Installing a diesel heater (Doblo/Combo LWB)

[dave1]

To be honest i have an immersion heater and a diesel heater I've just ripped the diesel heater out cheap Chinese sh#t. I've found overall it costs around £1 to run the diesel heater for 6 hours or £5 to heat the water up that heats the van up win win as like today it was freezing and I was able to work dye to hot water so not really worth cutting holes in your van floor for anything other than a genuine etherspatcher.

 

[Pjj]

To be honest i have an immersion heater and a diesel heater I've just ripped the diesel heater out cheap Chinese sh#t. I've found overall it costs around £1 to run the diesel heater for 6 hours or £5 to heat the water up that heats the van up win win as like today it was freezing and I was able to work dye to hot water so not really worth cutting holes in your van floor for anything other than a genuine etherspatcher.

£1 for 6 hours to run a diesel heater ? Can’t be much of a heater a 9 kw Wabasto uses 1.25 ltr per hour to run , ime assuming you aren’t referring to an air heater ?

 

[dave1]

£1 for 6 hours to run a diesel heater ? Can’t be much of a heater a 9 kw Wabasto uses 1.25 ltr per hour to run , ime assuming you aren’t referring to an air heater ?

Let's just day there not worth drilling 35mm holes in your van floor cost and usage is not the point but cheap Chinese crap is

 

[THL4KEL]

I've got both fitted immersion and diesel heater. Maybe you bought a low KW one. Back of my van is currently 32 degrees. True it costs pennies to run. As for cutting holes in the floor, not really that bothered it's a work van plus I have security rollers installed so got a fair few holes...

 

[con95a]

To be honest i have an immersion heater and a diesel heater I've just ripped the diesel heater out cheap Chinese sh#t. I've found overall it costs around £1 to run the diesel heater for 6 hours or £5 to heat the water up that heats the van up win win as like today it was freezing and I was able to work dye to hot water so not really worth cutting holes in your van floor for anything other than a genuine etherspatcher.

Glad you've got something that works for you Due to inconsistent access to plugging something in (electrical) I went with the diesel heater so I'm always covered. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered if I could always rely on putting an oil rad in.

The heater is a cheaper Chinese one true, but from my research they work well if installed properly. Anyway I could replace it 5 times over for the cost of a branded German one. If I was living in a vehicle I could see the value in the investment perhaps. All I need is a degree or two above 0°c

(I was able to work today without any issues using cold water, hot would have been nice)

 

[con95a]

£1 for 6 hours to run a diesel heater ? Can’t be much of a heater a 9 kw Wabasto uses 1.25 ltr per hour to run , ime assuming you aren’t referring to an air heater ?

Sounds about right, mine is rated at 2kw. Seeing as it's not for keeping me warm but just to prevent frost damage it's more than sufficient, so can run on low using very little fuel. Though it is more than capable of warming up the van nicely on full, which is great on a cold morning!

 

[con95a]

I've got both fitted immersion and diesel heater. Maybe you bought a low KW one. Back of my van is currently 32 degrees. True it costs pennies to run. As for cutting holes in the floor, not really that bothered it's a work van plus I have security rollers installed so got a fair few holes...

My next holes are likely to be for some rollers

 

[ched999uk]

Due to inconsistent access to plugging something in (electrical) I went with the diesel heater so I'm always covered.

Just keep an eye on your battery voltage as the diesel heaters take a fair few amps when they kick back in.

 

[dave1]

Glad you've got something that works for you Due to inconsistent access to plugging something in (electrical) I went with the diesel heater so I'm always covered. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered if I could always rely on putting an oil rad in.

The heater is a cheaper Chinese one true, but from my research they work well if installed properly. Anyway I could replace it 5 times over for the cost of a branded German one. If I was living in a vehicle I could see the value in the investment perhaps. All I need is a degree or two above 0°c

(I was able to work today without any issues using cold water, hot would have been nice)

Fair play in youre case perfect.

The cheap.chinese ones are rubbish components nothing to do with installing properly all the electrical parts of them will last 6 months tops. I've had four of them theire really that bad. But cheap enough to replace though

 

[con95a]

Just keep an eye on your battery voltage as the diesel heaters take a fair few amps when they kick back in.

Before I added the diesel heater I upgraded the battery to a lithium one (Fogstar lifepo4 + Orion XS) so the voltage is consistent for most of the batteries capacity, and the DC-DC charger charges at nearly 50 amps when driving. So my travelling more than covers my usage

 

[con95a]

Fair play in youre case perfect.

The cheap.chinese ones are rubbish components nothing to do with installing properly all the electrical parts of them will last 6 months tops. I've had four of them theire really that bad. But cheap enough to replace though

That's interesting, I've read lots of people that have got multiple years usage without any major issues, other than an occasional service if they sooted up. Where was yours installed?

 

[Pjj]

Sounds about right, mine is rated at 2kw. Seeing as it's not for keeping me warm but just to prevent frost damage it's more than sufficient, so can run on low using very little fuel. Though it is more than capable of warming up the van nicely on full, which is great on a cold morning!

Ah ok so it’s an air heater not a water heater . I have friends that have the 2kw Wabasto one in there camper van and they said it’s good on fuel

 

[kevinc250]

To be honest i have an immersion heater and a diesel heater I've just ripped the diesel heater out cheap Chinese sh#t. I've found overall it costs around £1 to run the diesel heater for 6 hours or £5 to heat the water up that heats the van up win win as like today it was freezing and I was able to work dye to hot water so not really worth cutting holes in your van floor for anything other than a genuine etherspatcher.

could you explain that a bit more dave? chinese heap of !!!! could be an air or water heater, its not that clear to me where you are trying to save that one solitary pound,

 

[kevinc250]

ahh,i see it now, the air heater, sorry for me jumping in assuming-should have read the full post still, if you've had four of these heaters i guess they worked well for you, the most common problem with these heaters are the installation, they work fine for ages but as time goes by problems build up and many blame the heater not the install, had mine since 2019 one glow pin replaced and still working, i'm not saying that i installed it perfectly but, i did a lot of research online (non window cleaning groups)and followed the eberspacher guidelines for installation.
@con95a will do fine with his, i was meant to ask him how he got on but, life gets in the way sometimes.