So which diesel heater

vzac

vzac

Joined
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Fleetwood, UK
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a class frankia
Thinking of getting one fitted, BUT so many and no reviews to look through. So what do you all think. I want it to be reliable, and mainly as a back up to the truma gas/ electric.
Cheap usually to me m ans stay away from, so quality and reliability is a must, and I will not be fitting it. So pleased don't recommend anything I need to start fiddling with. O er to you ?
 
Depends on budget and your likely use . Absolutely no point paying a fortune for something you are only going to run for a few hours a year before selling the van in 2 or 3 years( the make and model of the heater will not make any difference to most).many that have only personal experience of the brand name ones will say they are the only ones to have.In my opinion you can buy and including fitting a diesel heater for £200 that are very widely used around the world by leisure vehicles,trucks and even in sheds and workshops ,some on here even have them in kitchens conservatorys...vary few are displeased with them ...spares are readily available and any one with basic practice skill can fit them,you can buy and have a replacement complete unit for less than the likely cost of having the brand name one given a full proper service

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JJ said:
What is wrong with your current heater?

JJ :cool:
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Hi there is nothing wrong with it, but it does not heat up the front of the van very well,so a diesel heater will compliment the existing truma boiler, and also give us redundancy, if the truma every go faulty.
 
oldiesontour said:
Depends on budget and your likely use . Absolutely no point paying a fortune for something you are only going to run for a few hours a year before selling the van in 2 or 3 years( the make and model of the heater will not make any difference to most).many that have only personal experience of the brand name ones will say they are the only ones to have.In my opinion you can buy and including fitting a diesel heater for £200 that are very widely used around the world by leisure vehicles,trucks and even in sheds and workshops ,some on here even have them in kitchens conservatorys...vary few are displeased with them ...spares are readily available and any one with basic practice skill can fit them,you can buy and have a replacement complete unit for less than the likely cost of having the brand name one given a full proper service
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Get what you are saying, we use the mh all yr round I think last yr was around 180 days which was low for us. I hate generally having to mess around with vehicles, so want something that will last and not have to replace in a couple of yrs, because it's cheaper. It will break when I need it and, more than likely have to get it on line ( hate shopping on line for various reasons) and as I have said I don't want to have to start fiddling with he bits on a vehicle. I except it's going to cost me more. Happy to have a Chinese one if it's recommended to be of quality, reliable, safe etc. informative thanks
 
i know its more (considerably more) expense, but have you considered a JP combi diesel or even the Truma combi diesel ?

Offgrid Power Solutions have released a couple of videos on Youtube of their experience in fitting a JP as a replacement for the Truma - i would imagine they could even offer fitting if its something you would be uncomfortable with.
RogerIvy
 
I am also looking at suplimenting my existing Truma heater with a diesel heater. Like the original poster said I'm not very good at campervan diy although I might have a go if there is an idiots guide available.
Are there any AS Kingham owners on here who have one fitted and if so where would you recommend locating a heater and what model is recommended please?
 
I've had the Eberspächer D2 and the Maxpeedingrods 5kW and both have been really reliable.

I've installed these as well as really cheap £40 AliExpress type ones for people too.

The Webasto / Eberspächer come with very good connector kits and high quality fuel line. When I bought my D2 there wasn't a whole lot of information about how to DIY install one as they were designed for professional installation. Not an issue if you're having it professionally installed!

The Maxpeedingrods / Autoterm are that midway point. The heaters are essentially not much different to the £40 ones, although you'll get a little bit more moisture resistance on the circuit board and better quality accessories. I still change the fuel line to rigid nylon or Tygon and usually change the jubilee clips if they're going to be exposed to road salt etc but the rest of the kit is OK.

These, and the really cheap ones, will come with things like remote control keyfobs as standard which you won't find on the Webasto / Eberspächer. Some of them will also have WiFi - so you can turn your heating on from your phone half an hour before you get back to your van so that it's toasty when you get there. I know Eberspächer had an add on module that did the same but it was eye wateringly expensive (as was the heater when I bought it seven years ago or so...)

The £40 ones are just as reliable as any of the others with a couple of caveats. The exhausts on the ones I've had were terrible, the 'silencer' had no baffles in it (so utterly pointless), the fuel line and jubilee clips were shocking and the circuit boards had no moisture protection at all. I also had one 2kW heater that had been configured as a 5kW one (that took some figuring out!) and would therefore soot up and stop working. You won't get this with the 'better' ones, but it was a simple task of re-configuring the settings once diagnosed.

