Cabin Heaters, Diesel powered, new Chinese ones = any good ?

[Oldiebut goodie]

And the combustion air inlet. Must not be drawn from an internal space.
You would have to ensure that you have a gastight exhaust also. It doesn't usually matter if you have a slight leak on a vehicle mounted heater but on marine in hull and thus inside a room installations you have to be careful.

[matt brighton]

Hi

Im considering installing one in my 1982 Devon as a bit of a project -

the price of the usual ones has put me off taking much notice of the hows and whats etc in the past - but this looks affordable

I have looked at a few you tube videos of install and it all seems straightforward - are they noisy though and where would it be best to install ??
I saw one installed under the seat of a merc sprinter - just like where the box underseat is in our vans - would the noise be intrusive when its running ?

Maybe in the cupboard where the gas bottles go ? or under the rear seat ?

Thanks for any tips and advice

Matt - brighton

[kevtherev]

I would be looking to buy a 2kw heater for the T3.
A 5kw heater is too much and would soot up quickly if it was turned down.
I would be installing it under the van between the chassis rails in a box, that would make it quieter especially at night.
Or undr the rear seat in a box
Fitting an exhaust silencer would help with noise.
I would be fitting a fuel tank in the battery box.

Where is your leisure battery located?

[matt brighton]

Thanks for the reply and suggestions for locating the heater unit

I don't currently have a leisure battery

So I would have to install a leisure battery to run the blower and glow plug/heater ?

Could the fuel supply not come from the tank or does it have to be separate ?

Thanks

Matt

[R0B]

1.Yes. As you dont want to be running your starter battery down.

2.You can tap into your diesel tank/pipe.

[kevtherev]

1.Yes. As you dont want to be running your starter battery down.

2.You can tap into your diesel tank/pipe.

Agreed
A guide to fitting and wiring your leisure battery is in the club wiki.
You'll need a particular size battery to fit in the box behind the passenger seat.
All the battery codes and dimensions are in the wiki too.

[matt brighton]

Thanks Rob and Kev -

Matt

[SEKN410]

Hi all, just picked up this thread as I’m thinking about getting heating in our 1.6td hi top. Found loads of useful info, so thinking of going down the route of fitting underneath, dipping into diesel tank,2.5 - 3 kw. Can’t find any mention of cost or recommendations. Roughly how much does this add up to ,to supply and fit and who do others on here use. We’re in Shropshire.

[kevtherev]

Theres a good page on facebook
It's called 'Chinese diesel vehicle air heaters - trouble shooting and parts sales'.
They have a lot of saved information and some fitting guides.

I don't think that any professional outfit will fit them, but you might get a local cara van service centre to fit it.
I wouldn't hold my breath though.

[Oldiebut goodie]

I won't touch them, cheap nasty things - you can't even take the motor apart to replace bearings. ( I was given a couple of new motor/fan assemblies for them to test) I doubt that you will get 25 - 30 years out of one unlike the Eberspächer or Webasto offerings. (There are about 17 diesels and 2 or 3 petrols (2Kw) ready for making up into kits at the moment under my feet Several 3.5, 4 & 5Kw diesels also ready in the workshop)

[SEKN410]

Thanks for replies guys, much appreciated.would the 3.5kw as mentioned be suitable for my hi top. Cheers Eugene (sekn410)

[Oldiebut goodie]

5Kw in one of our vans? It will be interesting to see how it fares with getting coked up as it will be running at low heat most of the time which is the killer with most of the heaters. That is why it is better to run a 2Kw at full heat all of the time. I only run a 3.2Kw in my Merc ex-bus which is easily double the volume of our vans.
I have just had a couple of 3.9Kw Webastos in - both of which had burner pads coked up, they both had less than 250 hours running and they had never been run at more than their lowest setting.( All recorded in the ecu) My thought about them was that the guy that I got them from had done exactly the above in fitting an overpowered heater for a small volume. As he had the same problem with them both he got shot of them rather than think about how he was using them. ( I am not complaining as I got 2 good heaters cheap )

Applies to a 3.5Kw also - unless you are using in an unlined van in the Northern countries and run them at full chat all the time.

[SEKN410]

Ok thanks ,no it’s lined and insulated. Do you think you will have one which is suitable for our van any time soon or be be able to recommend an alternative source to purchase a 2 or 2.5kw unit. Roughly how much do these usually change hands for.

[Oldiebut goodie]

I can do kits for mounting under the rear seat or the bottom of a cupboard. I don't do them for underslung ones though other than for replacements for the factory fit Eberspächer - D2L/B2L models as you then have a suitable underfloor box and ducting.

This was a new old stock 24v converted to 12v but I have some straight 12v ones in stock also.
PM me if you are interested.
Prices are around £270 inc P&P for a kit like this:

[george2490]

I can do kits for mounting under the rear seat or the bottom of a cupboard. I don't do them for underslung ones though other than for replacements for the factory fit Eberspächer - D2L/B2L models as you then have a suitable underfloor box and ducting.

This was a new old stock 24v converted to 12v but I have some straight 12v ones in stock also.
PM me if you are interested.
Prices are around £270 inc P&P for a kit like this:

Recommended. Great kit.

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk