HELP with Espar heaters

Google espar north America and hit dealer on their home page. I searched MA and a whole bunch came up. No idea who is the best bet. Good luck.

Hey Brian, Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. I have been busy with work. Just wanted to thank you very much for your assistance. I took both the inlet and outlet vent hoses off and ran the espar. It ran fine for more than an hour. Further investigation revealed a plastic grill that was lodged about six inches down the vent pipe on the inlet side of the unit. The grill was completely covered with lint and hair. Must be where the dog went. I removed the grill and the unit has been running fine since.(knock on wood)

Should I replace this grill or just leave it out??

Thanks again for your help, if you ever come to the Island look me up and I will buy you the beverage of your choice.

Cheers, Dave

Brian:
Thank-you for your offer of advice. I have an Espar D7L heater 1993 vintage in a 45ft bayliner pilothouse. It is moored undercover in fresh water (Lake Washington) with shore power keeping the batteries on float (13.7v) 24/7via the trace inverter. Until now the espar has worked flawlessly and has required no maintenance. This winter it failed and I am attempting repair, There is a purulator filter with glass bowl on its fuel line. There is no water or sediment present. When turned on the circulating fan comes on vigorously, the espar makes clicking sound for several minutes and the inline metering pump vibrates strongly but no heat is produced. I have tried pushing the reset button with no effect have also tried the universal switch in the vent position (fan runs), the high heat & low heat positions (fan runs but no ignition), My espar cabin thermostathas two indicator lights one red, one green and both have com on when start is initiated. I don't recall seeing the red one on previously. There is also a second black and white pushbutton 1/8 inch diameter afew inches below the reset button.When pushed in it pops out; push again it stays in Is this what they call; Safety thermal cutout switch? The espar is mounted alongside the port Hino about mid engine and about 1/2 inch below the side deck - almost impossible to reach. I intend removing the glow plug, shutting off the fuel and trying starting to see if the glo plug glows and the spark plug sparks. If not replace it. For further trouble shooting I think I will have to remove the whole heater and bench test. Do you have any advice?

Hello. I don't know what that second breaker is. Both the main breaker and the safety thermal pop out when they blow, and push in and click when reset. The safety thermal us usually next the the glow plug unless you have a much older one. It sounds like the fuel is pumping, and that clicking may be the glow plug voltage regulator. You will have to check the glow plug. You need to remove it and suspend it outside the heater, not touching it,with all wires attached. Plug the hole with a rag just in case fuel sprays out. You do not want to ignite it! Turn the heater on. You should see a spark gong from the center of the plug to the outside, as well as a glowing coil. If it does not spark then chances are the spark generator has failed. No glow, probably a new glow plug. You should make sure there is fuel flowing from the pump. If you have tried to start it more than 4 or 5 times, there could be fuel accumulated in the exhaust. Make sure the elbow drain is draining, and that the insulation is not wet with diesel. If it us, it must be washed. If you have tried to start it many times there will be one hell of a lot if smoke coming out the exhaust

If the heater has attempted to start many times,over 6, I am very cautious if it does start given that 27ml of fuel per minute has accumulated. It can create an exhaust fire like a chimney fire. That is why the insulation must not be wet with diesel. Sometimes the heater will fire up and with all the fuel in it, it will not shut down even if you turn it off. I get ready to plug the combustion air intake hose end and two holes at the halfway point. Thus will usually starve the flame of air and the combustion will cease and the heater just goes into cool down. The power can also be disconnected, which will stop driving air to feed the flame. If there is fuel dripping out the bottom of the heater. Do not attempt to start it. It should be stripped down and cleaned out. If you have any doubt about the process please call me. Contact is at avalonbaymarine.com

Great. You should leave it in, it actually fits on the end of the heater and the duct then clamps over it. Just remember to clean it once and awhile. If the intake grill in the cabin is a finer mesh then you could leave it out, the ducting will be loose on the intake end of the heater though. Tape the ducting on then, don't try to clamp it on the bare end of the heater.

