Need to borrow a digi controller

512Westy

Member
My airtronics has locked itself out again and I need to reset it. I believe the problem is fuel flow and I think I need to drop the fuel tank to inspect the hose and dip tube. Both the airttronic and the hydronic are malfunctioning. So when I ran the hydronic (the only one that will start up, but it shuts itself off immediately) I see lots of air in the line just past the pump. I'm in Bend, OR for the winter but heading back to Austin late Oct, back to Bend in mid nov. Anyone have the digi-max controller that I can reset mine with? I've heard they aren't sold anymore. Is that correct?
Thanks
David
 

Wasaabi

Sprinter Westfalia #133
Hi David, I know you are very knowledgable on the Espar but are you sure you didn't run near 1/4 tank of fuel? This happened to me in the past when my fuel level was just around (and maybe slightly over) 1/4. Both Espars would not start until I filled the tank. It is because of where the main Espar fuel line goes into the tank, which was likely done so very conservatively to prevent being stuck in the woods.

Here's the thing about when this happened to me: It took quite a few attempts (failed starts) to get both heaters going again. I kept trying them in various combinations. I was worried but eventually they fired up. I think it has to so with air that gets into the lines that has to be primed out.

There are different viewpoints about whether the Espars in the Westy truly lock up after a few attempts. Mine has the newer (replaced) controller board so I don't know, but mine does not. In any case, if you are getting any signs of life don't give up and keep trying. Maybe get the Hydronic Espar running first then move onto the Airtronic.
 

onemanvan

Active member
I'm pretty sure the Digi-Max D1000 can unlock our D4S heaters. At the Westyfest in Colorado last year TomG unlocked several Espars. On some of them he could also read fault codes. I put together this compatibility spreadsheet to help explain what works with what. Much of it depends on which ECU you have in your heater. There are three variants of the ECU that I'm aware of - although there could be more - for example the standard North American ECU might come in several different flavors... Earlier Westy's had revision #1, later Westy's - for example my #186 Westy - has a revision #2 ECU. If the original ECU in your Westy was replaced then it probably has what I call the North American standard ECU in it. Which is not compatible with our central electronic console. Which means your Westy probably has something like a Digi-Max D1000 wired in to interface with the heater. The purpose of this spreadsheet is to define which high altitude compensators, central electronic controller and diagnostic tools are compatible with which ECU's.

John...
 

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GoJohnGo

Road trip!
For what it's worth, my "early(?)" Westy #063 has the "later" ECU 22 5101 00 17 02 and works happily with the High Altitude Compensator 20 2900 70 0007 as indicated in onemanvan's table.
 
Is there a way to tell which variant of ECU is in your heater ? I am going to try and pull my heater to service it myself and I am going to purchase the Digi Max 1000 to replace the useless controller that the previous owner of my rig had installed.
 
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onemanvan

Active member
The ECU number is easy to find - look for the label attached to ECU itself. I attached two pictures. One is the Espar completely disassembled and the other is partially broken down. In the upper left corner of the later is the ECU module - detached and hanging to one side - with the label visible.

John...
 

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Wow, thank you onemanvan, the pictures are really helpful for multiple reasons to someone who has never seen what our Espar looks like and is getting ready to pull it out.
 

512Westy

Member
Thanks all for the suggestions. Wasabi, I knew about the fuel level issue but had not heard it was so sensitive. Will attempt a few more times to see if I can move the air out. Does anyone knw if there is a false start issue with the hydronic unit where it gets locked out?

John, thanks for breakdown on serial numbers. Will track that down.
 

512Westy

Member
Go John go, yes, I used Rixon last year. The were unable to read codes off my D4 with their EDITH software but could reset it out of lockdown. They discovered the bad bearing and replaced the fan motor. That prob contributed to the issue of lockout.

Just got off phone with Espar Michigan and he said false start lockout count is 12-15. But he said 3 consecutive overheating shutdowns will lock it out as well. I'm beginning to suspect that is my issue and not false starts. Could be from running it with the bathroom vent closed and not getting enough airflow. I can interrupt the consecutive count by turning it off shortly after running to reset the count. So beware if your unit shuts itself off at altitude cause could be from overheating.
 
I removed my espar heater today and my ECU number is slightly different from the last option shown in the chart posted previously in this thread. My ECU number is 22 5 101 00 30 19 ...only the two last digits (19) differs from the third option shown in the chart. BTW my rig is one of the last ones imported # 246.

Does anyone think it's not a reasonable assumption that my ECU will cooperate with the Digi Max 100 Thermostat as shown for the last option on the previously posted compatibility chart ?

The control of my espar heater was modified by the previous owner. The espar was separated from the central Westfalia control unit and fitted with a isolated rotary temperature selector. The first picture below I believe shows me holding the original espar control cable going to the central Westfalia control unit with splice for the isolated rotary temperature selector hanging there to the right. The second picture shows the rotary temperature selector.

I am wondering what it is going to take to connect the Digi Max 1000. Will I be so lucky as it being plug and play into the connector that I am holding in the third picture ? This connector was not being used on my setup and comes out the rear of the stainless box housing the espar heater under the rig. Does anyone know what that connector is intended for ?

Thank you.
 

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OldWest

2004 T1N Westfalia
The unused connector may be the diagnostic port to hook up a computer with EDITH software or a digi-controller diagnostic thingy.

I had Greg at LubricationSpecialist splice in an extra diagnostic pigtail connector which was compatible with Espar and left it unconnected and dangling (Westfalia cut the original Espar wiring harness and spliced in their own with a round connector--so wiring harness connected on inside of round connector at metal box and outside wiring connected to outside of round connector at metal box--but Espar diagnostic eqpt did not connect to that round connector).

