Club 80-90 Forums

I will soon be installing a 2kw diesel heater in my van, once I work out the best place to put it. I bench tested it and was surprised by how much hot air it puts out. It must have quite a powerful fan.
That and the fact that it's got a 15A fuse has got me wondering if this is going to flatten my leisure battery if I use it for any length of time when I have no mains hookup (which is the main situation when I'll need it.
As it's a "parking heater" I would have thought it's meant to be used in this situation.
Can anyone confirm/deny that this is likely to be an issue ? Cheers.

Depends on charging set up your van has, strength of your leisure battery and type of camping you are doing.
A well charged 85 amps battery onward should be adequate to last a cold night, although due to limited storage l run a genuine Vauxhall 60amp starter battery and its been very faithful for last three years starting my propex.
All year round camping really needs hookup if staying put for a few days. Idling engine or moving on daily will charge leisure battery if so set up with split relay.
Dead easy to add a simple hookup system for around £50.00
Regards
Stuart

Depends on the output you set it at, but in a T25 they only normally have to run on low which uses about 0.5A and about 3A at full chat, it is only startup and shutdown which uses high amperage about 10A for 3 or 4 minutes.

We have a Webasto 2KW heater and if I remember correctly it draws 8-10A on start up and 0.5-1A in cycle.

Thanks for the replies, that's great. I have a good split charging setup/mains hookup etc. I was more worried about cold nights when I have not got electric hookup.
I have an internal voltage readout for the leisure battery, so I'll keep a close eye on it when I first use it, but it sounds like it's not a non-starter at least. Thanks again.

You need the 15A fuse for the first few seconds as the motor and glow pin kick in together, I have seen 18A very briefly. After that it is the 8 - 10A until the flame has stabilized and it is only the motor running.

My Chinese 2KW one heats the van nicely, gets it up to comfortable from an outside temperature of around zero in 10 to 15 minutes.

It pulls around 10 Amps on start up, for 3 or 4 minutes, then about 2 Amps on high, quickly dropping to around 1 Amp when it is up to temperature and "ticking over" to maintain that temperature. It also pulls around 10 Amps for a couple of minutes during it's "cool down cycle" when you turn it off.

My 110A battery is still shows around 12.5 Volts after a full nights use.

Should you need any info re fitting or using it, just shout out

Hi ghost, Nice to see you back

You mention a turret mount above- curious as to why theyre a good idea?

The thickness of the flooring (wood) and then the metal floor of the van must take up quite a bit of depth of the inlets/outlet spouts on the bottom of the heater. Is it for that reason?

Yes, when mounting these to a vehicle with anything other than bare flat metal, a turret plate not only makes it easier, it is also much safer. It isolates any material (wood etc) from the heat of the exhaust outlet.

ghost123uk wrote:Yes, when mounting these to a vehicle with anything other than bare flat metal, a turret plate not only makes it easier, it is also much safer. It isolates any material (wood etc) from the heat of the exhaust outlet.

Ok thanks. So the floor cut would be the circular size of the round turret, which would protrude through the floor, rather than several smaller holes. Gotcha

That's it

The hole cutter used is 127mm.

I make the plates with a 4" x 5" flange to go through the floor - so much easier for most people - 4 cuts with the angle grinder and thin disc.

slowcoach wrote:

ghost123uk wrote:Yes, when mounting these to a vehicle with anything other than bare flat metal, a turret plate not only makes it easier, it is also much safer. It isolates any material (wood etc) from the heat of the exhaust outlet.

Ok thanks. So the floor cut would be the circular size of the round turret, which would protrude through the floor, rather than several smaller holes. Gotcha

Yep makes a nice neat job. And made in stainless steel so no corrosion problems.

My rectangular flanged ones give you a bit more tool room than a circular one.