My Webasto heater shutdown prematurely !

[baz]

Subject: My Webasto heater shutdown prematurely !

I was checking the operations of my Webasto forced air heating system today. One is supposed to run the heater once per month as a preventative maintenance activity.

First I found I had no Webasto User's Manual in my new boat purchase bag.... So I had to recall what I had learned about the Webasto from the 2-day training I had received at time of delivery.

I searched the web for "Webasto SmarTemp Control 2.0 Digital Control which I believe is what RT installs with the Webasto Air Top 2000 ST unit. From this I started the heater (the Control display showed ambient temp was 56ºF) and set a temp of 72ºF and after a short while the heater fired up and nice warm air started coming out of the two heat vents. I left it running for maybe 30 minutes when I noted the heater system had stopped ... that is, no more warm air being felt from the vents and the wind-tunnel like sound at the outside exhaust port had stopped.

I check the ambient temp reading at the SmarTemp Control dial and it was displaying 58ºF. So the 72ºF had not been reached.

Without having a User's Manual that describes the operations and configuration for the SmarTemp Control 2.0 I was a little mystified and all I could think of was that maybe the configuration had been somehow set for the heater's Runtime to be around 30 minutes and not for Continuous running.

No matter.... I will need to get hold of the User's Manual to check the various settings for the Controller.

BTW.... where does the Webasto get it ambient temperature reading from ? Is it at the Controller or somewhere else in the boat ?

 

[Spinner]

Double check that you didn't have anything covering any of the Webasto heat vents in the cabin. I found out that that will cause the system to shut down from overheat, and then it takes a while before you can get it back on again.....

 

[Irish Mist]

I have a similar type heater and the only times it has ever shut down over 3 years has been low voltage to the heater.

 

[baz]

I have a similar type heater and the only times it has ever shut down over 3 years has been low voltage to the heater.

Did the Controller alert you to the LVA ? Did it alert you with a signal noise of some sort or did it just throw an error code for you to discover ?

I've now found my Controller's Operation Info on the Webasto web site (Geeesh, there are so many different controller units 😱 ) so will be checking all the settings and then will fire up the heater to check its correct operation. 🙂

I do have to say that the outside noise made by the exhaust is very high dB and could present annoyances to neighbors for sure.

 

[Irish Mist]

My heater is a Planer heater.. it is a knock off, but works well. It has an LED that flashes a code to alert you of the issues by counting the flashes.. I installed mine myself. I am not sure how yours is installed but a lot of the noise was actually the make up air. I added an extension I got from the manufacturer and it did help slightly.. There is a lot of air going out a small hole so the exhaust is noisy, and hot.. beware of fender placement.
Hope you get yours up and running. It has to be something simple... just finding what it is. Not sure if you can completely disconnect power to do a "reset". That seems to work for everything..
I have 4 ways to heat the boat and the diesel heater is by far the nicest.

 

[baz]

It's all working now as it's supposed to do. I did note that having set temp to 70ºF the heater did not switch off and wind down until the controller displayed 72ºF.

 

[Irish Mist]

I believe there is a two degree variance .. it may not start until it drops below 69 if set at 70 as well. Glad it is working... stay warm 🙂

 

[jagizzi]

I have recently heard from experienced boaters that using my diesel heater at the dock is not acceptable due to CO poisoning of neighboring boats. There is no information online that talks about this but it certainly makes sense. I can find stories of CO poisoning and fatalities from diesel heaters but it doesn't seem prevalent.

I am looking to the group for thoughts on this issue and whether or not there are marinas that forbid the practice and require electric heaters. The boaters that have referenced this issue maintain the the diesel heater is for use while on the hook and electric heaters are to be used at the dock. Easy to do but wondering if this is common.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[baz]

Where did you read this info ?

My quick web search turned up this info at

http://stevedmarineconsulting.com/co-poisoning/?upm_export=print
and
https://www.sailmagazine.com/cruising/voe-a-faulty-heater-nearly-leads-to-tragedy

I doubt or at least it's hard for me to imagine that CO poisoning can be an issue at a marina with stacks of open space and no atmosphere containment. What little exhaust there will be is surely dissipated easily and quickly and is a lot less than running an inboard diesel engine at the marina/slip/dock.

Mind you, the only times I've run my Webasto while docked at my slip in my marina was for testing the operations of the Webasto. I will add, that the exhaust noise is VERY noticeable when the heater is running and this would be far more of an annoyance vs. the CO issue IMO.

BTW... I ran my Webasto during the nighttime when at the recent Roche Harbour meeting event. No-one mentioned the possibility of CO poisoning to me. :roll:

 

[Larry H]

Barry,

I have noticed that my Webasto runs at a high setting, with more exhaust noise, when it is trying to heat up a cold boat. After the boat is warm, the fan and exhaust both slow and quiet down.

Did you run your heater till the boat was warm and the heater slowed down? Was the exhaust noise still too loud?

 

[baz]

I believe you're correct.... but cannot be certain as after the heater had reached the desired temperature I had set the heater did slow down and stop and then I turned it off. So was not able to really confirm what you've asked.

 

[Irish Mist]

I have recently heard from experienced boaters that using my diesel heater at the dock is not acceptable due to CO poisoning of neighboring boats. There is no information online that talks about this but it certainly makes sense. I can find stories of CO poisoning and fatalities from diesel heaters but it doesn't seem prevalent.

I am looking to the group for thoughts on this issue and whether or not there are marinas that forbid the practice and require electric heaters. The boaters that have referenced this issue maintain the the diesel heater is for use while on the hook and electric heaters are to be used at the dock. Easy to do but wondering if this is common.

Thanks,

Jim

We are in Victoria BC and many boats are running diesel heaters at the dock. As mentioned there is a lot of space around the boats and if heaters are on..... other boats are typically closed in. I have never noticed a diesel smell from mine or others heaters coming into our boat. Not that much different then propane furnaces or water heaters running in trailer parks, when you thing about it.