M1088 camper conversion

[aw113sgte]

I posted my troubles on the ExPo forum, seeing as they aren't specifically MV-related, but maybe someone has walked a mile in my shoes on this forum.

Chinese hydronic diesel heater- this one specifically.

It's installed and bled reasonably well. Heat cycle starts, pump kicks on briefly, and then would cut out and error the controller, so I hard wired the pump with its own 12v supply. Things started to run well, and the whole process begins and makes progress until 15-18 minutes, where it gets to ~62°C and then shuts down. Flashes an error of E-14, and entertainingly enough, the trouble shooting guide skips -14 and -15.

There is a tech support email address but so far no response.

On one hand, this was going to be a ~$250 gamble and I may just move on to the high $ Euro brand, but the furnace fires up and seems to do well enough heating the the glycol that it seems dumb to spend ~$2k if there's just something small I am missing. Anyone seen this before? Any good ideas to work around it?

These things are often a gamble (just like all the fmtv electronic parts I buy on eBay and sometimes get screwed on). Sometimes you get lucky sometimes not. I haven't ventured into the heater stuff yet but it's on my long list of things to do

 

[ramdough]

I posted my troubles on the ExPo forum, seeing as they aren't specifically MV-related, but maybe someone has walked a mile in my shoes on this forum.

Chinese hydronic diesel heater- this one specifically.

It's installed and bled reasonably well. Heat cycle starts, pump kicks on briefly, and then would cut out and error the controller, so I hard wired the pump with its own 12v supply. Things started to run well, and the whole process begins and makes progress until 15-18 minutes, where it gets to ~62°C and then shuts down. Flashes an error of E-14, and entertainingly enough, the trouble shooting guide skips -14 and -15.

There is a tech support email address but so far no response.

On one hand, this was going to be a ~$250 gamble and I may just move on to the high $ Euro brand, but the furnace fires up and seems to do well enough heating the the glycol that it seems dumb to spend ~$2k if there's just something small I am missing. Anyone seen this before? Any good ideas to work around it?

You said on the other forum that only the pump was not working. I would Hotwire a different quality pump and see if it works.


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[ckouba]

Yep. That's what I've done. Now the whole system runs for awhile but shuts down after ~15m or around 62°C, and flashes E-14. Curious if there's any experience on this forum.

 

[TechnoWeenie]

E14 is a metering pump failure.

Double check your ground, and voltage.

 

[ckouba]

E14 is a metering pump failure.

Double check your ground, and voltage.

THANK YOU!!! Off to exercise it. Will report back with results.

 

[ckouba]

Still shutting down...

Functionality is all good on the pump. Appears to run correctly, slow pulse during start up, then ramps as the unit heats up. Runs consistently with the pace of the burner, then continues to shut down upon reaching 63°C. The duration doesn't seem to matter. It shuts down at 63°. It ran ~14m to get there on the first cycle from cold start, then 6m30s to get there on the second time.

Is E-14 for a pump error on an Espar or Eberspacher? This is a Junyize, so their E-14 will likely be different.

 

[TechnoWeenie]

All the Chinese #(%& is pretty much made by the same company.

This is a water heater, no? Is it shutting down because it's getting the water to temp?

Another common issue is the included incoming air filter is too restrictive and can cause high internal temps, but that usually throws an E05 or E08

 

[ckouba]

Yep, coolant heater.

Nope, 80 is its prescribed cycling temp- throttle back at 75, shut down at 80, fire back up at 60. It's reliably shutting down at 63, like clockwork. It doesn't appear to be a setting that is doing it, and it's definitely shutting down and erroring out with "E-14".

Based on the way it's running when it's working, I don't think there's an issue with anything on the intake. There's no soot, no smoke, no errors other than #14.

There is a place nearby which may be able to help me out. I am going to stop by tomorrow and see what they can do for me.

 

[coachgeo]

do you have the pump tilted? Pretty sure it is suppose to have some slope. it is part of how a metering pump works on these.

This video covers the wear/tear of pump if not angled... but only mentions in fast passing there is possible air lock happening not allowing fuel thru after the air pocket gets big enough.

more detail

 

[ckouba]

Nope. All good. It's properly mounted and primed, and I can watch some occasional small bubble get pushed up to the burner.

It's also irrelevant now. After all the hassle, I pulled the system. The company Rixen is ~20 min away from me and I took the rig there for a visit. I came home a bit lighter but now have working heat in the habitat! It's fantastic, and so far, reliable, and has been doing everything that I want it to. I do need to upgrade my heat exchanger fans. The low budget, squirrel cage fans are way too loud.

Moving on to other projects, I made significant progress on the enlarged tank install. I think I sized it perfectly. I could have pushed it a little higher, but the access to fittings and such would be problematic. It would also potentially be a challenge to get a filler hose into it.

I extended the fuel pickup by the same 8" I enlarged the tank (24" total height now), and the furnace pickup only goes to within ~7" of the bottom, so I know I won't let the furnace run me out of fuel.

Painted:

Tank hanger extended:

Hanger installed. Access to the aft hanger's securing bolts was a nightmare:

In position, one strap installed:

I may revise the strap extensions- I'll probably just cut and extend them instead of what I have here. Not sure why I went this way, hindsight is always 20/20.

On another note, the ~30 miles I drove to Rixen and back were lovely with the new cab airbags and shocks installed. They may be slightly firmer than the OE units, or my OE units were a little played out. The cab does ride nicely with Ryan's product under it though. Looking forward to trying them off the road next.

