Diesel night heaters

[guerdeval]

Does anyone use one?, as an ex-trucker I'm familiar with webasto/Eberspacher heaters which are a bit pricey for the amount of use it would get but there are heaters on Ebay for less than £150!!, there's even a place in Falkirk offering supply and fit for £250, has anyone bought one of these Chinese copies and if so are they worth considering? ,also, has anyone had one mounted externally like on the VW T5 but on a Relay van?, I remember the warmth but I also remember the noise.

 

[nabsim]

I think Wildebus has one but not sure if its fitted to his van or not yet, I know he has it working. Someone else has one in their workshop as well, mine is an Eberspächer D4 so not what you mean

 

[wildebus]

Does anyone use one?, as an ex-trucker I'm familiar with webasto/Eberspacher heaters which are a bit pricey for the amount of use it would get but there are heaters on Ebay for less than £150!!, there's even a place in Falkirk offering supply and fit for £250, has anyone bought one of these Chinese copies and if so are they worth considering? ,also, has anyone had one mounted externally like on the VW T5 but on a Relay van?, I remember the warmth but I also remember the noise.

You could have a look here - 'Chinese' Diesel Heater - for my own experience.

Supply and Fit for £250? I fitted my own, but if I could have someone supply it (and so provide a warranty I presume?) AND fit it all for £250 I would have done so and saved myself the bother. If it is a genuine deal, I'd take it! (I'd charge a fair bit more than £250 just to fit)

I think the key is to give them a good run as soon as you get it to check it out - and if it is not right, reject it straight out - no repairs! The first one I had was a problem out the box and I fiddled around to get the first fault fixed, but other faults appeared and it was too late to get it replaced. The next one worked out the box and has been ok(ish). I bought another from the same supplier for 'stock' and just this afternoon unboxed and tested it, running on Kerosene (the cleanest and best fuel for them) - that has been running for around 4 hours right out the box and is looking good.
If you are close to Falkirk I can supply you with that tested one for £130 (I'm in the Borders around 60 miles from Falkirk)

There is no reason why you cannot fit externally on any van, but you have to protect from the elements AND make the heater still accessible for servicing. I tried to fit an External Temp Sensor to an Eberspacher D2 on a VW T6 earlier this year but there was no way to access the heater (mounted under the van) without getting it on ramps or a lift. The Chinese Heaters I would say are noisier than the Eberspachers, so if the Eber annoyed you, the Cheapo ones will do so more.

 

[guerdeval]

12v diesel parking heater 4kw - Fully fitted
( 283170535322 )
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£299.99

Sorry it was £299.99 not £250

 

[jeffmossy]

I took my eberspatcher off because it was setting off the carbon monoxide alarm , so I purchased on of the Chinese heaters and it fitted on the same fittings as the ebber , so far it has been first class and not that noisy also it seems to have better control with turning it higher or lower , so on that basis I would recommend one of the cheapos .

 

[Glass man]

They can be make a lot of noise, the van next to us switched theirs off overnight because of this so got very cold as it was -5°C outside. They would not have one next time.

 

[nabsim]

Our eberspacher is quiet inside the van, could certainly leave it running all night, Caz said it wasn't outside though but when its on we aren't outside

 

[wildebus]

12v diesel parking heater 4kw - Fully fitted
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Sorry it was £299.99 not £250

£299.99 is still a very decent deal with a 12 month warranty, especially with a on-site (at your location) installation service. I would go for that in preference to buying your own and installing it yourself, especially if you have a lot of underbody shieldings. (When I fitted one to a T5 a couple of months ago, removing and refitting the underbody shieldings took longer than anything else )
I see stuff like doing the standpipe is extra, but that is reasonable as well.
One comment: 4kW is probably too big a heater I would think. Nabsim may be able to comment further on that as he has the D4, which is a 4kW heater I believe.

