Diesel air Heater

[harrow]

Are sort or glow plugs any use ?

Eberspacher glow plug. for D4L diesel night heater. Boat heater glow plug | eBay

:wave:

 

[wildebus]

The findings Fazerloz has reported and his conclusions to date have been very interesting. And I have decided to take the plunge and going to try a Planar in my new conversion :scared:

Going for the 2kW version rather than the 5kW that are predominately for sale. 5kW too much in a small space and heater would never stretch its legs at all and probably choke up as has been said.
Bit of a punt still, but with it being a Eberspacher clone, it would be a fairly straightforward thing to swap out for an Eber if the worst comes to the worst.

I want heat! But with the prices the Ebers are now (around £150 more than when I bought one 3 years ago), it just isn't gonna happen, so the Planar will have to be the way to go and fingers crossed will be tickety-boo!

 

[Nabsim]

Any of you using a heat exchanger from these diesel heaters for your hot water by any chance?

 

[wildebus]

Any of you using a heat exchanger from these diesel heaters for your hot water by any chance?

I have heard of people directing airflow though a DIY type head exchanger. Kinda tempted to maybe try something similar.

 

[wildebus]

expensive option as a back up though.

I have one of these I got years ago - Portable Gas Heater | eBay

Actually quite good but I don't use it in the van , but have in the awning room by the (awning) door. It could be used with care inside to warm up the interior if main heating option not available but of course turned off before bedtime!

 

[wildebus]

expensive option as a back up though.

I have a heater very similar to one of these that I got years ago - Portable Gas Heater | eBay

Actually quite good but I don't use it in the van , but have in the awning room by the (awning) door. It could be used with care inside to warm up the interior but of course turned off before bedtime!

 

[mistericeman]

After viewing Admins latest post regarding gas issue at Stornoway, planar appear to be another add on if a MH is gas only heating, especially if using MH during winter period. Obviously space maybe an issue, but if doable, install the system, with say a five gallon jerry can of red derv, will keep you warm when gas is not readily available.

Or just fit diesel heating and forget gas for heating altogether....

 

[mistericeman]

That's what I said.

Edit: what I mean is, if one has a MH with gas heating built in as standard and, say full timing, adding derv as a backup, is not a bad idea.

Totally agree chap.....

My comment was aimed at folks even considering gas fueled heating...

My fault I should of been a bit clearer in my post.

 

[Fazerloz]

for less

After viewing Admins latest post regarding gas issue at Stornoway, planar appear to be another add on if a MH is gas only heating, especially if using MH during winter period. Obviously space maybe an issue, but if doable, install the system, with say a five gallon jerry can of red derv, will keep you warm when gas is not readily available.

Some running on red with outside tanks are reporting it freezing. It does not have the amount of anti freeze added as road diesel.

Mine is still working and I have done away with the battery and charger and now running off a 12v 16A regulated power supply from Ebay for less than £10. At the moment I am running on a red diesel, kerosene mix.

 

[wildebus]

Oooo Kerosene .... that's a thought. And works in the cold (otherwise my heating would be no use)

 

[wildebus]

The findings Fazerloz has reported and his conclusions to date have been very interesting. And I have decided to take the plunge and going to try a Planar in my new conversion :scared:

Going for the 2kW version rather than the 5kW that are predominately for sale. 5kW too much in a small space and heater would never stretch its legs at all and probably choke up as has been said.
Bit of a punt still, but with it being a Eberspacher clone, it would be a fairly straightforward thing to swap out for an Eber if the worst comes to the worst.

I want heat! But with the prices the Ebers are now (around £150 more than when I bought one 3 years ago), it just isn't gonna happen, so the Planar will have to be the way to go and fingers crossed will be tickety-boo!

Installed one of these heaters today in a VW T5. I forgot what a faff it is to do on those vans with all the underside heat shields and trays - probably added three hours to the job to remove and later refit.
Took around 45 minutes initially to get the fuel through the filter to the actual heater but once there, good heat coming through.
Next step is fit the heater I bought to my own van (except it looks like I may have received the 5kW model and not the 2kW one I ordered)

 

[Fazerloz]

Installed one of these heaters today in a VW T5. I forgot what a faff it is to do on those vans with all the underside heat shields and trays - probably added three hours to the job to remove and later refit.
Took around 45 minutes initially to get the fuel through the filter to the actual heater but once there, good heat coming through.
Next step is fit the heater I bought to my own van (except it looks like I may have received the 5kW model and not the 2kW one I ordered)

There should be a prime function on the controller for shoving fuel through to heater .

 

[wildebus]

There should be a prime function on the controller for shoving fuel through to heater .

Didn't seem to be. Very basic controller ... Just a dial controller that went from OFF to MAX. I think next time I would manually fill the fuel filter to help it (I did disconnect it and suck the tube to help the fuel get to it.)

