steve g Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Just brought autocruise starbust 2006 reg . We have used the manual without success to use the blown air heating system can use hot water side of things. We would like some simple instructions on how to use heating /hot water and heating when needed as we intend to go away every weekend even through the winter as i have throat cancer with a short life expectencey so please some one reply so we can make the most of our motorhome& time left. Cheers Steve & Chris Grimshaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Can't help you myself,but if you have no answers on this thread PM Tracker(richard) as I think he used to have a similar age Stardream so might have had same control panel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Steve Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums - I’m very sorry to hear of your health problems. Unfortunately I’ve no hands-on experience of Eberspacher’s “Combitronic” system. I’m aware that there are two systems - a ‘modular’ system where the major components are separate and the Combitronic "Compact” system where most of the components are housed together in a single ‘box’. Details of both systems are shown here http://www.pfjones.co.uk/eberspacher-heaters-eberspacher-parts/eberspacher-combitronic.html but I’m not certain which system your 2006 Starburst will have. A Combitronic Operating Guide can be downloaded from Eberspacher’s website http://www.eberspacher.com/download-centre/technical-documents/operating-instructions.html but I note that the control-panel can be a simple unit, or there can be two more-sophisticated versions (It may help if you are able to confirm which control-panel you have.) The instructions on how to select water-only heating or air-heating (which will also heat the water) seem reasonably straightforward and, if you can’t get the air-heating to function, there may be a problem with the system itself. There are current forum members who have owned Autocruise motorhomes with Eberspacher systems and I believe one member (Colin Weston) still has a 2007 Starburst. I’ve taken the liberty of posting about your request for advice to the Motorhome Matters forum in the hope that a forum-member familiar with the system fitted by Autocruise will be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Welcome to the forum Steve and Chris, WE did indeed have a Starburst and the Eberspacher heating was very efficient when it was working and a pain in the proverbial initially when it was not! After months of faffing about with various non experts we visited an authorised Eberspacher centre, ususally a commercial vehicle garage as they are mainly used in trucks, where their factory trained expert was able to go right through our system with us and clean and service it and rectify a couple of intermittent faults after which it worked perfectly for the next three years when we sold it. The Starburst/Starlet 2 of that era is in my view one of the best vans ever made with its very practical layout, smooth 2.2 hdi motor, gentle Alko suspension, very practical layout and low profile design. If you have the Alko handbook, that shows much lower tyre pressures than the Peugeot book and ours ran well without ever overheating even in Southern Spain in high summer and was much a more comfortable ride on the lower tyre pressures. The only downsides for us were limited storage space for long trips, very firm beds and wide turning circle due to very long wheelbase - but these were all livable with in view of so much else being right with the van. So my advice would be to go online and find your nearest Eberspacher agent and get it checked out and serviced. It won't be cheap but it should bring peace of mind. It is quite likely that if you quote the precise model number and search online you might well find clearer insturctions. We had instructions both in the Eberspacher Combitronic book and in the Autocruise handbook but these of course went with the van and I'm too long in the tooth to be able to reliably remember now! Hope that helps, if not please ask again and if there is anything else I can help with please ask - also Ray in West Wales had a similar vintage Starburst? PS - Having seen Ray's post it reminded me that we had battery problems to start with as the heating often failed to fire up again halfway through a cold night due to insufficient charge retained. This was all cured by fitting 2 new Varta 110ah leisure batteries, a 50 watt solar panel with regulator and a split charge battery master relay that also kept the engine battery from draining when unused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Steve g, I use to have an Autocruise Starlet 2 which was the Marquis 'special' version of the Starburst, mine was a 2005 model and had the Eberspacher D5 Combitronic heating/hot water system. I will help as much as I can remember. When you say you have had the Hot water system going, Has this been on Diesel ? or just on Mains Hookup ? as you can run it on either or both. If you have had it on Diesel, then that proves that the 'main burner' is firing up. If it is, then the problem lies in controlling the heating direction. This system is heavy on 12v power at 'startup' and a dodgy leisure battery will soon show up. Do you have a Manual for the Combitronic Panel ? Ray The one you need is the 9th one down 'Combitronic CT03C, CT03M' from the 2nd link that Derek posted, It's the Mk 1 deluxe panel. all the info you need is there. once you download it. get back in touch if you have any trouble, It's no consolation I know,but in my opinion your System is far better than the Truma Combi 4E that I have in my present van. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve g Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Thank you every one who replied so quickly. Two guys on our semi permanant site at Avon Mills next to Marquis Motorhomes at Tewkesbury had a play but the only thing that happend was some warm air out of air vent at 0300hrs next morning then nothing. Battery in very good condition always pluged in mains even on drive also only purchased July 10th from West Midlands Caravan & Motorhomes with 6mths warranty so far they have done Radio/cd waste tap & locker hinge but no advice about controls .I think its down to reprogram the control panel useing the spanner sign menu but do not feel confedent enough so might have to visit a HGV garage DHL used when i was at work or is it back to dealers and be a pain in the neck (pardon the pun) but you have to be Posative in my situation. Steve g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi, here is a UK Dealer list : http://www.eberspacher.com/dealers/dealer-listings/heating-dealers.html It has a downloadable complete list. It might be worthwhile calling in to get them to 'talk you over' the workings of the unit, it MAY not have anything wrong with it. They would let you know. I also think that Trackers idea of a service wouldn't go amiss. Good Luck. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Steve Have you asked Marquis Motorhomes if they can help? According to the Espar website they are distributors/partners for Eberspacher motorhome-related products http://www.espar.co.uk/EsparDealersSWEngland.htm You may be right that use of the ‘Engineers Menu’ is needed to get air-heating to work, but as the heater did produce hot air for a while at 3am it may be something as simple as the desired air-temperature being set too low. It really needs someone to start from Square One and go through the control-panel settings to check what’s set and what is not. In principle, if a high temperature-setting is input through the control-panel and “Heating On” is selected, air-heating should commence not too long afterwards. I notice that Ray asked whether you were operating the heater on diesel or 240V, but you did not answer. Assuming that your motorhome is on 240V mains hook-up at Mill Avon I’d be tempted to disconnect the vehicle temporarily from the hook-up while attempts are made to get the heater to run properly. If there’s some sort of odd conflict between the heater’s diesel and 240V operating modes that’s causing it to fail to heat air but not water, disconnecting from the hook-up should force the heater to select just diesel-fuelled operation. As Tracker has said, these heaters are fine when working correctly, but have a reputation for being difficult to trouble-shoot when not. As repairs can be costly and your Starburst is under warranty, if the present problem cannot be easily and satisfactorily resolved, you’d be wise not to delay in returning the vehicle to West Midlands Caravans for attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Steve, I have an Autocruise ( not same model as yours ) with this Eberspacher system and use it regularly. From what you have posted it is not clear exactly what the problem is, other than that the heating does not work in some way. The engineer mode ( spanner ) needs a special sequence of button presses to access and once accessed many things can be altered which should not be! Question: Are you trying to run the system on mains electric or on diesel? You can use the panel to select either diesel or mains or both ( probably configered as 'boost' ), both for the hot water and separately for the heating. Having said that not all of these Eberspacher installations in Autocruises have both mains and diesel options for both the heating and hot water. I think that some only have diesel for heating. To run the heating you just press the 'heat' button and the Eber should fire up and after a short time the blower will start running and blow warm air however, you can set the 'room temperature' required and if it is set at a level below the actual room temperature the blower will not come on or will not stay on. Now that you have been shown access to the instruction book you may be able to have a better understanding of how to use it but come back here if not and come back anyway and let us know your progress. Oh! I have just spotted that you had a manual already! I do not have manual to hand but another thought is that I think you can set the heating on a timer ( I have never done this ). If it is set to run on the timer it may not come on manually: you would have to turn the timer off. Not sure about this but it is worth checking what the book says on that point. Harvey ps my experience of using an Eberspacher service agent to fix a fault with my Combitronic was a failure. I fixed it myself in the end. Although they may be experienced with the actual Eber diesel burner unit some are not familiar with the Autocruise fitted Combitronic sytem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myshell Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Steve. Welcome to the forum, I have an Autocruise Pioneer Renoir with the Combitronic heater fitted, I had almost the same problem as yours ie heater would fire fire up when heating hot water only, but not on blown air heating, as has been mentioned before these heaters use a lot of power on initial start up (approx 20 amps) due to heating the glow pin and running the fan motor for the blown air, obviously when only heating the water the fan motor is not running so less power is needed, I therefore assumed that my leisure battery was going duff so I bought a new one (110 amp hr) but heater would still not fire up on blown air.I checked all the wiring with a multimeter and found that I was only getting 12.3 volts at the heater control module even with the van engine running yet I was getting 14.5 volts from the