Our eberspacher is quiet inside the van, could certainly leave it running all night, Caz said it wasn't outside though but when its on we aren't outside

I guess yours is installed outside?
Something that can make a noticable difference to the running noise is a silencer on the INLET side as well as the EXHAUST side. Worth while doing

 

[nabsim]

Ours is mounted inside under the fixed bed, I have both inlet end exhaust silencers on order from China.
Our can is just over seven and a half metres low profile and the 4KW heats is no problem at all, I would think it would be overkill on a smaller van. As an idea of its effectiveness, when bringing the van back from London I didn't realise we had switched the heater on. All the way back with both cab windows open sweating my nuts off thinking there was something amiss with engine. This was in February with snow on the ground and the heater managed to heat the atmosphere from London to Buxton ha ha

 

[jeffmossy]

Ours is mounted inside under the fixed bed, I have both inlet end exhaust silencers on order from China.
Our can is just over seven and a half metres low profile and the 4KW heats is no problem at all, I would think it would be overkill on a smaller van. As an idea of its effectiveness, when bringing the van back from London I didn't realise we had switched the heater on. All the way back with both cab windows open sweating my nuts off thinking there was something amiss with engine. This was in February with snow on the ground and the heater managed to heat the atmosphere from London to Buxton ha ha

So THAT is the reason why we have had such a hot summer

 

[Molly 3]

One member bought and fitted one and it would not work , jeffmosy checked it out to no avail .

 

[wildebus]

One member bought and fitted one and it would not work , jeffmosy checked it out to no avail .

The QA is very poor, which is why I said it is important to test first on receiving the heater and before installing, then reject if any issue.

 

[Lioncrunch]

Hi, to all, first post, l I fitted a MV Airo from kiravans (Keighley) £650 you need two 65mm vent in and out, the ones with it are way too big, fitted outside van T5 seems to work just fine, noisey on start up then settles nice and quiet, some parts same as ebber. didn't need pickup from tank as have aux heater for engine just tee' in to diesel line.

 

[jeffmossy]

The QA is very poor, which is why I said it is important to test first on receiving the heater and before installing, then reject if any issue.

The member in question had fitted the heater himself and somehow managed to crush the PCB board whilst fitting the heater . I believe they have got another one now and all is fine

 

[wildebus]

The member in question had fitted the heater himself and somehow managed to crush the PCB board whilst fitting the heater . I believe they have got another one now and all is fine

Trying to visualise how you could crush the PCB board ..... That must have taken a very special skill in his part. Remind me never to lend him anything I want back intact!

 

[wildebus]

The

Hi, to al, first post, l I fitted a MV Airo from kiravans (Keighley) £650 you need two 65mm vent in and out, the ones with it are way too big, fitted outside van T5 seems to work just fine, noisey on start up then settles nice and quiet, some parts same as ebber. didn't need pickup from tank as have aux heater for engine just tee' in to diesel line.

It makes it very handy if you are installing on a van with the engine pre-heater fitted.
Some of the VW T5s have a Webasto TTC installed, but usually just the Caravelle and Shuttle models in the UK. For anyone with a T5 and wondering if they have a pre-heater, there is a label on the driver's door that will say.

 

[Lioncrunch]

Thanks for follow up Wildebus, actually mines a Caravelle 2009 there's no sticker on door or anywhere else. I'm just handy and found it whilst researching, actually pre heater doesn't work? Well it does but only on test mode with obd reader Foxwell nt500.

 

[wildebus]

Mine worked for a short time then suddenly stayed on permanently. Had to pull the fuse to stop it going.
And around £500+ for repairs!
When working they would only come on a few times a year in the UK anyway. Waste of time!

 

[Lioncrunch]

Temperature dependant, ok for short journey's in winter.

 

[ActiveCampers]

We have the Kiravans one mentioned above, been very good so far - but the noise originally was immense, but just fitted "branded" silencer to the exhaust and its dead quiet. Impressive kit.
I've seen the Chinese ones and for the price difference I'd be keen to hear more. All the "branded" ones do look very very similar.....