diesel heater under van

B

Bobby dazzler

Joined
Jan 8, 2011
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hymer c640 c class
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since 2009
hi thinking of fiiting a diesel heater due to space limitations i am considering fitting under the van
has any body done this i know you can buy brackets for certain types of heater whats the main downsides
open to the elements ect use more fuel. thanks
 
Noise of the pump.
tick tick tick.

Different people have used varying methods all over youtube, inclding hanging from cable ties, surrounding with pipe insulation etc.

Another thing to watch out for is the ones stating 8kw/5kw output can be just half stated. this guy is a good tester

 
Just finished fitting mine inside today. I can't see any reason why it can't be fitted outside as long as it is protected from the worst of the weather and spray. You'll need to be brave cutting pretty big holes through the floor for the cabin heater ducts. They don't take up much space inside and are really meant to be installed this way but if space is impossible then go for it outside.
 
One of the downsides is the noise it makes which can annoy your neighbours if you have any. I took one out of a friends van a few years ago and put in a Truma combi as he was fed up of the hassle that he got.
His was not silenced though which I believe is something you can do.
 
Here's our Chinese diesel heater that I installed under our MH.

Two silencers and lagged with exhaust wrap to keep the noise down, plus the heater unit is lagged against noise and detritus.


1634585426919.png

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Tombola said:
Noise of the pump.
tick tick tick.

Different people have used varying methods all over youtube, inclding hanging from cable ties, surrounding with pipe insulation etc.
Click to expand...

No audible tick tick from this kiddie. (y)

This is my silent diesel heater pump made by James Browning-Smith.
It uses a stepper motor driving a poppet valve pump.

1634586993792.png


1634587019595.png
 
Ill be installing one underneath my vario in a purpose made box . Quite a few YouTube videos of people doing the same. The eberspacher in my iveco is inside and quite noisy
 
I've fitted Eberspacher heaters under my Volkswagen conversions ever since my first in 2004. My most recent is an Eberspacher Airtronic D2L with an 801 Modulator with external thermostat. This type has been replaced by a later version.
The fuel pump tick is almost inaudible and the inlet & exhaust noise quite acceptable. The modern controllers / modulators manage the habitation area temperature very well with some even provide ambient air recirculation i.e. fan without heating.
 
rod_vw said:
But the pump speed (frequency) has to be controlled by the heater CPU surely?
Click to expand...

Yes, but I'm sorry, I don't understand what your question is aimed at, please elaborate.

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Mikeco said:
One of the downsides is the noise it makes which can annoy your neighbours if you have any. I took one out of a friends van a few years ago and put in a Truma combi as he was fed up of the hassle that he got.
His was not silenced though which I believe is something you can do.
Click to expand...
Is it that noisy when vans are 6m plus apart ?
 
We have the Webasto diesel heater and it's excellent. I didn't fit it, it was factory fitted. They are a bit noisy when you start them up but once the temperature is up to where you want it it is very quiet. Another bonus is that you can run it whilst on the move and it uses hardly any diesel. You also don't have to change gas bottles any where near as often as in our case, we only use gas for hot water and cooking. Thats a big bonus for as as we have a PVC and its a pain to get to the bottle. To be honest I wouldn't buy another van without it.
 
Not sure why everybody finds them so noisy - with a pump pulse of 0.8 Hz just ticking over in the background then the fan noise inside my van is very low and about the same as the gas Combi boiler/heater. If you need a heating blast then at full tilt they are about as noisy as my Vantastic roof vent fan.
The main issue is the pongy exhaust. I've had to extend mine by a couple of metres to make sure it's clear of any van vent holes and fridge vents. Once again only an issue at boost speeds. The exhaust is virtually silent at tickover even without a silencer fitted.
 
Lenny HB said:
On

Unless Wilding who ever parks that far apart unless in the UK.
Click to expand...
If wild camping I thought they did it because they didn’t like rules , so can hardly tell someone that their heater is too noisy. If on a site at 6 m it’s different.

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Eberspachers like the one fitted under my previous VW camper are noisy on startup despite the silencer. Otherwise quiet when running and the tick tick of the pump hardly noticeable. The impression I get is that the Eberspacher consumed less diesel than the Truma diesel heater in our current PVC although that is a bigger space to heat. They need a strong Hab battery due to high current draw on startup, and shutdown.

Top tip: If it is under the van driving through floodwater would be a really bad idea.
 
I’ve fitted mine underneath in a metal/plastic tool box between the spare wheel and floor, I made brackets that mounts it off the spare wheel mounts and have it turned 90’ due to clearance issues with the spare wheel.
I’ve got the fuel pump mounted on a rubber bobbin and that seems to work , noise wise.
 
