Diesel heater problem

[Robin Beck]

My diesel heater has been installed for over a year and has been working fine. The van has been sitting around doing nothing so decided to put the heater on for a while. I switched on the master switch and the LCD lit up. I then (As usual) pushed the ON button on the remote. The LCD died and has not come back on! Has anyone any ideas? The battery is good and over 12v at the master switch.

 

[tman]

I use Eberspacher clone diesel heaters at my workshop so I have a little bit of experience with these, not sure if this is what you're using though.

During the startup process, the glowplug is switched on and requires a fairly hefty 10-12 amps. Your test meter won't show you how the wiring performs under load so I suggest using a 12V 50W headlight bulb with wires attached to check the 12V supply as close to the unit as you can get.

 

[DOUGAL]

I have a similar problem. The fault code which comes up means that there isn't enough voltage. Everything seems ok when I check the voltage.
Could it possible be that the glow plug needs a clean? Will this make a difference to the voltage?

 

[tman]

I have a similar problem. The fault code which comes up means that there isn't enough voltage. Everything seems ok when I check the voltage.
Could it possible be that the glow plug needs a clean? Will this make a difference to the voltage?

I wouldn't expect a fouled glowplug to cause a low voltage error - are you getting E-01 Undervoltage or E-03 Glow plug fault or something else?

Your test meter won't load the 12v supply circuit like the glowplug does during operation. If there's a problem with the 12v supply wiring, the voltage can drop when the load of the glowplug kicks in and throw an E-01. If you connect a 12v headlight bulb in place of the heater, see if the supply voltage drops and if it does, you have a bad supply connection (somewhere).