Night heater servicing...

[bxl_lad]

Tried to find if this is a topic covered already, but couldn't find anything concrete on the subject - so will ask anyway...

Given that the van is pushing 20years old now, I wonder if the night heater has ever had any attention?
I found a few videos on Youtube where folks have removed, stripped down and cleaned-up their night heaters (mostly it seems Americans and from trucks), but similar Eberspacher models. Seems a relatively simple process.

Has anyone here ever done this and has some advice, or indeed do you/have you had your unit serviced - if so what was the cost etc...

I think given this is something essentially burning fuel while you sleep in a tin can, its not a bad idea to have it given the once over from time to time...

Discuss...

 

[WelshGas]

Tried to find if this is a topic covered already, but couldn't find anything concrete on the subject - so will ask anyway...

Given that the van is pushing 20years old now, I wonder if the night heater has ever had any attention?
I found a few videos on Youtube where folks have removed, stripped down and cleaned-up their night heaters (mostly it seems Americans and from trucks), but similar Eberspacher models. Seems a relatively simple process.

Has anyone here ever done this and has some advice, or indeed do you/have you had your unit serviced - if so what was the cost etc...

I think given this is something essentially burning fuel while you sleep in a tin can, its not a bad idea to have it given the once over from time to time...

Discuss...

VW have no servicing regimen for the Parking Heater. It is recommended to be fired up at least once a month. There is very little to go wrong with them and if something did I would get it serviced by an Eberspacher agent. No point going to VW.

 

[zennorboy]

Living on the south coast we have lots of ‘boat folk’ in the area and consequently a good Eberspacher Agent. In Cali T4 days I had an exhaust clamp coming loose on the Eberspacher so took it down to the local agent who sorted the clamp, rerouted the exhaust (he considered it was too close to the tyre) and serviced the unit. It took about half an hour and cost about £30. He had all the right tools, the knowledge and the experience...I personally wouldn’t want to faff about under there to save that kind of money.

 

[Calimili]

It is recommended to be fired up at least once a month.

Is this in the manual please ? for how long should it be or would you recommend having it on ?

 

[zennorboy]

If not ‘touring’ I run mine for at least half an hour month on a reasonably high setting following advice from folks on this site and the Eberspacher man.

 

[blondebier]

If not ‘touring’ I run mine for at least half an hour month on a reasonably high setting following advice from folks on this site and the Eberspacher man.

Good advice. I've noticed that by using it more frequently the smell from it seems to be a lot less (or maybe I'm getting used to it)

 

[mrcheesbrough]

I stripped down our old heater not long after we bought our Westy. Mainly because I drove through a flood and drowned it (doh!). If I'd fired it up just after the chances are it would have dried out and gone on to give us years more service. It's a pretty simple beast, but the ECU had died and given that a replacement ECU was going to be around £600 (it's a VW specific one - naturally) we plumped for a full replacement (wince).

As serviceable parts go there is very little other than a glow plug and a mesh filter. However, if either of these fail you'd probably be looking to give it a full strip down as it would need removing from the camper anyway. If this was the case there would be numerous other gaskets to replace too.

As already mentioned, fire it up regularly to drive out any damp and spiders webs. If it fires up fine, I'd leave it alone. If it doesn't blow visible smoke from the exhaust once running, I'd leave it alone. Happy winter camping.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

I stripped down our old heater not long after we bought our Westy. Mainly because I drove through a flood and drowned it (doh!). If I'd fired it up just after the chances are it would have dried out and gone on to give us years more service. It's a pretty simple beast, but the ECU had died and given that a replacement ECU was going to be around £600 (it's a VW specific one - naturally) we plumped for a full replacement (wince).

As serviceable parts go there is very little other than a glow plug and a mesh filter. However, if either of these fail you'd probably be looking to give it a full strip down as it would need removing from the camper anyway. If this was the case there would be numerous other gaskets to replace too.

As already mentioned, fire it up regularly to drive out any damp and spiders webs. If it fires up fine, I'd leave it alone. If it doesn't blow visible smoke from the exhaust once running, I'd leave it alone. Happy winter camping.

 

[bxl_lad]

Thanks - good advice...
I think that was the heart of my question 'does it need servicing?' and so if its more the case 'if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it' then I'm good to go with that

 

[Nick Stubbs]

here you go, parts available from P?F jones.

 

[WelshGas]

Is this in the manual please ? for how long should it be or would you recommend having it on ?

From Eberspacher. 1 hr a month to get the system fully upto temperature.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Just use it regular.
Im in the camp of, if it ain’t broke...

Stuff like this, tends to go wrong when we start pulling things apart.

 

[AndyWT]

I'm in the school of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" serviced my Eberspacher before winter just out of curiosity mostly, replace glow plug and burner screen, was as clean as a whistle inside (a black whistle), keep old plug for spare and gaskets so you don't get and fumes into the van.

Having fitted 100+ Eberspacher into all sorts of things, some I fitted 30 years ago are still working so don't worry, its very simple, you done need to strip the replace the plug or replace heat sensor only strip to clean or replace the motor, but you do need to drop off the van.

One issue is parts prices it's painfull for a motor or pump, it can be tempting to fit a Chinese copy, don't you will need to drop it off often and strip to decoke when it blocks up, if you don't way to pay Eberspacher prices look at Russian Planar heater, half the price of the Eberspacher and good service.

If I need Eberspacher parts I get from www.butlertechnik.com based in the UK and will ship worldwide.