Installing diesel heater in Autotrail Chieftain

[Jaws]

Spill it in the van and you'll have trouble getting rid of the smell!

Greta here!

"Does it have a DPF and Adblue? Cos' these Chinese don't care you know!

Very true ! But that raises the question, why would you have diesel in the van !!
I know a diesel engine/heater will run on cooking oil, but might not be a good idea to cook in diesel !

 

[MisterB]

Very true ! But that raises the question, why would you have diesel in the van !!
I know a diesel engine/heater will run on cooking oil, but might not be a good idea to cook in diesel !

I am sure that after looking at the install, it wouldn't take too much for Mr Jaws to manufacture an aluminium drip tray to catch any drops from any pipework etc or the burner

 

[busby]

Just noticed the price has gone up to £102

Cheap,,just a service/inspection on an eberspecher is 57 pounds a year ..BUSBY.

 

[Jaws]

I am sure that after looking at the install, it wouldn't take too much for Mr Jaws to manufacture an aluminium drip tray to catch any drops from any pipework etc or the burner

Fortunately it really is a completely sealed system.. If you have a diesel leek you have done something seriously wrong !!!!!

 

[Two on Tour]

I see you can get these as a combined hot air and water heater.

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[irnbru]

Jaws well done, you certainly seem very handy and knowledgeable

Brilliant gadget we use one in our garage at home to dry the washing on wet days.

Good idea. Do you think this is cheaper to run at home than say an oil heater in the garage?

 

[Jaws]

Jaws well done, you certainly seem very handy and knowledgeable


Good idea. Do you think this is cheaper to run at home than say an oil heater in the garage?

Its all a facade really !!!

 

[Jaws]

Good idea. Do you think this is cheaper to run at home than say an oil heater in the garage?

Given the speed which it warmed the workshop up when I had it on test, and the fact it is thermostatically controlled I would say a LOT cheaper, especially if you have access to heating oil

 

[Jaws]

Several people have asked how effective the heater is, so today ( being a tad ( !! ) chilly I thought would be a good day to run a controlled experiment

Even I was shocked at the results, given the size of the van ( tag Autotrail ).
The curtain dividing the cab from the hab area was closed.
The clock in the pictures is mounted above the sink are, so is a long way from the hot air vent
It is a radio controlled clock so there can be no fiddling of the time or date.
The temp reading on bottom left is for inside, bottom right for outside
Time of the experiment 40 minutes
Sorry about the slightly blurry pics.... I had to turn the flash off to get an image of the display, and long(ish) exposure time/me none too steady hand gave the results !!

 

[Ivory55]

Did you notice how much diesel that used doing that ?

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[Jaws]

Did you notice how much diesel that used doing that ?

I did look at the tank before and after and honestly could not see any difference, though there must have been of course..
I have run the heater on and off for about 4 hours and the drop ( 10 ltr tank ) is negligible

 

[Diabalo]

That is impressive

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes, very impressive.

 

[Raybreck]

Great idea John, now I’ll need to find someone to fit it as I’m bloody useless at that kind of thing. As we are also of to warmer climes in January
I’ll have to sort out ASAP.
Ray

 

[Jev88]

Great idea John, now I’ll need to find someone to fit it as I’m bloody useless at that kind of thing. As we are also of to warmer climes in January
I’ll have to sort out ASAP.
Ray

If you look at the installation, I don't think it gets much simpler?
Two holes for air in and exhaust.
Screw device to floor.
Mount fuel pump at 35degrees.
Supply 12V power by splicing in somewhere near and add a fuse?
Put fuel bottle somewhere convenient?

OK, so that sounds simple to me but I appreciate not everyone..... Probably get a 2nd one (they are available as an all in one box with fuel tank on top) and put in my new man cave/garage if I can ever sort out the new mortgage (ex-wifey not agreeing to my very generous terms on the house we jointly own....)

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[Gromett]

I have one a chinese diesel heater to install in my new build coming soon.

I will be using one of these for the holes in the floor.

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It is also worth looking at this guys replacement controller.

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As jockaneezer has said, it is worth watching David McLuckie on Youtube. Great channel and some brilliant info and idea. His latest video is the water heating one.

 

[tomm]

Our van has the eberspacher diesel heater , apparently fitted when van was new, .


We had a few problems with the heater when we took ownership of the new to us van around 2 years ago, but sorted them out...... Main lesson learned was , start the engine , then start the heater . Otherwise it fairly hammers the battery on start up. That apart , the heater simply "works" .

Great when we are in cold temperature areas, like last night we were in a howling gale , complete with sleet and snow at the Glencoe mountain resort and the temperature in the van was consistent , ie warm . We sat there more than comfortable , with minimal diesel used by the heater.

Only thing I would like to remedy is the racket the thing makes until it gets up to temperature. Not too bad inside , but heck of a noise outside, so not good for any close neighbours , eg on an aire.

Obviously dont wish the eberspacher to die on us , but if it does its simply being removed and one of these chinese units getting dropped in and hooked up to the in place hoses and wiring, which I believe are compatible .

 

[Northernraider]

On my list for future fitting , I'm just trying to think of the best place to fit one on mine avoiding the under slung lockers.

They seem much cheaper to run than the truma etc and always good as a back up.

 

[Jaws]

Great idea John, now I’ll need to find someone to fit it as I’m bloody useless at that kind of thing. As we are also of to warmer climes in January
I’ll have to sort out ASAP.
Ray

Pm'd you mate

 

[Lenny HB]

I blame John Jaws , I'm getting tempted with the idea of fitting one but I don't really need it. Our Truma Combi works fine in our van but it looks like fun(must be a man thing).
I don't think I would want a diesel tank in the van I can't stand the smell of diesel even the garage wouldn't be any good as it's vented to the hab area so it would have to be plumbed into the main tank.

