Club 80-90 Forums

My Eber has just started to display this running issue:

Turn on heater, starts up normally (fan runs quietly, fuel pump starts, fuel pump increases speed, fan speeds up, heat comes out)

But..it seems as though as soon as the van is up to temperature and the heater starts to slow down, the fuel pump stops and the fan goes to full speed for around a couple of minutes, then nothing. It's never done this before and has unfortunately decided to start playing up as soon as i am away from home (Currently in Morocco... )

Does anyone that knows Eber's well have some advice on things i might be able to try to get it running again? About to head into some mountains and it would be preferable if my heater was working correctly....

مساء الخير

Have you got a fault code?

2 things come to mind, 1.... partially blocked glow pin screen, 2.... defective flame sensor.
I suppose that it is also possible that the fuel pump is partially blocked and cannot deliver sufficient fuel to maintain the flame at the slower rate - is the fuel filtered before the pump? Do you have the type of fuel pump with a filter in the inlet? - the pumps with a large aluminium spigot usually have a filter in. Has the fuel line got a constant rise after the pump, if not there could be an air bubble trapped which can cut down fuel delivery also.

The symptoms suggest it cannot maintain the flame at the lower rates but it could be any of the above that causes it. Have you tried running it at maximum for a long period and if so does it still cut out?

Hi

No fault code i'm afraid, if i remember correctly my timer being a BT one wont give out the codes? Might be wrong though, how can i find one?
I'm pretty sure that the pump is delivering fuel ok, i've been keeping an eye on a small section of transparent fuel line just before the heater unit.

It seems to run fine if on highest temperature and the doors of the van are open, as soon as i shut the doors and the van gets warm, that's when it starts to slow down and then eventually stops.

My old eber decided to pack up as soon as we got to the French alps on a snow boarding trip. Typical.
It turned out the overheat sensor was broken. A temporary fix is to cut the wires to the sensor and solder on a 15k ohm (this needs confirming as my memory is hazy) resistor.
This is the normal resistance of the sensor so fools the ecu into thinking everything is fine. The problem is, if the eber does overheat there is no safety mechanism. However, it's worth the risk in my opinion.

OBG may be able to confirm the resistor value but if not, I can do some research tomorrow. Alternatively, measure the resistance of the sensor with your multi meter.

Of course it may be nothing to do with the sensor...

Good luck,

Ringo

it's worth the risk

hmmm think once think twice think....think of the smell of burning flesh....possibly your flesh.....merry xmas all

Hmm, i have a D2 and it does the exact same thing...except I thought that was what it was supposed to do? Once mine is up to temperature and it's clear it's not losing heat too quickly, it goes to low and eventually switches off. ONce it's dropped back down it'll fire back up. If it's really cold outside, this might never happen, but if it's not too cold, it'll do it all night. the thermostat is way more advanced than most and obviously works out the temperature rise, how long to cool etc.. and decides what it needs to do.

Not sure if it helps ,but your description is what I've always taken to be normal? Have you left it for a good while or opened the doors to cool the van and see what happens? When I first fitted it, my instinct was to switch off and back on and in so doing, confuse the hell out of the thing!

T'manual -

"The heater is operated by a rheostat switch or room thermostat. It
cycles through four temperature settings (boost-high-medium-low) in
order to maintain the desired temperature.
If, in special cases, less heating capacity is required than the
heater supplies in the “Low” setting, the heater switches to a
“stand-by” setting."

Thanks for all your respones!

I managed to get it working again (thankfully). I took the unit apart and gave it a good clean out. Turned out there was a load of fluff blocking the cabin air inlet duct. Seems to be working ok now. It's done the same thing a couple of times since, but once turned back on again it operates normally.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Excellent news. Happy Christmas guys...

Ringo