Espar Heater Service--Who?

[kccourtney]

Hey there.

Anyone know a shop that will do a service on an espar cabin heater. Ours is over 10 years old and we've never touched it. Consequently half the time we try to use it, it flashes a glow plug error and the times it does work, it sometimes billows smoke on the exterior. Thanks.

 

[kccourtney]

BTW, I'm in So Cal

 

[1der]

check your PM , thxs, Ray

 

[Jeffrey-SMB]

If you're at all handy with tools, you can service it yourself. You will need the special tool to extract the glow plug. Clean (or replace) it, prime the fuel lines and make sure the battery that powers it is fully charged. It may take a few attempts to fire up. If you get the dreaded f52 code, shut down and try again (once the fan stops). When it finally fires, run it at high for 20 minutes and then shut it down before it goes to the low temp setting.

 

[kccourtney]

Thanks so much Jeffrey. Good intel. Ray is at his bro's house right around the corner from me and he's gonna walk me through it this afternoon. Shouldn't be hard (AGW with unit access). I was just being lazy.

 

[Twoxentrix]

This may help:
YouTube VIDEO on ESPAR YEARLY MAINT (also others out there).

 

[kccourtney]

So, back to the drawing board on this. I've paid for advice and baought a new glow plug , well actually 2 because i broke the first one putting it in) and fuel filters and installed everything. Now, instead of working poorly, it quits right away with an F-22 code suggesting that something is wrong with the glow plug harness. But it's brand new and went in just fine. Does anyone know a shop in So Cal that can diagnose and service an Espar heater. BTW, thanks for the advice so far. I have a much better understanding of the heater itself.

 

[Twoxentrix]

Thermo King services them, but here is a link (supplied by Eberspächer) identifying multiple outfits that service them in California:
https://www.eberspaecher-na.com/pro...ealers&cHash=21eb837a23677cb94f05116608d0dc8c

Edit: Some may just be strictly Dealers, but they should be able to direct you to people that service these units.

 

[86Scotty]

TwoX is correct. There is a Thermo King dealer locator app in the App Store, surely the same in Google Plat store.

 

[kccourtney]

Thanks guys. I'll check it out.

 

[ebrogie]

Hey there.

Anyone know a shop that will do a service on an espar cabin heater. Ours is over 10 years old and we've never touched it. Consequently half the time we try to use it, it flashes a glow plug error and the times it does work, it sometimes billows smoke on the exterior. Thanks.

does it give a code after so many minutes? Do you have two one for the cabin and one for a water heater?

 

[1der]

does it give a code after so many minutes? Do you have two one for the cabin and one for a water heater?

I have looked at his heater. There are separate controls for the hydronic and airtronic units. The control unit is the seven day timer version.

Upon the start button being pressed the fan spins up as normal and then within seconds the display shows F22 code and that is where it stays. Thd fuel pump does not engage.

The perplexing part of this is there is no reference to a F22 code on an Airtronic heater.

 

[kccourtney]

does it give a code after so many minutes? Do you have two one for the cabin and one for a water heater?

Yeah I've got two. Water heater works fine. The cabin heater used to take a minute or so to flash a code that was glow plug related. Since I relaced the glow plug the F22 comes up right after the fan does a test spin. This is what I find for that code.

022 Glow plug, output (+), short
circuit after UB (battery voltage) • Check glow plug lead harness for correct laying and damage, if ok —> check
lead harness for continuity, if ok —> replace control box,

 

[Twoxentrix]

I can’t recall the code I was getting a couple years ago, but if the unit hasn’t been run in a while you may have to go through the process 5 or 6 times in a row before that little pump pulls up enough of the fuel to ignite.
I ended out doing this two times in a row (about two weeks apart) and have not had an issue since (as long as I run it on high for 15-20 minutes at least every two months).

 

[ebrogie]

My F22codes were caused be a low house battery I charged mine and that helped if I tried one at a time. I put in a new house battery and my F22 codes no longer happened.

 

[86Scotty]

My F22codes were caused be a low house battery I charged mine and that helped if I tried one at a time. I put in a new house battery and my F22 codes no longer happened.

Ding ding ding! I bet you've solved it.

If it's any consolation my Espar in my work truck gets used 6 months a year everyday and then I don't touch it for 6 months. It never ignites on the first try, or the second, but reliably starts on the third. Just as TwoX said above, shut it down and try repeatedly if it won't fire up. Mine has been lighting on the third try for years now.

 

[simplesez]

Ditto on Espar never starting first try. I blame overly conservative software parameters and that wimpy fuel pump trying to lift fuel out of the vehicle tank

 

[Hiking Doug]

I had great results at Thermo King in Hollister, Ca.

 

[Tuffskullindustries]

Hi, I’m having an issue with my Espar heater and looking for a pro to help me with it. Did you ever find anyone in the socal / Orange County area that you could recommend? Thanks

 

[86Scotty]

Thermo King dealer. Google is your friend.