Advice Fitting a Chinese Diesel Heater in a Caravan

[maxstu]

Bit the bullet and bought one to fit in our Rapido caravan.
Here are the issues:
Keeping noseweight at a minimum.
At present 65kgs. Very close to maximum. So the idea is the spread the weight about a bit. Perhaps some in front of axle and some behind.
This means putting the heater at the rear offside under the single bed compartment.
Easy routing for exhaust and inlet. And away from doorway and awning.


Next, the fuel supply. The supplied 10 litre container fits suitably in the locker over the A frame at front of caravan. This means piping diesel approx. 14 feet. So where's the best place to fit pump? Near tank or near heater? Or it doesnt matter? If near heater it keeps all wiring at rear. Which l prefer.


If l put pump next to diesel container in the front l will need to extend loom and buy addition ID 1mm OD 4mm hard nylon fuel line (from where?). Plus the dreaded tick will be next to the main bed the other side of 25mm of plywood.
Or l could go with this set up using a five litre diesel can opposite side to diesel heater. Then, apart from sourcing 12v power amidships, everything is aft of the axle and less noseweight. All wiring nearby too.




So in a nutshell; supplied 10L tank up front. Heater in rear. Extend fuel pipe. Where to put pump? Extend loom.
OR.
Heater and 5L fuel can at rear either side. Pump near fuel or heater?
Where to buy extra diesel nylon fuel line?

Your views please.
Regards
Stuart

[Mocki]

the pump should be as close to the tank outlet as possible, they push, rater than pull.
the pipe is eay to get , its 2mm id nylon same as the vac pipes on a DG/DJ
im sure BW will have it , and LUCUS or A N Other eber supply shop on the bay of Eeees
i really wouldnt put the fuel can inside the cabin , no matter what you do it will smell

[maxstu]

Cheers my good friend...



Got a bit confused. I thought the pipe was 1x4mm. But now lve measured, it is 2mm ID by 4mm OD. l may well have spare in the garage.
What about the dreaded tick, tick, tick of the pump, though?
External supplied tank it is...

[Stesaw]

FYI those pumps are loud. very loud try fit the pump outside underneath if you can stu.

[maxstu]

FYI those pumps are loud. very loud try fit the pump outside underneath if you can stu.

Yep. Been reading up on this issue. But cant fit beneath caravan as it needs to be at an angle to prevent air bubbles.
On my sister's yacht the DL3 pump is so annoying we turn heating off at night.
Have read suspending pump away from panel and wrapping with foam helps.

[Stesaw]

Yeah maybe if you can find a rubber mount and a P clip to go around it. It dulls the sound but it's still an audiable "thunk thunk thunk" as the pump pulses.
Saw a video where a guy reviews a pump that is pretty much silent that some bloke builds at home, they are about £100 to buy, not sure if he's still doing them though.
My pump sits next to the fuel tank at a slight angle currently, Will plan to put it under the van at somepoint I think or look at other options.

[cobblers]

Ignore the stuff about pump angles to prevent air bubbles, it's not an issue unless you regularly run it out of fuel. Mount it however you want!  They aren't noisy, but they transmit a "clonk" into anything they are hard mounted onto.
Many people hang them off cable ties which works very well and stops the "clonk" being transmitted into the vehicle, til the cable ties snap with age. Anything you can do to softly mount them will help hugely. 

Careful with the supposed "silent pumps", there's a few types - the peristaltic type which are silent but seem unreliable. There's also the direct replacement ones sold by the UK diesel heater outfit which are just rebadged £10 aliexpress ones and are really no better than what you get with the heater - Embarrassingly, I was stung by them. The same scumbag company have copied the fantastic open source afterburner controller and are passing it off as their own work.

[maxstu]

Thanks to all for your replies...
The plot thickens!
Ive spent the night Youtubing Chinese Diesel Heaters. Phew! What a web of worry they give!
Right! Decision time. Im going mount tank in the front locker with filter and pump. Then heater in the rear under single berth locker (liquor up front. Poker in the rear! ) with an extention to loom.
Time to order more diesel pipework.

[cobblers]

I've messed around quite a bit and found good results mounting the pump to as heavy a bit of chassis as possible, just using the normal rubber mount that it came with. Mounting it to any kind of flat steel/wood panel acts like a speaker and amplifies the noise.

[Mocki]

My pump for my eber was just “hanging” on the fuel pipe which was cable tied to the metal PAS pipes on my old camper , it was all but silent , on my current camper its mounted to the chassis rail by the correct rubber “Bobbin” mount and its noisier but its not a issue tbh.

The 45° angle thing is only really a issue if the pump is at the same level as the tank, i always mount below the exit level of the tank and its never been a issue

[maxstu]

Thanks to all.

This is going back in the box for now. Had hoped to fit before coming weekend camping trip to Frinton. But back to electric oil heater for now.

One more question, please? The wiring and connectors supplied look pretty poor quality to my eye. I dont really want to run pump and wiring outside attached to chassis if at all possible. Cant see it lasting long outside in the elements or getting soaked from road spray.

How's it all going cope with our lovely seasonal weather?
Ho

[cobblers]

Sealing very much depends on the manufacturers mood - the connectors are capable of being perfectly waterproof, if they bothered to put the seals in. Of the 6 heaters I've done, only 2 had the wire seals installed.

The power cable supplied is usually just barely fit for purpose - absolutely do not extend it. If you need to use most of it's length you're far better cutting most of it off and using something about twice the csa.

[ash1293]

Out of curiosity did you go for the 2kw and where did you decide to buy from? Seen plenty on eBay, Amazon, AliExpress etc

[maxstu]

Out of curiosity did you go for the 2kw and where did you decide to buy from? Seen plenty on eBay, Amazon, AliExpress etc

I read up 2kw is plenty powerful for a small campervan. About the same heat range as a Propex HS2000. So that is the one l bought from eBay. £99.00 delivered.
Going bigger is not necessarily better. Running these heaters at the top end of their power keeps their internals cleaner, or so lve read. And that makes sense to me.

[Mocki]

Yeah, bin the thin power wire if you cant cut it short ( any more than about 1meter and its not man enough to stop voltage drop on start up.
There is a reason these things are £99 and not £900 , cheap quality and lack of control circuitry.
They are good value for money, but they are not in the same league as webasto or eberspácher imho