Brian. Having followed your advice last fall, I replaced both screen and glow-plug in a 2007 vintage D5l airtronic. It worked fine over the winter, but started blowing a cloud of white smoke at start up, then it would seem like it shut off and then get going and run fine. The other day it blew white smoke at start up then just stopped. Next time I tried to use, nothing, it had blown breaker. Resetting breaker did no good. Heater is on bench now, glow plug shot, coil opened up, and screen carboned up. I have new glow-plug and screen, but I am wondering if there are other areas I should check before reinstalling the heater. Seems like a short life span for those 2 parts. Dan (Blaine WA)

Hello. Was the glow plug caked in carbon, or was it fairly clean with just a broken coil?sometimes a plug will get a bad spot in it and just glow hot in that spot. Resulting in bad starts and car boning up of the plug and screen. Are you a live aboard, or do the heater run all winter when you are not on the boat. Also long running periods on low can result in carboning. At this point I would say put in the new parts and make sure that the screen is seated all the way down on the shelf, and make sure to ream out the air hole between the top of the screen and the glow plug threads, at the nine o'clock position just above the fuel orifice. Make sure that the removal tab on the screen is at the 3 o'clock position. Also clean the walls of the chamber before you put the screen in. Brass test tube brush and some carb cleaner(not too much or big pop when you fire up the heater, just enough to clean, less than a teaspoon.). If the screen and plug do this again, then it might be time to take a look at the burner tube, but rather premature for this. How long us the exhaust? And is there an extension on the combustion air intake?
If it runs on low a lot, it also helps to turn it if and on a few times a day to activate the glow plug, as it cleans itself on shutdown. Also, clean the fuel filter in the suction side of the the pump. DO NOT OPEN THE OUTPUT END IF THE PUMP!!! Brian.

Brian. Glow plug was not completely caked, but did not look good, same with screen. Heater was run weekly, and was left on over a2-3 day cold spell. Not a livaboard. Exhaust is about 3 feet. This is in a 07 NP42, you may have installed it. Will follow your advice, should be back in boat tomorrow. If it acts up again, it might be an excuse for a trip to Granville. I am lucky in that it is very easy to get to, about a 15 minute job in or out. Thanks Dan.

Brian. New plug and screen installed. Heater back in boat and fired right up. All seems well. Is there a problem with just shutting the switch off when heater is running, to shut it down, or should I turn thermostat down, and wait for it to slow down and then shut switch off? Thks again. DS

You can just turn the switch off. It turns on the glow plug then and goes into cool down. All good.

Hi Brian, I have an airtronic d4 on my sailboat. I have had problems in the past and had to replace the brain as well as the fuel pump and installed the mini controller so I could read codes. It has been working fine since I did the work last year but now as we are sitting in Gibsons it has started to act weird. It starts and runs normal but after 10-12 Minutes it flames out , fan runs on for about 5 minutes then shuts off. I can then re start it and it goes through the sequence again. Any ideas? Over the winter I ran it for a couple of hours every couple of weeks as recommended.

thanks in advance, Ian

I have an Espar D3LC heater. Installed many years ago and it works fine. It has a simple t-stat. Just a green "on" light and a red "fault" light. I recently changed a fuel filter to the engine that also supplies the heater. I think I got air in the line to the heater and my fault light came on. I assume that it is in a permanent shut down condition. Once I restore fuel how do I get the unit reset, IE get the red light off and attempt to restart? I haven't been able to locate a service manual with my t-stat and heater. I guess it is a simple procedure But I don't know what it is. I need help (education). Thanks, Ray

Hello. 2 ways to do this.
1 open the thermostat. Slot on the bottom. Put a screwdriver or key in slot and twist. The cover should pop off. With the heater off put a jumper between terminals 4and6. Hold in place and turn switch on. After 2 seconds remove jumper. Heater should now unlock and start. If there are not wires in 4and 6 the other method is to put a jumper between 9 and 11 on the black plug going into the bottom of the 4"x4" ecu.(aluminum box) pin numbers are labelled in the plug in tiny raised numbers.do this with the plug in place. Turn on heater with rocker switch. After 2 seconds or more remove jumper. It should unlock. If you are having trouble you can call me. Up to 9pm pst at 604-312-9566.

