Espar Heater Problems

[Jeffrey]

Dave, There is only one service company in CA (Thermo King) with numerous locations:

Fontana T.K. Services, Inc.
14080 Valley Blvd.
Fontana, CA, 92335
909-350-1010

San Diego T.K. Services, Inc.
5410 East Gate Mall
San Diego, CA, 92121
858-452-7690

Salinas Thermo King of Salinas
1144 Terven Ave.
Salinas, CA, 93901
831-422-5792
831-422-7019 Fax

San Leandro T.K. Services, Inc.
2161 Adams Ave.
San Leandro, CA94577
510-562-0651

Stockton T.K. Services, Inc.
1950 E. Miner
Stockton, CA, 95205
209-933-9212

Vernon T.K. Services, Inc.
6118 Alcoa Ave.
Vernon, CA, 90058
323-585-1271

W. Sacramento
T.K. Services, Inc.
3970 Commerce Dr.
W. Sacramento, CA, 95691
916-372-0862

[scatter]

Yeah, I had warranty work done in Reno, Nevada. It also was a Thermo King dealership and catered to big rigs. It's a pretty simple unit and the biggest hassle was getting the *@#&% thing out of the rig. Once out, easy disassembly. The tech had a laptop he plugged into the heater (while it was in the van) and it supposedly told him what was wrong. In my case, a glow pin replacement. As I mentioned elsewhere, the tech told me not to use fuel additives as they gum up the glow pin. Hard for me to believe, as my combustion chamber and glow pin looked like new with no soot or any kind of buildup. I think I just had a bad glow pin, but I've stopped using fuel additives unless I know I won't be using the heater during that fillup.
So, it seems like maybe ya have to be a Thermo King dealer? Maybe for warranty work? Guess it's time for your buddy to make a call to Airtronic if he's serious. I think it would be a money maker as there's so many units out there and it's so simple to work on.

[AndrewST]

Just got back of an exibition about camping cars and equipment where I worked. As there where some companies building the diesel heaters, I specifically asked do they work in high altitudes and if not what shall be done.
The answer was they are designed to work up to 1500m (5000 feet) some offer a high altitude kit enabling them to work up to 2500m (8500 feet).

The problem is that when you go high up, air get's thinner and to maintain a proper combustion the diesel amount shall be reduced. Same thing happens if you use propane.

I still have to ask a specialist nearby how could one solve that issue especially if you exceed that height.
Will get back.

[Railvan]

I thought I would report on my Espar diesel furnace problems and the service I got to fix it.

A few weeks ago I fired up the Espar diesel furnace for the first time in many months. It created lots of light gray smoke from the exhaust pipe but no heat in the van. I was in the mountains but below the 3,000 foot level so I had the thermostat set in the "1" position. (My thermostat has a switch to set to 1 below 3,000 feet and to 2 above three thousand feet. I have heard newer versions don't need this switch.) When I got home I tried it again and it did the same thing. The second try at home (which is at sea level) was slightly better as it did create some heat but still smoked badly. Two weeks ago I was back in the mountains and the furnace acted the same as before.

Finally I had some time to deal with it and I made an appt. with Thermo King in Kent WA to have it looked at. They are the closest Espar service center but a two hour drive from my home.

The location of the furnace in the RB50 is not really an easy place to get to. It is under the forward section of the clothes closet in the driver's side rear of the van. But there is a trap door in the bottom of the closet that helps greatly with servicing the heater. The service tech was able to plug in his laptop computer and read the computer in the furnace to see any trouble codes.

He asked me when I had the furnace serviced last... Serviced?... Uh... Well it's 2.5 years old and never needed any until now... The tech said the unit had 57 hours on it. While he was pulling the glow pin and fuel screen to replace them I read all the manuals for the furnace and we talked about common uses and problems. The manual recommends running the furnace 20 minutes each month. I had never run it during the summer months so it would have sat unused for at least 6 months each year. The tech said the unit should have preventive maintenance once each year as well. Replacing the glow pin, the fuel screen and cleaning any carbon build up are the main service items to possibly do each year.

It was tight getting to it but the tech replaced the glow pin and fuel screen without having to remove the furnace from the van, which saved lots of time, and therefore money. He tested the fuel pumps and they were fine. After the new parts were in and the system was primed again, which took several minutes for the fuel to reach the furnace, the unit fired up and ran fine. Since the chamber was not cleaned of any possible carbon build up, he said it might smoke a little but it should run fine. (The unit would have had to be removed from the van to clean the carbon out.)

The parts were $117 dollars, and labor was $206... With taxes it was $360... Ouch... But they got it diagnosed and fixed in two hours and they had the parts in stock, so I can't complain too much. The people at Thermo King were all great to deal with.

I tested it tonight (it's 46 degrees out now) and it ran great with no smoke.

Most of these units are installed in semi truck sleeper cabs, where they are often used for hours each night. The service manager told me you can get an accessory to start the unit remotely using your cell phone, and also a thermostat that can control like a home furnace having it come on at a certain time each day.

[PeasBugs]

I just read all of the posts in this thread and I was concerned because my SMB is the same vintage as Jefferys and I have used the heater very little this summer. I have not run it every month for sure. I just went outside and turned it on just to check because I am leaving on a hunting trip in two days (I will need the heater for sure). The heater ran just fine for a few minutes and then shut off. I restarted it and nothing happened. I waited (and cursed) and then restarted it and it seems to be running fine. I am hoping it will at least make it thru my trip and I can do the "maintence" when I get back.

[daveb]

This really sucks. Like I poseted before, if these units need yearly maintenance they need to be easy to pull out. If I knew this going in I would have had it mounted somewhere else. Anybody actually know how difficult it is to pull it out of a 50 model? What kinds of plugs, fuel lines and how do they bolt up?

[Jammyauto]

I think this thread should have a sticky and be moved to the known issues section. Just a thought.

[Railvan]

Originally Posted by daveb

Anybody actually know how difficult it is to pull it out of a 50 model? What kinds of plugs, fuel lines and how do they bolt up?

I had a good look at the unit when it was being serviced a few days ago. There are four screws that hold down the mounting plate to the van floor. The top cover of the unit comes off without having to remove the unit. This is how the glow pin and fuel screen were changed in mine w/o the unit being removed. It appears (I have not tried it) from looking at the unit, and from the manual, that the wires all unplug and the unit lifts up off the intake and outlet air pipes, which are on the bottom of it. So, (I am guessing...) that dealing with the fuel line is the only tricky part.

I plan to clean the compartment around the unit this weekend (It is very dusty) and will look closely at how it is installed. I plan to take some photos too. I'll report what I find.

Brian

[scatter]

I was thinking that seeing as how a lot of the problems with the Espar/Airtronic seem to stem from the glow pin (mine was) that I'd carry one with me to replace on the road if needed. So far the only places I've been able to find parts has been at Lubrication Specialists and Espar. Only the LS place has responded to my request and they list the glow pin out at $104.75!! That's dollars folks, not pesos for cripe sakes. Seems WAY too much for something like that. Anybody have a better source??

[Railvan]

That's how much the Espar/Thermo King repair place charged me too. I'm hoping changing it once every year or 1.5 years will be fine and no road repairs will be needed.