 

[ckouba]

Plan B... I spliced extensions into the straps instead. Worked great!

Didn't get around to pulling the fuel lines yet but intend to replace them at this point as well. Will do that next I guess... I have a new sender on order from Isspro, but it won't be built til after the new year, so still a couple of weeks out on that.

 

[TechnoWeenie]

Plan B... I spliced extensions into the straps instead. Worked great!

Didn't get around to pulling the fuel lines yet but intend to replace them at this point as well. Will do that next I guess... I have a new sender on order from Isspro, but it won't be built til after the new year, so still a couple of weeks out on that.

Hope you're not going anywhere near portland. That'll have a hole drilled in it drained by some tweaker who 'needs' 3 gallons and leaves the other 97 gallons to drain onto the ground.

 

[coachgeo]

Hope you're not going anywhere near portland. That'll have a hole drilled in it drained by some tweaker who 'needs' 3 gallons and leaves the other 97 gallons to drain onto the ground.

nahhhh. tweeker will give up before they can get thru these tanks. Now a regular car or truck with thin sheet metal fuel tanks...... that's different. no drill need. Strong nail and hammer is all you need.

 

[chucky]

Stant 10419 locking fuel cap for lm/fm tanks

 

[canadacountry]

@coachgeo its unrelated (of a different topic nature) but the vintage canal boats in england etc needed a diamond-hardy drill for if you wanted to ever make a hole in them as they were built out of real iron compared to being able to pretty much use any lazy drills [relatively speaking] on the newer boats made out of china steel or even fiberglass instead

 

[ckouba]

Stant 10419 locking fuel cap for lm/fm tanks

Thanks for the reminder Chucky!!! Been meaning to get one for a while. Just found one for $16.

There's one left if anyone is interested:

Fuel Tank Cap-DIESEL Stant 10419 fits 1981 GMC Astro for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fuel Tank Cap-DIESEL Stant 10419 fits 1981 GMC Astro at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[TechnoWeenie]

Thanks for the reminder Chucky!!! Been meaning to get one for a while. Just found one for $16.

There's one left if anyone is interested:

Fuel Tank Cap-DIESEL Stant 10419 fits 1981 GMC Astro for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fuel Tank Cap-DIESEL Stant 10419 fits 1981 GMC Astro at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Thank YOU for the link.

It's supposed to work for the 939 as well. I snagged the last one. Worst case scenario is I'm out $16.. and I can give it to a local member with an LMTV


Just another reason to dislike 'surplus' sellers. Spray paint something tan or green and charge $100 for it....

Granted, this appears to be new old stock, but still.

Is it in the 939 or LMTV parts list spreadsheets? I don't remember it being on either.

 

[cbrTodd]

Thank YOU for the link.

It's supposed to work for the 939 as well. I snagged the last one. Worst case scenario is I'm out $16.. and I can give it to a local member with an LMTV


Just another reason to dislike 'surplus' sellers. Spray paint something tan or green and charge $100 for it....

Granted, this appears to be new old stock, but still.

Is it in the 939 or LMTV parts list spreadsheets? I don't remember it being on either.

It looks like the same one I got. If it is, the 939 strainer ID is too small and it won't thread down into it. I think the tank neck itself would fit the cap directly without the strainer in place at all though. I went the route of removing the screen from the strainer, turning the metal body at the top to increase the ID so the lock feature would work, and then welded the screen back in.

 

[ckouba]

Ok, so silly little side project, but I impressed myself with it. I put in a GMRS radio and picked up two antennas for it- one better in obstructed terrain, the other in open, flatter areas. I wanted them both to stay in the rig, but storage would potentially be awkward. My solution was to install a dummy mount in the cab and keep the one which isn't in service mounted on it. Mounts only were ~$20 each by the time shipping was added, and I'm cheap and own a lathe, so yesterday was the day I figured out how to cut threads with it.

After a bit of trial and error with some scraps, I thought I figured it out and put a chunk of billet in the jaws. Sure enough, I did figure it out! I turned the OD down to the appropriate size and then worked the gearbox to get the threads cut. The most convenient place to hang it was in the back corner of the cab, so I finished it off with a 90° alu bracket and bolted using the interior panel anchor bolt in the corner. Worked out perfectly.

Roughing in the blank:

Completed piece:

Wider view:

I cut threads once in college over 30 years ago, and that was with an instructor and directions. I don't even have a manual for this lathe, but I had a few gears which came with it and I was able to just figure it out. Pretty stoked!

Among other projects, 110 has been run to several outlets at this point and the AC side of the panel is active. In addition, the fuel lines have been replaced. The last thing I am waiting for now is the extended length fuel sender. Once that's in the tank, I will transfer the fuel from the old tank and get the rig running again.

I also can't remember if I mentioned... I went with an Espar for my heating needs- heat and hot water. It's functioning flawlessly, and while it was quite a bit more $'s than the Chinesium unit, this one is priceless because it works!

 

[ckouba]

Thank YOU for the link.

It's supposed to work for the 939 as well. I snagged the last one. Worst case scenario is I'm out $16.. and I can give it to a local member with an LMTV

Happy to share! This forum has been a great source of support and when I found the deal, I couldn't not share it. I was hoping it didn't violate forum rules- or if it did, that the mods would understand what was going on and look away. The cheapest I had found outside of that was ~$50 shipped, so it was a no-brainer.