Diesel air Heater

[Fazerloz]

Thank you Fazerloz for taking the plunge, look forward to seeing how you get on with it over the next month or two.
I am aiming to finish my conversion, sufficient to satisfy DVLA’s requirements for change to “Motor Caravan”, by April so am currently allowing sufficient space for a Planar heater but will now allow a bit more room in case the Chinese heater wins me over. Planar 310 mm long Chinese 440 mm long.

I tried to find what the import duty might be but couldn’t find an appropriate commodity code on the HMRC Trade Tariff site, 8516 looked likely but seems to be solely “Electrical” heaters of various sorts. I wonder if 8416101000 might be right and if so duty would be VAT at 20% and third country duty of 1.70 % on cost of item and shipping. I am sure somebody here knows better

I did wonder whether it might be better to buy from one of the ebay sellers who despatch goods from Germany, seller names are “yokimm” and “rotary tattoo”. Both offer the 2 kW Air diesel Heaters for £194 buy it now or “best offer”, delivery in 4 to 10 days and 2 years warranty.

“always outlet” offer the same from Germany for £184 but no mention of a guarantee and have the same address in China as “rotary tattoo”….. mmm?
:juggle:
The cheapest direct from China via ebay I saw today was £160 from “libing36920133”. If the duty mentioned above is correct and actually charged then total would be about £195.

Which seller did you buy from fazerloz?

I wouldn't want to influence anyone in any way to use the same seller as I used. I have done this thread just so there is a little more factual knowledge about these heaters.
The seller I used after a fortnight sent this message to me.

Hi friend,

Good day to you. I just got the news from the company who accepted for carriage that a large number of goods were sent back which includes your parcel due to some shipping error. We are very sorry for the big trouble caused, but honestly speaking as a seller, we really could not control this happening on the way, sincerely hope you understand.

But don't worry,they have already solved it in time. We can arrange to resend the item to you immediately.How do you think? thanks for your understanding.

Looking forward to your quick response. Have a nice day!

Regards,

To be truthful I thought "here we go this isn't going to end good. I replied giving them 14days to deliver. They then kept me well informed and provided a tracking number.To their credit they did and I left a very positive feedback. After all not everything is within their control.
When I left my feedback I read through some of theirs and there was a negative from someone for not receiving their heater. This had been left after I had ordered mine.
The choice is yours.:have fun::cheers:

 

[Dowel]

And apparently some lack overheat cutout protection too..

That is potentially very worrying especially if fitted inside rather than hung underneath.

Can you recall which ones were lacking that protection and where I might follow that up?

 

[mistericeman]

That is potentially very worrying especially if fitted inside rather than hung underneath.

Can you recall which ones were lacking that protection and where I might follow that up?

Lack of overheat protection was, on 'some' of the cheap Chinese ones from memory not the proper 'planar' ones....

Other than reading the specs on them and trusting the blurb to actually have overheat protection if it says it has...
The only suggestion I can offer is to obscure the cabin air inlet and confirm that it WILL shut down in a overheat situation...

Frankly I'd be greatly concerned if it didn't as a fuel burning heater can get bloody hot in use.

 

[Dowel]

I wouldn't want to influence anyone in any way to use the same seller as I used. I have done this thread just so there is a little more factual knowledge about these heaters.
:

I understand your concern fazerloz. I have only bought a few low value items from Chinese makers and then only when they have an agent in UK who ships the goods. This is 25% due to worry about items being of poor quality or lost in transit but 75% because I always want things quickly. The latter due to my lack of forethought so definitely not the sellers fault!

I thought your heater seller’s message was acceptable and would have done as you did. I do believe that these Chinese makers and sellers understand the importance of establishing a good trading reputation if they want to establish ongoing business.

I don’t think that you have ever said who you bought from but had a look at the ebay feedback left for Chinese sellers of diesel heaters and it is clear that they sell a great variety of goods a small percentage of which are the heaters. This makes me wonder how good any technical support or spare parts supply might be?

