Topaz diesel heater

Hi, The diesel heater on my 2009 Topaz does not work. I am looking to remove it and try to fix it myself. Does anyone know where it is situated,( I assume its below the van somewhere between the van floor and the plastic tray?). The air duct goes through the floor and the plastic tray connectors have quite a bit of rust on them so I assume they are going to give problems removing the tray. If I know where the eberspacher heater is it might make the whole thing a bit easier. Cheers for any responses.

Thanks for the reply. That will mean not having to strip the plastic guard from where the heater hose goes through the floor and chasing it back. You have saved me quite a lot of work. Thanks.

I had a Topaz and in cold weather the heater would not fire up unless on hook up. It takes a lot of amps to start and I think my battery could not supply enough. Could this be your problem?
Rob

Robstopaz wrote:I had a Topaz and in cold weather the heater would not fire up unless on hook up. It takes a lot of amps to start and I think my battery could not supply enough. Could this be your problem?
Rob

I've heard of owners having to start engine to get enough power into battery to ignite it.

Hmmmm, will give it a try with engine running and then separately with electric hook up to check. Just assumed that since I got zero when firing it up that it was needing repair. The van had a few things needing sorted when I got it but I have worked my way through the others. Cheers.

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Unless yours is different and perhaps you have the rare two single belted seat Topaz that was special order, you will find that the Eberspacher Possible a D2 model is under the long bunk in the area were the water heater tank is that means removing the thin plywood sheet with a circular hole (this is to gain access the heater water dump valve).

This will be confirmed by looking outside underneath your vehicle in the area just forward of the fridge vents and you should see the Eber exhaust pipe.

If you refer to this page having first identified your model from label on side of unit you can download some very useful repair information. 
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As others have said the current draw on start up as the glow pug in the heater iis high and requires a good battery voltage so checking that first with a DVM  volt meter would be a good start.

Unfortunately ebers have a habit of locking the control unit out if it fails to start after a number of attempts and can only be rest by an advanced control unit or Diagnostic repair software. 

The copyright license expired on these heaters and they are now manufactured in the millions in China and the parts for these are interchangeable with ebers at a fraction of the cost. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This is a very handy source of info [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You will also find a group on FB called Chinese diesel heaters that may be useful.

Thanks zeberdy. Although the exhaust pipe is in line with the water tank when viewed from outside the heating duct goes through the floor beside the hot water heater. I assumed that would mean the eberspacher was below the van floor in that area, above the plastic tray that runs the length of the van. Unfortunately we are in for a week of constant rain here so it will be next week before I get to check but it definitely isnt beside the water heater. My van has the 2 single swivel seats at the front if that is the ones you refer to, but I thought that was standard? Will check below the footwell also as someone had advised. I hadnt realised that the chinese copies were so similar that parts were interchangeable. Thanks

The two single seat I referred to are in place of the std bench and 1 seat in the back. If you can see the exhaust by the refrigerator it is where I indicated. It is located inside not accessible from underneath, the exhaust port and air intake port together with the fuel supply that is drawn off the fuel tank and connected on the underside of the eber that his through the floor on a metal manifold plate to provide some safety to the Wooden floor structure. 

I would measure your leisure battery voltage when the vehicle is running and compare that with your vehicle battery hopefully you are seeing in excess of 12.5v with engine running if you are not you may have a Duffy leisure battery as suggested you could try connecting mains lead and switching control panel to charge the battery and try to fire it up. 

I have had one lock out on me that is discussed in the links I highlighted.

I intend to repair this with a Chinese control unit. You can actually purchase a complete Chinese heater for about £80 an eber control unit alone will be £300 !!!

Hi zeberdy, I went out to take a photo. Not sure if its clear from the pic but the hot air duct goes through the plywood floor beside the water heater at 90 degrees and the eberscher is definately not beside the water heater. Wish it was as it would probably be easier to get at. Maybe it depended on year of make?[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks everyone. Will get on to it when and if this rain ever stops