Eberspacher stopped working

carol

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Had my heater on during the night and it just stopped working - I'm freezing! I don't think it's the battery - would it stop while fired up if it's the battery anyway? Just noticed that the red indicator light to show the heating is on, won't actually turn off and the fan doesn't come on the cool air setting when I press that. Any ideas? Also, I know it's only a little light but am I right to be worried about my battery?
 
carol said:
Had my heater on during the night and it just stopped working - I'm freezing! I don't think it's the battery - would it stop while fired up if it's the battery anyway? Just noticed that the red indicator light to show the heating is on, won't actually turn off and the fan doesn't come on the cool air setting when I press that. Any ideas? Also, I know it's only a little light but am I right to be worried about my battery?
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The fans draw a lot of current from your battery. I always run the engine for the first 15 minutes when I put on the heating in the morning. Turn on your engine and see if that gets it going, I reckon your battery may have dropped below 50%. Take care as doing this with a lead acid battery can damage it.

I don’t run the heating all night when wild camping.
 
One other point carol your heater does require electricity to function properly.

It won’t run on a flat battery.

If you don’t have a solar panel then you will now need to recharge your leisure battery by going for a drive.

A solar panel is good for wild camping, particularly if you remain in the one place for more than a night.
 
UPDATE

Checked the battery level and indicated full - the sun has been out - but thought I'd try with the engine running anyway. It started! But why wouldn't it start if the battery was full? The battery is only a couple of years old and hasn't been hammered.
 
Fisherman said:
One other point carol your heater does require electricity to function properly.

It won’t run on a flat battery.

If you don’t have a solar panel then you will now need to recharge your leisure battery by going for a drive.

A solar panel is good for wild camping, particularly if you remain in the one place for more than a night.
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Hi Bill, I've got a solar panel as I don't do hook up and Wild camp when I go over the channel. I'm bemused by the fact that the battery was showin full?
 
carol said:
Hi Bill, I've got a solar panel as I don't do hook up and Wild camp when I go over the channel. I'm bemused by the fact that the battery was showin full?
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Well I don’t understand how a battery that has been powering a heater all night could possibly be full.

The fact that you heater kicked in when you turned on the engine would suggest that the battery was low, and that possibly your battery level indicator is faulty. Possibly before turning in the engine you could have tried to see if your tv worked.

But I have the same heater and when I put it on initially I run the engine to support the battery for about 15 minutes. The fan draws a lot of power initially then once the temperature is reached not as much. But I would never leave it on all night. Unfortunately if you have used your full charge or run the hearing through the night regularly this may have shortened the life of your battery. But I cannot understand how a battery can show full after being used all night.
 
Also if you check your battery with the engine running it may show full, depending on type of system you use for measurement.
 
H Carol, if it is not your battery it probably needs servicing or repair .eberspatchers should be serviced annually .I did say (should ) , they get clogged up with carbon and need cleaning .some members have got the cheap ,planer. knock off ebers and are well pleased .
 
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I agree with all Fisherman has said.

A clue may be in your comment that you have solar and the sun has been shining?

Diesel heaters may have different control options. If running to maintain a set temperature measured by a thermostat the heater may cycle on and off. So if you have set 20C the thermostat may turn it off at say 21C then on again at say 18C and at each “on event” use the glow plug to ignite the diesel fuel. This is what uses lots of amps for a short period but the amps drawn can pull the battery voltage down if going on and off all night.
Some heaters can be set to run at a low rate continuously so that they are not repeatedly stopping and starting. This can use less electrical power as the glow plug is not used to restart the heater. The downside is that it will give a continuous heat output but if say the night turns very cold the heater will not be able to automatically keep pace with the heat required to maintain a set temperature.

Did you look to see the battery charge when you first found that the heater would not run? Was the sun shining then? If so the battery voltage whilst under charge from your solar can look “full”. Don’t know where you are or how much sun you are getting but I might guess that the alternator can charge the battery at a higher rate of amps than early morning solar.

Do you have a simple multimeter? A very useful tool as to get a realistic measure of the state of charge of a battery measurements with the battery disconnected, so not being charged or discharged, are more accurate.



State of Charge Sealed or Flooded Lead Acid battery voltage
100% 12.70+
75% 12.40
50% 12.20
25% 12.00
0% 11.80​

Cannot find a better way to post a table. The danger to your battery is discharging repeatedly to below 50% which reduces the number of discharge cycles and so shortens the battery life
 
Fisherman said:
Also if you check your battery with the engine running it may show full, depending on type of system you use for measurement.
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Hi I understand the point you're making. However, it obviously wasn't working all night. When I first checked the battery indicator it was on green but after a couple of hours was full without engine on. However, heating gone off again and I've checked the battery with those plug in things and it's 12.2 :( so must be a battery problem. As I said, it's only a couple of years old, 110 and I hardly run anything off it, i.e. no tv, music etc.

