a side note about Espar Heaters...

I have performed a lot of service on these units and I will say the amount of usage on these is critical to their operation. One should almost always consider "stepping it up" according to size. For example, a vessel of our size , it is recommended (hydronic) M8 or M10 units however, stepping it up to the M12 will ensue this unit is not running 24 hours a day to keep up with the heating demands. One more example, I helped install a unit last fall and by the end of the winter the customer was complaining that it was not working properly. It was making a lot of noise and bellowing white smoke. It had over 5300 hours on it and needed a complete overhaul to remove the carbon build up in the firing chamber. These units should be removed and sent off for service once a season if hours exceed 2500. One more thing that helps these run better is if you cut the fuel with kerosene. The general rule is 10% however, it is not recommended you run your main at this time because some of the lubricating properties of diesel are diluted. 

These are DC units and voltages are always critical during operation. Low voltage will also cause carbon build up and failures. 

Duane, I agree with Ian your ECU is the likely culprit.

Cheers all,

Bill Maffei 

SM #195

It's all Good 

 

Well done Ian !

While you are about it you may consider  fitting an external regulator that will charge the house batteries correctly

There are a couple of ways of doing this which are illustrated well in the files section.

 

The problem with the internal LN regulator is that is delivers 28.8 volts... forever....., and that will eventually kill your deep cycle house batteries if you motor for long periods.

If you do motor for hours you need to have a system that will deal with charging your deep cycle house batteries in a 3-stage manner ...if you want to prolong the life of your batteries.

if you have plenty of money to spend on batteries then  I guess it doesn't matter.

Cheers

Alan

Elyse SM437

 

Hi Ian,

Good to hear that everything is working well.

We, too, had enough of  having to clean the stern of the boat when the water line is submerged so when we put Coppercoat on eight years ago we finished it on the top line of the orange stripe. We added a blue stripe an inch above that. 

   We ummed and aahed for months before we decided to go quite so high but are delighted that we did.    Other than the fact that the waterline is now greenish ( oxidised copper ) with a blue stripe in contrast with the normal black anti fouling with an orange stripe ( for our vintage )  you would not spot the difference unless it was pointed out to you.

The savings of hours in cleaning is very welcome-- I have been cleaning Amel hulls now for 28 years, a labour of love, but as I get older life seems to get busier.

 A good move. 

Ian and Judy, Pen Azen, SM 302, Genoa

On 5 Jun 2017, at 16:56, Ian Shepherd sv_freespirit@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

Hi Eric,

as far as I know I have an Airtronic D5LC model. I can't remember what was fitted to my first Amel in 2000, but it was about the same time that Ian took delivery of his boat. It is a shame that Amel don't buy the units with the diagnostic controller, but maybe that is not an option for them at initial purchase? Regarding whether I have a silencer fitted, I really don't know. I suspect not if it's an option. I did take the whole unit out when troubleshooting, (unnecessarily) and I think that the pipe behind the heat shield was a straight through stainless pipe. Do you have a photo of the silencer?

By the way, I made a typo regarding the fans. They are Caframo Siroccos and not Cafranio. I see that West Marine have them on offer at $73.99 in 12V or 24V versions.

Crusader is in excellent shape thanks,  with no faults. My water maker membranes are now in their 8th year, the prop-shaft seals are perfect after 7 years use since changing the seal bush to stainless, and the modified bow thruster has needed no maintenance during the past 6 years other than greasing the drive shaft splines annually with Corrosion Block grease. The new style bimini has transformed the sailing experience with lots of cool air flowing through the cockpit and more headroom.

I also up-rated my solar panels to 250W each and now electricity is abundant. My Air Marine 403 wind generator mounted on top of the mizzen mast suffered a casing failure in 50 knot winds and had to be replaced with anew Air-X. (I think that the swivel seized causing a big side load on the casting). Regulation seems much better with the new model and no more flutter braking!

I am off to Marmaris in Turkey soon for a haul out with the intention of altering the plimsoll line to match the waterline, so saving lot's of hull cleaning around the rear half of the boat. Whilst out I will change the prop-shaft seals as a precaution, and also the grease in the bow thruster housing, together with the shaft seal that is running on a stainless sleeve. The sealed bearings in the thruster are still running very smoothly.

Yes Eric, I have been quiet on this site for a while. To be frank I became highly pissed off with wildly inaccurate accusations by two members, unfortunately both from your side of the pond. If you want to know more, I will email you privately.

Hope that Kimberlite is in good shape too.

Regards and fair winds.

Ian SM 414 Crusader - Cyprus

On 05/06/2017 07:43, 'sailormon' kimberlite@... [amelyachtowners] wrote:

 

Ian,

Great write up and link. I installed the espar in kimberlite last fall.

The older D5 units have a separate control box and I did not know when Amel switched over to  the electronic model. It seems that we all have the newer unit.

When I was In Ian Jenkins boat Pen Azen he had the older unit, thus my question to him about which unit he has. I visited a number of Amels with factory fitted heaters and did a lot of research to get the install perfect.

Do you have a silencer on your exhaust of your heater?

 

It’s been a long time since you were on the board. How are you, and your boat?

Fair Winds

Eric

Kimberlite Amel Super Maramu #376

 

I

 

From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...]
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2017 2:11 AM
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Eberspacher Heater

 

 

Hello Duane,

I had the same experience with my D5 as you. In fact my second failure. To answer your question about the ventilation function first, the flow into the salon cabin is OK but poor in the fore and aft cabins. I have fitted Cafranio Sirocco fans to overcome this problem. They are stylish, quiet, efficient and have a timer function which allows you to run them for 2,4,6 or 8 hours then switch off. I set my cabin fan to run for two hours when I go to bed.

Regarding your Eberspacher D5, this link is useful when trouble shooting: http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.uk/Eberspacher_Faults_2.html

The hard rubber knob on my control unit failed, and like so many scams these days, you can't buy a spare without buying the whole switch! As the diagnostic controller costs not much more, I replaced my controller with one. This was most helpful in trouble shooting, as was swapping the ECU and current limiter with Bootlegger, another Amel SM2K that wintered next to me in Cyprus. The diagnostic controller also allows you to reset a locked out ECU.

My first failure was an ECU -expensive! The second was like yours. Everything seemed dead. The diagnostics controller gave an error code suggesting a problem with the blower. When the D5 is first switched on it goes through a 3 second self diagnostic routine which tests the fuel pump, the blower and the glow plug. If you remove the inlet air duct on the aft end of the unit and have someone watch, the blower fan should kick during this test. You should also hear a relay operate. If you hear nothing, then I would suggest the problem may lie with the ECU. I heard the relays OK and when I put a direct feed onto the bower motor, it ran normally.

This narrowed it down to a small PCB that slides into the side of the heater unit near the aft end. This board controls the power feed to the blower and the glow plug. This board is easily removed but take care in lifting the connector plugs off the board as the pins are weakly soldered to the board. I broke one of the pins and had to fabricate a new one. This board is easy to troubleshoot and I found that a track that looked perfectly normal was in fact open circuit. There was an invisible break where the track went through a right angle. Soldering a small piece of hook up wire over the fault restored my unit to full working order.

Like you, I probably don't use the heater that often, but I do like everything on board to work as it should.

Best of luck.

Ian Shepherd SM2K 414 (2003) Crusader - Larnaca Cyprus.

 

On 03/06/2017 17:34, sailor63109@... [amelyachtowners] wrote:

 

My boat has the Eberspacher D5 diesel heater...which does not work.

 

I got to thinking about it since lately it would be great to have the "fresh air ventilation" setting functional so we could circulate fresh air from outside to inside.  This is especially needed during nights with little breeze to bring the cool evening air down below.

 

Before I go to the trouble of trying to figure out what's wrong with it, does anyone use it for fresh air ventilation?  Does it help reduce the temperature in the boat when the outside air temp is lower than inside?  i.e., does it move enough air to be helpful?

 

The other approach I'm considering is to mount a fan on the aft cabin hatch to exhaust air from the boat.  24 volt fans meant to cool the radiator on semi trucks are available and have sealed motors.  I'm sure there are other ways to skin the cat...any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Duane

Wanderer SM#477