B2 Eberspacher for late model: rebuild

scott s

In preperation for the upcoming Winter I pulled out my B2 Eberspacher and started going through it.
I purchased this heater right here on the Samba almost four years ago. It is one of the most complete heaters I've seen for sale. Most of the heaters are missing the intake or exhaust pipe, the mounting legs, luggage cover, etc. This heater was complete right down to all the rubber grommets and gaskets and included a recirculation pipe so that it takes warm air from inside the cabin rather than cold air from outside the car. I had to have it.
This pic shows the main heater body as I pulled it out of the box for rebuild/bench testing.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:57 am Post subject:

This is a close-up of the junction box for the main wiring harness (small black square). The thermostat is just to the left of it.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:01 am Post subject:

This is the fuel pump. I removed the pump and tested it by making a couple of leads to hook up to a 12V car battery. At first, nothing happened. It tested good with my multi-meter, so I disassembled it to check that the diaphragm wasn't stuck or gummed up. All good there, so I opened up the other end and sanded the points. Even then, nothing happened until I accidentally touched the ground wire to a metal surface next to the battery. There was a loud ZAP! and then the pump started clicking! I guess it had just set up so long it needed a kick start!

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:04 am Post subject:

Here's a pic I nabbed from the gallery. You can see the exhaust tip in the top-center of the photo. The B2 MUST have this extension or it will suck the turbulent air from the inner fender well back up into the heater, causing a "super-heating" effect. I ruined the B2 in my '66 because this pice was missing and I didn't know it. I had to have the heater rebuilt at great expense.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:06 am Post subject:

The exhaust tip on my heater was included but had seen better days. The tip is held onto the exhaust pipe by two set-screws. Whoever removed this heater from the car couldn't get them out so they took a Sawzall to the exhaust pipe. I had to drill out the rusty screws to get the pipe off. I'll have to fab up a new extension.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:11 am Post subject:

After checking the fan and hearing it spin, I moved on to the glow plug. I have yet to hear all speeds of the fan, but I'll check that later and adjust the thermostat if necessary.
The glow plug, unfortunately, had seen better days. I have one on order from another Sambanista.
Knowing that the internals of the heater are probably fine, I unbolted most everything else from the outside.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:12 am Post subject:

I sanded everything down and sprayed it with rust converter. After letting it sit overnight I wet sanded everything with 400 grit sandpaper and taped it all up for painting.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:14 am Post subject:

Today, I got the first coat of paint on it. All the stuff hanging up is done, but I have to wait until tomorrow to flip the main heater over in the stand (which, btw, I copied from another Samba member who is rebuilding a 6V B2 for an early Bug).

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:17 am Post subject:

Upcoming plans include taking the fuel lines to Cardinal Rubber and seeing if they can make new braided lines with crimped on ends that match the originals. I've had good luck using them in the past to make brake lines and such for old motorcycles. Surprisingly inexpensive, too.
I have the pick-up that goes in the fuel tank, but I'll probably not use it...just "T" into the line coming out from underneath the tank instead.
_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

clay ford · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject:

you must have worked all day on this thread
what is a b2 eberspacher ?

scott s · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:38 am Post subject:

Actually, it took me about ten minutes to make the thread but three days to get to this point on the heater.
A B2 Eberspacher is an auxillary gas heater. There were several different models over the years and were made for Bugs, Ghias, Buses and T3's. If fit's in the trunk and uses fuel from the gas tank. Very toasty!

Looks like I'll be sanding the main heater body back down. I waited too long between coats of paint and now it's all wrinkly...GRRR! Evil or Very Mad

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:55 am Post subject:

Still working on the B2 rebuild. I sanded down a few sections of the main heater and re-applied paint since I screwed it up the other day. Mad

Also been working on other various bits. This is the fuel filter. This thing was WAY gummed up with old gas and varnish! If you look closely you can see an arrow indicating the direction of the fuel flow. The gas goes in through the center of the fine-mesh filter and into the bowl. From there, it's sucked back through the mesh filter and on to the heater.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:58 am Post subject:

This is the exhaust piece that I'll have to get made. The little "foot" on the end keeps the turbulent air from the inner fender from being sucked back up into the combustion chamber. If this happens, there is a "ram-air" effect and the combustion chamber gets VERY hot and will destroy the heater.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:08 pm Post subject:

The heater is 12V and the glow plug is 4V. The heater uses this voltage reducer to drop the voltage down before it gets to the glow plug.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

scott s · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:10 pm Post subject:

These are some of the various rubber seals and mounts that are usually missing when you find a heater for sale.

_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

olspeed · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:42 pm Post subject: Gas Heater

Looking Good Wink

I have been running a southwind (Military style) now since the late 70's. I have had to replace the fire box in it 1 time other than that it has been a great addition to my bugs and other VW's I have put it in. On low it puts out 11,000 BTU's and on high it put out 22,000 BTU's. It looks almost like the normal Stewart Warner gas heaters that were built for VW's by them except it is O D green in color( I should say it was as it is and has been black for a long time). Anyway great thread and about the only thing I would add is did you get a chance to check out the fire box to make sure there are no holes in it as they do rust out (even if it's stainless) and it could let exhaust gas in the car.
Olspeed
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66- Ghia
76-Beetle

scott s · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:08 pm Post subject:

I have only visually inspected the firebox and other internals. I haven't disassembled the main body of the heater. If you could see inside this thing you'd be amazed. It's in VERY good shape.
I plan on letting the paint dry thoroughly (say, Monday afternoon) and then start reassembly. I have a glow plug on the way and will figure out what to do about the fuel lines soon.
_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.

jamesdagg · Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:18 am Post subject:

I have one in my '71 Super which I drive year round in Canada. It keeps me very warm. Fires in 30 sec's and I'm warm in a few minutes in sub 0 weather.

I have to turn mine off after about 20 min as it's way too hot so I removed the recirculating pipe but it's still too hot. Anyway I prefer fresh air rather than recirculated as the moisture content goes up with recirc.

Here is a link to some hard to find parts>

http://www.germansupply.com/home/customer/home.php?cat=376

jim
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'72 FI Westy
'71 Super rear inside defrost vents no longer available

jamesdagg · Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:00 pm Post subject:

Great write up by the way!

When I was first getting mine going everything checked out but it would not fire. I gave it a very short blast of Quick Start (ether) and it's been running great since.

One thing else. I had a BN4 in a Crew Cab back in '77 and it would fire up and run fine without the engine on. I used to eat my lunch in the bush in winter and it was nice and warm, never hurt the battery.

However I have found that the one in my '71 Super draws over 10 amps for the first 30 sec's for the glow plug and if the engine is not running it won't fire and floods instead. Once running I can shut off the engine and it will run all day. It's a BN-2 but a B2 would require similar power to start. Maybe I just need a better battery.

jim
_________________
'72 FI Westy
'71 Super rear inside defrost vents no longer available

scott s · Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject:

Thanks. I iwsh I had documented the fuel pump trouble shooting with pics. I tore into it knowing nothing about it. I'd like to show some pics of the diapraghm and points assembly, but don't want to go taking it back apart!
The paint should be fully cured tomorrow and I'll start some reassembly. New glow plug is on the way.
The scary part will be when it's all done and I have to cut holes in the trunk of my '70!
_________________
Nothing screams "poor workmanship" like wrinkles in the duct tape.


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B2 Eberspacher for late model: rebuild
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