I picked up my first Campervan at the weekend. I already have a LONG list of questions/information that i'm going to hopefully be able to pick your brains on in the coming weeks. The first on relates to clearing the front screen...
I have a 1600 Petrol Aircooled Viking. I know that the heating in the Aircooled campers isn't great but I can't seem to get any heat onto the windscreen when it is stationary. Is this normal? Tonight I felt like half of my drive home from work was from memory rather than being able to see where I was going?!?
Let me know if this is the incorrect place to ask these sorts of questions
Sounds normal....
All the levers to the right for hot(ish) air to the screen.
The only airflow when stationary is off the fan on the alternator.
Do you have hot air when driving?
If not....check that all the ducting is reasonably airtight and the control flaps are actually open...you can see them by looking over the top of the rear wheels.....get someone in the cab to slide the middle lever from side to side and you should see a cable operated lever moving on top of the riser pods (about halfway between the rear wheel and the engine)....the flaps need to be in the open position, if the cable has broken they stay shut....temporary fix is to use a cable tie to hold the lever in the open position.
'The Bobdogs'
Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.
With all the flaps working and the whole assembly in good order they are not that bad, the blower fan is quite powerfull but you only get heat ofcourse when the engine is warmed up,when I had one aeons ago I used one a vileda cloth to dry the screen and hen even cool air worked
mm
A 1.6Ct isn't the easiest to live with on cold days like this. As folk have already said: All three levers over to the right. Wipe the screen whenever possible and make sure all the ducting underneath is good. The heat exchanger, exhaust plumbing is now almost as rare as hens teeth for the 1.6 so is quite often bodged. Which is what I found on my first Winter. Now I have it fixed the screen does take a time to clear but once it has it is fine. (Early vans do not have a blower). - Still B cold in the van though. One thing to check is that if you get a smell of exhaust fumes then the heat exchanger/exhaust will be corroded inside and you must must get it replaced even if it means mortgaging the house to find a replacement!
Thanks guys. There was a hint of warmth coming up through the dash vents this morning. So some air must be making it through. I will check the system over at the weekend just to make sure its all clear and working correctly.
Has anyone used one of the 12V demister/dash heaters at all? I was thinking that may help the problem in the evenings when it is steamed up inside and dark.
I do have some moisture under the front mats from a leak somewhere around the windscreen which obviously isn't helping matters at the moment. Another job on the increasingly long list
MOLLYTHEVIKING wrote:Thanks guys. There was a hint of warmth coming up through the dash vents this morning. So some air must be making it through. I will check the system over at the weekend just to make sure its all clear and working correctly.
Has anyone used one of the 12V demister/dash heaters at all? I was thinking that may help the problem in the evenings when it is steamed up inside and dark.
!
I had a bay with the same problem. I used a 12V demister. Not brilliant but it does work slowly.
Eventually the pipe that channelled the heat from the back to the front of the van fell off, I took it to a specialist VW garage. Before they replaced the pipe they removed a handful of crap that had been blown in over twenty years or so that had built up at the front of the van, at the bottom of the pipe going up to the screen/heater vents. They then replaced the pipe and the difference was amazing. Not strong heat like you get with a water cooled system (even without the fan on), but it made a big difference when driving along. Still no good for rear passengers and I put a curtain up behind the front seats to keep the heat up front. Good luck.
MOLLYTHEVIKING wrote:
Has anyone used one of the 12V demister/dash heaters at all? I was thinking that may help the problem in the evenings when it is steamed up inside and dark.
I bought one from halfords when the blower switch died on our car - it eventually clears a letterbox big enough to see through, but only just...
Former owner of 1983 DG panel van and 1983 Devon moonraker pop-top, 1.9 tdi (1z) conversion
Once you've got the ducting connected it's surprising how hot the air comes out of the ducts. I've got an aquarium thermometer with a sensor stuffed down the windscreen vent. After running for about 10-15 minutes it gets up to +60'C. I also fitted a bilge blower into the ducting behind the front grill to speed up the de-misting.
2ltr Aircooled CU with twin Solex's & originally a 009 dizzie, but now back to standard.
Thanks again guys. I think I will firstly look at checking the pipes at the weekend to see if they are partially blocked at all. I may then try and fit an inline fan to try and help matters a bit. I have a bit of water getting in under the front mats which obviously won't help, so ideally need to look at sorting that as well