Can you get silencers for them?

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[Northernraider]

I blame John Jaws , I'm getting tempted with the idea of fitting one but I don't really need it. Our Truma Combi works fine in our van but it looks like fun(must be a man thing).
I don't think I would want a diesel tank in the van I can't stand the smell of diesel even the garage wouldn't be any good as it's vented to the hab area so it would have to be plumbed into the main tank.

Can you get silencers for them?

Yeah I'd be plumbing mine in to the main tank ...nowhere to put a separate tank on mine.
Handy to heat the rear of the van while on the move too before parking up for the night.

 

[Jaws]

I blame John Jaws , I'm getting tempted with the idea of fitting one but I don't really need it. Our Truma Combi works fine in our van but it looks like fun(must be a man thing).
I don't think I would want a diesel tank in the van I can't stand the smell of diesel even the garage wouldn't be any good as it's vented to the hab area so it would have to be plumbed into the main tank.

Can you get silencers for them?

The kit comes with a silencer Lenny, but it is a pee poor effort.
I think next year I will make my own and fit that

 

[robnchris]

Sounds like a fantastic bit of kit at an amazing price when compared with the Eberspacher, which we had fitted in our yacht, great heaters but they do need an annual service.
I think I could be tempted to fit one in our Apache and whilst I'm at it put one in my workshop.
Cheers John.

 

[Jaws]

Sounds like a fantastic bit of kit at an amazing price when compared with the Eberspacher, which we had fitted in our yacht, great heaters but they do need an annual service.
I think I could be tempted to fit one in our Apache and whilst I'm at it put one in my workshop.
Cheers John.

Heard of 3 or 4 people who have fitted one in their shed or workshop since I did the job.. seems quite a popular thing to do

 

[Diabalo]

I blame John Jaws , I'm getting tempted with the idea of fitting one but I don't really need it. Our Truma Combi works fine in our van but it looks like fun(must be a man thing).
I don't think I would want a diesel tank in the van I can't stand the smell of diesel even the garage wouldn't be any good as it's vented to the hab area so it would have to be plumbed into the main tank.

Can you get silencers for them?

Lenny if you feel the need for a fun injection you can fit one to mine, I won't even charge you for the pleasure

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[SandraL]

Just added in motorhome technical, resource section a how to fit webasto diesel heater. It includes detail of drawing fuel from main diesel tank. Might be of some help if considering fitting a chinese version. They suggest fitting under passenger seat of lhd van.

 

[stcyr]

Our eldest son has just decided to give up the unequal struggle paying rent on UK houses and buy a touring caravan (ie: non-existant insulation) to live in. He fitted the 5kw version of the heater three weeks ago. He's parked the caravan in the Derbyshire Dales and is delighted with the efficiency of the heater - switches it on 10 mins before getting out of bed, and gets up to over 23c … On really frosty nights he can leave it on lowest setting. It uses very little fuel and electricity, about 8/10amps while priming/purging, falling to 0.5/1 amp running. He has retained the standard Truma-type gas-heater, so has backup if ever needed.

 

[Campervan_man]

The Chinese 'copy' Diesel Air Heater is a like a little diesel engine.
Far cheaper to run than leaving your actual Motorhome Engine on all night.
They have a small glow plug, use diesel as fuel. Once the glow plug has lit the fuel it's just a small fan and small 12V tick, tick, tick pulsating fuel pump. The diesel is delivered via a small bore plastic straw like tube.
The heater kit is cheap to buy, around £100 to £200.
Some of the fittings are a bit cheap but you can upgrade them to better quality fittings.
eg, Jubilee clips, fuel tanks, etc
I have fitted one in My own Mhome and other peoples and a boat as well.
When using my Truma older model gas boiler it is heavy on 12V and the batteries run low fast.
The diesel heaters have a clear tank and you can easily see the level of the fuel unlike LPG.
You can also suck fuel from the main tank using a pick up tube etc
The heater is so cheap to buy even if it last's 12 months who cares. The Eberspacher and Webasto cost a lot more are better quality but I can buy 5 Chinese heaters for the same money as 1 Eberspacher.
The parts are ultra cheap to buy as well.

 

[DBK]

Our van has the eberspacher diesel heater , apparently fitted when van was new, .


We had a few problems with the heater when we took ownership of the new to us van around 2 years ago, but sorted them out...... Main lesson learned was , start the engine , then start the heater . Otherwise it fairly hammers the battery on start up. That apart , the heater simply "works" .

Great when we are in cold temperature areas, like last night we were in a howling gale , complete with sleet and snow at the Glencoe mountain resort and the temperature in the van was consistent , ie warm . We sat there more than comfortable , with minimal diesel used by the heater.

Only thing I would like to remedy is the racket the thing makes until it gets up to temperature. Not too bad inside , but heck of a noise outside, so not good for any close neighbours , eg on an aire.

Obviously dont wish the eberspacher to die on us , but if it does its simply being removed and one of these chinese units getting dropped in and hooked up to the in place hoses and wiring, which I believe are compatible .

You can get silencers for Eberspachers. Some manufacturers didn't fit them to save money. There's one for the exhaust and another for the air inlet. They are effective.

 

[HandyAndy]

As Gus said..just stick what you have to hand in and go I would have used cooking oil but in cold weather it gets too thick..

It won't run on cooking oil, even if you get it started / hot on derv first.. saw someone on YT trying it and it filled his workshop with smoke

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