Heaters

[Dibdab]

Do any members have a gas or diesel heater fitted to their camper trailer ? If so how well do they work and why diesel or gas ?
Thanks in advance,
Dibdab.

[Rumpig]

diesel Webasto heater....works great and came as diesel because that what's Kimberley installed at the time we purchased it, and it runs our hot water system also. I'd have been just as happy to have a gas powered heater after seeing them running in the Aussie Swag campers when we looked at buying a camper trailer.

[austastar]

Hi,
   a thread on it here


cheers

[Homer_Jay]

Has anyone done a self install on one?

I have been looking at one for a while. But not sure how difficult they would be to install.

[xcvator]

Has anyone done a self install on one?

I have been looking at one for a while. But not sure how difficult they would be to install.

Yep, bought from Aliexpress for about $550.00 came as a complete kit , only thing I had to get extra was 10 litre fuel tank. Instruction were in Chinglish so I just laid it all out on table to see what went where then installed it like this

http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=21005.msg475108#msg475108

Overall , pretty easy and works super well , under .25 litre an hour of diesel 

[Homer_Jay]

That's a good price!
I have been looking at the webasto ones but they are around $1300
Hard to justify for the amount of use it will get for us.

Cheers for the info. 

[Mace]

To answer the original poster, diesel is the way to go for an inbuilt heater.

Cheaper and more efficient.

If xcavator can fit one you can too! 

 

[Dkirk]

Diesel heater self installed previous soft floor and current jayco Dove outback from Diesel heaters Australia simple install and they work fantastic.
Cheers Derek

[Andrew_C]

We have a aliexpress diesel in our van, self installed. It's my wife's second best mod behind the toilet. It makes a big difference on cold mornings especially where fires are banned.
Points to take on board when purchasing and installing are:
They need a muffler, the combustion noise is pretty loud on start up or on flat out without one. Not so bad in the bush but loud if you are in the desert on a sub zero morning camped not far from others.
The pull a lot of current when glowing to start up so need a good battery and cabling. This seems to be an issue regularly after speaking to pinnacle trading who import and sell them also. No glow, no go.
They need some sort of tank, we just used a 10 litre jerry can tapped in to with the included components.

Overall I would recommend the cheapie, we have had it 18 months and it has done a fair bit of work, including a 3 month around Australia trip.

[areyonga]

I have a gas Truma and it is great with instant heat and lower demand on the 12v system.  I went this way as I didnt want to add another fuel source to the Goldstream, and it doesnt use much gas.

It looks like the diesel ones but doesnt have the smell of diesel, I hate that smell

[Goose]

why diesel or gas ?

Read this: http://www.campertrailers.org/heater_dangers.htm

[areyonga]

Read this: http://www.campertrailers.org/heater_dangers.htm

They are talking about portable heaters, the kind we are discussing are fixed and ducted heating systems where the exhaust is outside the camper, no safety issues with these

[dazzler]

I just completed an economics unit at uni and I actually think that based on supply and demand that a blond escort may make more sense than a heater.

The demand for heaters is high in winter therefore the price is high.

The demand for hookers is less in winter due to the cold therefore the price is lower.

You have to service the heater.

The hooker does the service and there are no install costs.

So just get a hooker.

[xcvator]

I just completed an economics unit at uni and I actually think that based on supply and demand that a blond escort may make more sense than a heater.

The demand for heaters is high in winter therefore the price is high.

The demand for hookers is less in winter due to the cold therefore the price is lower.

You have to service the heater.

The hooker does the service and there are no install costs.

So just get a hooker.

Does that include the cost of little blue pills and possible medical servicing     With the diesel heater I just flick a switch and 2minutes later the heater is running whereas the hooker would have to start me by hand, a bit like an old car engine .I'm worried that after all the trouble of getting started I would stall or miss fire on the starting line 

[dazzler]

And the heater wont stab you in the back I suppose.

Fine, I will get a heater. 

[Dibdab]

I know there is a number of variables but what would be the best position to fit one in a hardfloor rear fold so that you get the least amount of pump and blower noise and exhaust fumes.
Thanks again for your responses,
Dibdab

[austastar]

Hi,
     Combustion air in/out should be external.
Exhaust is obvious,  inlet not so, but noise while running and fumes on shutdown are factors in wanting external air.

Heating air is recirculated, so consider airflow through the space being heated.
I would have liked more separation of the two vents,  but layout and locker space dictated they be on the same panel, about 300mm apart.
The heated air comes out with enough speed to avoid being immediately recirculated. (Unless someone huddles over it with arug over her knees)
Mount the pump where it won't resonate,  use rubber sheeting or similar to isolate it acoustically.
If you need more leverage for $$ to spend, youcan drop the hint that it makes a dandy hair drier. (Just watch out for hair strands being drawn into the inlet  and tangling up in the turbine)
Consider where the exhaust will run,  I have melted various bits of clothing etc by not checking the locker for stuff moving before turning the heater on.

Cheers

[TOPNDR]

We have a diesel heater in our Quantum.  It's a great unit and very fuel efficient both 12v & diesel. The heater lives under a bench, the air intake from the same location and the exhaust vents through the floor and rearwards, just like a car.

When running at max blower speed it's certainly noticeable, and sounds not unlike a heavily muffled turbine spinning up.  But once the camper is warmed, the thermostat cuts the heater in and out with minimal noise.

We wouldn't be without it.

[V8CRSA]

Very interested in putting a heater in the CC, but unsure which way to go ?
Is there any smell with either gas or diesel ?
Already having plenty of gas on board interested to see if we could make it work for us.

Matt

[CRW]

The Webasto in the CC runs on 220 mils of Diesel per hour, very efficient, and warms up quick, also heats the water, noise sounds like TOPNDR, possibly the same heater


Cheers
Carl
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Bad Scott]

Very interested in putting a heater in the CC, but unsure which way to go ?
Is there any smell with either gas or diesel ?
Already having plenty of gas on board interested to see if we could make it work for us.

Matt

We have Gas Heater in the Ulti. Very quiet and only uses 3A max for startup, running 1.5A. More than welcome to come and have a look at it.

[areyonga]

Very interested in putting a heater in the CC, but unsure which way to go ?
Is there any smell with either gas or diesel ?
Already having plenty of gas on board interested to see if we could make it work for us.

Matt

Absolutely no smell at all with the Gas one and no pump to worry about

[Doweymex]

Same as others with the Webasto. Cheap to run and very efficient.
fan to heat the inside of the tent part has been a bit of a god send the past few days.

[speedcomm]

We have Gas Heater in the Ulti. Very quiet and only uses 3A max for startup, running 1.5A. More than welcome to come and have a look at it.

Which gas unit have you got in the Ultimate ? Any pics of it ?

[Coiled]

I have the Webasto in my KK. We use it regularly as my mrs feels the cold and it is great. Even on nights when I have camped at minus 5deg it has been warm enough to sleep without shirt etc and uses less than 2L for a full night eg 10+ hours.