However, with £30 of parts upgrade and a bit of DIY waterproofing of the circuit board you end up with... having spent a lot of time and not very much less money than buying a Maxpeedingrods / Autoterm.

TLDR?

Pay top (and I mean TOP) dollar for german stuff or buy Maxpeedingrods / Autoterm

The rest can make sense if you've spent as many hours as I have down the 'diesel heater' rabbit hole and have the tools, knowledge, patience and inclination to DIY.

They're pretty easy to install yourself if you're 'handy'. While it's not complicated, it is time consuming so expect a labor charge that reflects this if you're having it installed.

Would I buy another Eberspächer now? No.

The Chinese stuff wasn't on the market back then but when I can buy nine Chinese heaters for the same price (probably closer to 18 if I went for the really cheap ones) then it's cheaper to have a complete spare heater than to buy a genuine Eberspächer glow plug....

Sorry Germany.

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I love the Chinese heater and had 4 vans I have fitted them in never used the exhauste pipe or filter that comes with them all been reliable
I have had Eberspacher in vans and they are much better quality but would never buy one ,this is only because of the cost of them
If you have the budget get the eberspacher
 
MisterB said:
i know its more (considerably more) expense, but have you considered a JP combi diesel or even the Truma combi diesel ?

Offgrid Power Solutions have released a couple of videos on Youtube of their experience in fitting a JP as a replacement for the Truma - i would imagine they could even offer fitting if its something you would be uncomfortable with.
RogerIvy
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RogerIvy has suggested on another thread that the Truma combi diesel is the better option than the JP
 
Thanks for your comments.
So decided to have an autotherm ( middle ground) and have asked Offgrid solutions to install it. They fitted our inverter, DC2dc and lithium batteries last month and did a great job.cheers
 
Wha
vzac said:
Thanks for your comments.
So decided to have an autotherm ( middle ground) and have asked Offgrid solutions to install it. They fitted our inverter, DC2dc and lithium batteries last month and did a great job.cheers
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Whats the cost if you dont mind sharing? Ta

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This is the quote, remember though prices may differ due to positioning etc and it might with this after we have discussed it with him on the day.



Screenshot_20250125-122542.webp
 
vzac said:
Thanks for your comments.
So decided to have an autotherm ( middle ground) and have asked Offgrid solutions to install it. They fitted our inverter, DC2dc and lithium batteries last month and did a great job.cheers
Click to expand...
Did you get the autotherm heater ?, if so what are your views on it?.
 
Mickey1 said:
Did you get the autotherm heater ?, if so what are your views on it?.
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It's now fitted very neat job from off grid solutions. We are happy with it, it's quiet, and gets warm very quickly. Yes very happy with it, and would recommend. ( 2 weeks in). It came with a stainless steel exhaust ( apparently) the pump you can here outside but we can not here it inside.
Phil

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We removed our webasto from our last motorhome to fit in our current one , i fitted a chinese heater in its place it worked well when tested but like a jumbo jet when running by comparison, very loud and either on or off , not very refined but very cheap and will do the job.
 
Another vote for the Maxpeedingrods 5kW we fitted in our workshop does the job with no fuss, big plus is download the “Parking Electric App” and you have full control from your phone👍
 
vzac said:
It's now fitted very neat job from off grid solutions. We are happy with it, it's quiet, and gets warm very quickly. Yes very happy with it, and would recommend. ( 2 weeks in). It came with a stainless steel exhaust ( apparently) the pump you can here outside but we can not here it inside.
Phil
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Is it an external installation? I gave made a few enquiries, but installers want to fit it inside the van which I dont want.
 
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I’ve just bought the box shown above and a cheap diesel heater. They are not installed yet as the guy doing it is a bit busy. I only have a 5metre van and when he looked over it there was no where he could fit the heater inside - hence the box. I looking forward to having heat 👍
 
Howard B said:
Is it an external installation? I gave made a few enquiries, but installers want to fit it inside the van which I dont want.
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Hi mine has been fitted in the double floor, guess that's inside. Believe though it can be fitted outside just has different fittings I believe.
 
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