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**Update: It's been 3 weeks since we fixed our heater in this video and it's been working with no issues. One thing we avoided doing was turning it on when in really high altitude (7000'+) to avoid it to stop working again. We've been in ~5000' to 7000'.**
This is the troubleshooting and solution for our Webasto heater that stopped working in high altitude (~9200’ in elevation). Our Webasto is an STC Air Top 2000 (Gasoline Version) purchased from Heatso (UK).
Here’s our back story. My heater’s been working with no issue since Dec of 2020 (a little more than 1 year), and it’s been primarily used in the North East. We just started traveling to higher elevation recently: we were traveling from New Mexico (we were in Taos Ski Valley for 1 day - I believe thats ~9000’ in elevation - and had no issue.) We got to Colorado last night. We were camping at the Zapata Falls BLM campground (~9200’), and thats when it stopped working. I noticed the carbon pieces on the ground in the morning, and that’s when this video starts.
*Disclaimer: I am not an expert in this manner, nor do I claim to be. This is just what I did to try to troubleshoot this issue. Please use this information at your own risk.*
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Here’s my notes for the troubleshooting & solution (for my situation). The 3 fault codes I was getting were F01, F02, and F08 (I did not pay attention to the fault codes until later in the troubleshooting process). This is my interpretation of the error codes for our high altitude situation.
1. F01: So much carbon buildup that the heater won’t even start a flame:
Solution: Use the blower directly into the intake tube to blow out an carbon buildup (while the heater is turned off)
2. F02: This codes happened after the heaters been working for a while, but then stops working (due to carbon buildup)
Solution: With the heater running, use the blower to blow out all the smoke and carbon buildup to “flush” the heater. I was blowing it intermittently until no smoke was coming out of the exhaust. The blower also helps push more air into the burner to help the flame stay burning in our lower oxygen environment.
(It was actually quite satisfying to see the black soot and puff of black smoke come flying out of the exhaust lol.)
3. F08: Based on the fault code manual above, its “Combustion air fan blocked” or “Combustion air fan short circuit”. It’s possible that when I was using the blower to blow out carbon buildup, it got stuck or blocked the fans from function properly?
Solution: Run the lockout reset sequence several times (here: www.manualslib.... Usually for a different error code lockout, doing the lockout reset sequence once will fix it. However I had to use the lockout reset sequence multiple times (like 10 times) before the error went away. Not sure why.
*Bottomline: Pay attention to the error code and look out for smoke coming out of the exhaust: If there’s smoke (black or white), there’s probably carbon buildup inside the heater - follow above solutions to blow it out*
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Now that it’s been fixed, I am actually not sure if I am still in “high altitude” mode because I had to run the lockout reset sequence so many times. I am getting mixed information that resetting the power to the heater does not revert the “high altitude” setting back to it’s original state, but some people saying it does. I am skeptical that it may have switched back because the fuel pumping “clicks”, they sound pretty fast still (similar to the pace prior to running “high altitude” mode sequence). But there’s no way to test it without proper equipment. Anyhow, the “high altitude” mode sequence was ran.
Hope this is helpful for someone!
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Resources:
- Setting it to “high altitude” mode faroutride.com... and www.stokeloafv...
- Idea to remove muffler from exhaust faroutride.com...
- Where I got the idea blowing out the carbon buildup • Webasto Gas Heater FAI... / • Video
- Video interview with Webasto techs to learn more about the gasoline model and “high altitude” mode • Vanlife Outfitters Web...
- How to reset lockout www.manualslib...
- Fault code output and details (Page 506) www.butlertech...
- Elevation checking whataltitude.com