Diesel air heaters

[oldbrownhat]

Has anyone had experience with the "Wabasto-knockoff" diesel air heaters like this one:

I'm not thinking of automotive/camper use but possibly for temporary heating of a small shed or similar. Looks like all it would need would be a suitable 12v adaptor.

 

[steelslaver]

Interests me to. Looks like a Handy dandy heater you can use about anywhere

 

[oldbrownhat]

Interests me to. Looks like a Handy dandy heater you can use about anywhere

They're available on Amazon from a few vendors, although they undoubtedly all come from the same factory. The 5kW is about $160. The glow plug needs around 8A during pre-heat, although the running current is quiite low.

 

[steelslaver]

I was looking around and ones that appear the same are on EBay for around $120. I am thinking it would be a good way to go on my 26' camp trailer.

 

[SAFireman]

I would think that a good CO detector would be wise with any of these.

Looks neat though.

 

[Jon651]

These are the same concept as the propane fueled furnace in my RV. In fact, I probably would recommend a propane powered heater over the diesel variety simply because you don't have to worry about fuel spoilage or a glowplug for preheating. Propane is easier to deal with, I think.

Are you definitely looking for a forced air unit or would a radiant patio-style heater be good? There are plenty of those about. Good luck and stay warm!

 

[oldbrownhat]

These are the same concept as the propane fueled furnace in my RV. In fact, I probably would recommend a propane powered heater over the diesel variety simply because you don't have to worry about fuel spoilage or a glowplug for preheating. Propane is easier to deal with, I think.

Are you definitely looking for a forced air unit or would a radiant patio-style heater be good? There are plenty of those about. Good luck and stay warm!

In my case, I'd prefer forced air. And I already have lots of diesel on hand as I have an old Onan 6kW genny, small tractor and excavator.

Agreed about the CO2 detector. Probably even with the expensive Wabasto ones @ 10x the price.

 

[steelslaver]

Already have a CO detector in the camp trailer. smart for any kind of enclosed space. I also have several in shop and house also. Here is my reasoning on diesel heater, when it gets cold, as in the teens, my propane unit goes through a lot of propane. Diesel has 34% more BTUs per gallon than propane. Propane is as expensive as off road diesel. I would not remove my propane unit. Just add a diesel one. Got tons of room in front storage compartment. I already run a diesel truck anyway.

 

[oldbrownhat]

I went ahead and bought a 5kW "all in one" and have been tinkering with it for a week or so. Very definitely "built to a price" but seems to be OK. The manual is worse than useless and emails to/from Vevor have also been futile. Fortunately there are some very good YouTube vids, most especially this one from "Tom the Dilettante" who bought the same unit I did. He also recently posted a follow-up after using it for several months to heat his small shop. (This video, irrespective of subject, is a perfect example of how a YouTube video should be done.) [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faz8RtV9t68[/ame] The exhaust and air intake pipes are of course metric (25mm) so you have to do some "McGyvering" to extend them into the non-metric world. I used 1" copper pipe and thin sheet metal shims, with the pipe slit to allow a hose clamp to tighten around the shims. Fortunately regular 3" duct (or semi-rigid aluminum duct) fits nicely over the output if you need to extend it. I added some insulation between the exhaust outlet and the fuel line. Probably not really necessary but the exhaust line gets pretty hot (~190ºF)

For now I used a short piece of aluminum pipe with some fine mesh over it for the air inlet.

 

[mtgianni]

Already have a CO detector in the camp trailer. smart for any kind of enclosed space. I also have several in shop and house also. Here is my reasoning on diesel heater, when it gets cold, as in the teens, my propane unit goes through a lot of propane. Diesel has 34% more BTUs per gallon than propane. Propane is as expensive as off road diesel. I would not remove my propane unit. Just add a diesel one. Got tons of room in front storage compartment. I already run a diesel truck anyway.

Yea, CO detectors are a must. We lost a friend from up your way a few years back. He and his wife died from CO poisoning when their heater picked up the generators exhaust. They used the generator for a C-pap. Randy knew the upper Missouri like no one else.

 

[steelslaver]

That is terrible.

Wife uses a C pap machine, but a small 80 watt inverter runs one fine and doesn't run the batteries in my camp trailer down much. I just bring along a long extension cord and run off my truck tent camping

 

[joe44va]

That is terrible.

Wife uses a C pap machine, but a small 80 watt inverter runs one fine and doesn't run the batteries in my camp trailer down much. I just bring along a long extension cord and run off my truck tent camping

As an aside:
My CPAP machine runs on 12 volts thru a transformer/rectifier that I plug into 120 VAC. Your wife's may too as many do. I bought a plug on Amazon so I can plug it directly into a 12 volt system. It should draw even less then as you won't have the losses of the inverter/transformer/rectifier. Just a thought.

 

[steelslaver]

As an aside:
My CPAP machine runs on 12 volts thru a transformer/rectifier that I plug into 120 VAC. Your wife's may too as many do. I bought a plug on Amazon so I can plug it directly into a 12 volt system. It should draw even less then as you won't have the losses of the inverter/transformer/rectifier. Just a thought.

I will check that out. Thanks, never really looked.

The story about the generator and the campers air intake was something I had no really thought of. My power cord is on opposite side of camper from heater and I set my generator on the cord side. But, it is certainly something to keep in mind.

I ordered on of the diesel unit and plant to install it in my camp trailer. I will make sure its exhaust is well away from my heater also.

 

[oldbrownhat]

...I ordered on of the diesel unit and plant to install it in my camp trailer. I will make sure its exhaust is well away from my heater also.

Hopefully it will come with some useful instructions and a control panel that is actually illustrated somewhere!

Someone on another forum yesterday recommended a website called w ww.thesamba.com that has a lot of info on these. It appears to be devoted to Volkswagen campers and their accessories, and lots of folks have installed these heaters in them.

 

[mtgianni]

I will check that out. Thanks, never really looked.

The story about the generator and the campers air intake was something I had no really thought of. My power cord is on opposite side of camper from heater and I set my generator on the cord side. But, it is certainly something to keep in mind.

I ordered on of the diesel unit and plant to install it in my camp trailer. I will make sure its exhaust is well away from my heater also.

Randy and Altas was under the top of their 5th wheel.