Springer’s Retreat On The Rivers

[YnysMon]

Any chance of getting under Ludham Bridge tomorrow, I wonder?

[kpnut]

No point me saying I’ll let you know, as I won’t be going under till about midday. You’ll beat me to it. But I will take a photo and let you know in case you delay till Wednesday. 

The snow amounted to about a teacupful!

I had an excellent excuse not to go out in the chill. Once moored up at Womack, a fellow mooree from Richardsons came for a cup of tea. 

[SwanR]

Oooo that sounds cold 🥶 forecast to be over 30 degrees tomorrow where I am. 😎

[Mouldy]

13 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Oooo that sounds cold 🥶 forecast to be over 30 degrees tomorrow where I am. 😎

Hmmph!  Go on - rub it in, why don’t you? 🤨😉

[YnysMon]

17 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Oooo that sounds cold 🥶 forecast to be over 30 degrees tomorrow where I am. 😎

Hope you are having a great time. 

[SwanR]

We are indeed. Our son’s wedding was a great day. Now I have another week of being a tourist in Sydney. Will write some stuff up at some point when I’m back. I’m keeping a note of where we’ve been. 

[kpnut]

16 hours ago, SwanR said:

Our son’s wedding was a great day. Now I have another week of being a tourist in Sydney. Will write some stuff up at some point when I’m back. I’m keeping a note of where we’ve been. 

So pleased you’re having a great time. and I’m looking forward to reading/hearing all about it. 

[kpnut]

Had a very cold night at Womack. The diesel heater started playing up late afternoon, running for 3/4 hour then stopping. I could start it again after a while. 
This morning it started once, which was nice to warm the cabin before getting up. But after it’s 3/4 hr, it switched off, and wouldn’t go again. It let me start it again halfway up the Ant for a while. 
The batteries are fine, there’s fuel in the tank. So I wonder if it’s not getting enough air somehow and cutting out after a while through overheating, or the brains are in a muddle and it just thinks it’s overheating. Either sooted up or dust etc has got in and built up is my guess.

Anyway, I decided to go back to Stalham a day early so I could have a good look at it and hook up to cheaper electric than the posts on the river moorings. 

I hoovered out the unit, but couldn’t do much more than that. I was hoping to check the glow plug but haven’t got the right tool to take it out. I’ve now watched a couple of really useful videos about how to service the Eberspacher, which I’ll show Tony. I reckon I could have a go at that. If he agrees, I’ll remove the unit next trip and take it home to do carefully and systematically. 
If I make a mess of it, I’ll have to pay for it be be serviced by someone. I’m fairly sure there’s not a big problem with it. 

So not the warmest night tonight. I find fan heaters make a lot of draught and so I’m sitting virtually on top of my oil filled heater!

Other than that excitement, the    weather today was glorious. Cloudless sky and sparkly water. Windy though with a BIG windchill. It’s a shame I couldn’t take Finlay out for a much longer walk than what he got. 
 

[NorfolkNog]

Sorry to hear about your heating. We rely totally on the boat heating in winter and, touch wood, never have a problem. It starts every morning without running the engine and pretty much runs all day if we need it. Not sure which type of heater Bridgecraft use. I think the batteries need to be well topped up though, even if they're in good condition. If the voltage drops below a certain level the heating wont work. We do a lot of mileage in winter, we go down South and often cruise for 4 or 5 hours a day. I'm not a technical expert and there are many on here with much more knowledge than me but I just wonder if it might simply be the batteries running a bit low. Could be wrong, i usually am! 

[kpnut]

Thanks Howard. I wish it was that. But I really don’t think so. It’s always started just fine without the engine and the batteries are topped right up tonight on shore power, but still no luck. 
When it first went wrong yesterday pm,  it was on at the time and had been for a number of hours. It just turned itself off and has been playing up since. 

[MauriceMynah]

I hate to worry you but what you describe exactly match the symptoms my heater demonstrated.  Peachments quoted nearly £900 to fix (If memory serves me correctly)

That's why I went the Chinese route. So far so good with that btw. 

