Lots Of Stuff Under The Driver Seat !

frasermshaw

New Member
Anyone got a pic of under their seats? Fitted swivels so height is limited - but I want to fit Eberspächer air vent and leisure battery under the driver seat ( Eber unit will go under the floor) - I guess the inverter and charger will have to go under the passenger seat. ( unfortunately I also need to fit a booster for my 24V Eber unit - the good news is I got it cheap and despite what everyone says the wiring is identical in the Eber from a merc truck - its jus the connecter is different ) As usual any help gratefully received.
 
I'm interested to know what DC-DC converter you intend to use to provide the 24v supply which according to the Eberspacher info will need to supply at least 100W on start-up (and shut-down?).

You may find that the ECU differs on the Merc unit, hopefully you have the controller that was used with it and that it wasn't controlled via a can-bus like the one fitted to a California,

Rod
 
You will struggle to get a battery under the seat along with the Eber outlet unless you have VW swivels. Victron do a 20 amp 12/24 converter.
 
It is possible to do a leisure and outlet, we have done many but it’s a squeeze, fit the rest of the electrics elsewhere
 
Sportscraft swivel, just thinking outside the box when it comes to the outlet. ;)

Hope you are keeping well Martyn
 
I'm interested to know what DC-DC converter you intend to use to provide the 24v supply which according to the Eberspacher info will need to supply at least 100W on start-up (and shut-down?).

You may find that the ECU differs on the Merc unit, hopefully you have the controller that was used with it and that it wasn't controlled via a can-bus like the one fitted to a California,

Rod


I wired it up as per normal and it runs - I heard about the can bus thing but that may be only very recent ones - not quite sure what you would do with a can bus connection on a heater - why would they do that ? I don't think anyone does any kind of can bus control of even the primary heater - never mind a secondary. But hey people are still shipping cars with CD players in them - my youngest is 19 and doesn't know what a CD is - she literally asked what goes in there when I bought her her first car 2 years ago!

I think its actually more like 15A you need on start up I wish it was only 5 amps - lots more choice of boosters
 
The VW California has a can-bus controlled Eberspacher controlled from a VW special module in the cab roof tray, strangely it does not have a room thermostat or the re-circulation facility!

Yes the current draw is high both on start-up and shut-down, the glowplug come back on at shut-down I assume to ensure complete burn off of fuel.

I will be interested to hear how the Eberspacher reacts to being fed via the DC-DC converter so please keep us posted after a reasonable time of real use.
 
If I could figure out how to charge b2b AND switch in a series connection to get 24V - I would - tested the unit with 2 batteries in series. If there was a smart charger that could fire a relay for me when its not charging - I could use a changeover relay to do it.
 
Eberspacher are changing over to can bus control on new heaters that are coming out, but the old type are still available, the new heaters need one of the new generation controllers, usually called ‘easy start’, they can’t be switched on and off by the trigger wire (usually yellow). There are many vehicle-specific heaters produced, some are controlled by the vehicle ECU and some just have different electrical connectors to suit the vehicle wiring loom. I would avoid using a 24 volt heater in a 12 volt vehicle, it will work but a lot of the cost savings are lost in running 2 batteries and their charging system or a powerful enough voltage converter, but I’ll be interested to see how it works out.
When they talk about ‘canbus’ controlled heaters, they don’t mean that it will be connected to the vehicle canbus network, but that the Heater has digital control which is more accurate than the older analogue control systems, this is partly due to tighter exhaust emissions limits.
 
not wired up the easy start yet - just pulled the yellow high and she fired up straight away - sounds like mine is new old stock then - the easy start is also a Mercedes unit - so maybe it would have worked anyway.
 
The airtronics are not out yet with the new canbus control, will be soon though, just hydronic so far.
 
Thanks that makes sense - but not what the "experts" ( retailers) are saying - I have been advised that its not possible to control a Mercedes heater.
 
The yellow wire is the trigger on/off, grey red is the modulator wire(sets heat level) if this is not connected, the heater will run at full output. So you can control the heater with a rotary rheostat or an 801 digital controller or a 701 timer. There are lots of ‘experts’ about, but you need to be careful which ones you listen to, a bit like VW dealers!
 
The cali heater uses the canbus to get fuel level and spew diagnostics etc.
 
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