters they still go wrong! I know people who've had webastos properly serviced by the professionals at great cost only for them to go wrong again a few weeks later.

[CJR]

Out of interest, daveandheather how many hours running time and is it used daily. cheers

Edited January 6, 2011 by CJR

[MoominPapa]

And behold - the compressor was dead when tested with a battery. Took apart the motor of said compressor and found lots of black dust inside, so cleaned it out with an airline, re-assembled and VOILA it is working again!!

 

I have no idea how long it will work for though, as something is obviously wearing out inside. It has done 2000 hours so wonder what could be wearing down inside to cause the dust, and would it be repairable or do we need a whole new compressor?

Is the dust from the carbon brushes? If they're badly worn it won't go for long, but they should be easy and cheap to replace as long as you can source bits.

 

MP.

[Mick_B]

Hi Chris. Just saw this thread. I would agree with MP. The first thing I thought of when hearing "black dust" was brushes. If this is the case should be a sipmple fix and at 2000 hours to be expected. Then happy out for another 3 years. Can't believe it's been that long mate. Doesn't time fly :-)