Webasto Air Top 2000 H15 Error / possible flooded heater...

[mattbryson]

This is a long shot, but just incase anyone has had any experience with this.

Long story short, a high tide caught me out and went up to the bottom of the doors.

I have a Webasto heater under the van, and since then it's been throwing a H15 error - from the docs (and the water) this sounds like a "Drive Cables short circuit" \ "fan blockage"

I dropped the heater off the bottom and checked the fan can move - didn't look like any water had got in everything looked fine and dry - I don;t think it was submerged, as the heater is pretty high up, but some must have got in. I checked the only cable connector that was ontop of the heater and it was al dry and fine.

Any one have any knowledge of these and what to look for / do next....

Cheers

Matt

 

[oldiebut goodie]

You don't say what heater you have but,
Sounds like you have water in the motor or ecu. Full strip down and examination will be required.
First check the resistance of the motor - for example: Evo55 roughly 3 ohm, Air top 5000 roughly 1 ohm, Air Top 2000 range roughly 1 ohm. If you have a direct short it will be 0 - 0.5 ohm. You can check its function just by applying 12v to the motor lead after removing it from the ecu.
If that is OK the ecu may have water in it. Combustion fan errors in the ecu are not easy to fix - usually a new ecu is required. The ecus are splashproof but not waterproof.
Either can be a problem as salt water will never dry out completely and cause future problems with shorts and corrosion.

 

[mattbryson]

You don't say what heater you have but,
Sounds like you have water in the motor or ecu. Full strip down and examination will be required.
First check the resistance of the motor - for example: Evo55 roughly 3 ohm, Air top 5000 roughly 1 ohm, Air Top 2000 range roughly 1 ohm. If you have a direct short it will be 0 - 0.5 ohm. You can check its function just by applying 12v to the motor lead after removing it from the ecu.
If that is OK the ecu may have water in it. Combustion fan errors in the ecu are not easy to fix - usually a new ecu is required. The ecus are splashproof but not waterproof.
Either can be a problem as salt water will never dry out completely and cause future problems with shorts and corrosion.

Great info thanks.

Sorry, the model was in the title, it's a Air Top 2000.

I'll try to completely remove it and do as you suggest (I did notice one power cable that didn't appear to have a connector on it that I'll need to trace to find how to disconnect it!)

M

 

[oldiebut goodie]

There are several different 2000 models - 2000, 2000S, 2000ST and 2000STC, each with differing characteristics.

 

[mattbryson]

There are several different 2000 models - 2000, 2000S, 2000ST and 2000STC, each with differing characteristics.

Ah right, it's a 2000 STC.

I have it off the van now. A load of water poured out it, so definitely flooded.

 

[mattbryson]

Did a complete strip down, was totally flooded and rusty everywhere. ECU was bone dry through, so fingers crossed a total clean up sorts it.

 

[mattbryson]

All cleaned up and dried, will re fit tomorrow and see....

 

[oldiebut goodie]

I would spray/soak the motor with wd40 to try to drive the water out of the windings - the salt water will soon corrode the copper if it remains in there. Also give all the plugs a good soaking with it.
I would replace the burner pad whilst you have it apart, any water dried out in there will cause white deposits which will impair the efficiency. That will save you having to strip it down again too soon.
Check that the brushes are free to move - in case of any fine grit being caught in them.

I have recovered outboard motors that have been submerged and provided it is stripped down as soon as possible they can often be saved.

 

[Kind of Blue]

This is a long shot, but just incase anyone has had any experience with this.

Long story short, a high tide caught me out and went up to the bottom of the doors.

I have a Webasto heater under the van, and since then it's been throwing a H15 error - from the docs (and the water) this sounds like a "Drive Cables short circuit" \ "fan blockage"

I dropped the heater off the bottom and checked the fan can move - didn't look like any water had got in everything looked fine and dry - I don;t think it was submerged, as the heater is pretty high up, but some must have got in. I checked the only cable connector that was ontop of the heater and it was al dry and fine.

Any one have any knowledge of these and what to look for / do next....

Cheers

Matt

View attachment 279511

Plenty of T's have been off road driven around Europe and Iceland etc most probably in the far East also. We do not tend to hear about damage, which does not surprise me if it is freshish water. It may not necessarily peculate all the way through and what does just pours out and it dries. Salt water on the other hand may be problematic. Maybe when something has been immersed in sea water it needs flushing out as you have done. I have seen Landrovers that have had a jolly good emersion with these things, have gone on to work.

 

[oldiebut goodie]

?

 

[mattbryson]

This is fresh water, so no issues with the salt.

Good shout on the burner pad - I'll have a look at getting a replacement.

 

[mattbryson]

So....

Hooked it all up this morning.

Good news - error has gone and it fired up!

Bad news - one of the gaskets is gone / I didn't tighten it enough as it leaks exhaust.
Do you know if there are any torque specs?
I've ordered new Gaskets and a burner pad now that I have to take it apart again!


Also the motor sounds a bit rough - So I assume there is some grit in there. So will need to look at that as well.

 

[oldiebut goodie]

For the 4 studs at the base:
2. Tighten nuts to 6 +1 Nm. Do not exceed as you can distort the base.

The screws don't have a set figure, I tighten to the maximum that I can achieve with a hand torx driver.
Where are you getting exhaust leaks from?
Exchanger, then metal gasket, then burner tube followed by burner holder ( no gasket ), metal gasket to motor unit/heat exchanger.
It is difficult to re-assemble and get an exhaust leak anywhere so something is not right.

Motor - sounds like you have washed the grease out of the bearings, difficult to re-pack them, easiest to replace them.
Make sure that you use top quality ones as cheap ones will be as noisy as hell. I use NMB ones made in Thailand or Singapore - don't use Chinese ones or others as they are rough and noisy.

 

[mattbryson]

Great, thanks so much for your help.

Hard to tell where the leak was as I have to mount it to the base of the van to hook up the fuel, and the bracket obscures it.

Smoke was coming from both sides of the bracket.

It did look like smoke was coming out the air intake pipe though which is odd, is it possible to reverse the motor wiring? I checked my photos and the plug is the correct way round, I'll check later....

 

[oldiebut goodie]

It is possible to reverse the motor leads. The plugs are keyed but it doesn't take a lot of force to create a new keyway on insertion. I have even had one motor that reversed itself all on its own! Never found out why so just reversed the leads.

 

[mattbryson]

It is possible to reverse the motor leads. The plugs are keyed but it doesn't take a lot of force to create a new keyway on insertion. I have even had one motor that reversed itself all on its own! Never found out why so just reversed the leads.

Interesting. That could well be it. Will let you know when I get to it tonight... fingers crossed....

 

[mattbryson]

Hang on - the magnets are in the motor housing, and you can mount that in one of two ways - So I bet I have the magnet polarity the wrong way round relative to the brushes - hence the reverse motor, (and possibly noise - brushes running in the other direction? ) even with correct cabling.....

 

[oldiebut goodie]

You can't mount anything the wrong way - the top and bottom plates are keyed and the motor brush assembly would foul the magnets the wrong way round.

 

[oldiebut goodie]

Running in reverse shouldn't be noisy, there may be slight a increase in noise but not much at all ( I run motors in reverse after replacing brushes and bearings to help the brushes bed in quickly )

 

[mattbryson]

You can't mount anything the wrong way - the top and bottom plates are keyed and the motor brush assembly would foul the magnets the wrong

I mean rotation wise. I just rotated the motor body 180 degrees , keeping the brushes etc static , and now it spins the correct way.

Unfortunately the combustion fan took a beating when it was sucking all the hot gasses, but it's still in one piece! Just a bit charred.