combitronic

[Peteco]

How do motor-homers find the Eberspacher Combitronic Diesel fired heating?

Is it efficient, noisey, practical? I see that it has been dropped from most of Autocruise new vans who now fit gas. Is it just a cost issue. Our replacement van is equipped with it, so your answers will be appreciated.

 

Many thanks

 

Peteco

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Peteco:

 

Eberspacher's "Combitronic" comes in two flavours - 'modular' - the traditional arrangement with a Hydronic heater normally located in the motorhome's engine-compartment and with the rest of the bits suitably scattered throughout the vehicle - or 'compact' (two versions), where most of the gubbins are combined into a single unit positioned beneath the vehicle's floor. I suspect that your inquiry relates to the latter system.

 

I've no hands-on experience of Combitronic, but there's a bit about it on the MHF forum:.

 

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopicp-460178.html

 

and in Item 12 of this sbmcc link:

 

http://sbmcc.co.uk/forum/lofiversion/index.php?f40.html

 

Even the latest diesel-fuelled heaters still appear to need a hefty jolt of electrical power to fire them up, so make sure that your new motorhome has plenty of battery capacity and, if you are planning to camp regularly in cold weather off-hook-up, that the vehicle has a charging system able to keep the battery/batteries well topped-up.

 

[colin weston]

Peteco,

We have a Combitronic in our Starburst. We used it fairly extensively for hot water when wild camping in the Shetlands and it worked fine. We have yet to use it during the winter in Scotland for van heating but I have no reason to believe that it won't be OK. The system works fine on electric hook-up. They are well proven units. It can be a bit alarming if you watch the current consumption during the ignition phase of operation but we have two 85 Ah leisure batteries fitted as standard so we would be OK for a couple of days without driving to recharge the batteries. Now Autocruise have been taken over by Swift I believe they are looking very closely at 'the bottom line'. The Truma system (gas & electric) is probably cheaper than the Eberspecher and they now only fit one leisure battery. The Eberspecher system is a bit noisier than a gas system but acceptable. The system takes up a fair bit of locker space and it has a reservoir of water/antifreeze mix. There is a fair amount of plumbing and I had to tighten my hose clips after a few months as I was getting some leakage from the hose connections. It doesn't seem to use much diesel which is just as well at the current price! Happy motoring.

[Mel E]

A fairly common feature of heaters of this type is that they are much noisier outside the van than inside, so your neighbours may suffer.

 

Mel E

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[Peteco]

Hi Colin

Many thanks for prompt reply. Our replacement van is a Starburst 2007, with 2 x 85A batts. so hope we will be okay.

With the Alco chassis the Starbust seems like a nice drive, but how is yours in reverse, ie juddering? I assume you have 07/08 model?

Peteco

[trigrem]

We have a Starburst fitted with Eberspacher system, seems efficient, we just have it on for ten minutes morning and evening which covers normal ablutions and washing up. If showering we have it on for 20 minutes in the morning during the showering process.

We have two 110 amp hr batteries and a 80 watt solar panel and have had no problems over a ten day period without hook up.

In winter we tend to use sites with hook up so no problem there as we use the electric heating option.

It was noisy initially, sounded like a jet engine taking off, on start up, then it quietens. I reduced the start up noise considerably by fitting an intake silencer. The noise now is such that I do not think it would annoy a neibour at the normal spacing, I have deliberately walked away from the unit to test this.

Doug

[Peteco]

Hi, thanks for the info. We do not take delivery of our 2007 Starburst for another week.

 

Is the intake silencer a part supplied by Eberspacher, have you a part number. As the unit is fitted under the bed silence is golden, I hope.

Ta ever so.

Peteco.