Diesel Night Heaters

[Juke Box John]

As anybody fitted a diesel night heater into their Motorhome. Been told they are very efficient and at least will not have to hunt around to find LPG Pumps for my refillable bottles.

 

[dunnah01]

If you mean the Webasto it cheaper Chinese diesel type heater then we have one fitted. I would be reluctant to use it at night on a site or an aire. Quite noisy and a bit smelly outside and a constant ticking inside. No problem in normal day to day but like Chinese water torture at night.

 

[tonka]

Get on youtube. lots of videos that will give you an insite.
I have one of the chinese heaters BUT its just used as a stand alone in my man shed.

Aware of several Funsters who have them and fitted DIY, guess some will be along later.
Be aware they are a bit power hungry when they start up, around 10 amps for a while and can be noisy and smelly.

 

[The Wino]

We have a factory fitted diesel heater it works pretty well and after the initial start up isn't that noisy.

 

[Two on Tour]

As anybody fitted a diesel night heater into their Motorhome. Been told they are very efficient and at least will not have to hunt around to find LPG Pumps for my refillable bottles.

If you use the forum search box and do a search for "diesel heater" it will bring up 30 pages of threads on the subject which will give you some interesting reading.

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[ivorantony]

My Eperspacher heater with inlet and exhaust silencers is fitted between the double floor of my A class and is virtually silent inside, But I would be reluctant to run it all night if on an aire or site, if wild camping that would be a different matter and would use it if necessary,

 

[Bobby-gg]

I've got a webasto fitted in my T25 VW, what I like about it the ability to have it on whilst driving and I also have it on a timer so it'll come on for an hour before I go to work in winter and it's defrosted itself and is nice and warm

 

[IRHP]

As anybody fitted a diesel night heater into their Motorhome. Been told they are very efficient and at least will not have to hunt around to find LPG Pumps for my refillable bottles.

I would think it’s the heater of choice for almost all diy converters. Have you googled Chinese diesel heater. You’ll be there a while.

 

[CamperJack]

I have one in my self build. Absolutely brilliant. Easy to install. And only £80!

 

[tacr2man]

Theres a later version out now (chinese variety) with much improved controllability , and quieter pump google maxspeeding rods IIRC

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[Itsmcb]

I just finished installing mine yesterday. Ran it up for the first time and was very disappointed with the noise from the pump. It's encased in foam and inside a plastic box under the van but is still very noticeable inside the van, (think woodpecker) The actual heater noise was reasonable once it has warmed up and I was pleasantly surprised how quiet the exhaust was outside.
I plan to double insulate the pump. Maybe put the whole thing inside a bigger box filled with sound insulation and hang it on rubber straps?

 

[Itsmcb]

I have one in my self build. Absolutely brilliant. Easy to install. And only £80!

It might be £80 for the heater but I had to buy extra pipe to duct the hot air, a splitter for the ducting, stainless steel strap to secure the exhaust, a turret for the floor, sealant, different fuel line as the supplied flexible green stuff is not very good, plus a few other small bits. Easily another £100 or more on top of the heater

 

[Two on Tour]

I just finished installing mine yesterday. Ran it up for the first time and was very disappointed with the noise from the pump. It's encased in foam and inside a plastic box under the van but is still very noticeable inside the van, (think woodpecker) The actual heater noise was reasonable once it has warmed up and I was pleasantly surprised how quiet the exhaust was outside.
I plan to double insulate the pump. Maybe put the whole thing inside a bigger box filled with sound insulation and hang it on rubber straps?

Remember that as I said before that anything the pump touches conducts the pump clicking and can include your foam packing plus by putting it in a box, your box has a large outer surface and you may well have made a nice bass speaker to boom out the clicking noise. Foam and acoustic foam are two very different beasts.

If the fuel line touches anything it will conduct the pump clicking to that surface.
I ran a good length of my fuel line inside a soft fishtank like plastic tubing which helped.

 

[Itsmcb]

Remember that as I said before that anything the pump touches conducts the pump clicking and can include your foam packing plus by putting it in a box, your box has a large outer surface and you may well have made a nice bass speaker to boom out the clicking noise. Foam and acoustic foam are two very different beasts.

If the fuel line touches anything it will conduct the pump clicking to that surface.
I ran a good length of my fuel line inside a soft fishtank like plastic tubing which helped.

Yes, I had read that and lots of other advice. I think I didn't really appreciate how loud the ticking was actually going to be. I have put my fuel line inside soft tubing but the box seems to be less helpful.
I also bought exhaust wrap but that seems much quieter than I expected so haven't bothered wrapping it (yet).

 

[Manic]

I’ve got my pump hanging on a rubber bib in and it’s not overly noisy.

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[Oisin]

Hi

we had websto in older sprinter conversion couldn't fault it but high on purchase price..

Had Planar heater/Autoterm fitted in our C-Tourer 4kilowatt ready for trip into the artic circle(the Boss she likes to be warm!!)
Just back from 3weeks surfing at Thurso and Lewis/Harris heater to warm for this time of year....also you don't hear it when running in this van and only smells on start up.
Half price of the Webasto and Eberspacher..
Hope this helps

 

[GMLS]

Haven't seen this design before.Might be of interest to some

 

[dulvil]

Thousands of truck drivers sleep with them running,
I could sleep with mine running but I’m hard of hearing

 

[Itsmcb]

Remember that as I said before that anything the pump touches conducts the pump clicking and can include your foam packing plus by putting it in a box, your box has a large outer surface and you may well have made a nice bass speaker to boom out the clicking noise. Foam and acoustic foam are two very different beasts.

If the fuel line touches anything it will conduct the pump clicking to that surface.
I ran a good length of my fuel line inside a soft fishtank like plastic tubing which helped.

Quick update on my loud ticking/tapping diesel heater pump. Honestly it was like someone tapping a tiny hammer against the underside of the floor, sleep would have been impossible.
I spent an hour today disconnecting and removing the pump which was in a plastic box screwed to the underfloor of the van.
I sandwiched the pump inside of the box between two layers of proper acoustic foam, then suspended the box using two stainless steel zip ties around the box and a loop threaded through these and fixed to the floor so that the box just hangs suspended below the floor.
I went back inside and turned on the heater and thought I had broken something as there was NO pump noise at all. Nipped back outside and could hear it faintly ticking away. What a difference.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

I had one in the workshop, no way would I put one in the van.

Propex lpg £500, much better. Quiet, with added bonus of not burning the van to the ground.win-win

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[Itsmcb]

I had one in the workshop, no way would I put one in the van.

Propex lpg £500, much better. Quiet, with added bonus of not burning the van to the ground.win-win

Did your workshop burn down .
Gas heaters use a lot of gas at subzero temperatures, a 6kg bottle only lasts a couple of days.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Did your workshop burn down .
Gas heaters use a lot of gas at subzero temperatures, a 6kg bottle only lasts a couple of days.

Haha no, but it's made of concrete!

If it was a top brand one, I might consider it, but not a Chinese one like I had. Very noisy and didn't trust it. Also it exhausted as much hot air as it produced. Used plenty of diesel. Mates one leaked from day 1.

Our van is well insulated, and when cold the propex only needs to be on a short while to get it snug.
But each to their own. I wouldn't recommend a cheap one, but that's just my limited experience and guy feeling.

 

[L' Hobo]

I converted a 1984 VW T25 many years ago and fitted an Eberspacher blown air kit, it came with full instructions and was reasonably easy to fix.
The only problem I found was that the battery had to be FULLY charged to get it to ignite on a frosty morning and as the cold decreases the efficiency of batteries on very cold nights, this was very difficult to start without first starting the engine.

The ticking etc. one gets used to!

 

[Two on Tour]

I had one in the workshop, no way would I put one in the van.

Propex lpg £500, much better. Quiet, with added bonus of not burning the van to the ground.win-win

The other way around here.
Our van came with a factory fitted Whale (re-badged Proplex 2000) blown air propane heater which is very noisy and either full on or off, no variable heat control, so I fitted a Chinese diesel heater with an Afterburner controller which after the 3 or 4 minute startup cycle turns down to be barely audible.

I imagine if a diesel heater is fitted by an idiot then it may be possible to burn a van to the ground.
Diesel heaters are usually noisy because they are under spec-ed for the situation that they are used in and have to then run a full chat to try and heat an area too large for the heater output.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

The other way around here.
Our van came with a factory fitted Whale (re-badged Proplex 2000) blown air propane heater which is very noisy and either full on or off, no variable heat control, so I fitted a Chinese diesel heater with an Afterburner controller which after the 3 or 4 minute startup cycle turns down to be barely audible.

I imagine if a diesel heater is fitted by an idiot then it may be possible to burn a van to the ground.
Diesel heaters are usually noisy because they are under spec-ed for the situation that they are used in and have to then run a full chat to try and heat an area too large for the heater output.

Exactly why there's no 'right' answer to most things. Just preference, luck and experience of a particular thing. Sometimes based on a bad example, sometimes on a lucky example.

I'd still go with my advice though

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[Coolcats]

isn't that noisy.

does that mean it isn't that quite

 

[jockaneezer]

I hadn't used the Chinese diesel heater in my workshop for over 7 months, but I had some parts to rattle can spray and thought a bit of warmth wouldn't hurt ? Connected up the croc clips to the battery I got from my pal's pvc after his airbag light fiasco (got it connected up to a cheap tiny solar panel that is suckered to a South facing window), pressed the remote and it started up first time.
I had been planning to give it a once over, change the fuel filter, remove the spider's web from the outlets etc, but it was all fine. I'd fit one to a van in a heartbeat.

 

[Raul]

Haha no, but it's made of concrete!

If it was a top brand one, I might consider it, but not a Chinese one like I had. Very noisy and didn't trust it. Also it exhausted as much hot air as it produced. Used plenty of diesel. Mates one leaked from day 1.

Our van is well insulated, and when cold the propex only needs to be on a short while to get it snug.
But each to their own. I wouldn't recommend a cheap one, but that's just my limited experience and guy feeling.

I have allot in common with this comment. My case: we have a propex he2800 and eats gas like there’s no tomorrow, in freezing temperatures, I have to find gas by day 4. Added a Chinese diesel heater self install in 2020. Conversion completed in 2019 so a year experience with the propex.
The van is supper insulated, at least 80mm of cross layer and glued of synthetic wool, and a 10mm dodo mat acoustic thermic, plus a 5mm super reinforced foil taped a s vapour barrier. All insulation installed in August 2019 in temperatures of 36-42deg C. So no moisture trapped during install.
The diesel Chinese heater it’s best thing we did for heating, I can fill up a 10l tank and last for a week in freezing temperatures. When I say freezing, you have ice outside. As example last winter in Ro we had -20deg C for few weeks.
Pump? What pump? Hang it of cable ties, and you will not hear a think. Line to the pump diesel rubber fuel line, and from pump, the hard plastic trough a hose. Job done. Seriously, I haven even cleaned it in the past two winters, still going well. Don’t discount the diesel heaters, they are brilliant, and many happy people uses them worldwide. And they are safe as long as installed correctly.

 

[martin2603]

Walk around a truckstop at night, you will hear how much noise they make. All the pumps are outside the cab just on top of the tank usually. The DAFs and Volvo Webasto were very quiet and excellent thermostats. The early Eberspacher s were noisy

 

[Two on Tour]

I have just ordered a couple of these new type silencers for diesel heaters.
I know a couple of guys that have bought and tried them and they are saying that they are 8dB to 10dB quieter than the standard silencers and produce a much more acceptable exhaust note.
It looks like the end caps are screwed on, so maybe some scope for repacking the wadding if needed.

I bought mine from fleabay as the ones on Aliexpress are barely cheaper.

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