Diesel air heaters

[crusty]

So I am looking at a diesel air heater.  Wabasto would be nice, but the budget is at the knock off versions that still get great reviews.

The actual heater install looks pretty simple.  But the fuel tank has me scratching for ideas.

Anyone install one?  What did you do for the fuel tank?  How big?  Where did you mount it?

I am at a loss for anything that looks like it might fit anywhere good, and still be able to fill it.  I found several hidden spots underneath that would be good, but no way to fill.  Not putting anything inside.  Pretty much leaves under the hood, and there looks to be lots of room.  Just have not seen anything that looks like it will work.

[TnV]

I installed a Espar Airtronic D2 under my passenger seat. I am running it off of 1K , I have a 2gal tank mounted inside my rear door.I did a full conversion. Excellent , uses hardly any fuel.

[Andy]

Espar Airtronic B5 Air Heater 12 Volt Version had been installed at rear right corner. It is very quiet (I have no idea what people are saying about its pump clicking noise) and makes a lot of heat. 

[crusty]

Just a follow up.  Got a china special but added an afterburner controller to it.

Mounted in a stainless box under the floor, above the exhaust.  Sucks air through the slide door foot well and a floor vent in the middle of the floor.

Fuel tank is next to the washer bottle behind the driver's headlight.

I did have a fuel gelling issue once when in 0° weather and 30MPH steady winds in Texas last December.  I never planned to run in that cold of an environment.  That happened at 7AM so I didn't feel bad about calling it a night and getting back on the road.  Still stayed warm enough.

The 2kw works fine down to mid 20's even at altitude. 

[Andy]

Crusty, by chance do you have any pictures to share? I was considering the layout with a fuel tank in engine compartment but I dropped this idea later. I picked 5kW vs 2kW as it can be run at half speed to make enough BTUs. So less noise and stress on the heater. Dimensions wise is not a big difference. 

[Nimbus]

On 6/8/2021 at 6:39 PM, crusty said:

So I am looking at a diesel air heater.  Wabasto would be nice, but the budget is at the knock off versions that still get great reviews.

The actual heater install looks pretty simple.  But the fuel tank has me scratching for ideas.

Anyone install one?  What did you do for the fuel tank?  How big?  Where did you mount it?

I am at a loss for anything that looks like it might fit anywhere good, and still be able to fill it.  I found several hidden spots underneath that would be good, but no way to fill.  Not putting anything inside.  Pretty much leaves under the hood, and there looks to be lots of room.  Just have not seen anything that looks like it will work.

We installed ours on a bulkhead behind the driver's seat. It's attached to a piece of 1/2" plywood. The bottom is hinged so it's easy to tilt it out for fueling through the driver's door. 

[Last2ConvertNV]

I just installed my diesel heater and I appreciate the input that others have provided in this thread.    I'll provide some aspects of my install for anyone deciding to do the same.   Sorry for the long write up, but it may be of use to someone.

 

1) German versus Chinese manufactured.    Everyone wants to save money and this seems like a no-brainer  decision.   However, after giving it some thought I did not want to go the cheap route on something as important and vulnerable as the cabin heater.   I did not see any heater reviews on the internet that saw the Chinese model as superior to the German brand in any way.       I went with the Espar AS3 D2L.  Tip: You might save some money as I did by buying the Espar heater from a Canadian eBay vendor.

 

2) Gasoline versus Diesel.    I really wanted to tap into the gasoline tank to feed my heater.   I wouldn't have to worry about running out of fuel with the 28 gallon tank.   However,  it appears that the Espar gasoline heater does not work well above 5000 feet.   That's a deal killer.   With most of the national parks that I'm going to visit being above that altitude,  it would be a big letdown to not have heat when you need it most at altitude.  Who needs a heater when camping at sea level on the beaches of Mexico? 

 

3) Keeping the heater exhaust away from windows and doors.    Most YouTuber state this precaution in their videos but rarely show where they place the exhaust exit.     The fact is that most people mount the heater under the front passenger seat.    The espar kit contains only 3+ feet of exhaust  hose (and the muffler).   If you extend the hose any any direction from the passenger seat position, you are going to place the exhaust under a window or the sliding door or in the center of the van which is deemed unacceptable.   This is simply the geometry.     I bought an additional extension of the pipe and exited in back of the slider door and just in front of the rear wheel.   This left me right at the maximum length of 6.5 feet recommended by Espar.  More on this later.

