Help Chinese diesel heater

Penny13

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So we are trying to fit one as a temp measure till we get to Spain.
It’s all fitted but keeps coming up with code 8 !!!
Any one please it’s bleeding cold.
🥶
 
Has it run previously ? Or newly installed

Does it smoke at all when trying to start ?

Check you've got fuel actually reaching the heater itself after the pump starts ticking ...

If fuel is reaching the heater then you need to make sure the glow pin is heating up and that the gauze isn't clogged/burn chamber soothed up .

E08 is a rather generic fault unfortunately usually relating to a combustion fail .
 
We have used these heaters in our static caravan for a few years now with few issues. However last weekend ours died, error 08! The failure is due to the glow plug. Full maintenance kit purchased which included special socket for removal of glow plug, full strip down of heater and replacement fitted in about ½hour but had to wait 2 days for parts to arrive. We always have spare pumps and filters for our heater as they fail at least twice every winter.
 
I bought a van with a diesel heater that worked when the seller demonstrated it and then didn't when I got it home. All the symptoms pointed to a fuel pump fault so I bought a new one. There are several different makes and sizes of fuel pump and I got one that looked better than the old one because the new one had a nut holding the fuel pipe nozzle on to the body whereas the original one was just a sealed tin can with an electric connector. I fitted it the same orientation as the old one and it didn't work. I turned it round and then all was OK. So I learned that the end with a nut holding the metal fuel pipe on to the body is the input end, and if you undo the nut there is a small filter in there, which you can obviously clean out. I also think this pump is more powerful than the old one and will last a good while.
Diesel engine and heater rules are as follows:
No smoke is no fuel injected and obviously not burnt.
White smoke is fuel injected but not burnt.
Blue smoke is engine oil burning - worn valve stems on engines
Black smoke - fuel mixture is too rich.
 
I bought a van with a diesel heater that worked when the seller demonstrated it and then didn't when I got it home. All the symptoms pointed to a fuel pump fault so I bought a new one. There are several different makes and sizes of fuel pump and I got one that looked better than the old one because the new one had a nut holding the fuel pipe nozzle on to the body whereas the original one was just a sealed tin can with an electric connector. I fitted it the same orientation as the old one and it didn't work. I turned it round and then all was OK. So I learned that the end with a nut holding the metal fuel pipe on to the body is the input end, and if you undo the nut there is a small filter in there, which you can obviously clean out. I also think this pump is more powerful than the old one and will last a good while.
Diesel engine and heater rules are as follows:
No smoke is no fuel injected and obviously not burnt.
White smoke is fuel injected but not burnt.
Blue smoke is engine oil burning - worn valve stems on engines
Black smoke - fuel mixture is too rich.
Important to buy the correct size pump for your heater too as there are several different delivery doses ...

16~18~22 (.16ml/.18ml/.22ml)

So you can end up with under or over fuelling .

Too much fuel can end up with a soothed up heater requiring stripping and cleaning .
 
But then overfuelling would be getting black smoke wouldn't it?
I agree with what you say, but I didn't know what my old pump was rated at. And I think there is a dosage adjustment you can make on the amazingly complex incomprehensible control panel. I've studied a few youtubes on the subject and think I've got it sorted. I think that each click is a dose, so therefore if you set the dose frequency lower (they call it Hz) then you would compensate for a higher dose size. I've only run mine for a few days, without smoke, and I don't think its consumption is too bad. I have a plastic jerry can tank installed just behind the driver's seat so what I really need is a method of refilling it without dispersing diesel all over the seat belt, floor and driver's footwell.
Luckily I missed the drivers seat.
I am a retired central heating 'engineer' including oil fired CH boilers so I know the theory of how they work, and camper diesel heaters aren't too different to make them a puzzle. CH boilers have a continuous spark across an igniter, where the chinese diesel heaters have a resistive glow plug that is heated by the 12v supply and constantly glows red.
 
But then overfuelling would be getting black smoke wouldn't it?
I agree with what you say, but I didn't know what my old pump was rated at. And I think there is a dosage adjustment you can make on the amazingly complex incomprehensible control panel. I've studied a few youtubes on the subject and think I've got it sorted. I think that each click is a dose, so therefore if you set the dose frequency lower (they call it Hz) then you would compensate for a higher dose size. I've only run mine for a few days, without smoke, and I don't think its consumption is too bad. I have a plastic jerry can tank installed just behind the driver's seat so what I really need is a method of refilling it without dispersing diesel all over the seat belt, floor and driver's footwell.
Luckily I missed the drivers seat.
I am a retired central heating 'engineer' including oil fired CH boilers so I know the theory of how they work, and camper diesel heaters aren't too different to make them a puzzle. CH boilers have a continuous spark across an igniter, where the chinese diesel heaters have a resistive glow plug that is heated by the 12v supply and constantly glows red.
Yes each dose is a pulse of the pump BUT too much diesel per dose can cool the glow pin to a point where combustion doesn't take place correctly which leads to sooting up ...and then it's downhill until it's strip and clean time ....

Yes you can alter the htz rate (in fact that's,all the controller does on most Chinese diesel heater as there's no thermostat ....just graduation between permanent tick over and full on ...

Some it's also possible to alter fan speeds to 'Tune' the heater ....or adjust for running at high altitude/lower oxygen levels etc .

It's why so many people end up faffing with them and THEN having to strip/clean and start over .

Correct size pump for heater used (smallest for 2kw ....largest for genuine 8kw rated one )
Helps prevent a heap of messing .
 
Iceman - is there any difference other than price between the Chinese diesel heater and the Eberspacher?
 
The Chinese ones claim they have a thermostat, and when the hab area reaches a certain temperature, the heater does slow down.
 
Iceman - is there any difference other than price between the Chinese diesel heater and the Eberspacher?
Yes, at least there is for almost all the Chinese ones. You can set a temperature on the Eberspachers and it will control it similar to home heating does, turning up/down and on/off to do it.
 
Iceman - is there any difference other than price between the Chinese diesel heater and the Eberspacher?
In all honesty it depends on the diesel heater ....

Early ones were frankly junk ...

The current crop (Hcalory/Kroak) ones are a world apart quality wise ....

The ones with the Bluetooth app
(AND working thermostat ....personally a diesel heater without a functioning thermostat is IMHO worthless)
Function really nicely AND every one I've dealt with has been great out of the box ....
OK some of the jubilee clips and silencers/fuel lines have been lesser quality ....
BUT the full comprehensive kit has been just over £100 against close to £1000 for a basic eberspacher d2 .

IF you choose carefully there ARE definite bargains to be had Chinese diesel heater wise ....

And where once upon a time I would've ALWAYS said Eber Eber Eber for reliability ...

I'm much less convinced now ...

Especially with remote control AND app for your phone etc etc built in .
 
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