eberspacher electrical misery

[BlueStringPudding]

Thanks for the advice. I'm retaining the old silencer. But will order decent clamps and things.

[p6rob]

Hi Chubby,

 

If your Eber shuts down within 10 seconds, dollars to donuts it wants more volts or amps than your battery bank has available. If it worked one night, then not the next morning, how many other things were running (tv, fridge, lights, etc) between switching the Eber off and back on? All these will have reduced the amount of volts and amps available.

Run the engine for 10 minutes, then (with the engine still running) try and start the eber and let us know what happens.

If it then runs, consider adding an extra battery to your battery bank

If it still won't run, try adding an extra negative lead between the battery bank and your Eberspacher.

If it still won't run, consider either fitting a timer/controller with on-board diagnostics or paying for an engineer to sort it all out.

 

The fuel pump doesn't get activated until 90 seconds has passed. So I don't think you need to look at the fuel side of things, yet.

The relay to the right of BSP's wiring box is used to energise a blower circuit, eg water to air heat exchangers, it has nothing to do with the control side of the eber.

 

BSP, I've bought quite a few eberspacher parts on eBay from angliapostalparts2012 they have the right exhausts, lagging and clips.

 

 

Good luck

 

Rob

[chubby]

Cheers guys

 

ok . Last ditch . I ll run the engine when i return from work & try to fire it up . Its the big mystery about this heater - all the symptoms suggest low voltage but all the tests indicate sufficient volts .

Thers v little else running off the batts . No fridge . Bit of 12 tv & pumps . My smartgauge shows 100% SOC most of the time . 4x 110 ah batts new in september last year & charged by 400w solar

 

This questions quite an important one so advice would be welcome ,

My model is D4 WSC , If i replaced it with s D5 WSC would the 8 pin connectors marry up ?

cheers guys

Edited May 27, 2014 by chubby

[BlueStringPudding]

Thanks chaps. I've ordered all the bits for the exhaust. And ran the Eber again this morning for two hours and got the radiators balanced. All four got hot this time

 

I'm going to set the timer on it later to see if it responds properly to that.

 

Chubby - if the fault is somewhere in the set up of your Eber rather than in the unit itself, even swapping it for a D5 won't solve the problem and you'd have spent a fair few bob finding out. There are a couple of diagnostic timers on ebay at the moment being sold for less than the usual £100+ they tend to go for. When I looked yesterday there was one at £50 and another at £70. It might be worth investing in one of those to help you diagnose the problem(s) with your unit/set up. There could be more than one problem.

 

Then if you solve the problem you can always sell the diagnostic timer on ebay possibly even for a profit. Or sell the whole bally thing if the diagnostic tells you it's a write off (for example if the brain of the Eber is kaput)?

[chubby]

Cheers BSP ,

 

I saw a d5wsc this morning near me for £150 but can t find it now .

i did think of getting one of thos timers but i m uncertain if they work on mine . I ll be home from work soon & can look forward to another evening of eber stuff .

Happy days ........ not

[BlueStringPudding]

A D5 that costs £150 is likely to need a good service, new seals and glow plug. And that's assuming there's nothing wrong with it. So you'll just find yourself dismantling a D5 instead of a D4!

 

I thought the diagnostic timer works on the same Ebers as the mini timer that you and I have. But there are people on here way better qualified than me who could confirm that.

[chubby]

I detest running my engine for hot water . I got soaked to the skin at work so & wanted hot water so i ran the engine for one hour .

I tried the eber . The engine was not running when i pressed the start button .

its been running 15 minutes

very noisy tho . The fans going bonkers & it doesn t sound exactly reliable

but its going .

 

I don t understand . Theres no more voltage in my batts than before . 13.5 v & 100% SOC on smartgauge before start up . This is what it almost always reads as i m a low power user . The only time it drops below 90 % is when i use the inverter to run my hoover or twin tub .

 

If it runs for one hour i shall try to start it again without running the engine .

 

One other thing : When i pressed the start button the "60 " appeared on the screen but i had to press it again before it began working .

 

18 minutes now : Fan sounds even but loud . Pump ticks quickly . Theres less fluctuation in its sound .

 

I ll be back

cheers

Cheers BSP ,

 

The guy selling the d5 said he 'd bench tested it and all was fine . I sent a question to ask would they set it up again for me to see . If it worked ok then id pay on the spot . No reply & i cant find the ad now .