alternator, that`s when I began to suspect the relay`s may be the cause of the trouble, especially with it being directly behind the front grill under the bonnet and prone to water damage, on inspection this appeared to be the cause due to the relay contacts being covered in green verdigrea , rather than messing about cleaning them for £4:50 each I bought 2 new heavy duty sealed relays (the 2nd relay is for the electric step and the fridge) tested it again with the multimeter 13.2 volts :-D pressed the start button on the control panel and it fired up first time :-D :-D I have the instruction manual and an easy to follow diagram for the Combitronic if you want them, just pm me with your e-mail address and I will e-mail them to you. Regards Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 myshell - 2014-08-26 12:05 AM Steve. Welcome to the forum, I have an Autocruise Pioneer Renoir with the Combitronic heater fitted, I had almost the same problem as yours ie heater would fire fire up when heating hot water only, but not on blown air heating, Phil Excellent info Phil. I guess that a quick test for this would be to fire up the Eber on hot water only and after it has been running for a while, then switch on the heating. As the Eber is already running then only the low wattage fan will start using power and it should then work. Harvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 If you cannot fathom the Eberspacher out form all of the very useful advice given above may I point you to Carwoods in Smethwick who are a Eberspacher repair shop. They have repaired a Volkswagen original fitment Eberspacher for me in the past. See http://www.carwood.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Hello, Just a Clarification the system fitted to MY 2005 Starburst/Starlet 2 was an Eberspacher D5 Combitronic, which is CT03M (modular) it has a seperate 'Calorifier' cylinder, which can be heated by diesel or EHU, The Blown air Unit also has an electric element in it, So both parts can be run either by Diesel or EHU or Both. The EHU needs to be disconnected to test it properly. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve g Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Hi every one and thank you for all the support and advice Brillient. Have just phoned main Eberspacher dealer in Stoke after some advice from Manchester Office. A guy called Des talked me through the panel as i was stood in motorhome on drive and it all worked. He said do not use the spanner button ever.Just a message to Derrick can you still send me some instuctions Ta Steve G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 steve g - 2014-08-27 11:49 AM ...Just a message to Derrick can you still send me some instuctions Ta Steve G I’m guessing you are referring to me, but I’m not in a position to send you Combitronic instructions, I’m afraid. I note that in his earlier posting of 26 August 2014 12:05 AM ‘myshell’ (Phil Johnston) said to you "I have the instruction manual and an easy to follow diagram for the Combitronic if you want them, just pm me with your e-mail address and I will e-mail them to you.” so you may be confusing me with him. In my first posting (25 August 2014 2:12 PM) I provided the following two internet links http://www.pfjones.co.uk/eberspacher-heaters-eberspacher-parts/eberspacher-combitronic.html http://www.eberspacher.com/download-centre/technical-documents/operating-instructions.html The first link shows simplified diagrams of typical Combitronic motorhome installations and the second Eberspacher-website link permits a "Combitronic CT03C, CT03M – operating guide” to be downloaded. I don’t know if Phil’s diagram and instruction manual differ from the diagrams and the manual available via the links, or whether the manual you already have is the same as Phil’s or the one you can download from the Eberspacher website. If Phil’s manual is the same as the one on Eberspacher’s website and he had planned to e-mail you a scanned copy of his manual, it’s likely that downloading and printing the Eberspacher manual yourself would provide a higher quality document. Plainly, if your own manual is the same as Phil’s and the downloadable version, you won’t gain from obtaining Phil’s or Eberspacher’s manual. The standard control-panel used with a Combitronic system has just a few functions making it easy for users to operate, but the “Deluxe” control-panel has considerably more functionality and this is reflected in the complexity of the panel’s operating instructions. If you wanted the minimum instructions necessary for operating your Combitronic system, your best course of action would probably be to take a copy of Page 10 of the downloadable manual and work with that. If you wish to get in touch with Phil (‘myshell'), you can do this via the forum’s PM (Private Messenging) feature by clicking on the PM button in the left section of his posting above. Phil has also provided an e-mail address (that I assume still works) and you can use this by clicking on the MAIL button on his posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve g Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Hi Phil. Sorry for the delay in reply to say Thankyou as i had to use my sisters printer today but i will buy one just to keep up with the modern world. Just had a weekend in York but in a B&B 5mins from the Minster even my Blue Badge could not get me that close in motorhome.. We are starting a15nt/ 6 site trip round Wales on Friday and Tracker/Richard is meeting us on our pitch in Tewkesbury to give us even more tips on our Starburst. So with your instructions and a phone call to Eberspacher dealer in Stoke on Trent its now all working Regards Steve G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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