Bruce and Jean's Tiny
Travel Trailer -
The
Boxcar
Espar
Eberspacher
Heater
November
21,
2010
I serviced
the
Espar
D1LC heater today. Espar is a diesel fired heater
that is used by truckers so they don't have to idle their engines when
parked. It's
also popular in the yachting worldl. I like it a lot, it puts out tons
of heat and only draws around 10 amp-hrs a night. I got a used one on
eBay a couple of years ago. It's no longer in production,
it's
been replaced by the Airtronic D2. I saw quite a a few of them up for
auction several years ago but I don't see many of them anymore, which
is too bad because they're perfect for a small trailer.
 As
you
can
see,
its
a
pretty
compact
package ( that's what the C in D1LC stands for ). Cold
air goes in one end and
hot air comes out the other. The ends are designed to accept
ducting so the air can be directed where its needed. The left end can
be changed to a 90 degree output to help with installation.
 It puts out 7500 btuh on
high but it doesn't run on high very long. It throttles back to low and
you can't tell its on, its very quiet. It only uses a .03 gallons an
hour of diesel low. I have a two gallon tank in the
tongue box that I filled in the spring and we've only used about half
of it.
Specs at 12 volts:-
START UP:- 250 watts (21 amps)
FOR A FEW
SECONDS ONLY during start up cycle
BOOST (after start up):- 30 watts (2.5 amps)
7,500 BTU/hr
For a few
minutes only
HIGH:- 22 watts (1.84 amps)
6,150 BTU/hr
In very
cold conditions could be for several hours
MEDIUM:- 10 watts (0.84 amps)
4,100 BTU/hr
When
approaching desired temp
LOW:- 8 watts (0.67 amps)
2,900 BTU/hr
At desired
temp
Here
it
is
with
the
case
off,
you
can see the inside heat exchanger.
Combustion air and gases are vented to the outside. The silver box in
front is the electronic control unit. It meters the fuel and air in
response to the temperature at the thermostat.
 This
is
the
rebuild
kit for a D1LC. It contains the following:
1x 12V Glow Plug
1x Plug Strainer
6x Rivets
1x Pot-Shaped Strainer
1x Gasket Ring
1x Gasket Washer
Hold on to your hat but this kit
costs
about
$80.
 Here's
all
the
crap
I
found
inside,
it
was overdue for a cleaning and a new
glowplug. I don't think it had ever been cleaned or serviced. I'm
going to clean up the glowplug with a drill motot and a wire brush.
I'll throw it in the camper as a spare.
 This is as far as it needs
to be taken apart and the cleaning can start. Inside I found more
crap that needed to be cleaned out. Assembly is just the reverse of
dissassembly.
 The
heater is mounted under the bed. It blows on the floor in front of the
bed
so the floor and our shoes are toasty warm in the morning. Cool
air is drawn down to the heater from a vent at the head of the bed. Air
gets circulated around the bed this way so its not too hot at the
ceiling and too cold at the bed.
 This
is looking up at the floor of the trailer. Combustion air comes in the
black tube and combustion gases are vented through the silver tube. You
can just see the electric pump that pulls diesel from the tank and
sends it to the heater. I was worried about having a glowing hot pipe
under the trailer but the exhaust never gets so hot that it radiates
heat.
The drips aren't fuel, its epoxy from when I sealed the plywood.
 They
make a muffler for the exhaust. It's super quiet when its on low
but it sounds like a jet engine when its firing up (pretty cool). It's
mainly for the people around us as it never gets loud inside the
trailer.
This
is
a
perfect
heater
for
us:
its
quiet, doesn't cycle on and off constantly like a propane
heater, has a
low amp draw and doesn't use much fuel. The bad side is
they're spendy, can be finicky if installed incorrectly and spare parts
keep getting more expensive.
I've
got
a
spare parts heater so
hopefully it will last us awhile. It took me at least 6 months of
watching eBay
before I found mine and it was still expensive at $425. I still have an
espar and eberspacher eBay watch list, just in case I see another deal.
One tip is to search worldwide under eberspacher. They seem to be
cheaper overseas and the shipping isn't as bad as you would think.
Espar
D1LC Service Manual
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