 

4) Tank location.   I really wanted to place the diesel tank in the engine compartment, but after a few hours contemplating possible locations there, I decided it wasn't an easy thing to do.   And I was concerned about engine heat affecting the fuel lines and tank.  I did not want to mount the diesel tank inside.  One spill and you have the attractive aroma of dinosaur juice forever in your van.    I decided to mount a rotopax tank on my T-rex ladder at the rear of the van (as Andy  has done on his van).

 

5) Air Ducting or Outlet Error.   After installing the heater, I could not run the heater for more than 30 minutes without getting this error.   Digging into the "workshop" portion of the menu, the error code is P000115 - over heating.    Suggestions to correct this on-line were to reduce the length of the intake and/or exhaust hose.   I removed 3 feet of the exhaust hose and the muffler and dangled both hoses to the ground without any 90 degree bends.   Still would not run beyond 30 minutes.  Granted, I'm running this in May when my ambient temperatures outside are at 65-70 degrees,  not like 30 degrees when I'm camping in the Rockies.  But I was told that this should not matter with the P000115 overheating error.   OK,  so I'm a bit frustrated at this point and I reached out to Esperspacher (Espar) 800 customer support.    They are terrific and this is one big reason to choose Espar over the cheap internet heaters.   There is support and replacement parts when you need it!    Alex from their support line informed me that it was probably a problem with the angle of the fuel pump causing to much fuel to reach the heater.   He suggested going way beyond the recommended 30 degree angle  and that I could go vertical if needed.   I changed the angle to over 45 degrees and that extended the run time to over an hour but would eventually shut down with the same P000115 error.      My next step was to remove the rotopax gas tank from the rear ladder and place it on the ground.      This seems to have solved my problem and the heater has stayed on for hours without error.    Attaching the fuel tank 2 1/2 feet above the heater location I believe is causing to much line pressure to the burner.   Time will tell and I'll update this post if I have any further problems.

 

6) Smooth conduit pipe versus the supplied ribbed flex exhaust pipe.      After I installed the ribbed flex pipe (6.5 feet total), I started having the overheating problems as mentioned above.   I decided to go with 1" rigid smooth conduit (EMT) pipe instead.    I got this idea from another van-lifer who stated the fact that the ribbed nature of the Espar supplied pipe causes a lot of friction in the exhaust line.    After replacing the Espar ribbed pipe, I just like the look and durability of the electrical conduit pipe much better and I know the flow of exhaust gas is much smoother.   Pipe and fittings can be purchased at Lowes and Home Depot.    JB high-temp epoxy works great at making a tight strong seal.        The conduit pipe does not fit the muffler or the ports right off the heater, but you can use small sections of the ribbed pipe and a couple of strands of aluminum reflective tape to make the transition to the conduit pipe coupler.

 

7)  Heater Mount.    The NV van floor has a ribbed nature around the passenger mount location.  I strongly recommend mounting the heater first to a metal mounting plate and then installing the plate to the van floor.  This way you can install the intake/exhaust hoses and the fuel line right to the heater when it's on your work bench rather than on your back underneath the van - fighting gravity.    Cut out the 3" x 4" hole in your van floor and drop the hoses down beneath the van.    Put a few screws through the plate and van floor and you are ready for the next step of running the hoses underneath the van.   I recommend high-temp gasket maker.  You might have to chip out some of the hard white insulation that Nissan as sprayed on the interior floor to get the plate to mount flush.

 

8.  Espar funky electrical connectors.   Eberspacher requires you to assemble ("pin") metal prongs to plastic connectors to make the necessary electrical connections to the controller and fuel pump.   I chose to use solder butt connectors and heat gun to make these connections instead.    I guess it's a German thing. 

 

9)   There is a fan option on the Espar heater.     On this setting the burner does not fire.      Air is recirculated through the van with no outside air being exchanged - the burner intake is not used unfortunately.   No better air to put into the van than the cooler air that resides underneath.   darn.   

 

10) Recommended sources.   

https://www.youtube.com/@BoChuonOUTDOORSVANBUILD  - The wiring harness is not easy to sort through.  Bo does an excellent job of explaining what portions of the harness are not used and where each segment goes.  He also explains the use of a mounting plate.