Theres a timer on auction , 2 days left & currently £26 which ll go much higher i expect . Its a " 701 " 7 day timer . If its suitable i will probably set about getting one of these as im going to be relying on my eber if it gets going reliably and if it can indicate whats wrong when faults occur then itll be worth the money in the long run

 

eta :

running 32 mins : even toned fan , pump ticking quietly & it sounds " right "

Edited May 27, 2014 by chubby

[BlueStringPudding]

Regarding the pressing the button twice thing: me too. I don't recall having to do that in the past. But I could be wrong, maybe I did. It was that long ago I used it properly!

 

I think my Eber is noisier and a bit lumpier when the voltage is low. Perhaps while it was sounding noisy your alternator wasn't yet up to 14+ volts? And maybe it is now?

 

Edited to add: are you sure you're looking at a timer that's got the diagnostic thing in it? Only it sounds rather cheap. Or maybe you've found a bargain, or perhaps the price will suddenly shoot up at the end of the auction. Just Snipe is your friend!

Edited May 27, 2014 by BlueStringPudding

[johnmck]

Cheering for you Chubby. Sticking with the thread untill you resolve your problem. Admire your determination. Respect.

[Hawkmoth]

One of the last problems I had with our Ebersputter before it yet again failed (for the last time ever), was that the first thing I noticed about it was the air fan noise being "unstable". that is it seemed as if the speed was rising and falling with no apparent rhyme or reason.

When it finally failed I couldn't get it going again so took it to a dealer for tests.

Their diagnosis was that the fan had failed and that had taken out the electronics.

This was the second time I had had failure of the electronic module and I wasn't keen to throw any more money at it.

 

Chubby, I do hope you manage to get your heater going reliably again and that you don't suffer the trouble I had with them.

Bob

[chubby]

42 minutes in & things sound less positive . Its gone very quiet & the pump ticks nicely , the fan is even but v low .

 

Its just suddenly got louder - the fan & the pumps going much quicker . Fans gone louder still but is even ... ish

 

Not sure whether the timer has diagnostics . I ll ask the seller . i expect it to go for much more . i ll email the seller . Its a 701 model

 

fans dropped right back down & pumps slowed down again - 14 mins of 60 left . As i write this the fans gone right up again & the pumps going bonkers !

13 of 60 left

 

12 left & its dropped back down , quiet fan & pumps louder .....

 

9 left & its all going bonkers . pumps ticking fast n loud & fans up down up down

 

8 left & alls quiet on the eber front

 

any ideas whats going on ?

Edited May 27, 2014 by chubby

[p6rob]

Hi Chubby,

 

Great news!

 

You've run the engine for an hour which has put some charge into the batteries. For the time being, forget about what the Smartgauge says, it's only confusing the issue. If you have a multimeter it would help to measure voltage at the battery terminals, if not, don't worry about it

At the moment it does sound like a volts or amps issue. So, next time it only runs for 10 seconds, before doing anything else if you have a multimeter measure the battery voltage, start the engine and see if the eber then runs. If you don't have a multimeter, just start the engine and then the eber.

Assuming it does run, to avoid running your engine to run the eber, you'll need to look at solar and possibly add an extra battery to the bank.

 

 

Rob

 

Rob

[chubby]

Thats the weird thing . With engine on ( ebers going haywire again - 6 minutes on the clock ) the terminals yesterday showed 13. 6 IIRC . The alternator doen t put 14 + in at all . New belt needed .

I ve got 400w of solar . 4 x 110 ah batts . i dont use much power & smartgauge reads 100 SOC most of the time . The voltage fluctuates

( 3 left and it going bonkers again , i don t like this at all & it didn t do this before ) with the light conditions . The little green light flashes alot on my tracer controller which indicates " batteries full " so if low power is present i dont know how .

 

Ebers shutting down now after 60 mins .

cheers

 

 

 

i ve just put a multimeter on my batts after the eber shut down : 12.7 v

smartgauge reads same voltage & SOC 97

[Paul G2]

Enjoy your hot shower - you certainly earned it!!!!

[bottle]

Chubby

 

Erbaspachers do speed up and slow down, they are temperature (water) controlled.

 

Very roughly normal speed when starting and half speed when water is up to temperature.

 

This can happen quite a few times in the hour.

 

Although you have checked voltages and they seem OK, there is a slight pointing towards voltage drop under load.

 

Because you are starting with a higher voltage the Erbaspacher starts.

