Webasto heater

[Shedendman]

So i have one of these
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/today-i-acquired.50192/page-136#post-898345

Now looking around i need a timer,evilbay has come up with the cheapest
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEBASTO-1...180106?hash=item2a55dd1aca:g:bXQAAOSwnH1WbAqC
Like how much
Now being a tight git with 15 children 3 dogs and a her indoors to feed surely theres something i could use much cheaper thats not Webasto make
Could i use something like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-P...hash=item5d38dc522c:m:mzZW55vyB0PFDATISv4UYDw
I have a 12v dc fuel pump (not Webasto).
Basically i'm not sure if the heater itself is working so this will be for testing only,plus wanna keep the cost down if its a duff
Thanks chaps

 

[julianf]

I spent a couple of hours yesterday working on my newly acquired webasto.

Mine is not the same (mine is a thermotop C) but the following may be applicable -

The thermotop heaters come in C (which is, supposedly, off the shelf / stock) and "CZ" versions which are custom coded to the vehicles CAN bus.

Mine was a scrap yard pull, and works from a single wire control. The manual says it should go high to fire, but mine fires when it goes low, so maybe its not quite as stock as implied.


Regardless -

If you can work out the control on yours, then you dont need an 80 quid controller. If you can get a single wire control, be it high or low, then you can control it with anything - a switch, a timer, a arduino with a SIM card shield, etc.

 

[julianf]

ps. the only thing on mine that does not work is the circulation pump (water pump)

I took it apart, and it was jammed with a bit of swarf, but i think it may have burnt out years ago, as i removed the swarf, and still no dice (the output from the main unit goes to 12v when it should, and i tried the pump independently on a 12v supply, and still no life, so im sure its the pump)


I say this, as, if you decide your unit is bust / a breaker / etc. im in the market for a circulation pump! : )

 

[julianf]

Also, the fuel pump -

Its not just an "on all the time" sort of thing - its more like a little dosing pump, which is controlled from the unit's ECU. When you first start them up (i have an eberspacher air heater too, and its the same) they have a purge cycle, where just the fan goes, i assume, to vent any accumulated explosives etc (rather like a modern oil fired domestic boiler). Next stage (i assume) is the glow plug heating up. Then the fuel pump starts ticking slowly, then it speeds it up.

When the control goes low (in my case) the fuel pump stops, and the fans continue for some time, until the exhaust silencer etc has cooled.

You may be able to hash something up to replace the fuel pump, with a suitable control from the unit, but its not as simple as just turning it on with the unit.
There are a number of units on ebay without fuel pumps - i think its because when people pull them from vehicles, the fuel pump is located away from the unit, so they forget about it.

 

[Shedendman]

Thanks @julianf yer i'm looking around google now trying to work things out,quite a few bits of stuff on youtube to,so we'll see how it goes

 

[julianf]

Its a possibility that I may have an old eberspacher fuel pump somewhere here that I could lend you, if you need one for testing, before you start spending money.

Of course, that does not increase my chances of you breaking the unit for parts, and me buying the water pump, but it would help you out in your own testing, as I really don't think it will be easy to run off any other type of fuel pump.

I'll have a look when I'm feeling enthusiastic (as in I know where it will be, but it's behind anload of stuff that has not been moved in some time!)