Eberspacher only runs when vehicle is running.

[getset]

86 westy, club joker with stock eberspacher set up.
Heater won't run with van off.
I am guessing this is because the draw from the glow plug is to high for the aux batterry as the pump won't cycle on. If I start the car, everything works correctly. Make sense, or am I missing something?

Thanks.
_________________
87 Syncro sunroof w/ 2.5 Subaru.
2015 VW golf TDI

Bikes, KTM motorcycles, sailboats, and busted knuckles.

[vwwestyman]

Your control switch should have one wire going to it to provide power when the key is turned on, and a second wire providing power when the key is off for the timer portion of the switch to work.

I presume you *are* pushing the knob in and twisting to activate the "egg timer" portion of the switch, right? That is the only way the heater is supposed to run when the vehicle is not turned on.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[getset]

Once I turn the van off it continues to run successfully. The controlls on mine hasve a rocker switch for heat or just fan, and a temp dial/thermostat. Once I shut the van off, and the thermostat shuts off the heater the problems repeat. When it tries to turn back on it won't fire up unless I start the van.
_________________
87 Syncro sunroof w/ 2.5 Subaru.
2015 VW golf TDI

Bikes, KTM motorcycles, sailboats, and busted knuckles.

[oldskewlsk8ter]

Seems like somebody posted recently about their heater not firing up due to not enough battery voltage.
_________________
1986 Hightop w/EJ25 DOHC & 4EAT auto
1965 Kombi project

[getset]

So I swapped out the old battery and it is working fine. Battery would drop below 10 amps at start up. Those glow plugs have a serious draw on start up to keep the combustion air warm and the fuel from conndensing on the walls of the combustion chamber.
No explosion safety cutoff or something..

On another note. Is it terribly difficult/possible to convert the Gas heater to diesel? I.e. B2l to a D2l?

Thanks
_________________
87 Syncro sunroof w/ 2.5 Subaru.
2015 VW golf TDI

Bikes, KTM motorcycles, sailboats, and busted knuckles.

[Steve M.]

[purplepeopleeater]

It really depends on how its weird, If it was wired in with an ignition protect circuit that would keep it from turning back on without an ignition signal.

The other thing is, voltage lockout.. If you have a digital controller you can get into the maintenance menus and change the voltage lockout settings, but if your aux battery is weak it won't fire.

diesel or gas heaters.

[vwhammer]

[getset]

If I had the van running at startup everything worked fine, and it would continue to operate. If I shut it off and say tried to start it an hour later it failed. The new battery solved this issue. It is factory wired with a non digital controller.

Regardless, how do I change it to run on diesel fuel? Van was converted to a diesel engine, but heater was factory I stalled for the previous gas engine.

Any takers? Any trades out there?
_________________
87 Syncro sunroof w/ 2.5 Subaru.
2015 VW golf TDI

Bikes, KTM motorcycles, sailboats, and busted knuckles.

[vwhammer]

Well I really know nothing of the brand you have but if its anything like some of the cheaper knock off heaters out there it might be possible to change from gas to diesel.

of course if it does not have a digital controller then I don't know how you would make the changes.

On some with the digital controls you can change things like pump frequency and fan speed.
This may be all that is needed to go from gas to diesel.

Higher pump frequency (more fuel) for gas models and possibly a little less fan speed to keep the flame pulse nice and even.
Of course you would do the opposite for the diesel fuel.
It would all be a little trial and error.

I have no idea what it needs to be set to but it might be a good place to start if you could figure out how to change anything.
Retrofit a digital controller somehow?

[vwhammer]

Probably not what you wanna hear but the cheap knock off diesel heaters are all over ebay for well under $200USD and work great.
I have two of them.
Would likely be super easy to swap it out and you could probably sell your old one for more than the new one you just bought.

Just an idea.

[vwwestyman]

Since you say you have a "stock" heater, I presume that means the Vanagon version of a BA6.

I think the diesel version is called DA6 and is physically the same size and shape as the B version. I don't know if the wiring harness is exactly the same, but I'm sure that the relays/control boxes are slightly different.

Probably your best bet is to find someone selling the whole setup and swap it all out.

I suppose it is less risky to try to run a B version on Diesel than it would be to try to run a D version on gas, but I bet you'd have issues after not too long with coking, soot, etc.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[getset]

Van is a club joker from the Netherlands. The B21 was an option in that trim package. Was originally powered by an ottinger 6 cylinder. Hence the B2l.

I have considered buying one of the diesel heaters on Ebay, but like all the factory controls and would like to keep them.

I believe function the same. It would seem swapping out the fuel delivery and combustion pieces would allow it to run on diesel. Then again a replacement might be simpler.

Thanks everyone for all the info. I'll report back if I ever get it sorted.

Cheers
_________________
87 Syncro sunroof w/ 2.5 Subaru.
2015 VW golf TDI

Bikes, KTM motorcycles, sailboats, and busted knuckles.

[Odd_Dutch]

Not sure how common these heaters are in the US, here in Europe there are plenty to be found.
Maybe this guy can help you if you need some parts:

https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/auto-onderdelen/overi...ousPage=lr
_________________
1980 2.0L Tintop - Subaru EJ-20 conversion

[82westyrabbit]

I have the Stock BA6 diesel heater removed from my 82 diesel van. My van was converted to gas a long time ago. If you can figure out the difference I would be happy to swap parts with you. Feel free to PM me if you really want to go down that path. John

[OddN]

You obviously have the camping heater B2L that hangs just under the sliding door, not the super large under floor BA6 heater originally found in air cooled vans. I think that needs to be clarified since most of the answers here are on the BA6 version.

You have this one:

Not this one, right?

I have seen somewhere a modern compact heater installed in the old housing. Maybe that is an idea.

And the control panel should work on a newer compact Eberspäcer as well. Dont know about the China versions though.
_________________
1991 VW Multivan syncro 1,9 TD

[OddN]

Found it:

http://www.daswolfgang.com/night-heater-install/
_________________
1991 VW Multivan syncro 1,9 TD

[vwhammer]

Oh wow. Those heaters look nothing like any of the cheap heaters I was talking about so those will probably be of no use to you.

[Zeitgeist 13]

I wonder if the gas Eberspacher controls can be used with one of those cheap diesel heaters, and vice versa. Seems plausible
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[purplepeopleeater]