[NorfolkNog]

Sorry to hear that Kate, sounds a bit more complicated. I wonder if one of the boatyards might look at it if you don't have any luck yourself. Sutton Staithe always seem to get good press on here but maybe other owners could advise better. Hope you get sorted soon 

[Mouldy]

11 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

I hate to worry you but what you describe exactly match the symptoms my heater demonstrated.  Peachments quoted nearly £900 to fix (If memory serves me correctly)

That's why I went the Chinese route. So far so good with that btw. 

Paul sent our Eberspacher to Panks in Norwich, if my memory serves me correctly.  It was certainly nowhere near £900, even with Paul’s time to remove and refit the unit.

I think that if our heater became too expensive to repair, I’d be tempted to fit an Autoterm heater.  If they’re good enough for Griff, they’re good enough for me!😁

[Smoggy]

Have a look at the info in the link below and see if your controller can give diagnostic info, they seem to have amassed loads of eberspacher info.

https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/eberspacher_intro_1.html

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Kate,

Talk to Jeff on 07767 385811, he is an independent man in a van and cheaper than Panks for heater repairs. Last I heard he was charging £40 p/hr.

[Karizma]

On 09/01/2024 at 19:14, kpnut said:

Had a very cold night at Womack. The diesel heater started playing up late afternoon, running for 3/4 hour then stopping. I could start it again after a while. 
This morning it started once, which was nice to warm the cabin before getting up. But after it’s 3/4 hr, it switched off, and wouldn’t go again. It let me start it again halfway up the Ant for a while. 
The batteries are fine, there’s fuel in the tank. So I wonder if it’s not getting enough air somehow and cutting out after a while through overheating, or the brains are in a muddle and it just thinks it’s overheating. Either sooted up or dust etc has got in and built up is my guess.

I hoovered out the unit, but couldn’t do much more than that. I was hoping to check the glow plug but haven’t got the right tool to take it out. I’ve now watched a couple of really useful videos about how to service the Eberspacher, which I’ll show Tony. I reckon I could have a go at that. If he agrees, I’ll remove the unit next trip and take it home to do carefully and systematically. 
If I make a mess of it, I’ll have to pay for it be be serviced by someone. I’m fairly sure there’s not a big problem with it. 

Hi Kate, I have the Eberspacher Airtronic D4 unit and mine was smoking on start up and shutting down all on its own for no apparent reason, so I took it out of the boat and stripped it down (they are not very complicated inside).

I bought a service kit from flea bay (gasket set, fuel pump filter, glow plug, glow plug tool remover) for abt £40 and took it all apart, cleaned the chamber out (was 'carbon-ed' up) and put it all back together with the new bits. I also have a separate diesel filter for the heater, so I replaced that as well.

Since then (that was in Dec 2020) its been working great ever since.

Not saying this would solve your problem, but it certainly worked for me, and the fact that your heater is starting up and then shutting down would suggest that there's not a lot wrong with it ......... hopefully.

[kpnut]

Many thanks to all. I won’t go through each one quote by quote. 

Sutton Staithe put me on to Panks and I rang them. So that’s an option. 

I also found the website Smoggy posted, excellent information. 

Very handy phone number to have, thanks OBB. 

And MM, and Mouldy, I have the Chinese/planar/autoterm route in mind should it be necessary, but really hope it won’t be. 
 

Karizma, mine is the same model. I watched an excellent video by two ladies who service their Eberspacher on a regular basis. It really doesn’t look hard at all and coupled with info from Smoggys website regarding exhaust fumes/gaskets etc, gives me a very good clue as to what to do. 

The main issue is the recoding.  My controller has no visible means of finding the error code so I need the reader. I  thinking of changing it to one that does.
 I know Richardsons engineers can find the error code as they did it once before for me. 
So once I know that, and get it unlocked, I’m minded to give it a go myself. Failing that, my plan might be to ring that number for Jeff, and Panks again for a price. 
I also have the option of bringing it home to Yorkshire and get it seen to in Hull, as the boat’s conveniently shut up now for lift out and paint work for a few weeks so time is not crucial. 
 

My gut feeling still is that a good clean out will solve the problem. 
 

Many thanks all, and I’ll keep you all posted for future reference. 
 

