Cheap Chinese diesel heater.

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Bobsticle

De Villes Advocaat
Posts
26,074
Location
Manchester
I fitted a............

Oh beg your pardon, I forgot to sound young and hip and numb as a pìss stone.

‘So’ I fitted a German diesel air heater in Henry a couple of years ago and as it cost me nothing I splashed out on some electronics to make it fire up from my key fob. Last year it cost £150 for a service kit that helped it struggle on until a few months ago. I didn’t want to throw good money after bag so today a new one arrived from the Far East.
£135 got me the full kit including a swanky LED control unit that also works from a key fob. Very handy to defrost the heap from a bedroom window.

The whole job only took three hours but as I say I was replacing, not cutting lumps out or re wiring.

The box of bits.
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It’s a very easy system to fit with only three sockets to plug in. The loom plugs into the heater, one of the other ends goes to the controller and the other end to the little fuel pump. Two other wires are earth and a fused live.

This is where the old one lived along with miles of cable, solenoids and ECUs spread all over it.
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Twas a bit rusty in there so once the new unit was test mounted I lashed some of Wikos finest all over it before the final fix.

4 bolts in the base plate and 4 self drillers into the seat box and vwalla vualar bobs ya huncle.

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Air comes in through the floor and out through the vent.
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One little issue was mi grommet through the floor wont big enough for the socket that connects to the fuel pump so I unwound the insulation from the opposite socket and popped out the connectors from the heater end.

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Only two wires and easy to remove and replace without issues.

Sited the garish LED display inside the cubby box where the old unit hid. It covered the hole well enough but I’ll have to see how it goes as it also contains the thermostat etc.

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Works a treat. At £135 for everything needed I can’t see me servicing this one. I’ll just replace it as needed.
 
@Bobsticle
Any link?
Thanks
EBAY No.
152868259869


https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=152868259869&view=all&tid=1792536080005

Came very quickly by air mail this morning. Ordered on the 29th Oct.
To be honest the quality seems fine. I havnt opened it up but all the fixtures and fittings are reasonable for the price. A similar kit from Eberspacher is a grand and a half so there are short cuts on quality but who cares for a throw away price.
 
If you install one from scratch you will need a T piece to splice into the fuel feed on top of the diesel tank. I fitted a tap originally but it started pulling in air after 12 months so did away with it.
The fuel line should run down hill from the tank all the way to the pump then up hill all the way to the burner. I ran it along the gear box crossmember with the pump fixed on the back about half way along. I did have some P clips handy and self drilling screws.
 
Thanks. Looked at these planers before but never found anyone who's fitted 1.
Fitted espacher to the lorry living area. So hope fully will all be good.

Did you have any extra customs charges?
Thanks
 
Nice work there, was looking at these earlier in the year but went with a German oddity to give me something to play with after I've finished welding it up LOL

Still might get one for stand alone air heating from the boot.
 
Thanks. Looked at these planers before but never found anyone who's fitted 1.
Fitted espacher to the lorry living area. So hope fully will all be good.

Did you have any extra customs charges?
Thanks
Nope. Just postie in his little van to drop it off.
One thing that comes to mind is the fact that to use the key fob start, the unit needs to be on a permanent live. This means the LED controller is always lit up like a Christmas tree. I have a duel battery system so a flat battery won’t be a problem if indeed it takes any juice worth mentioning and I doubt it but it does mean it advertises its presence. Again mine is hidden in the cubby box but something to consider when siting it.
 
Came into the depot tonight and zapped Henry across the car park from the comfort of mi bus. Parked up, cashed in and wandered out to a warm Land Rover. Working well :D

As usual with these machines they have to go trough a shut down sequence once turned off. It takes about 4 minutes to shut off the fuel, burn off the soot via the glow plug then slowly cool the internals until the fan finally stops. Very similar to the Erberspacher.
 
Oh and the click from the pump is deffo louder and faster than the German unit. Something to consider when mounting the thing. Not a problem in a series as you cant hear it over the engine but I could see it being an issue in a caravan. The unit itself is whisper quiet.
 
Thanks for posting this. I want a heater when mines built but can't warrant a webasto really. Interested to see how this gets on
 
Thanks for posting this. I want a heater when mines built but can't warrant a webasto really. Interested to see how this gets on
I intend running it until it stops. There are fault codes that come up on the display and I may stretch to a glow plug or new gauze if the parts are easily sourced but I am using it as a none serviceable part. The German stuff costs more to service than this whole unit so if I get a couple of years out of it I’m happy.
If anyone does get one throw the chinglish instructions away and go on YouTube to find out how it works and how to install and set up. It’ll save a lot of time.
They do say with all these heaters that you should run them on full blast every now and then for ten minutes to clean out the carbon build up. I would suggest you do it with the doors open or the paint might peel off the interior. :D
 
A little update. It would seem not all LED controllers are equal.
Some of them on YouTube display two temp settings. The first is ambient temp and the second is the target temp.
Mine only works on power settings. It does show ambient temp but the up and down buttons control power output.
Very handy as it’s shut in the cubby box and none reliant on in car temp. No problems with changing output either. If it gets too hot just click it down a few kHz and the burner steps down. Once again this is not instant and just as the German ones do it runs a safety sequence whilst powering down.
 
First frost on the cars at work tonight.

Not on mine for long though :D

Still good :)

It does steam things up a bit more than the German one. Nothing a few seconds with the demisters on dunt sort.
I think it’s only coz it only runs for a few minutes before I get in it. I’ll try a test when it gets a bit cooler and see how long it takes to fully heat ‘and’ dry everything.
 
These things get all sorts of old women on boat forums dishing out dire warnings about cheap heaters being fire hazards, and telling of 'people they know' having their treasured craft burnt to the waterline. When pushed no names or locations are ever available, and everyone who has them just carries on being warm.
 
These things get all sorts of old women on boat forums dishing out dire warnings about cheap heaters being fire hazards, and telling of 'people they know' having their treasured craft burnt to the waterline. When pushed no names or locations are ever available, and everyone who has them just carries on being warm.

I reckon more people die on boats because of solid fuel stoves than diesel heaters of any sort.
 
To be honest the design is very simple and as the burny bit is completely enclosed and vented outside your only dealing with warm air inside the cab.
I’m sure there are risks with anything wired into an old Land Rover and I have had my share of frazzled wiring. The good thing about these modern units is all the ecu gubbins is sat inside the main burner housing. Any major overheating and the electronics fry and blow the fuse. It can’t do anything without a 12v feed including get any fuel.
 
First frost on the cars at work tonight.

Not on mine for long though :D

Still good :)

It does steam things up a bit more than the German one. Nothing a few seconds with the demisters on dunt sort.
I think it’s only coz it only runs for a few minutes before I get in it. I’ll try a test when it gets a bit cooler and see how long it takes to fully heat ‘and’ dry everything.

Pulling the inlet fresh air for warming from outside will stop it steaming up but ensure it is not pulling the exhaust fumes in, pulling the air in from inside is just recirculating the air and causes condensation.
If you put modern car heating/climate control systems on recirculation all the windows start steaming up, thats why all car heating system draw air from outside.
 
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