Two on Tour said:
Yes, but I'm sorry, I don't understand what your question is aimed at, please elaborate.
Click to expand...
no idea either, but this you tube clip might help



looks great to me !!



PS - ive just emailed him, he lives local to me !!
 
Last edited:
My son's ex Dorset council '08 Iveco has an Eberspacher unit in it and the short aluminium exhaust stub which pokes through the floor has corroded so badly that it has broken off.
I imagine Dorset being a salty coastal region, the heat of the exhaust plus fitting a stainless flexible exhaust onto an aluminium casting are all things that could exacerbate the corrosion ?
 
just received this email response from James

Hi Dave,
Thank you for your inquiry.
Yes your welcome to collect and pay cash if you choose to go ahead with an order, I'm in Colchester. Lead time is a couple of weeks at the moment as I'm waiting for parts to build the next batch.:)

Here are the pump details:

I have two pump versions.
1) The standard pump is fine for any installation that has the burner as the highest component above the pump and fuel tank.
2) The second pump version has an anti siphon valve and some extra drive circuitry fitted. It can be mounted above or below the burner and not suffer from a siphon or head pressure if the fuel tank is higher than the burner.

Standard Pump is £99 posted UK
Anti Siphon Pump is £129 posted UK

Lead time as of 09/10/21 is 3 weeks as I wait for parts to arrive from China to build the next batch of pumps. I will be taking payment in advance to secure one of those pumps.
Sorry for the wait, I have experienced a high demand for pumps recently and now completely out of parts.
Payment method is Paypal: jamesbrowningsmith@yahoo.co.uk

Further details and pics attached:

Just three wires to connect. Blue-Neg to same as the burner, and Green and Yellow wires connect to your pump wires any way around.

There is no standby power draw.

Works with 12v and 24v burners.

Fully compatible with the Afterburner controller.

The dial on the top is for fine tuning (or quick altitude adj) as every bodies installations are slightly different. I will mark the dial position with a white arrow for a 5Kw burner for example running on diesel to give optimum heat and lowest carbon monoxide throughout. If for example you want to burn a different fuel then the dial can be used to increase or decrease injection quantity per pulse as well as the normal adjustments of fan speed and Hz in the burner controls. I can also set up for any size burner that uses a clicking pump, so just let me know.

Unlike the standard pump, this pump can pump any fuel without increased wear from non lubricated fuels like Kerosene. This pump can happily pump Diesel, Kerosene, Petrol, Paraffin, Jet fuel, without increased wear to internal parts.:)

The box dimensions are 150mm including tabs (110mm without) long x 90mm wide x 55mm high. The fuel trim knobs adds 20mm to the height.

1 year warranty and full after sales technical support.

That's it. Any questions, please ask.

Check out Youtuber David McLuckie and his review and test of the pump:


and Foresty Forest's installation of the Anti Siphon Pump:
4x4 Van Life in BC - It's Getting Cold!


Best regards
James



for those of you have been looking at a diesel heater, i am sure you will have seen David McLuckie's reviews of lots of diesel heaters - he thinks this pump is the 'real deal' !!!

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Two on Tour said:
Yes, but I'm sorry, I don't understand what your question is aimed at, please elaborate.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I understood from your post that the box of tricks that you have generated its own pulses for the pump thus not controlled by the heater ECU. Is that not the case?
 
Two on Tour said:
Here's our Chinese diesel heater that I installed under our MH.

Two silencers and lagged with exhaust wrap to keep the noise down, plus the heater unit is lagged against noise and detritus.


View attachment 549310
Click to expand...
When I had my eberspacher fitted they put the air inlet inside so you are not warming up cold air. I have done this with my shed heater as well, don’t know if it’s worth doing or not
 
rod_vw said:
Sorry, I understood from your post that the box of tricks that you have generated its own pulses for the pump thus not controlled by the heater ECU. Is that not the case?
Click to expand...

The original pumps are just a spring-loaded solenoid which when voltage was applied from the heater ECU (pulse), pushes a dose of fuel and then returned ready for the next pulse from the heater ECU.
The silent pump takes the same pulse from the heater ECU and converts that into a signal to drive the stepper motor a defined degree of rotation of the stepper motor for the attached pump to deliver the 0.002ml of fuel the heater requires per pulse.
 
dulvil said:
When I had my eberspacher fitted they put the air inlet inside so you are not warming up cold air. I have done this with my shed heater as well, don’t know if it’s worth doing or not
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I have done with ours. (y)

1634635732058.png
 
MisterB said:
just received this email response from James

Hi Dave,
Thank you for your inquiry.
Yes your welcome to collect and pay cash if you choose to go ahead with an order, I'm in Colchester. Lead time is a couple of weeks at the moment as I'm waiting for parts to build the next batch.:)

Here are the pump details:

I have two pump versions.
1) The standard pump is fine for any installation that has the burner as the highest component above the pump and fuel tank.
2) The second pump version has an anti siphon valve and some extra drive circuitry fitted. It can be mounted above or below the burner and not suffer from a siphon or head pressure if the fuel tank is higher than the burner.

