rooster63 Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 On our 3rd trip away the Eberspacher Airtronic heater stopped working. I checked all the fuses although none are marked as supplying the heater. The van has a Sargent Ec328 psu and when I took the van into a repairer they found the 5A fuse marked permanent supply had blown. That fuse is marked as supplying the radio and fridge on the schematics, although they both continued to work so presumably the 5A fuse has been reallocated. The repair shop said they couldn’t do anything about it as they are not an authorised Eberspacher agent. I had a vague recollection that when I was checking the fuses that the 5A fuse had been replaced with a 10A fuse by presumably the previous owner.I had replaced it with a 5A which had blown as soon as I tried the heater. I put a 10A fuse in and the heater works. However I know that you are not supposed to put a higher rated fuse in as it may cause damage to the circuitry so any suggestions as to what I can do to safely use the heater? Any ideas why the 5A fuse blows? Looking at the Eberspacher manual there seems to be a 5A fuse for control, not sure if that is a separate fuse than the one in the Sargent unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 Hi, Not knowing what the wattage is of your heater, a 5A fuse roughly equates to 1KW. If your heater is more than that then the fuse will blow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooster63 Posted June 19, 2021 Author Share Posted June 19, 2021 I think the 5A fuse is for the control side of things, there is a 20A fuse for the main circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 I think you may be best advised to initially contact Eberspächer (UK) Ltd, Climate House, Yeoman Road, Ringwood, Hampshire BH24 3FA. Tel: 01425 480151 Their brochure for current versions of the Airtronic heater (it would be a good idea to identify which model heater you have before contacting them) suggests that 12V consumption ranges between 6 and 31Watts (0.5A - 3A) which should fit with a 5A fuse. That the heater blows this fuse, but runs happily on a 10A fuse suggests that it functions well enough, but that something is causing higher than normal consumption. The problem is to identify what that might be, for which an Eberspächer service specialist may be required. The danger in doubling the fuse rating is that the fuse is there to prevent the wiring overheating and potentially starting a fire. The fuse rating generally reflects the capacity of the wiring on the circuit it protects. This means that using a 10A fuse allows in the region of 120 Watts to be drawn, in lieu of the (presumed) 60 Watts (so approximately double what the above heater technical information suggests) the circuit was designed for. If that is happening the existing wiring is liable to "run hot" with the heater on. Until you have the system checked, I think you would be well advised not to run the heater whatever fuse is installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooster63 Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 Looking at the Eberspacher manual it does say it draws up to 100W on start up and then settles down to 15-20W. As 100W equates to about 8A it is not surprising that a 5A fuse blows. I have no intention of running the heater with the 10A fuse as I am aware that there is a danger of over heating wires. Not sure why the heater is connected to the 5A circuit marked permanent supply as according to the Sargent manual that is supposed to be fro the radio and fridge. With the blown 5A fuse the radio and fridge still work so they must be connected to another fuse. I wonder if Timberland when they converted the van were a bit free and easy with the way they connected the heater. Have emailed Eberspacher to see what they suggest. I have also just had another look at the Sargent manual and it states that the wiring harness uses a brown/yellow wire for that particular fuse and connection. A brown/yellow wire is rated at 17A so presumably little danger of over heating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooster63 Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 Have been in contact with Timberland and they tell me that over the years they have had several vans returned to them for repairs as the 5A fuse would blow so as policy they have been using a 10A fuse for many years and not had a problem, they assure me that it is perfectly safe! According to the Eberspacher operator instructions it only draws 8A for a short time so minimal danger of overheating., I assume. PS fridge not running on 12V sorted, shower tray being repaired next week, air ride suspension set up properly, so all good to go. yippee. At least the selling dealer have been very good at picking up the bills with out any quibble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian81 Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Our Eberspacher heater (vintage 2008) has two power wires. One feeds the fan (5a) the other is a 20amp fuse that feeds the glowplug. The 5a fuse should be on a 'permanent' feed to ensure the purge cycle is completed (IE heat is removed from combustion chamber) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooster63 Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 Shower tray done today, looks good, BUT when I pushed the button to extend the step to make it easier for the guy to get in the van nothing happens. The repairer who replaced the Sargent EM50 interface as that was what was needed claimed that the step not working couldn’t be anything to do with them as replacing the EM50 has nothing to do with the step. Funny that the manual show the step being wired in and there is a 20A fuse for the step in the EM50. He then tried to tell me the step wasn’t working when I took the van, it was the day before. Have arranged for original dealer to have a look as lost confidence in the repairer who was more local so should have been more convenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 The Chinese started selling cheap copies of the eberspacher heater as soon as the patent run out. I've got one - they are so similar that many of the parts are interchangeable Some of the advice online may be misleading and wrong but this guy does some very good tutorials on them He made some remarkable findings Like the 5kw heater and so called 8kw heater are the same and the 2kw heater uses the same amount of diesel and electricity as the 5kw heater The lower output seems to be down to the smaller and less efficient heat exchanger Diesel is very hard to light - you have got to atomise it and heat it to a high temperature, all of which needs power. Especially to get it started. You will certainly need more than 5amp, and you really don't want fuses blowing because if the heater doesn't complete its cooling down cycle before it switches off it could be ruined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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