mikemelson Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Hi, I have recently fitted a new Eber D2 as the ECU on the 11 year old one packed up. It seems to have a mind of it's own, works OK on EHU & when engine is running but not always when just on batteries. This morning, batteries were showing 13.1 volts on controller, switched on heater, it fired up, volts went down to 12.2 & then it ran down & turned off. I have 2 x 85a batteries & 2 x 40 amp solar panels, the batteries are (allegedly) 2 years old. Any ideas out there on this? All advice gratefully received, Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Hi Have you looked at the dates on the battery, still do put dates on I hope,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I would say batteries are well past their best! Espar's are notorious for being fussy about battery voltage. The only other thing to check would be voltage drop along the wiring but if it has worked for 11 years then probably not too much wrong with it. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I would say batteries are well past their best! Espar's are notorious for being fussy about battery voltage. The only other thing to check would be voltage drop along the wiring but if it has worked for 11 years then probably not too much wrong with it. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 1) At present in the London area your solar panels will not be producing much power at all. Up here in south Manchester, I am only getting circa 200m/a from a 100 watt panel. 2) If you can, try the heater running on diesel whilst plugged into the mains. doing this will prove the 12 volt supply to the heater is working OK and at a suitable voltage (or not as the case may be). Eber heaters really are voltage sensitive and you must first prove that the 12 volt bit is 100% perfect before looking for trouble elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 The extra voltage whilst on charge could be masking a voltage drop which comes into effect only once the charge source is switched off Before buying new batteries I would take them off the van and bench charge followed by at rest voltage checks over the next few days to see how well they are holding up and, again before writing them off, I would check the wiring from batteries to burner for voltage drop and separate and check and clean all joints, especially any that are outside under the van. You could try replacing the leisure battery with the starter battery temporarily and see if the boiler will fire up? The age of the batteries is irrelevant if they have been abused and either left overly flat for any length of time or overcharged as some solar set ups can do in strong sunlight. As has been said many times - to work well an Eberspacher needs very good batteries which also hold their power sufficient to restart the boiler as and when the thermostat requires overnight and they will need recharging if not every day then certainly every other day if used a lot on cold days and nights. The last van we had with Eberspacher needed two new 110 ah batteries and they would just about see two cold nights and a day with the heating on a not high thermostat setting before needing a recharge - with no solar power at night and precious little by day in winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8LEY Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Try starting the heater as soon as you leave home. Leave it running constantly. After all it's more like central heating than a kettle. Once it's up to temperature it won't drag as much out of your battery and it won't annoy the neighbours as much with its loud fan noise. Don't know if you have the info below? Automatic settings Boost High Med Low Standby. Heat output 2200 1800 1200 850 0 watts. Fuel consumption 0.28 0.23 0.15 0.10 0 l/hr. Power consumption 34 22 12 8 5 watts Current 12v approx 3 2 1 0.6 0.5 amps Current 12v start, glow pin on, 10 amps for about 2½ minutes Current 12v heater off 0 amps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Power consumption when the Eberspacher is running is not usually an issue as it generally only relates to the fan motor. The issue is that it takes a huge surge of power followed by a heavy drain for a while just to get it to ignite and it needs to fire up after every shut down by the thermostat when it reaches the desired temperature. 10 amps for 2.5 minutes does not sound a lot but if it shuts down and restarts say 2 or 3 times an hour for 24 hours then that is a lot of power being used Sorry, but I can't recall the exact power drain in total per 24 hours but I do recall being amazed by it when I first read about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I agree with Keithl, your batteries are Goosed. The 13v you are seeing on the display is not the battery voltage, but the Solar Panel output voltage. The display shows the voltage at the battery, not the battery voltage. If the Solar Panel is putting 13v into the batteries, that is the voltage you will see. The batteries might actually be down at 11.8v. That is why the 'battery voltage' goes up to 14.4v when the Alternator kicks in. In order to view the battery voltage you need to do so a few hours after 'sunset'. Checking them just before bed, should give a pretty accurate figure? I would guess your batteries are at the 12.2v you see when you actually use them? The fact that everything works when the batteries are not doing the work, i.e. the Alternator or 230v charger are supplying the power, points to the batteries being past it as well. I suggest that when you first operate the Heater unit that you start the engine first? The Alternator will do two things : 1. Provide a higher 14.4v which will reduce any voltage drop from the high current draw and this higher voltage will also reduce the need for so much current. 2. The alternator will detect the Heater power draw, and increase it's output to meet that. So it will supply all the 10 amps, so save your battery power for the middle of the night. As soon as the Diesel fuel has heated to ignition point then deactivate the Alternator. May I suggest 2 x 90Ah Varta LFD90's as replacements, I think you will notice a big difference? For one the greater internal efficiency means it will hold a higher voltage for longer, a bit like having the help of the Alternator if you like? The voltage drops less under load than most batteries, especially over time? So for example a budget Lion battery might drop from 12.8v to 12.1 while the Diesel fuel is being heated. A LFD may only drop to 12.6v. Both may recover to 12.8v fairly quickly, but the Varta will handle higher current draws better. As the budget battery corrodes internally (which the Varta does not) the effect of drawing out higher amps will have a greater impact on battery voltage because the voltage drop is greater overcoming the corroded grid. Varta claim 70% greater efficiency when drawing larger currents out of the battery versus the competition at say 2 years old. At 2 years the Lion might give out a lot of power in a slow discharge test leading you to think it is ok, but you turn the current draw up and you will see a huge difference as the corrosion impacts efficiency and wasted power overcoming that resistance caused by corrosion. The voltage will also be a lot lower while that power is being taken. What you really want when drawing higher current, is higher voltage as it reduces the need for so much current. Hence why running the Alternator at start up has such a beneficial effect. That is why battery quality has such a big impact on a Diesel powered heater. Nothing is so well suited to a Diesel Heater Motorhome than the Bosch L5/Varta LFD Silver Powerframe batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8LEY Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Tracker - 2016-01-07 9:31 PM Power consumption when the Eberspacher is running is not usually an issue as it generally only relates to the fan motor. The issue is that it takes a huge surge of power followed by a heavy drain for a while just to get it to ignite and it needs to fire up after every shut down by the thermostat when it reaches the desired temperature. 10 amps for 2.5 minutes does not sound a lot but if it shuts down and restarts say 2 or 3 times an hour for 24 hours then that is a lot of power being used Sorry, but I can't recall the exact power drain in total per 24 hours but I do recall being amazed by it when I first read about it! From the start-up figures you suggest the heater should take 30Ahr in a day. At this time of year the circulation fan could consume the same or at worst 48Ahr a day. It's useful to get the space up to set temp., so the heating gradient is less, when external temperatures are low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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