Standard Pump is £99 posted UK
Anti Siphon Pump is £129 posted UK

Lead time as of 09/10/21 is 3 weeks as I wait for parts to arrive from China to build the next batch of pumps. I will be taking payment in advance to secure one of those pumps.
Sorry for the wait, I have experienced a high demand for pumps recently and now completely out of parts.
Payment method is Paypal: jamesbrowningsmith@yahoo.co.uk

Further details and pics attached:

Just three wires to connect. Blue-Neg to same as the burner, and Green and Yellow wires connect to your pump wires any way around.

There is no standby power draw.

Works with 12v and 24v burners.

Fully compatible with the Afterburner controller.

The dial on the top is for fine tuning (or quick altitude adj) as every bodies installations are slightly different. I will mark the dial position with a white arrow for a 5Kw burner for example running on diesel to give optimum heat and lowest carbon monoxide throughout. If for example you want to burn a different fuel then the dial can be used to increase or decrease injection quantity per pulse as well as the normal adjustments of fan speed and Hz in the burner controls. I can also set up for any size burner that uses a clicking pump, so just let me know.

Unlike the standard pump, this pump can pump any fuel without increased wear from non lubricated fuels like Kerosene. This pump can happily pump Diesel, Kerosene, Petrol, Paraffin, Jet fuel, without increased wear to internal parts.:)

The box dimensions are 150mm including tabs (110mm without) long x 90mm wide x 55mm high. The fuel trim knobs adds 20mm to the height.

1 year warranty and full after sales technical support.

That's it. Any questions, please ask.

Check out Youtuber David McLuckie and his review and test of the pump:


and Foresty Forest's installation of the Anti Siphon Pump:
4x4 Van Life in BC - It's Getting Cold!


Best regards
James



for those of you have been looking at a diesel heater, i am sure you will have seen David McLuckie's reviews of lots of diesel heaters - he thinks this pump is the 'real deal' !!!
Click to expand...

How much!!! The heater can be bought for £71 ....theres no way on earth id pay that money for a pump lol

Turn the telly up

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So for around £180 you get a quiet diesel heater that will pay for itself in a few years when compared to lpg and you don't have to hunt around for gas at petrol stations or change cylinders ... Some people will see that as a good investment - me included, but others will learn to live with noise and still not have to replenish lpg. It's nice to have a choice !!
 
MisterB said:
So for around £180 you get a quiet diesel heater that will pay for itself in a few years when compared to lpg and you don't have to hunt around for gas at petrol stations or change cylinders ... Some people will see that as a good investment - me included, but others will learn to live with noise and still not have to replenish lpg. It's nice to have a choice !!
Click to expand...
To be honest the iveco i have has an eberspacher d2 in it ...i cant hear the pump only the heater itself but ive not had it on any length of time yet.

I can't imagine the pump being louder than any blown air systems ive had in the past so ill just live with it.
 
Thanks for all the fantastic replies people deffo going to go down this route now. As others have said lpg can just be for cooking and boiling a kettle then and if it runs out looks like the pub then the chipshop or maybe just the pub and a bag of scratchings lol
 
Bobby dazzler said:
Thanks for all the fantastic replies people deffo going to go down this route now. As others have said lpg can just be for cooking and boiling a kettle then and if it runs out looks like the pub then the chipshop or maybe just the pub and a bag of scratchings lol
Click to expand...
With the hassle getting calor gas at present its definitely a wise move fitting a diesel heater ...i cant get calor butane anywhere for my caravan right now which is a pain as i live in it
 
Two on Tour said:
The original pumps are just a spring-loaded solenoid which when voltage was applied from the heater ECU (pulse), pushes a dose of fuel and then returned ready for the next pulse from the heater ECU.
The silent pump takes the same pulse from the heater ECU and converts that into a signal to drive the stepper motor a defined degree of rotation of the stepper motor for the attached pump to deliver the 0.002ml of fuel the heater requires per pulse.
Click to expand...
Thank you I understand now.

I'm intrigued why so many find the original Eberspacher pumps noisy. I find that if they are mounted correctly and the pipes, especially the output pipe, carefully run so that it doesn't touch the vehicle floor or chassis without a foam sleeve they can be made almost silent. Maybe the Chinese ones are different.

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