seadog Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi Guys We have an Autotrail Starspirit factory fitted with an Eberspacher heater. The heater sometimes wont start. Can anyone tell me if the heater is run from the vehicle battery or the leisure battery Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 SeaDog, Do you mean an Autocruise Starspirit? If so is the Eberspacher fitted to the base vehicle or the hab conversion? And what is the base vehicle? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docted Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 It should be run from leisure battery, these heaters are well known for needing a fully charged battery to start as they take a large current to heat up the the equivalent of a cold start device on a diesel engined vehicle. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Depending how it was installed from the vehicle battery when the engine is running and the leisure battery when the engine is stopped. They are quite voltage sensitive and take approx 20amps for 2 minutes at both fire up and shut down. and about 1-2 amps when running So if your battery is suspect ie: cannot sustain its terminal voltage when the heater takes its start-up current it will fail to start Or there is excessive voltage drop in the wiring to the heater this includes the fuse and its holder. So to identify the issue put a digital meter on the leisure battery and note if the terminal voltage drops when the heater is started if not move the meter along the circuit and see where the voltage drops (on start-up). I would try the heater whilst the engine is running to see what happens and eliminate the heater itself. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Autocruise Starspirit has Eberspacher hydronic heater fitted under the floor beneath the drivers side settee along with a calorifier and water/air heat exchanger for space heating. The Eberspacher is only powered from the leisure battery. Possible faults are low battery voltage or low voltage at the heater caused by a bad vonnection somewhere or the fan motor could be stuck if it has not been run for a while. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linfield Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 On our auto sleeper symbol the heater runs from the van battery . I have had it on all night low , & I have also run it till it switched itself off witch it will do when the battery gets to a low point ,How ever the battery still had enough power to start the van ok. We have had times when ours has not fired up when traveling with lights wipers heater radio ect, If this happens we just start the engine then fire the Eberspacher . ours gives out much better heat and cuts in and out with less noise on diesel , On electric it stays at on at the same pace all the time & gives out far less heat . So when on hook up we make sure the van is on split charge and use it on diesel it is much quieter once the van is to temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linfield Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 On our auto sleeper symbol the heater runs from the van battery . I have had it on all night low , & I have also run it till it switched itself off witch it will do when the battery gets to a low point ,How ever the battery still had enough power to start the van ok. We have had times when ours has not fired up when traveling with lights wipers heater radio ect, If this happens we just start the engine then fire the Eberspacher . ours gives out much better heat and cuts in and out with less noise on diesel , On electric it stays at on at the same pace all the time & gives out far less heat . So when on hook up we make sure the van is on split charge and use it on diesel it is much quieter once the van is to temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Yes sorry guys, I meant an Autocruise Starspirit. Can anyone tell me if there is an access hatch to the heater, I want to check the voltage at the glowplug on startup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 The heater itself is mounted in a box under the drivers side floor (under the settee behind the driver) and its control electronics are inside the settee seat box. You won't get to the glowplug easily. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Thanks Stalwart, I will have a look this afternoon and see if I can work out the feed to the glow plug from the control box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 We had a similar problem in our last van.The most likely cause of the problem will be your leisure batteries inability to deliver sufficient power to the heater for the glow plug. Measure the voltage drop during the start cycle to determine wither it can cope. If you start the van, the vehicles alternator will add to the available power and should get it going. You can get your battery assessed for free at many retailers, before attempting to strip the Eberspacher down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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