[kpnut]

That’s it - no more boating for  me until the boats had a repaint. I hoping for the 6 weeks estimated, but more realistically am thinking I won’t see in the water again till April 😢

Yesterday was spent tidying the boat up, clearing the decks/roof of mudweights/rhond anchors/mops etc etc, clearing work surfaces etc and then covering upholstery, beds and floors with dust sheets. She’ll have her windows taken out as part of the job, so anything to make it easier for the work. 

Also partially winterising (antifreeze in engine raw water, empty water tank and taps open, toilet flush inlets closed and flushed with antifreeze, tubular heater on thermostat in engine bay, dehumidifier on) in case the lift out is delayed into a properly cold snap. Hope I haven’t missed anything!

And handing in the keys, boo hoo, it felt rather final!

 

[NeilB]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

 

The main issue is the recoding.  My controller has no visible means of finding the error code so I need the reader. I  thinking of changing it to one that does.
 

I changed the controller on my Eberspacher to one that shows the error codes, main reason was it's also a 7 day timer so I don't have to get out of bed to turn the heater on - luxury!

Oddly enough I have a fault on mine where it will not start unless the batteries are virtually fully charged or on shore power / engine running.  The Webasto seems to fire up at virtually any state of change and I've checked all battery connections etc so I'll strip mine down when the warmer weather arrives.  I only really use it as a back up and booster when the boats really cold to the Webasto wet system.

[kpnut]

8 minutes ago, NeilB said:

I changed the controller on my Eberspacher to one that shows the error codes, main reason was it's also a 7 day timer so I don't have to get out of bed to turn the heater on - luxury

That is one luxury I do already have Neil. A remote control; wake up, press button A and away it goes (or did😂). 

[kpnut]

On 11/01/2024 at 07:16, kpnut said:

That’s it - no more boating for  me until the boats had a repaint. I hoping for the 6 weeks estimated, but more realistically am thinking I won’t see in the water again till April 😢

The best laid plans and all that!

The boat’s gone nowhere, not as far as the lift out hoist. Unfortunately, the boat already in and being done as I shut mine up took way longer than anticipated, so Paul R and I decided I’d try again in late autumn, just a year after the initial date I’d been given. 
So I’ve wasted January, February and March. Most annoying. 

Update on the heater - it was the fan blower causing an overheating problem. I had reckoned it was overheating after 3/4 hr of running but had hoped if would just need a service. Oh well. I still have in mind about swopping to a planar or Chinese in the future if necessary, but for now I’m up and running again. And very confident I know how to do a service on it myself when needed. Thanks all who gave me tips, phone numbers and websites. The man on the website that Smoggy posted is really helpful and friendly. And I also now have a contact in Hull for help. I would like to change to an 802 controller which can read the fault codes, but they seem rather expensive, so still thinking about that. 

[kpnut]

So, having postponed the paint job, last weekend I brought both dogs (Finlay and brother Charlie, my daughter’s dog) down to prep the boat for the year. She’s all ready and waiting now, water tank sterilised, heater checked, curtains up, engine running nicely, window gutters thoroughly cleaned out, (probably full of willow leaves again by now😂), boat washed and polished. 
And first outing will be this Sunday for a week or so. Long overdue!

A lovely bonus of my weekend was driving down to How Hill to pay a visit to Lulu on Mermaid. Honoured to be their first visitor. And although they have acquired her after such sad circumstances of Ian’s passing, I know they will love her and have wonderful adventures on her. And Desmond will find it so much easier to get on and off for stern moorings that so many more stopping off points have opened up for them. 
 

 

[SwanR]

I think I may have spotted Mermaid coming through Ludham Bridge on Johnny Treehouse’s latest video that went up yesterday. Will have to watch out for Springers Retreat. Hope you have a lovely time afloat Kate.  

[Gracie]

Have a lovely time afloat Kate, you have the lighter nights to enjoy too. 

I'm sure Mermaid will be well taken care of. I am sure too that Ian and his family will be pleased she is in such good hands

Grace x

[Lulu]

It was lovely to see you Kate and looking forward to meeting up with you again when you are afloat x 

Yes, Jean we were on that video. Thank goodness I didn’t mess up! 

50 minutes ago, Gracie said:

I'm sure Mermaid will be well taken care of. I am sure too that Ian and his family will be pleased she is in such good hands

She is much loved already. We have had some issues this week with leaks but at least we were on board at the time. Will go into more detail on Mermaid’s thread :)