Webasto Hl18 D Heater .......

[Karizma]

When we bought Karizma, she had two diesel powered air heaters on board, an Eberspacher D4 Heater which heats the main helm / living room and central shower area and a Webasto HL18 D heater which provides heat to the back bedroom.

Over the last summer I stripped down, cleaned out and serviced the Eberspacher and it now works a treat, so now it was time to consider doing something with the Webasto, which by the way, has never worked since we’ve had the boat.

So, I took it off the boat and brought it home so I could strip it down and take a look at it over x-mas. The first thing I found was that the diesel pump had seized up (guess the fuel had dried out with lack of use), so soaked it in WD40 and after a couple of days it freed up and once I’d connected a 12-volt supply, all was good.

I’ve checked the glow plug and fan and those are all good, so the only thing I haven’t been able to test is the SG 1559 electronic control unit, but I thought I’d take the gamble and purchase a gasket service kit, put it all back together and see if it now worked.

Well can I find anywhere that has a service kit in stock – no!

Have these been discontinued?

Anybody know where you can get them from before I throw it away and purchase one of the cheaper versions on the market now a days? ……… which might be cheaper than trying to get this one going!!!

Thanks.

[Smoggy]

If the ducting size matched I'd likely go chinaspacher rather than eber/webasto spares prices.

Just use the webasto exhaust bit not the flimsy Chinese junk.

[rightsaidfred]

Have a word with Tom at JPC he will know if they are available.

Fred

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Aren`t Panks in Norwich service agents, might be worth a call to ask.

[Andrewcook]

What sort of Heating do Hiring Yards put on Thier Boats the Cheap Kind or the good types for Value for money? 

[Karizma]

2 hours ago, rightsaidfred said:

Have a word with Tom at JPC he will know if they are available.

Fred

sent them a message - thanks

[ranworthbreeze]

1 hour ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Aren`t Panks in Norwich service agents, might be worth a call to ask.

Panks used to do our heating before we became self managed, we now use JPC and deal with Tom.

 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

54 minutes ago, ranworthbreeze said:

Panks used to do our heating before we became self managed, we now use JPC and deal with Tom.

 

Nowt wrong with that, they are a site sponsor and even better if you can stroll there from your mooring. Panks was an option if searching for NOS if the service kit is no longer made.

[Smoggy]

3 hours ago, Andrewcook said:

What sort of Heating do Hiring Yards put on Thier Boats the Cheap Kind or the good types for Value for money? 

They would likely fit eber/webasto as spares supply is well established, as for cheap kind or good kind the chinese ones seem to be proving to be no less reliable than the vastly over priced ones it's just the ancillaries that are ok for vehicle use but not up to boat use, CO doesn't get trapped in vehicles as easily as they can have low ventilation and not exposed to a marine environment, hence for drop in replacement with other bits already fitted it's well worth looking cheapy chinaspacher.

When you mention value for money both eber and webasto got huge fines from the EU for price fixing and their prices have not gone down, parts prices are ridiculously high and they are prone to killing ecu's, you can get two full chinerspachers for less than the cost of an eber ecu.

If my eber D4 gives up I won't be paying over the odds to repair it, I'll just replace with the cheap option.

[Mouldy]

34 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

They would likely fit eber/webasto as spares supply is well established, as for cheap kind or good kind the chinese ones seem to be proving to be no less reliable than the vastly over priced ones it's just the ancillaries that are ok for vehicle use but not up to boat use, CO doesn't get trapped in vehicles as easily as they can have low ventilation and not exposed to a marine environment, hence for drop in replacement with other bits already fitted it's well worth looking cheapy chinaspacher.

When you mention value for money both eber and webasto got huge fines from the EU for price fixing and their prices have not gone down, parts prices are ridiculously high and they are prone to killing ecu's, you can get two full chinerspachers for less than the cost of an eber ecu.

If my eber D4 gives up I won't be paying over the odds to repair it, I'll just replace with the cheap option.

Don forget that there’s also the option of Autoterm (Planar) heaters of Russian manufacture available, which are more expensive than the Chinese ones, but still far cheaper than Eberspacher or Webasto.

Should our Eber go seriously wrong on Norfolk Lady, I’d certainly be considering either a Chinese one or a Planar.

[Smoggy]

Add to previous post, the chinaspachers generally don't come with instructions and if they do it's meaningless "chinglish" and the controllers have far more options so are more complicated for use by hirers as opposed to an owner that can fully familiarise themselves, it seems to require hunting down a faceache group to get good instructions.

Also for anything being hired out they would need to make absolutely sure of any CE or UKCA certification is in place to cover themselves if there was any issues, it's no secret the chinese use a logo very similar to CE for "china export" (it's only the spacing that is different) so you have to be very careful.

That said I have got a pair of chinese made racor filter copies to fit on my boat for £25 each instead of £230 each, I have swapped the o-rings for viton ones and will be fitting genuine racor elements but it will still be about £120 for the pair, they are both CE and UKCA marked. (I thing we are still accepting CE till next year now as the deadline got moved)

As Mouldy says in the position of a hire yard I'd go for planar.

[Bluebell]

A couple of years ago I was in the same position with the Webasto on Chiltern Lady. Tom at JPC serviced it and it worked for a while, but he couldn’t get the gasket kit the next time. We plumped for the 4Kw Russian made Planar from Autoterm and have been really pleased with it’s performance. It is a pretty good match for all the existing fittings….😎

[OldBerkshireBoy]

18 hours ago, Karizma said:

 

Well can I find anywhere that has a service kit in stock – no!

Have these been discontinued?

Anybody know where you can get them from before I throw it away and purchase one of the cheaper versions on the market now a days? ……… which might be cheaper than trying to get this one going!!!

Thanks.

https://www.butlertechnik.com/webasto-heater-hl18-and-air-top-18-gasket-set-46555a-p290

[Bluebell]

Well, JPC said they couldn’t get one…🤔

[Karizma]

2 hours ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

https://www.butlertechnik.com/webasto-heater-hl18-and-air-top-18-gasket-set-46555a-p290

this is what i want, and I saw this but they don't have any in stock.

I did send them a message a couple of weeks ago, but no reply ...........

[Karizma]

6 hours ago, Mouldy said:

Don forget that there’s also the option of Autoterm (Planar) heaters of Russian manufacture available

I did see these; about half the price of a Eberspacher / Webasto, and a uk distributor which is a bonus - certainly my next preferred option especially now I know some on here are endorsing them 

[Smoggy]

There's a well respected engineer on the ybw forums (Vyv Cox) whose son is a distributor for planar and can give lots of advice on them.

[BroadAmbition]

We've been and still are well chuffed with the Planar,

We installed it oursens too (Well mostly me as per the norm) we opted for the 'Silent' pump which I further quietened down by fitting rubber diesel pipes either side of the pump, mounted the pump on rubber fittings and lowered it down so siphonic action means it is hardly having to work hard at all = No infernal clicking.  Yes if its really cold then we do leave it running overnight too

Griff

[Andrewcook]

Here's this question? Do any one of those Heaters mentioned on this Topic uses a bit more Diesel then others?

[marshman]

Interesting thread as i think that my Webasto has gone too!!

Does anyone know of anyone who would fit a  Planar as I think I might be a bit old to crawl around the engine bay!!! The Webasto might be ok when I open up but might not!!!!

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Being a skinny bald headed person I am the sort that wears a light fleece whilst others wear T-shirts in summer sitting outside a pub in the UK come 8pm or in other words I feel the chill like no other.

There was no working heating system on the boat which has big windows when I brought it so fitting heating was top of the list. I spoke with the head man in the yard and picked his brains and experiences with Webasto, Eberspacher and Planar heaters regarding costs of buying and servicing and was undecided. Then he threw me a curve ball of a cheap Chinese heater instead.

Costing around £100 plus the costs of a proper exhaust I figured if it only lasted a year or two It wouldnt owe me anything so I took the gamble and won. So far it has lasted around 3000 - 35000hrs often running 6hrs a day in winter without fault. The display controls the output with an on/off programmer plus I have an on/off key fob for turning it on without getting out of bed. 

The fuel pump is mounted below the take off from the tank so it is flooded all the time and the piston pump pushes fuel to the heater (they dont suck fuel in to the pump) You should use the supplied nylon fuel hoses on the pump outlet as some rubber hoses can expand a little under pressure and adding extra rubber mounts or suspending the fuel pump makes it quieter.

 

[Karizma]

On 23/01/2022 at 07:49, rightsaidfred said:

Have a word with Tom at JPC he will know if they are available.

Fred

Tom got back to me really quickly (so thanks for the tip RSF ) and in Tom's own words said:

 

"Parts for the HL18 are now obsolete, however we do still have a couple of items remaining in stock.
 
1 x HL18 Burner fleece - £38.29 + VAT
1 x Gasket Set - £37.39 + VAT
1 x Flame Sensor - £73.03 + VAT

Once they are gone, that is that!"

 

So on the basis that if I bought all the above (which I would need, as I also damaged the flame sensor getting it out!) I still wouldn't know if the unit will work, so I've decided to go with a replacement.

On the plus side, I now have some spare parts for a Webasto HL18 D heater that might end up on fleebay to fund a new one 

[BroadAmbition]

You should use the supplied nylon fuel hoses on the pump outlet as some rubber hoses can expand a little under pressure and adding extra rubber mounts or suspending the fuel pump makes it quieter.

I'm not sure that using nylon fuel hoses complies with the BSSC  but could be wrong.  I used copper for the main runs then dedicated thick wall diesel flexi pipe and have had no issues

Griff

[Vaughan]

11 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

I'm not sure that using nylon fuel hoses complies with the BSSC  but could be wrong. 

I wondered about that as well. Worth checking, before installing.

Edited to add that I am not sure that the pressure supplied by the lift pump would be that important, so long as it is supplying fuel to the appliance.

[Smoggy]

If the flexi pipes are not ISO 7840 they are not bssc compliant, there is no requirement to use copper (or any other metal) pipes, all flexi can be used but must be ISO 7840 spec. and fitted to bss standards (proper hosetails/supports/protection through bulkheads).

I queried this with my bss guy while looking at replumbing my fuel system thinking flexi's were ok if outside the engine bay and he pointed out they can be used anywhere, a good read of the guide confirmed it.