Thanks everyone for your comments, they are much appreciated.
 
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Dowel said:
I agree with all Fisherman has said.

A clue may be in your comment that you have solar and the sun has been shining?

Diesel heaters may have different control options. If running to maintain a set temperature measured by a thermostat the heater may cycle on and off. So if you have set 20C the thermostat may turn it off at say 21C then on again at say 18C and at each “on event” use the glow plug to ignite the diesel fuel. This is what uses lots of amps for a short period but the amps drawn can pull the battery voltage down if going on and off all night.
Some heaters can be set to run at a low rate continuously so that they are not repeatedly stopping and starting. This can use less electrical power as the glow plug is not used to restart the heater. The downside is that it will give a continuous heat output but if say the night turns very cold the heater will not be able to automatically keep pace with the heat required to maintain a set temperature.

Did you look to see the battery charge when you first found that the heater would not run? Was the sun shining then? If so the battery voltage whilst under charge from your solar can look “full”. Don’t know where you are or how much sun you are getting but I might guess that the alternator can charge the battery at a higher rate of amps than early morning solar.

Do you have a simple multimeter? A very useful tool as to get a realistic measure of the state of charge of a battery measurements with the battery disconnected, so not being charged or discharged, are more accurate.



State of Charge Sealed or Flooded Lead Acid battery voltage
100% 12.70+
75% 12.40
50% 12.20
25% 12.00
0% 11.80​

Cannot find a better way to post a table. The danger to your battery is discharging repeatedly to below 50% which reduces the number of discharge cycles and so shortens the battery life
Click to expand...

Have to absolutely honest I was not aware of the glow plug issue.
I was more concerned with the fan running at full pelt initially.

We don’t go out in the dead of winter stopping in October to end of March.
But on the few occasions that we have been out in the cold of night I don’t run the heater, just wrap up a bit more, then put it on just before I get up.

I reckon this is all down to a low and possibly damaged battery.
And testing a battery under charge is misleading.
 
Diesel heaters don't like low voltage which means lower amps and watts. They need plenty of power to start up.
A settled voltage of 12.20 at the battery, when all the inputs and outputs are turned off, is about 50% charged.

If the plug in thing you have is a multi meter and if the heater is easily accessed it would be interesting to measure the voltage at the heater input connectors and compare it to the voltage at the battery terminals. If the volts are significantly lower at the heater that will not help. It may just make the difference between the heater starting or not.

Obviously may not be something you might do anything about right now but may be worth looking at when possible. Undersized cables or poor or corroded connections could cause volts drop.
 
Another thing to check carol is the fuse and fuse terminals for the heater , sometimes these can oxide and make bad connections ,take them apart and give them a spray with WD40
 
Thanks guys, embarrassingly I haven't got a clue how to do any of that and it's so cold at the moment I'm still under the duvet with my clothes on! I'll get it checked out when back in Bradford if I can find someone to do it. Doubt there'll be many Eberspacher specialists in Bradford!
 
These things are only a very rough guide, and usually only tend to confuse as people take them literally.
battery-state-of-charge.jpg As a battery can show a high voltage but have little in the way of amps when they a.re getting knackerd and when a load is applied the battery voltage will drop very rapidly. If you are looking at your solar controller during the day what you could be seeing is the voltage been put into your battery which os not actually the state of charge of the battery further confusing things. Go to a reputable battery supplier for a proper battery drop test, before spending on your Eber. As it is working Ok with the engine running would indicate there to be nothing wrong with the Eber.
We use these for our battery supplies.batteriesontheweb.co.uk-All types of batteries offered online They are only in Halifax.

POSTAL ADDRESS
Pellon Tyre and Auto Centre
Pellon Lane
Halifax
West Yorkshire
HX1 4PZ
01422 410899
 
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carol said:
Thanks guys, embarrassingly I haven't got a clue how to do any of that and it's so cold at the moment I'm still under the duvet with my clothes on! I'll get it checked out when back in Bradford if I can find someone to do it. Doubt there'll be many Eberspacher specialists in Bradford!
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Have the battery checked first, on our old T5 the battery would run the lights and tv but not the night heater, had the battery checked and it was down on one cell, changed the battery and never had a problem again with the heater.
If your battery is only two years old is it still under warranty ?
 
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