Did you get a useful manual and the name of the manufacturer with your heater?

Thanks for your useful replies

 

[Fazerloz]

To be honest I haven't even opened the distructions as I just expect them to be in Chinglish and make no sense. If all else fails read the distructions.
I did not expect any backup so did not look for any. As said a pure punt that seems to have worked, up to press.

 

[Dowel]

Lack of overheat protection was, on 'some' of the cheap Chinese ones from memory not the proper 'planar' ones....

Other than reading the specs on them and trusting the blurb to actually have overheat protection if it says it has...
The only suggestion I can offer is to obscure the cabin air inlet and confirm that it WILL shut down in a overheat situation...

Frankly I'd be greatly concerned if it didn't as a fuel burning heater can get bloody hot in use.

Yes and electric heaters too if the air flow is obstructed.

Good point that deserves consideration. I can imagine how obstruction of an air inlet or outlet could happen by accident. Clearly both the air routes should be designed to minimise that possibility.
One might hope that an overheat cutout would either be re-settable or re-set itself when cool as otherwise one might be rather cold until it was fixed.

 

[trevskoda]

I thought I may as well knock up a couple of brackets and get it in.
The only things other than tools I have use that were not in the kit are screws to replace the tek screws that came with the kit a pair of brackets, 4 off 6mm bolts, 1 off 6mm penny washer [body washer] used on the pump mounting and a nut to use as a spacer on the inlet pipe. I still need to drill a hole through the wall for the exhaust.
The tank has to have a 8mm hole drilled in it for the outlet fitting. It can be made to be either left or right hand fill.

View attachment 60530 View attachment 60531 View attachment 60532 View attachment 60533

Two things i see wrong here,to close to shelf & far to high,should be just above ground level as heat rises,otherwise looks the job please keep informed of how thing go.

 

[Fazerloz]

Two things i see wrong here,to close to shelf & far to high,should be just above ground level as heat rises,otherwise looks the job please keep informed of how thing go.

Yes you are right Trev. The pics were taken before I put the flexi ducting on that came with the kit to take the heat down to the floor. Keep up the good work..:cheers::have fun:

 

[Fazerloz]

To answer one or two questions.
I have now been and looked at the distructions and they do give a fault code for overheat fault. So I would assume there is protection. I am not going to block the outlet to find out.
In the manual there are is no mention of who the manufacturer is. On the actual heater unit all the information stickers are in Chinese. The only Chinese I understand is Special Kung Po please. :lol-053:I
Ps
I have now been out and bought some red diesel, gas oil and it is now running on that. Later I might try it on kerosene, but as kerosene burns hotter than diesel maybe not.

 

[mistericeman]

To answer one or two questions.
I have now been and looked at the distructions and they do give a fault code for overheat fault. So I would assume there is protection. I am not going to block the outlet to find out.
In the manual there are is no mention of who the manufacturer is. On the actual heater unit all the information stickers are in Chinese. The only Chinese I understand is Special Kung Po please. :lol-053:I
Ps
I have now been out and bought some red diesel, gas oil and it is now running on that. Later I might try it on kerosene, but as kerosene burns hotter than diesel maybe not.

Chances are IF it will read an overheat fault then it will hopefully act on it and shut down rather than just generate a fault code and carry on running...

Not a great issue IF you are there to keep your eye on it...

BUT if I was, going to use on one in a campervan etc where there is a chance of it being left alone...
I'd definitely be checking a blocked inlet/overheat shut down.

 

[Fazerloz]

Chances are IF it will read an overheat fault then it will hopefully act on it and shut down rather than just generate a fault code and carry on running...

Not a great issue IF you are there to keep your eye on it...

BUT if I was, going to use on one in a campervan etc where there is a chance of it being left alone...
I'd definitely be checking a blocked inlet/overheat shut down.

