What Kind Of Maintenance Do You Do On Your Espar?
- Thread starter Rain City
- Start date
fishin solo
Crew Member
Run kerosene and you’ll never have to touch it again
fishin solo
Crew Member
So easy lol they burn so little fuel that a couple gallon tank lasts long..... pay me in chicken and I’ll do it for ya
ship happens
Well-Known Member
I have torn apart these heaters after they have run for thousands of hours thinking I would find soot or carbon build up. Nope. Not so far in my career anyway. These little things are unbelievably simple. Only thing i found is ( and this is only on the chinese and planar versions ) the temp sensor sometimes malfunctions. Its due to how its mounted. Sometimes just have to take it off fine sand paper the surfaces and mount it back on a little tighter.
hope this helps
If its not broken, don't fix it
hope this helps
If its not broken, don't fix it
Rain City
Crew Member
Thank you.
Captain PartyMarty
Crew Member
Hey guy's I am busy hooking my Westabo heater back up. Its been disconnected for about a year. I don't have the manual or anything for it anybody know what size fuse to use on the main power cables? Do I have to worry about priming the fuel new line? and Finally if I wanted to switch to kerosene, do I need to purge the unit? The fuel tank is empty can I just fill it and let it burn?
Gong Show
Well-Known Member
@Rain City , I make sure that the combustion air inlet screen is free of lint/dog hair at regular intervals.
If you do not have a large dog on board, but carpet, I would still check now and then.
I have torn mine down to find it looked great. Then found the large tumbleweed of dog hair clogging the intake.
If you do not have a large dog on board, but carpet, I would still check now and then.
I have torn mine down to find it looked great. Then found the large tumbleweed of dog hair clogging the intake.
Rain City
Crew Member
Intake air you say. Hmmmn. Might want to find that.
ship happens
Well-Known Member
These units draw about 8 amps I believe. Depends on the model. The fan is what draws the most current in these systems. Doesnt really matter if you go big on a fuse like say a 20 or 25 amp fuse. The only reason the fuse is there is for a shorted wire or circuit. Doesnt take much to blow a small fuse.
You must put the unit into priming mode through the dash controller. Depending on what kind of tank you have ( gravity feed or dip tube feed ) depends on how easy it is to prime the system. Also where the fuel pump is mounted. Fuel pumps dont have alot of suction. They are design to pump. They will pump far distances no problem however the suction is a different story. All of these factor in on just how ***** its is to prime the system. If the unit goes into start cycle and does not ignite from no fuel being in place, it will throw a fault and go into shutdown mode.
Tip for priming with dip tube style tanks. Put the unit into priming mode and hold the tank up and tip it upside down to simulate a gravity feed tank. It will prime way faster. Once all the air bubbles are out of the fuel line it's good to go
No need to do anything running diesel or switching kerosene. No need to run kerosene either. Yes it's more refined. Big deal. It's a oil furnace.
My 2 cents. Hope that helps
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ship happens
Well-Known Member
Glow plugs only come on during a start cycle. Good point however not sure what they draw. They are very small. Small wire size also. All these things are is an empty chamber with a nozzle similar to a carburator jet. Just like the old oil furnaces that they used in homes and buildings back in the day. It's an empty chamber with fuel that constantly drips into the chamber. The shape of the chamber and the intake pressure for the chamber creates a swirling fuel burn effect. This creates a hot efficient burn. The outside of this aluminum casting gets cold air from the fan blowning across it. This is the heat that comes out of the vent in the cabin. Its exchanging heat and cooling the combustion chamber. These are not deisel engines. They are oil furnaces.
Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
Hey RC. My Espar failed this spring and I took in for cleaning and testing but it was better just to get a new one. Thermo King will service it for you and replace any parts. Mine was really smoking on startup and apparently the burn chamber was warped. The one they sold me is identical and just fits right in with same harness and controls. This is on a 2005 boat. FYI mine is Hydronic not forced air.
www.thermokingbc.com
Espar Heater Systems Thermo King of British Columbia, Inc. Coquitlam, BC (604) 526-4414
Espar Heater Airtronic Hydronic Truck Heating Engine Heating RV Heating
Rain City
Crew Member
Does yours give you on demand hot water as well? I was thinking of changing to something like this if it did fail.Hey RC. My Espar failed this spring and I took in for cleaning and testing but it was better just to get a new one. Thermo King will service it for you and replace any parts. Mine was really smoking on startup and apparently the burn chamber was warped. The one they sold me is identical and just fits right in with same harness and controls. This is on a 2005 boat. FYI mine is Hydronic not forced air.
Espar Heater Systems Thermo King of British Columbia, Inc. Coquitlam, BC (604) 526-4414
Espar Heater Airtronic Hydronic Truck Heating Engine Heating RV Heating
gunnerlove
Well-Known Member
Mine running on full only pulls 2 amps. Startup is over 10. I am going to say the glow plug is the biggest draw on startup.
Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
It’s not on demand but the hot water loop runs through the hot water heater. Maybe takes 20 minutes to heat up a 6 gallon tank. I can have heat and hot water or just hot water by changing a valve. I don’t have the engine coolant running through the hot water heater but do have a bus heater in the cabin too.
I had the hot air heater on my Seapsport and prefer that over the hydronic as it was a simpler system and put out more heat.
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