Espar Airtronic troubleshooting: internal temp sensor defective

SeattleNewbie

2013 NCV3 2500 170" WB
After a year of running our Espar Airtronic S2 D2L uneventfully, it has suddenly stopped turning on.

Neither the fan mode nor the heat mode work. The Easy Start Pro controller shows these error messages under Diagnostics > "Control Unit"
1. Int. temp sensor defective
2. No Heater
3. MISMATCH

and no error messages under Diagnostics > "Heater"

Has anyone had a similar experience?

My first thought (and the suggestion from the local Espar repair shop) is to try installing an external temperature sensor (~$100) to see if that helps.

I've pulled the electric fuse and reset the system already with no noticable changes.

Thanks for any tips or suggestions!
 

sparkplug

Well-known member
Was going to suggest the remote sensor from Le Tonkinois Varnish in the UK as they are a fraction of the price of the Eberspacher ones and are the exact same component. I have one on mine and it works brilliantly.

However, scrolling to the bottom of the page in the link it unfortunately seems that it is not compatible with the D2L

He seems to suggest that it works with a thermostat - so it may be possible to see if you can source a compatible thermostat for less than $100 perhaps?
 

erik.wahlstrom

Well-known member
Is the temp sensor in the easy start pro? I have an extra that came in my kit. Not sure why they sent two. I’m near seattle and will part with it cheaply.
 

sparkplug

Well-known member
Unfortunately, no.

The temp sensor on the D2 is in the unit itself. No idea where the thermostat is on the S2 D2L but I know there isn't anything in the Easystart controller.


*edit* Apologies, I got that wrong. The easy start select doesn't have an integrated temp sensor, but according to the manual the easy start pro does....
 
Last edited:

SeattleNewbie

2013 NCV3 2500 170" WB
It turns out that our controller just needed a factory reset. Disconnecting power did not fully reset it, nor did the soft "Reset? Yes/No" option from the settings menu.

To do the factory reset, we had to go to the "workshop mode" on the Easy Start Pro controller by navigating to the clock icon and then holding in the back button. Once inside the workshop mode, there are advanced settings for choosing the temperature sensor (heater or controller) and an option for performing a factory reset.

Hopefully knowing how to get into the workshop mode can help someone else in the future.
 

tothebeyond

Active member
Was going to suggest the remote sensor from Le Tonkinois Varnish in the UK as they are a fraction of the price of the Eberspacher ones and are the exact same component. I have one on mine and it works brilliantly.

However, scrolling to the bottom of the page in the link it unfortunately seems that it is not compatible with the D2L

He seems to suggest that it works with a thermostat - so it may be possible to see if you can source a compatible thermostat for less than $100 perhaps?
I have been in touch with Le Tonkinois about their sensor and they were very responsive, but agreed that they have no proof that their sensor would work with our S2 D2 L - it is not listed only because their EB contact that provided so much info for the site left the company 2 years ago, and they can't establish a good contact with the new person! Our harness for our easy start pro controller came with a connector on the end of it (part of our eb heater kit we purchased), but the EB room sensor we had purchased doesn't have that receiving end connector, so they are not plug-and-play; I know we could strip the wires, but we were hoping that we would find that we had an older version or something and be able to buy a newer one with the plug-play connectors. Not to be. After being lead to this forum by my search question, and seeing your reply, I thought 'why not reach out to the company in England' and here we are. They also don't have a connector on theirs, but are as you stated a whole lot less expensive and I like the very small footprint of it.
 

sparkplug

Well-known member
I had a similar experience with Roy from Le Tonkinois as they had no knowledge of whether the sensor would work with the EasyStart Select controller I had - however they were up front about this from the start and were super helpful and responsive.

Spoke with Roy on the phone a couple of times and in the end I agreed to buy a sensor to give it a go and feed back to him how I got on.

In the end I was almost disappointed that it worked right out of the box because I thought Roy would be a great person to work with to troubleshoot and resolve any issues with the sensor. :biggrin:

If you do want to test it then the best way is to pick a cool / cold day and start the heater with it set to a couple of degrees above whatever it is reading as ambient temperature.

Once it's got there then apply some localised hear with something like a hair dryer or a heat gun on a low setting from a reasonable distance away (you're not trying to cook it!).

Nothing at all will happen for a fairly long time - maybe up to 20 seconds (Roy did explain why, but I've forgotten!) but you should then start to see the ambient temperature climb steadily.

Good luck with it - I hope it works out for you. Be sure to let us (and Roy) know how you get on.
 

tothebeyond

Active member
I had a similar experience with Roy from Le Tonkinois as they had no knowledge of whether the sensor would work with the EasyStart Select controller I had - however they were up front about this from the start and were super helpful and responsive.

Spoke with Roy on the phone a couple of times and in the end I agreed to buy a sensor to give it a go and feed back to him how I got on.

In the end I was almost disappointed that it worked right out of the box because I thought Roy would be a great person to work with to troubleshoot and resolve any issues with the sensor. :biggrin:

If you do want to test it then the best way is to pick a cool / cold day and start the heater with it set to a couple of degrees above whatever it is reading as ambient temperature.

Once it's got there then apply some localised hear with something like a hair dryer or a heat gun on a low setting from a reasonable distance away (you're not trying to cook it!).

Nothing at all will happen for a fairly long time - maybe up to 20 seconds (Roy did explain why, but I've forgotten!) but you should then start to see the ambient temperature climb steadily.

Good luck with it - I hope it works out for you. Be sure to let us (and Roy) know how you get on.
Thank you - I think we're going to order it then! We'll report back here, as well as to Roy, on how it all works out.
 

Top Bottom