Maybe something like:

http://www.lubricationspecialist.com/tools-diagnostic-code-readers/airtronic-diagnostic-adapter/
 
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onemanvan

Active member
As I mentioned - the standard North American ECU might come in several different flavors...

IE: different revisions of the same base part number.

With regard to the connector - I attached an image taken from the manual I have for the Digi-Max D1000 I purchased. It shows a similar style connector with 6 pins. The one in your picture appears to have 8 pins...
 

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I received my parts and did the service on my Espar. Given what I saw in the atomizer screen journal I decided to also pull the Esapr apart and clean out the combustion chamber as best that I could. I used brass bore cleaning brushes from my pistol cleaning kit to clean the journal and combustion chamber. It was all very easy after watching the video above, but getting the atomizer out does require just the right tool or combination of tools and some patience.

I also changed the fuel filters in both my low and high altitude fuel pumps. Here are some pictures.

The first picture is the removed atomizer screen compared to the new one.

The second picture is the dirty combustion air intake hole

The third picture is the best shot I could get looking into the combustion chamber
 

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As I wrote above, my Espar is not wired into the main control panel. The previous owner had it changed to the rheostat that I am pointing to in the picture above. I don't like the rheostat and have been thinking that I would install the Espar thermostat on the side of the upper kitchen cabinet, but before I do that I thought it might be beneficial to try the original setup and resplice the Espar control wires back into the main control panel.

How does the main control panel work ? Is it just like the refrigerator control as you turn on the Espar, set it to your desired temperature and the Espar ignites and adjusts the fan speed accordingly as heat is called for ?
 

OldWest

2004 T1N Westfalia
1. Thanks. Thanks for posting photographs and follow-up.

2..Incompatible ECU. May want to dig up OneManVan's and Wasaabi's? Posts on a replacement ECU being incompatible with kur central computer console. Apparently, Westfalia had a custom ECU and a standard replacement Espar ECU is incompatible with our central computer console.

The fact that the previous owner added a new controller and apparently had other work done may suggest an incompatibility issue?

3. Westfalia Central Computer Console Control.

A. Set heater to on and a desired temperature. Heater should turn on/off as appropriate.

At beginning, heater will be on full blast with lots of fan blowing. Once temp is reached, can barely hear the heater as the fan blower just blows a little to maintain temp. When temp stays by itself or cabin gets hot from daylight temps, heater will shutdown. Later, heater will turn on by itself when temps drop.

NOTE: The quiet, low fan blowing, maintaining temperature is very nice BUT is apparently the cause of the heater combustion chamber sooting up. Recommended to have the heater operate on high (like a smaller heater or the on/off three tines program below).

Some posters have had problems where heater does not turn on again once the set temp is reached.

B. Can set up to three times during a 24 hour period for the heater to turn on for a 2 hour period for each time. When works, nice to warm up Westy before getting out of bed. Should work for the next 24 hour period, etc. There are tiny 1, 2, 3, numbers on the display which show which of the three times you've selected to go on.
 
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Kiltym

Active member
NOTE: The quiet, low fan blowing, maintaining temperature is very nice BUT is apparently the cause of the heater combustion chamber sooting up. Recommended to have the heater operate on high (like a smaller heater or the on/off three tines program below).
How do you force the heater to operate in high? Just turning the temp up? And then turn it off? Could be quite a nuisance to keep turning it on and off all day/evening.

And I have used the timers at all yet, it assume they work in conjunction with the temp so would eventually go to low output mode also, or is that incorrect?

This is probably why Espar recommends the yearly cleaning, which if the unit was mounted somewhere more convenient, would likely happen by more owners.
 
1. Thanks. Thanks for posting photographs and follow-up.

2..Incompatible ECU. May want to dig up OneManVan's and Wasaabi's? Posts on a replacement ECU being incompatible with kur central computer console. Apparently, Westfalia had a custom ECU and a standard replacement Espar ECU is incompatible with our central computer console.

The fact that the previous owner added a new controller and apparently had other work done may suggest an incompatibility issue?

3. Westfalia Central Computer Console Control.

A. Set heater to on and a desired temperature. Heater should turn on/off as appropriate.

At beginning, heater will be on full blast with lots of fan blowing. Once temp is reached, can barely hear the heater as the fan blower just blows a little to maintain temp. When temp stays by itself or cabin gets hot from daylight temps, heater will shutdown. Later, heater will turn on by itself when temps drop.

NOTE: The quiet, low fan blowing, maintaining temperature is very nice BUT is apparently the cause of the heater combustion chamber sooting up. Recommended to have the heater operate on high (like a smaller heater or the on/off three tines program below).

Some posters have had problems where heater does not turn on again once the set temp is reached.

B. Can set up to three times during a 24 hour period for the heater to turn on for a 2 hour period for each time. When works, nice to warm up Westy before getting out of bed. Should work for the next 24 hour period, etc. There are tiny 1, 2, 3, numbers on the display which show which of the three times you've selected to go on.
Thank you OldWest.

According to OneManVan's Spread sheet I do indeed have what he calls the North American Variant of the Espar ECU which is not compatible with the Westfalia Central Computer. That is very helpful and explains to me why my rig has that Espar rheostat installed. It looks like if I want a thermostat type control I will need to try the Digi-Max 1000.

I am one of those posters who has had problems at higher altitude of my Espar not coming back on during the night once the initial temperature is reached. That suggests, at least on my rig, that that particular problem is Espar related and not Westfalia Central Computer related.
 

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