Diesel night heater.Battery

[Johnnny]

Hi looking to buy ebersparcher D2 night heater for Renault camper.where I want to fit it is nearer MAIN cab battery .has anyone used this to power heaters or does it have to be leisure battery?mine is away at back of van and would need to strip out fridge etc to route cables.Split charging fitted but not sure if that makes any difference.
Any advice welcomed
Thanks

 

[Ivory55]

Only thing is if you run the van battery low using the heater and can not start the van you’re stuck.

 

[Johnnny]

Thought so but don’t know how much they draw from battery

 

[tonka]

Be aware of the power drain on diesel heaters, last thing you want is to drain your starter battery.
Leisure would be best.

This is an informative video i found.

 

[Manic]

Can’t help with power usage but it would be cheaper to buy the chinese diesel heater.

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[Spriddler]

Power consumption shown as between 8 watts (low heat) and 22 watts (high heat). Current draw depends upon operating voltage (i.e. whether 12v or 24v).
See spec'n here:

AIRTRONIC D2

www.eberspacher.com

 

[Johnnny]

Thanks but not too keen on Chinese versions as use a separate tank and not much space and concerned about smell.would prefer feed from main tank

 

[fat haggis]

Thanks but not too keen on Chinese versions as use a separate tank and not much space and concerned about smell.would prefer feed from main tank

You can do a main tank feed with the Chinese heaters. A no brainier cheap and reliable.

 

[Johnnny]

Do they come with fitting to connect to fuel supply?tee piece?Not keen on drilling into tank

 

[Spriddler]

Do they come with fitting to connect to fuel supply?tee piece?Not keen on drilling into tank

You can use standard fittings to tee off the heater supply from the engine diesel feed.

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[Johnnny]

Great video thank didn’t realise how much they draw from battery.I could add another leisu battery and put one nearer heater but is there a maximum distance between the 2 linked leisure batteries ? Would maybe be about 3 feet apart or would that not work?

 

[Ivory55]

Great video thank didn’t realise how much they draw from battery.I could add another leisu battery and put one nearer heater but is there a maximum distance between the 2 linked leisure batteries ? Would maybe be about 3 feet apart or would that not work?

Further apart the thicker the cables

 

[Grummyb]

I have eberspatcher night heaters on all my lorries and they will stop working when the battery voltage drops below 23 volts so I'm guessing the 12 volt versions have a similar safety cut out , could you not run the cables under the van along the chassis to the leisure batteries?

 

[Johnnny]

I have eberspatcher night heaters on all my lorries and they will stop working when the battery voltage drops below 23 volts so I'm guessing the 12 volt versions have a similar safety cut out , could you not run the cables under the van along the chassis to the leisure batteries?

Suppose I could but now know what they draw would probably need to add extra leisure battery.Not too mechanical minded just want a heater to try some off grid and easiest way possible lol

 

[chaser]

Suppose I could but now know what they draw would probably need to add extra leisure battery.Not too mechanical minded just want a heater to try some off grid and easiest way possible lol

If it's a normal Renault cab there is room under the passenger seat for another battery there, it's where iv put mine.

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[CamperJack]

I've just fitted a BMV and watched the amps when I started my Chinese diesel heater. On start up it was about 9 amps and no higher for about two minutes or so, and then dropped right down to just a few amps. I didn't watch very closely on tick over because I got distracted by what I was actually doing. From memory on the research I did into them they should pull about an amp an hour on low or about 3 amps an hour on high.

Why not just run a cable from the leisure battery though? Running things off the starter battery is asking for trouble. They aren't designed for this sort of draining and if you go too low you'll be stranded because your van will not start. Makes more sense to me to use a leisure battery. Just run a cable to it. It shouldn't need to be too thick or expensive because, if it is like mine, it will be fused at 15 amps anyway.

 

[DBK]

I think you would be unwise to use the cab battery. Even if the electrical system charges the cab battery when on EHU or by solar the systems generally concentrate on the leisure batteries and treat the cab battery as a lower priority.

See if you can run the wires under the vehicle. This will mean drilling a couple of holes in the floor but this shouldn't be too hard.

If you go for the Eberspacher make sure you buy the silencers for both inlet and exhaust, they are accessories but essential if you want to sleep at night.

We have a similar Webasto heater. It takes about 2 amps when running but it doesn't run continually. On start up it takes up to about 7 amps for a minute or so. My guess is it takes between 20 and 30 Ah a day but more of course if it is very cold.

 

[stevewagner]

Not a good idea to T off the engine diesel feed. The Fiat plastic fuel tanks usually have an extra outlet coming out the top which is blanked off and is for night heaters.

 

[Manic]

Chance are you would have a pump in the fuel tank and teeing off fuel could have to much pressure in it and when engin not runni it may not be able to draw fuel through the stationary tank pump.
These are all my thoughts as I don’t know.