I am replacing an espar d3L with a d4. I have an auxiliary lift pump and pressure regulator to provide fuel to the metering pump. Can you tell me how to wire this pump to the D4 so that it comes on as needed?

I have been told that the clear plastic fuel line is not acceptable for installation on a boat. If this is true, where can I get a metal fuel line.

John556 said:

I am replacing an espar d3L with a d4. I have an auxiliary lift pump and pressure regulator to provide fuel to the metering pump. Can you tell me how to wire this pump to the D4 so that it comes on as needed?

Click to expand...

This was answered by Email quite a while ago, but for the rest of you- you can trigger the pump relay(+) with the yellow wire on the thermostat harness.

Hi Brian
i have a 16 year old espar d2/d4 on my Catalina. It has been working fine up to now and suddenly
nothing at all happens when I turn the power on except the red light illuminates in The control head.
i have checked the power fuse and all connections at the espar unit, all seem okay. Is there another fuse inside the unit or something else that would prevent the start of the initialization sequence.

thanks so much
doug

If all your DC power is good to the unit, it could be a number of things.

- corrosion in the thermostat harness plug, fuel pump plug etc.

-bad fuel, pump, temp sensor, motor , glow plug.

All these things are monitored by the ECU for values. If one component has gone out of range then the heater will just go dead and would have to have a fault reader plugged into it.
- there is usually another square "GM"type fuse in the harness next to the heater, but you would not have a red light if it was out.

Just for kicks, you could try jumping the red wire in the thermostat harness to the yellow wire-this will bypass the thermostat and run the furnace on high. If this works, then the thermostat needs replacing.

If it is 16 years old I would suspect the blower motor, or the ECU as the old ECU have been an issue after a few years, and the motor may have many hours on it by now. Sorry, but you really need a dealer now by the looks of it, or you could buy a MULTIMAX controller, Or a DIGI-controller from a dealer. They both have diagnostic retrieval functions.

Wow Brian thanks so much for the quick and comprehensive response. I did manage to get it going, possibly a loose connection in the harness near the heater, but it did shut down a couple of times after 5 minutes or so, might not be 100% yet. In your experience how long do these units typically last.. Are the new units improved at all, this one works well when it works.
thanks again
Doug

I just typed about 1000 words fro
My phone and the system rejected it and erased it all. Send me an email. My contact is at avalonbaymarine.com

Advice on new exhaust piping

Hi, great thread! I have a D5L (not sure exact model #, daughter and son-in-law are in Friday Harbor with boat) that the exhaust piping just fell apart in the beginning of their vacation with grandkids. It looks to be 30mm double wall, no muffler. Any advice on replacement? Heater was installed about 1993, has the mechanical thermostat, air heater. It does run high and low, so I should do the low disable mod. Thanks so much for all the help this thread provides. Mike

Hello. Yes it would be 30 mm. You can get it from Boat Electric in Seattle, or Roton in Vancouver BC. Get the exhaust clamps as well. Not sure why you want to do a high only mod if it is running well now.

I have an Espar D5S Hydronic in a gb 32. When I commissioned the boat this spring it worked fine. Now when it is turned on nothing happens. The light on the switch comes on but nothing else. No start cycle, nothing. The fuse is good and juice is getting to the unit. Heater has had little use but always started when asked. where do I start? Thanks

Good day. What Control do you have? Just an thermostat? On/Off switch with dial, and red and green LEDs ? If the red ligh comes on, does the green light come on when the dial is turned up?