I would too if I were using in a van it would be wise. In fact foolish not to.

 

[Dowel]

I downloaded the “Operation manual Air heater Planars” from the Autoterm site which includes the following:

Automatic Control Features .
1) if for some reason the heater did not start, the start-up process will be automatically repeated. After two failed attempts the heater will be switched off;
2) if during the heater's operation burning is interrupted, the heater automatically re-starts. Restarts after consecutive flameouts are performed up to three times;
3) in case of overheating of the heater coil (for example, due to blocked intake or output of the heating unit), the heater is automatically switched off;
4) if the maximum temperature of the heated air is exceeded (for example, due to closed outlet of the heating unit), the heater is automatically switched off;
5) if voltage drops below 20V (10V) or increases to more than 30V (16V), the heater automatically switches off. The numbers in parentheses are for the heaters with the nominal voltage of 12V;
6) in case of emergency shutdown, the appropriate fault code is displayed on the Controller display and a LED starts flashing;
7) *if any of the temperature sensors is faulty, the heater does not start and displays a fault code 32 or 11;

NB Point 7 only applies to the largest output Planar.

So there is protection on the planar and, assuming the Chinese and Russian heaters are closely related, probably on the Chinese model too.
It may be wise to test for overheating but maybe not too often as the Planar manual says:

“Attention! If, during start-up and operation of the heater the error message "Overheating" is repeated 3 times in a row, the heater will be locked. Locking is made upon actual overheating, regardless of input from the sensors that produced errors. In case of locking, the controller display will show code 33. To unlock the heater you need to contact a service center.”

One more useful caution:

“In case of a long parking or storing the vehicle, disconnect the heater from the power source (battery) to prevent it from discharging (current consumption of the heater out of service is (30 ÷ 40) mA). “

If of any interest the operation and other Planar manuals can be found at:
Planar Air Diesel Heaters In Stock, 6 UK Depots, Free Tech Support
or
autoterm-europe.com

 

[trevskoda]

To answer one or two questions.
I have now been and looked at the distructions and they do give a fault code for overheat fault. So I would assume there is protection. I am not going to block the outlet to find out.
In the manual there are is no mention of who the manufacturer is. On the actual heater unit all the information stickers are in Chinese. The only Chinese I understand is Special Kung Po please. :lol-053:I
Ps
I have now been out and bought some red diesel, gas oil and it is now running on that. Later I might try it on kerosene, but as kerosene burns hotter than diesel maybe not.

If your using kero put some two stroke oil in to lub pump rotor.

 

[Fazerloz]

The story continues. Today it refused to fire up. It is giving a glow plug fault.

Ah well we will see what happens next. Bit of a bugger I have just got used to having heat. Should have it sorted for May. :rolleyes2:

 

[Byronic]

Hope you don't end up having reasons to wish perhaps you could have put
up with a bit condensation!

 

[mistericeman]

The story continues. Today it refused to fire up. It is giving a glow plug fault.

Ah well we will see what happens next. Bit of a bugger I have just got used to having heat. Should have it sorted for May. :rolleyes2:

Have you cleared Fauldhouse and tried a restart?

 

[Fazerloz]

It never rains but pours, removed the plug and it slipped out of my fingers onto the floor and snapped the porcelain. Plug knackered now if it wasn't before. :mad1:

 

[Fazerloz]

Have you cleared Fauldhouse and tried a restart?

?????????

To answer a earlier question I now know there is overtemp sensor on the heater.

 

[Fazerloz]

Hope you don't end up having reasons to wish perhaps you could have put
up with a bit condensation!

I think I will get there in the end. No regrets yet. I am a long way from that yet.

 

[mistericeman]

?????????

To answer a earlier question I now know there is overtemp sensor on the heater.

Bloody spellchecker.....is the overheat built into the glow plug or separate like eberspacher?

Possible glow plugs are similar/will fit if direct replacement isn't available easily.