Update on the Webasto AT2000ST.
I spoke on the phone last week with Webasto tech support. He was really helpful. I asked a ton of questions and got some great info.
My heater didn't come with a fuel filter or the fuel damper so I ordered both items on eBay from a seller in the UK. I installed both the filter and damper a few days before my first trip to the mountains after Christmas.
If you go back a page or two I posted about a very successful first night snow camping with the Webasto at Alpental ski area, around 3100' elevation. It worked great, we were nice and warm, life was good. My problems didn't start until after Christmas when I was camping at a higher altitude, White Pass ski area, which is 4500' of elevation.
When my problems first started I assumed the higher elevation was the cause. I tried manually adjusting it for high altitude with the method I posed above from the sprinter forum but it didn't work. Next I had a truck shop adjust it with a laptop and the Webasto software, still no luck. They hadn't ever done it before so I'm assuming they didn't do it correctly.
While explaining my problems to Webasto tech support he asked if I had a fuel filter and where I got it. He told me that I absolutely had to use a genuine webasto fuel filter and fuel line for the heater to operate correctly. He had stories of people using fuel hose and filters from Home Depot or the auto parts store, it won't work. The filter I ordered on eBay was not a genuine Webasto filter. Further more, he told me the gasoline heater does not require the damper. He instructed me to remove both items and give it a shot.
I pulled the filter and damper that night. Right away I noticed the heater would fire up quicker and seemed to run much better, I was so happy. I was sure my problems were over and I could move on to the rest of my build. There was still a possibility it wasn't adjusted properly for altitude but I had no way to test it. Webasto tech support told me that the only way I can guarentee it will run properly at 5000' and at sea level is to set the co2 level at each location.
To properly set the co2 level for proper operation at altitude you do not need the webasto software or a laptop, you only need a co2 analyzer. Fantastic! I found the procedure at the bottom of this post in a webasto shop manual and verified it with my friend at Webasto tech support. It's all good, but I don't have a co2 analyzer and I don't know anyone who does. Also, you can only program it for your current altitude so my adjustment will need to be made in the ski area parking lot! Why does this have to be so difficult? Are other people having this same problem or is there something wrong with my heater?
We drove up to White Pass on Saturday morning and my heater fired right up. I set it to 3 o'clock on the dial and everything seemed great. At around 10 pm it shut down with error code #2 and wouldn't start back up. Attempts to start it gave error code #1.
Unfortunately, we spent another cold night in the mountains. This is getting old.
Back at sea level I couldn't get it to start back up until I crawled under the van and used the compressed air trick from Telesteve. It's running fine again now down here at sea level.
I'm not ready to give up yet. What can I do? The only next logical step I can come up with is to try to reset it to the factory settings and start over with the original tune. Second step would be finding a co2 analyzer and program it in the ski area parking lot.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.2.1 SETTING THE CO2 CONTENT
The CO2 content in the emissions is set using the adjustment knob on the control element. At a constant blower speed the volume of fuel is controlled by changing the metering pump cycle.
CAUTION: The CO2 measuring instruments must be calibrated.
The heater must be switched off.
1. Connect the CO2 line to minus.
2. Turn the adjustment knob on the control element to the centre setting. The heater will start and go automatically to low-fire rate mode. NOTE: If the heater can be adjusted, the operating indicator will flash as if the control unit has suffered an error.
Diesel Unit: 3. Set the CO2 value by turning the adjustment knob. Turning it anti-clockwise will reduce the CO2 value, whilst turning it clockwise will increase it. The measured CO2 content at low-fire rate (1.5 kW) must be between 5.0% and 8.0%. In high-fire mode, the CO2 content should be 10.3 +/- 0.5% v/v after the setting has been made.
Gasoline Unit 4. The CO2 content may only be measured when the unit is at operating temperature. The unit must be run for at least 8 minutes for this purpose. After this the CO2 content is to be set to 6.1 - 6.2% v/v in low-fire mode (1 kW). In high-fire mode, the CO2 content should be 9.9 +/- 0.4% v/v after the setting has been made.
5. If the CO2 value is within this range, disconnect the CO2 line from minus. This saves the setting.
NOTE: The heater will now run in normal mode again and can be switched off as normal using the control element. The heater is set at the factory to match the fitted combustion air blower.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