Voltage and testing that the switch is actually returning 12V(+) to the yellow wire of the furnace harness would be my first two tests. Check voltage at the heater harness, not at the battery or panel. You will have some sort of terminal block near the heater with +/- coming in, power +/- going to the thermostat and (+) coming back from the thermostat to enegize the yellow wire at the terminal block. If the yellow wire does not have + then the furnace will not turn on. If you have voltage going to the yellow wire when switched on then do a voltage check of voltage before switching on, and then turn on the furnace. You must have better than 10.5 V. If you do, great. The first then the furnace does is do all it's checks, but it also puts the glow pin on right away. If there is a connection problem anywher in the power cable from the battery then the voltage may drop down too far and it will do an immediate low voltage shutdown.

You did not run out of fuel and try and start the furnace 5 times in a row did you ?, if it does not fire up 5 times in a row, it will lock out. 5 Overheats as well.

If you have good voltage, and the switch is working correctly then it should go, if not, it has detected a fault with some other component and you really need a diagnostic unit to hook up. Where are you located? You would need to find a dealer with diagnostic tools, or buy an Espar Multimax controller with diagnostic ability, or a "7 Day Timer"- for coolant heaters. They also have diagnostic capability.

Hi Brian, I hope you can help.
I have a 1930 powerboat in Vancouver, and I fitted an Eberspacher D5 (an old one!) last year. It works just fine, but I want to re-route the exhaust. I have a very convenient chimney right next to the heater, and I'd like to run the exhaust vertically about 12ft.

Can you see any pitfalls?

Many thanks, Eamonn.

No problem there, as long as it is larger than the 30 mm that comes off heater. I don't like to run the 30 mm longer than 8-9 ft. It will affect the combustion at the lie heat level if too long. If the stack is 35 mm I'd or bigger. No problem. It might be loud outside if you go small to large. Like a brass instrument. Maybe. Call me if you need more input.

Ahoy Brian!
Some friends of mine were selling there boat here in Brisbane and I was (lucky?) enough to get their eberspacher heater as a gift. It had been sitting in a compartment on the boat for some time as we all were in the tropics. They were shiprecked off marlin brando's island and got a new boat to continue on and took the heater with them. They said it worked fine up into that time.

Anyway I read some of the manauls for the d3l unit and started playing around with cleaning up the unit from some surface rust and the glow plug area taking notice on what not to do and make sure not to do it (like taking apart the fuel pump, crossing polarity ect.) After making notes of what not to do, I proceeded to try and see if i could get the unit to let me know it was working. The unit was not connected to a diesel tank yet because i wanted to see if the unit even worked.

Currently the fan turn on only if its is clicked to just the fan. If it is turned on to the 4 position for starting it doesn't do anything and the green light starts to blink after a few seconds. the fuel pump doesn't click on either but if i give it 12v on its own it defintely works. Sometimes the green light doesn't blink and just stays on.

There is voltage to the glow plug if the glow plug is not attached at about 8.7V (there is plenty of juice in my battery bank btw) but as soon as I connect the glow plug to the wires there is no voltage going to the glow plug.

Also the brown wire number on the nob was off and when was off the ECU would click and when the wire was put back on it did not make a click.

Could you perhaps give me a step by step run down of what I should do for diagnostics on a machine that hasn't run in 8-12 months. Perhaps step by step to see what i'm doing wrong. I think the unit is okay just maybe a bad connection or some more clean up is in order.

Good day. Voltage, no corrosion on connectors. Is this a d3l. 251738 model? If it is, if the green light is flashing it is a diagnostic code. Do you have the manual with the flash codes in it? Make sure that if the glow plug wire terminals are a one piece, that there are no washers between the terminals and the plug. Just a lock washer with the nut. If the terminals are two separate rings, then the big ring goes on first,then an insulating washer, then the flat washer, then the small ring terminal, then lock washer and nut. These get mixed up all the time when curiosity strikes. I would also need a picture or name of the wall controller/thermostat. If you don't have the manual with the flash codes I can email you one. Just drop me an email from avalonbaymarine.com

Hi Brian, I have a D5L and would like to upgrade to the Honeywell Pro 2000 thermostat, that you mentioned previously. I notice there are several different models. Any recommendations for which one to purchase? Also, my heater still runs on high and low speed. Do I need to make it high only for the new thermostat. Thanks so much for all you do here! Mike