Heater - Does anybody have one of these?

[AdrianC]

She's a petrol van so can't tap into the tank.

Have you seen this?
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=112869" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[lloydy]

Heater... Obviously the heat is vented to the interior, the other end, have you just to it sucking air in from under the bed?... I reckon that would make the heater run at full steam all the time. Ideally it should be vented to the interior too. Then when the interior is warm, the heater will ramp down and just tick over. ( most ebers I have seen have a temp sensor on the fresh air inlet, you might need a eber stat to activate it) I do have a couple pics of mine installed, I you want to see what I mean.
As for the fuel tank, it's unlikely to harm anyone... But I wouldn't use it, it must stink of diesel, surely? Plus the tick tick tick of the diesel pump must be amazingly loud as its in the van. You can buy proper little fuel cells for ebers or around £40

[lloydy]

[Oldiebut goodie]

Hard to tell what's what in those pics but at first glance it appears that there isn't a constant rise from the fuel pump to the heater - in fact it looks as though it is going down outside the van! This will cause problems with airlocks causing difficult starting and running. It also looks as though the exhaust enters the van and then exits! (fire hazard) It looks like a total bodge to me.

There is no problem with the diesel inside - mine is in the base of the wardrobe and doesn't smell at all - you only need a pinprick of a vent in the tank due to the minuscule rate of fuel usage. The fuel pump should be mounted as low as possible to get the constant rise to the heater - it will draw quite a head - 6ft 6in.

[cleagarr]

Hi thanks again guys,

The pump is outside the van - the thing near my thumb in the picture is the fuel line quick-release switch that makes it easy to pull the fuel tank out. This fuel line goes outside to the pump and then back in to the heater? See here for the picture: http://s1258.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... sort=3&o=3 (sorry about the weird angle)

As well as the obvious hot air outlet that exhausts under the van, there is also a length of duct that comes out of the back of the heater, through the side of the bench. It sits in the gap between the bench and the outside panel expelling fairly hot air: http://s1258.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... sort=3&o=1 and http://s1258.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... sort=3&o=2 Do these look reasonable to you or not.

There are also a lot of wires sloshing around outside the heater too - nothing a neat as yours lloydy!

I'll have a look out for a better fuel storage system - though the cheapest I can see is £80 on ebay. Might get a new screw cap to start off with.

Thanks again.

[Oldiebut goodie]

That exhaust still seems odd to me - does it disappear into the bodywork? Or why does it angle upwards? It should angle down to allow condensation to drain.
I don't like the look of that foam all round the heater and outlets - the hot air can hit 150 degrees on a lot of heaters. If it is for noise reduction it will not be very effective like that and there are better products available.
Tell your missus that her butt is sitting over a tank of petrol when she is in the seats which is far more flammable than the diesel.
You shouldn't get any smell - you can do away with that pipe that appears to be a vent and just have a pin prick of a vent.
The quick release could introduce air each time you take the can out for refilling which would explain the difficult starting as it will have to re-prime the fuel line each time.

[cleagarr]

That exhaust still seems odd to me - does it disappear into the bodywork? Or why does it angle upwards? It should angle down to allow condensation to drain.
I don't like the look of that foam all round the heater and outlets - the hot air can hit 150 degrees on a lot of heaters. If it is for noise reduction it will not be very effective like that and there are better products available.
Tell your missus that her butt is sitting over a tank of petrol when she is in the seats which is far more flammable than the diesel.
You shouldn't get any smell - you can do away with that pipe that appears to be a vent and just have a pin prick of a vent.
The quick release could introduce air each time you take the can out for refilling which would explain the difficult starting as it will have to re-prime the fuel line each time.

Hi Oldiebut goodie,

The exhaust goes underneath the van. The heat outlet is at 90degrees to the heater unlike many of the pictures I've seen. Immediately to the rear of this outlet is where the (additional) silver ducting comes out, through the side of the bench and blows out warm air - this air is not as "fast" or as warm as the other (main) outlet. I'm guessing that this is simply a second outlet and nothing to worry about. I guess if I buy another of these hoods then the flow of air coming out the vent will be even stronger?

I've removed the foam as the heater is getting very hot -it is sitting in a metal box, I guess to diffuse some of the heat a bit.

I also think you've hit the nail on the head re. the startup issues and the snap-off connector.

Might wrap some ptfe tape around the neck of the can to prevent the slight leakage.

Thanks so much chaps for taking the time to talk me through - I'm only 6 months into this VW ownership thing and I have already been sucked into the vortex...