 

Sorry to say it will mean checking all connections from beginning to end for cleanliness and tightness.

 

Great respect for sticking with it.

[NMEA]

Chubby, the air motor and dosing pump fluctuations are normal, when the water temperature reaches a level it slows down so as not to overheat, the water temperature can then reduce to a level that triggers the high burn again and is nothing to worry about. Posted from a very sunny and warm Cornwall, seems like the only decent weather in UK at the moment.

[chubby]

cheers Guys ,

 

Paul - i certainly will . I m not coming out till i m pink !

 

Bottle & NMEA , thankyou

 

you both are saying these fluctuations are not cause to worry which is good news .

I ve run it for a second hour . On start up the smartgauge read 13 & 97 % & it started up first go & hasn t sounded problematic .

Theres been little in the way of dramatic increases in fan & pump activity . Mostly in the last 30 minutes its been a low even hum & a steady tick tick tick. Not at all alarming with only occasional increases in volume . I can only guess this is because its a second hour . Its already got hot water in the pipes so its " maintaining " hot water as opposed to " making " cold water hot .

Its just turned itself off after completing a 60 minute run . I ll not turn it on until tomorrow . If it fails to work then at least it is 100 % a power issue and i ll begin the process of figuring out why & where ( or rather i ll be back on here pestering again ) . I ll post back again whatever the outcome .

I m off to the shops for some beer & then i m not coming out the shower until i ve burnt myself !!

cheers

[George94]

We used to have Aga Sagas. Now we have Eber Sagas. Much more drama and human interest.

[pquinn]

wow ! now this is exciting.I have never seen such anticipation and peaks and troughs in a thread.hope you enjoyed that shower,chubby. Maybe try it tomorrow with all the rads turned on and see how she goes.best of luck.

[chubby]

Ok just tried again . Started first go & sounds healthy . Not too much variation in fan & pump volumes . Plenty of hot water & the 1 hour cycle is almost finished . This is very pleasing.

 

My concern is that its not reliable & this is due to the amount of power it needs during start up .

 

I looked at smartgauge before starting the eber : 100% SOC & 14+ V . This high voltage is from 400 w of solar .

 

Would a suitable test be to try again later at , say , 13.5 v as light deteriorates .

 

I m going to run it everyday now and like when i fixed it before , i wont consider it to be " fixed " until its worked first time for a week .

 

I need to replace the fan belt on the alternator & then see if it delivers 14.4 v as opposed to the 13.5 its currently delivering .

 

I m also going to look into any upgrades i can carry out to keep the batts in good order . I have 400 w of solar going thru a 40 amp tracer so could get 1x 100w panel more for autumn & winter , genny & possible alternator upgrade to recharge quicker etc . I ll check on the search facilty .

 

So , it appears to be working again . I m going to strap up the 8 pin connector as Bizzard suggested about 150 posts ago using self amalgamating tape & secure it to the bulkhead with clips to prevent it dangling around & putting potential strain on the wiring & I ll check & recheck all the connections .

 

Thankyou to everyone who has helped & i ll post back here when i try it next & will try any further tests suggested & carry out any further recommendations considered prudent in an attempt to increase reliabilty .

 

cheers

[johnmck]

Well done Chubby. You have gladdened my heart with your sheer tenacity. Hope all goes well.

[Hawkmoth]

Chubby, you've done a fantastic job of sticking to it. Well done!

I would just like to add impetus to the suggestion by others on here that you probably have a connection problem somewhere. Do check and clean every connection you can find in the power line to the Eber. Specially the plug and socket.

Bob

[p6rob]

Good to hear Chubby!

 

Do yourself, Eberspacher and us a favour though. If you find one time it doesn't work, before unplugging anything, ignore the Smartgauge reading and just run the engine, then try and start it and report back.

 

Rob

[chubby]

Will do & will run the engine for a decent period next time it fails . Thats one of the things that baffled me . I tried to start it the day after a 5 hour cruise a week ago and it didn t work . I try it after an almost one hour engine run & it works three times in three attempts .

 

Have i over relied on the smartgauge readings ? i bought it to monitor the health of my batteries and so i could understand thier condition easily .

[BlueStringPudding]

well done Chubby! It's possibly a combination of a dodgy connection combined with batteries needing to be very well charged. Hence the intermittent nature of it not working. I expect the equally unfathomable and intermittent problems with mine might be the same.

 

Congrats though.