Heating the van, ideas needed!

[Tobyt25]

My vans heat exchanges are damaged and they are too expensive to replace. How can i heat the van on a budget. I have an oil radiator that will work brilliantly when hooked up to electric. I think it would quickly flatten the leisure battery. Gas heater would prob be too dangerous with kids. Any ideas??? What do other people do?

[mark]

aaahhhhhhhh the joys of Aircooled, copious amounts of scarfs, hats, gloves and hot water bottles. the passengers always look good wrapped in tartan blankets.
get em fixed tightwad.

mark

[g60steve]

A propex heater.

Cheaper than heat exchangers and works with the engine running or not.
Also programmable so it can warm up/defrost the inside of the van in the morning...a sheer luxury for any Aircooled van owner!

[kevtherev]

A propex heater.

Cheaper than heat exchangers and works with the engine running or not.
Also programmable so it can warm up/defrost the inside of the van in the morning...a sheer luxury for any Aircooled van owner!

yep..
or webasto..ebberspacher... just like what the truckers use

[BOXY]

Are you asking about a heater for when you're driving or camping?
An air-cooled with no heat exchangers is a real pain to drive in the winter, the windscreen will constantly mist up. Even with working heat exchangers I ended up fitting a bilge blower in the ducting behind the front grill. The blower increases the air flow to the screen vents to help clear the screen but you need warm air for it to work. If you haven't driven your van in the winter yet you'll probably find quite a few freezing draughts when you're driving. The cold air vents leak even when closed, there's probably a hole in the floor where the throttle link goes through and there will be a few holes behind the grill in the front bulkhead. As has already been mentioned, a hat, gloves and warm clothes are all required attire for air-cooled ownership in the winter.
Are your heat-exchangers really shot or is it the pipework & pods that are shot? You can replace the steel risers & pods with some high-temp ducting and have the heat on all the time. In the winter this is no bad thing

[Tobyt25]

I was told they were totally shot from start to finish. Some parts were replaced on the engine recon but was told it would be about £400 to finish the job. Could not afford it after the engine work. Where can i get a cheap propex heater.

[Ralf85]

I agree with what Boxy has said.

When I had an air cooled, I had the heating system restored. Once that was done, including removing all the crap from the front end of the ducting, that was blocking the air flow (this bit is essential) and suddenly all this warm air came out through the vents. Having said that I also blocked off venting to the rear and created a dividing curtain behind the front seats to keep the heat in the cab area. If carrying kids in the back I agree about the need for gloves hats, warm coats, blankets etc and I restricted journeys to a max of 1 hour so nobody froze. Get it fixed.

[Tobyt25]

I wont be using it that often in the winter as i have a car also and wont be using it for long journeys. But want to use it once a week or so to keep it going over the winter. Just don't want to freeze when i use it. Broke after the engine swap and cant afford another expensive bill.

[BOXY]

Where can i get a cheap propex heater

Propex heaters sell on e-bay for anything upwards of £100. You'll have to factor in ducting, gas valves & pipework, and have somewhere in the van you can fit it and a hole to duct the exhaust out of. It might be worth e-mailing the usual breakers to see if you can get one out of an old van? If you're fitting from scratch you might want to look for Webasto or Eberspacher heaters as well like Kev said. If you do go for a Propex don't fit it under the van like Autohomes did with mine. You can't run it while driving because the airflow under the van blows it out

[Ralf85]

Just checked. Even Just Kampers do the whole heat exchanger system for £225 it seems, if you have the same engine quoted on their site. I don't usually recommend them, but the price seems right if you are tight for cash! Without that heating system working you will need supplementary fans to defrost your front and cab windows when its cold or damp. Not feasible really.

[dirtygertie]

We have an Aircooled, with no pipework at all between the heat exchangers & the front - we knew that the heating system was notoriously bad and not guaranteed to be sufficient even if fixed so we bought a second hand ebberspacher.

The little diesel tank sits behind the front grill and the unit itself goes under the glovebox; we have a long ducting pipe with a magnet on the end so it can be stuck to the dash to clear the screen or pointed to either rear passengers or our feet. It was really easy to fit and has the added bonus of it being safe to use overnight when camping if needed. Its the muts nuts!

Before we had it we used to wrap up in ankle length down jackets, hats, gloves and 10 pairs of socks...we told the kids that having ice on the inside of the windows being able to see your breath & having numb fingers was all part of the adventure

[Tobyt25]

Thanks for the great ideas, think i will see how long the fan heater will last off the leisure battery. Save up for getting it fixed properly next year.

[dirtygertie]

Thanks for the great ideas, think i will see how long the fan heater will last off the leisure battery. Save up for getting it fixed properly next year.

You won't run a 240v heater off a leisure battery...you could try a 12v heater but in my experience there's more heat when a bee farts!

[AdrianC]

think i will see how long the fan heater will last off the leisure battery.

...this is going to be amusing...

1kw @ 230v = 4.3A
1kw @ 12v = 83.3A

[Oldiebut goodie]