Fitted a remote on/off for my Propex heater

[ghost123uk]

I posted this in the "What did you do to your van today" thread but after a couple of pm's and a question on that thread I have put it here, in it's own thread.

I have fitted a "key fob" type remote relay so I can turn on my Propex heating on from the house so the the van gets all toasty warm and defrosts the windows while I eat my breakfast. I am sure come the cold winter mornings I am going to really love this facility

[ghost123uk]

I would be very interested in doing this on my factory eber. I have the factory timer module on the dash, but the display screen is dead, so I have no way of testing it. Was the remote easy to fit?

Yes it was very easy to fit. It simply requires an earth and a live feed. Then there is a relay on the (small) unit that has the usual "normally open" and "normally closed" contacts. I took a suitable 12 volt feed to one of the "normally open" terminals and then a (red) wire from the other "normally open" terminals and spliced that into the main 12 Volt Propex feed wire, the one that fires it up. Hey presto, I can now turn on the Propex from inside my house. Admittedly, the way I did it, the stat is not in the circuit when I fire it up using the relay, but that is no problem as I will only have it on for 1/2 an hour or so whilst I get ready for work. For more "normal" use, when camping etc, the stat works the same as it always did. I installed it fairly high up in one of the cupboards so the little receiving aerial (bit of wire) is not masked by too much metal bodywork, I used double sided tape to mount the (fag packet sized) box.

Worth noting that I use a SafeFill gas bottle that can be legally filled at any normal LPG garage. This reduces the cost of running the Propex (and cooker and fridge) hugely. So much so that I can use the heater any time without worrying about the cost of the gas. Also I can see how much gas I have left and so never have to guess and run the risk of running out on a cold night. Win win

[discipleofsketch]

Great tip on the surefill bottle, I had no idea such a thing existed

[ghost123uk]

Yup, well worth the investment. Mine has paid for itself many times over and the advantage of the sight glass style thing is very useful too = no running out at just the wrong moment!! They are larger than a 4.5kg Calor bottle of course so I modded the furniture a little to suit. Running on road LPG they do not suffer from the freezing up in cold weather that Butane (Calor) does, just when you need it !! = jeez that must be annoying !! = "It's cold, lets put the heating on, oh no we can't because it's cold"

[CovKid]

I just fitted a 12v timer as it was too easy to forget to turn it on John. Anyway, you could train Scamp to fetch your keys, open the slider and get in there and turn it on in exchange for a Bonio or other treat.

[ghost123uk]

I just fitted a 12v timer as it was too easy to forget to turn it on John

Ah, yes, well, you see, I don't have to get up at the same time every day, so that wouldn't work for me. Anyway, I ain't going to forget to turn it on when I see the frost on the kitchen floor in the morning.

Anyway, you could train Scamp to fetch your keys, open the slider and get in there and turn it on in exchange for a Bonio or other treat.

Nah, he is busy enough making my breakfast and polishing my shoes.

[jeffdub]

great idea john can I ask where you got the remote fob from ?

[Oldiebut goodie]

Ah so!

[Oldiebut goodie]

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... +last+eber
This may help.

[ghost123uk]

Ah so!

Ebay, likely made in Iceland or Hawaii Like this or Like this actually THIS one looks pretty good, wish I had found that when I got mine.

[ghost123uk]

From a few PM's I have had it seems a few folk are fitting these remote switches (relays) to their Propex heaters.

I thought I would add a bit of a ramble that I put in a reply to one enquiry I got re wiring as it may be of interest =

Slight aside = I was keeping my key fob thing on my key ring, but occasionally it would brush against summat in my pocket and fire up the heater without me knowing (like if I was in the house or sat outside the pub). For this reason I now have to keep it in the house, on the front room window sill. I then can fire up the heater in the morning but then, when I go out to drive the van, I take the key fob out with me, turn it off and put it on the dash board. I then have to remember to take it back in the house ready for the next morning (I want it in the van to make sure I have it when I go camping etc)

I note yours comes with 2 x key fobs, which is very good because you can keep one in the house and one in the van I wish mine had 2 !

Another aside = The later Propex standard black control boxes have a "cool down" cycle built in, whereby when either the stat or the manual switch turns the heater burner off, the fan keeps going for a few minutes to cool the whole thing down. The way "we" are wiring the remote relay in, this feature will not work (when using the remote). Mine is an earlier Propex that does not have this "cool down" phase and I have not worried about it. I have used this Propex for about 3 years now like this and it has come to no harm. However, I sometimes do manually flick the switch (on the standard controller) to "fan only" for a minute or two, if I have the time and patience at that time. Mostly I just let it switch off and not bother though !

Let me know how you get on.

Regards,
John

[CJH]

Slight aside = I was keeping my key fob thing on my key ring, but occasionally it would brush against summat in my pocket and fire up the heater without me knowing (like if I was in the house or sat outside the pub).

I had the same problem with the panic alarm on my tracker keyfob, so following a tip from another post on here I bought a cloning remote that has a slide down cover over the buttons. I decided not to bother cloning the panic alarm button, but even so, the slide down cover stops me accidentally arming or disarming the alarm.



I bought the 315MHz version to suit my tracker, and I note that at least one of the remotes you linked to in an earlier post operates at 315MHz, but there's also a 433MHz version.

[CovKid]

Two winters ago I had my Propex wired so I could phone it up and switch it on. It was kind of novel in that it didn't matter how far away it was parked on a winters day but then it was costing 12p just to ask it to do that and a 7-day timer fitted in better with my routine. Haven't quite got my head around how a remote is worthwhile other than if I was too bone idle to go out there and physically switch it on although maybe if it was frozen solid and doors stuck fast, maybe a remote could be useful.

I like the remote concept though. Perhaps a remote controlled flamethrower to ward off dodgy geezers could be fun though. Lots you can do with those fob circuits

How about powering a compressed air cyclinder that suddenly inflates a driver - might make em jump

Inflatable John Prescott anyone?

[jeffdub]

ive fitted mine a minute ago , I tapped the trigger wire into the orange wire inside the propex control box, now when I turn it off via the remote it goes through its cooldown cycle as well

[ghost123uk]

Haven't quite got my head around how a remote is worthwhile other than if I was too bone idle to go out there and physically switch it on

Freezing and dark winters morning. Get out of bed, put on dressing gown, open front room curtains, switch heating on via remote, have breakfast, bathroom, get dressed, check emails etc, go out to van which is now thoroughly warm and de-misted. So ya see, it's just a logistics / efficiency thing. I don't want to go out on a dark, freezing cold, maybe raining sort of a day, in my pyjamas