Eberspacher trying to kill me

The last couple of times I've visited the boat it's been for winter checks and some lunch, and naturally I put the heater on (D4, fitted when the boat was new in 2012).

But both times it's made the saloon smell of exhaust fumes, and the locker in the cockpit where the heater lives absolutely reeks of fumes. Really not healthy. I think I've found one or two local bods who can take a look, but before that's arranged, can anyone who knows about these units give me a clue as to what the problem is? On reflection it's been going on a small amount for maybe a year, but it's now intolerable. The stench in the locker could be an exhaust leak, but that doesn't explain why a small amount is coming out of the hot air duct in the saloon...

Never. But it doesn't get much use.

The first chap I spoke to wanted to take it out and send it off for 'electronic diagnosis' at Elspar; I thought no, I just need an informed bloke with a spanner.

Would the gasket explain the serious reek in the locker as well as the lesser but still unacceptable pong in the saloon?

There's a vent in the side of the boat with (IIRC) an inlet tube placed against it, but yes, you might have explained it. So perhaps an exhaust leak, 10% of which is then sucked in and blown into the saloon... makes sense!

The exhaust is the proper s/s fitting is 3-4 feet away from the air vent and a few inches above the waterline. I don't think 'blowback' is the issue as it worked fine for 9 years, but now stinks every time, so bad you have to evacuate the boat.

Found this while looking for something else...

The answer was this...

I got an Eberspacher-qualified person in to look at and hopefully fix the problem. It was caused by a chain of three installation errors.

First, when Shetland made the boat in 2012, they left the middle section of the heater exhaust hose lying on the bottom of the boat.

Second, they didn't attach the fresh air inlet between that space and the saloon properly - the hose was simply propped against the hole in the bulkhead.

Third, they didn't tighten up the fuel inlet on top of the diesel tank.


And so when the tank was filled, diesel fuel overflowed and spilled into the bottom of the boat. There it started soaking into the Eberspacher exhaust hose. Although this hose is metal-clad, it's spiral-wound and not impermeable. Underneath is a layer of heatproof wadding, which duly commenced absorbing the diesel fuel...

And so, when the wadding was saturated with fuel, and the exhaust got hot, choking grey smoke would emanate from the locker and fill the space. That explains the smell in the cockpit. But because the fresh air inlet wasn't properly attached, the fumes went straight into the saloon as well. Lucky I didn't use the heater overnight isn't it, Mr Shetland.

The Eberspacher man changed the exhaust hose, secured it away from the floor and showed me what fitting I needed to get to fix the fresh air inlet correctly, so all is now well.

The other cock-up Shetland made was to connect the raw water inlet to the engine with ordinary drinking water hose. Needless to say, the moment any weed got stuck on the outside, the suction flattened the hose and stopped the flow completely. As the boat was still quite new he did at least come out and fit proper reinforced pipe, but it was a silly mistake to make. Ah yes and the roof vents weren't connected to the inside of the boat; I had to make my own holes through the saloon roof!

Definitely that, also a gas alarm if you cook with gas. Cheap and keeps you safe.