Diesel Heater On All Night

[Nabsim]

When it gets cold I will turn mine down to 10 to 12 degrees when I go to bed. The Eberspacher is under the bed so gets too hot if I don’t turn it down or off. I have never felt bad in a morning except when it’s been left on a higher setting and I wake up melting

 

[StreetSleeper]

I was running it at 20C but now I've linked up the key fob I can drop the temperature easily. Prior to setting up the key fob, resetting the temperature was a lot of faffing about.

 

[Nabsim]

I was running it at 20C but now I've linked up the key fob I can drop the temperature easily. Prior to setting up the key fob, resetting the temperature was a lot of faffing about.

I would definitely not be getting a decent nights sleep at that lol

 

[Silver sprinter]

I would definitely not be getting a decent nights sleep at that lol

Think that's rae's plan

 

[StreetSleeper]

Out in the van tonight, heating turned down to 10C; let’s see how we get on .... let you know tomorrow.

 

[StreetSleeper]

Fabulous night out; nice and warn sitting in the van but a bit blowy outside, turned the heating down to 10C before we went to bed. In the morning van still nice and warm, didn't need to turn up the heat. So I think I can safely say the heater is now working and no owners were harmed in this experiment ............. but for how long will it last I hear you say............. we will have to wait and see.

 

[StreetSleeper]

Another observation. If you start the heater and run it at 10C there is a horrid smell from the exhaust that isn't there when you run it at a higher temperature. My conclusion is fuel is not being burnt off properly so to overcome this problem I thought I would start it up at 20C and run it until it was hot then turn it back down; the same smell has retuned. I don't know what to do or is it normal with these heaters? What I have decided to do, in the meantime, is to turn the heat up and when the smell stops I will presume that the heater is burning at it's right temperature. Not really the answer but a heater not running properly will soon soot up.

 

[SquirrellCook]

The eberspachers go into an extra high setting when they start up, then drop back depending on how they have been set and temperature.

 

[StreetSleeper]

I've now had the heating right up and brought it back down, still the same smell recurs. It runs fine but a bit smelly; put it this way I would not like to be parked next to me. Tomorrow, in the daylight, I will look to see if there is any black smoke or put a pipe on the end and see if there is any soot on the pipe when I remove it. I wouldn't say it smells of bad eggs, just not nice.

 

[Phantom]

Another observation. If you start the heater and run it at 10C there is a horrid smell from the exhaust that isn't there when you run it at a higher temperature.

Maybe it needs a decoke/service?

 

[StreetSleeper]

Maybe it needs a decoke/service?

Good point I might whip out the glow pug first just to see what condition that's in, if it's coked up will pull the heater apart

 

[Silver sprinter]

I've now had the heating right up and brought it back down, still the same smell recurs. It runs fine but a bit smelly; put it this way I would not like to be parked next to me. Tomorrow, in the daylight, I will look to see if there is any black smoke or put a pipe on the end and see if there is any soot on the pipe when I remove it. I wouldn't say it smells of bad eggs, just not nice.

I've now had the heating right up and brought it back down, still the same smell recurs. It runs fine but a bit smelly; put it this way I would not like to be parked next to me. Tomorrow, in the daylight, I will look to see if there is any black smoke or put a pipe on the end and see if there is any soot on the pipe when I remove it. I wouldn't say it smells of bad eggs, just not nice.

can you detect where the smell is coming from, easy question, but maybe not easy to answer

 

[StreetSleeper]

Yes Gerry it's coming out of the exhaust on the combustion side of the heater.

 

[Nabsim]

The only time I have noticed any smell (not often) is when it goes through its pre start/shutdown sequence. When this happens you can see a whiff of white smoke and it is unburnt diesel. Very rare it happens for me

 

[StreetSleeper]

a whiff of white smoke and it is unburnt diesel

I don't see any smoke just the bad smell

 

[StreetSleeper]

Decided to have a quick look inside, replace the filter and replace the glow plug.

To be honest with you, there doesn't seem to be an issue; both the glow plug and the filter are very clean.

Being as I had the spares, I thought I would change them anyway. It's now all back together and I will run it and see how it turns out.

Rae

 

[Silver sprinter]

Thanks for update, and keep us posted in how it's going, gerry

 

[StreetSleeper]

For peace of mind I decided to remove the inlet pipe, just to make sure there was no blockage.

While it was off I thought it would be a good idea to remove the silencer to see if shortening the induction would have any effect and if there was any difference in the noise.

Ready to go back on, no foreign bodies were found so will have to see what happens.

Rae

 

[n brown]

i think my webasto [so many heaters i lose track ] had a smelly problem then started smoking,it was down to the felt pad ,easy enough job


[ i left it on all night once- when i realised what it had cost me i felt quite sick .]

 

[StreetSleeper]

Still not happy with the smell from the heater so, for peace of mind, there was only one way I could go; pull it apart.

After removing the combustion chamber and finding it relatively clean it was time to look for the next suspect.

As you can see, no problem there.

Same again. Only one thing left, which I originally thought could be the problem.

This little hole blocked but, in this case, clean as a whistle.

Removed the gauze just to make sure but, as with my previous findings, waste of time.

The only thing that I can find that has any difference; one of the ends is flat (which was the original) and the other end is chamfered, which is what I replaced when I pulled it apart last time.

I am completely stumped so I will rebuild it and continue using it and, hopefully, I will find the answer.

Rae