The controller on mine looks very different with a display and buttons - but all writing in Chinese so no idea what it says!

 

[Fazerloz]

Didn't seem to be. Very basic controller ... Just a dial controller that went from OFF to MAX. I think next time I would manually fill the fuel filter to help it (I did disconnect it and suck the tube to help the fuel get to it.)

The controller on mine looks very different with a display and buttons - but all writing in Chinese so no idea what it says!

Prime the pump with the rotary dial controller

on the rotary dial version you hold the off button in for around 5 seconds the pump should start,
once it has started you can let go of the off button,
the pump runs for a certain amount of time before it stops itself,
if it hasn't primed all the pipework, repeat until it does,
you can also hit the off button to stop the pump when you like during the priming process,
then once primed hit the on button and the heater should start it's startup sequence.
Some of the same looking rotary controllers also work as a thermostat ramping the heater up and down. Press and hold the on button for 5 secs and the led fan will turn red from blue it is then in thermostat mode. Not all rotary controllers do this.

 

[wildebus]

Prime the pump with the rotary dial controller

on the rotary dial version you hold the off button in for around 5 seconds the pump should start,
once it has started you can let go of the off button,
the pump runs for a certain amount of time before it stops itself,
if it hasn't primed all the pipework, repeat until it does,
you can also hit the off button to stop the pump when you like during the priming process,
then once primed hit the on button and the heater should start it's startup sequence.
Some of the same looking rotary controllers also work as a thermostat ramping the heater up and down. Press and hold the on button for 5 secs and the led fan will turn red from blue it is then in thermostat mode. Not all rotary controllers do this.

Useful info . I will bear this in mind for the next time I install with a controller like that.

Not so much for the particular install Yesterday though as the Controller had NO buttons of any type. As said, just rotary dial from off to max - just like you would see in a fridge. Lights limited to a red LED for power and green LED for running.
There must be a wide variety of controllers out there.

The way it primed it was turn dial from OFF to start and eventually the green light would flash once - "heater not oiled" (fueled) - after around 5 minutes so turned off and on again. Then once fueled for the first time it wil start up without any problems afterwards.
I think this is pretty par for the course.

 

[Fazerloz]

Didn't seem to be. Very basic controller ... Just a dial controller that went from OFF to MAX. I think next time I would manually fill the fuel filter to help it (I did disconnect it and suck the tube to help the fuel get to it.)

The controller on mine looks very different with a display and buttons - but all writing in Chinese so no idea what it says!

Can you put a pic of your controller on here.

 

[wildebus]

Can you put a pic of your controller on here.

Rotary one?
Nope.
At least not at the moment as it is not my controller (wasn't my van I installed heater)

I will dig out the 'fancy' controller in MY kit and take a photo.
What I am intrigued about with my controller is the wiring - or rather lack of it. There are just three wires ... So +ve, ground and one other which will I imagine operate as a heater on/off control wire. Why that is intriguing is usually heater controllers have a multitude of wires. The Eber has 5 I think from memory. Even the basic fridge-like rotary controller from yesterday had 5.

 

[wildebus]

This is the controller model I got with my heater (not my photo, just same controller) - Except mine has chinese writing, not english.
dhledcontroller by David, on Flickr

looking at the sequence and combinations of buttons, it seems like in functionality terms it is the same as the LCD controller that seems pretty common (this one ...)
dhlcdcontroller by David, on Flickr

I think when I said I installed a heater with a rotary dial it was assumed it was THIS one ...
dhrotaryonoffcontroller by David, on Flickr
That seems to be the most popular controller that is supplied and looks nice and straightforward. The one I fitted didn't have the buttons or the illumination on the dial, it was super-basic with just a dial.

Anyways, sussed out the controller eventually, but just a heads up for anyone looking at these heaters ... Mine was faulty from new Got an E-06 code which is a fan error. Took it all apart and messed around with it (really should not have to do this with a brand new item!) and got it working. The cover for the ECU had been clipped on slightly too forward and was fouling the fan edge. Adjusted position of that.
Also had bits of bent cardboard being used as corner shims at the heat output end which was not too impressive. Guess it is a matter of getting what you pay for! So put cardboard back where it looked like it came from and reassembled the heater and seems pretty good in fact.
The Eberspacher I fitted 18 months or so ago was certainly a better product, and the chinese heater fitted on Sunday was also working out the box with no problem other than ages to prime.

 

[jeffmossy]

I got one of the Chinese Heater , it was a doddle to fit and so far working as it should !:sleep-027:

 

[outsuisider]

I have a Dyna-Glo unit heater and am very happy with it. Low profile ceiling mount. Here is a link to the unit.

Mine is connected to natural gas but I ensure you, it may be used with propane as well. I have 20 X 24 with 10' ceiling, the 45,000 BTU unit works well.