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Heatwave water system

mikeymikey

New member
Messages
27
Location
Devon
Hi guys, I'm after some advice please. J have just upgrade about a month ago from a trolley system to a van mount. I have the 325ltr system from window cleaning warehouse which I'm really pleased with. I am though thinking of upgrading to hot water.. not just for the winter but to make life easier for myself, cutting through snail trails etc etc. I have seen the heatwave system from WCW that I think can be added to my current set up. Has anyone else used the heatwave system? I don't like the idea of gas bottles in the van, or charging electricity over night.. so maybe this is my only option? Any advice would be appreciated... thanks. 

 
Hi guys, I'm after some advice please. J have just upgrade about a month ago from a trolley system to a van mount. I have the 325ltr system from window cleaning warehouse which I'm really pleased with. I am though thinking of upgrading to hot water.. not just for the winter but to make life easier for myself, cutting through snail trails etc etc. I have seen the heatwave system from WCW that I think can be added to my current set up. Has anyone else used the heatwave system? I don't like the idea of gas bottles in the van, or charging electricity over night.. so maybe this is my only option? Any advice would be appreciated... thanks. 
The heatwave is made by Varitech I believe , all diesel fired systems are very similar , you will however need to have decent batteries to power it and unless you do a lot of miles will need to mains charge the  batteries regularly , some will say that’s not nessasary but from first hand experience I would say it is to prevent problems , if getting one go for the two man one 9 kw as the 5 kw single operator will give you warm water not hot the price difference isn’t much 

 
The heatwave is made by Varitech I believe , all diesel fired systems are very similar , you will however need to have decent batteries to power it and unless you do a lot of miles will need to mains charge the  batteries regularly , some will say that’s not nessasary but from first hand experience I would say it is to prevent problems , if getting one go for the two man one 9 kw as the 5 kw single operator will give you warm water not hot the price difference isn’t much 
Hi buddy thanks for the reply,  I have my van battery which is only a few months old, plus another battery in the back for my split relay. Are there any other options available, seems a lot of money nearly 3000 quid but am I right in saying the water would heat up on demand? After a short journey in the van? I suppose that is what your paying for the convenience.. I live on a very narrow road unfortunately.. having the van on the road for 30 mins in the morning is enough when I fill up.

 
Hi buddy thanks for the reply,  I have my van battery which is only a few months old, plus another battery in the back for my split relay. Are there any other options available, seems a lot of money nearly 3000 quid but am I right in saying the water would heat up on demand? After a short journey in the van? I suppose that is what your paying for the convenience.. I live on a very narrow road unfortunately.. having the van on the road for 30 mins in the morning is enough when I fill up.
The water will be hot after 5 muinits of turning the boiler on , the system needs to run all the time with a return to tank as diesel boilers aren't like gas ones they need to be running constantly or it will carbon up the burner , also when you pull up at a job with water circulating through the hose reel back to the tank it’s hot water straight onto the glass , as you only have a small tank , the return water will quickly heat up your tank water you would probably be able to turn the boiler off by lunch time and use the hot water from the tank .

 
The water will be hot after 5 muinits of turning the boiler on , the system needs to run all the time with a return to tank as diesel boilers aren't like gas ones they need to be running constantly or it will carbon up the burner , also when you pull up at a job with water circulating through the hose reel back to the tank it’s hot water straight onto the glass , as you only have a small tank , the return water will quickly heat up your tank water you would probably be able to turn the boiler off by lunch time and use the hot water from the tank .
At the moment I purify the water on demand,  fortunately where I live the water comes out at about 40ppm I think so very low. Does the hot water affect the resin more than cold do u no? So will my resin not last as long. .?

 
At the moment I purify the water on demand,  fortunately where I live the water comes out at about 40ppm I think so very low. Does the hot water affect the resin more than cold do u no? So will my resin not last as long. .?
It’s best  to purify the tank full of water first then use it ,  that’s what we do with our vans . Ime not sure about putting hot water through resin to be honest , but you would be taking heat out if the water into the resin 

 
It’s best  to purify the tank full of water first then use it ,  that’s what we do with our vans . Ime not sure about putting hot water through resin to be honest , but you would be taking heat out if the water into the resin 
Yeah that makes sense.. surely tho the resin would just get hot tho and stay hot after a while? I do have a shed at the end of my garden which I could easily fit a 1000 ltr tank into.. I could purify my water into that.. then transfer over to the tank in my van. I can imagine the hot water will eat through the resin quicker tbf

 
Yeah that makes sense.. surely tho the resin would just get hot tho and stay hot after a while? I do have a shed at the end of my garden which I could easily fit a 1000 ltr tank into.. I could purify my water into that.. then transfer over to the tank in my van. I can imagine the hot water will eat through the resin quicker tbf
The resin vessel will act like a radiator you will be wasting heat heating it up but yes it will get hot . 

 
i wouldnt bother mate unless you upgrade your tank to a 500L(at least!)...also how old is your van?you want to be installing one of these diesel heaters into a new or nearly new van that you plan on keeping for 10 years+ IMO......also make sure you get a heater fitted that taps into your vans diesel tank and get a split charge relay fitted(or battery to battery charger depending on model of van)and make sure its got "frost stat" mode on to stop your system freezing in the winter time...

some companies fit these with a separate diesel tank for your heater but you dont want to be fannying around with this...its much easier/less faff to just fill your van tank when needed.....

if you purify water on demand you will have to change to DI ing your water straight into your tank before work...you also need to be able to run a cable to your van every night to charge your battery bank up(min 2 x 105ah leisure batteries for a one man 9 kw system)....or else theyll be toast within a few months...diesel heaters need a lot of power.....

 
I agree with most of the points above - the battery capacity is definitely an issue. So having an appropriate charging method and sufficient battery bank would be high on the priority list. So that may be the stumbling block for you from the outset if you aren’t able to charge on a daily basis.
Fitting in to a ‘new’ van - nonsense (IMO). It’s a stand alone system that’s pretty much plug and play - I’d have no hesitation fitting it to an ‘older’ model. It can be switched to the next van without too much hassle.
Direct to tank for fuel - I’m 50/50 on this as I have always installed a separate tank to fuel mine, two reasons - I can monitor the exact fuel consumption and tank level on a daily basis, I’m never guessing when it’s going to cut out because the fuel level in the vans tank is running low (the pick-up pipe is fitted an inch or so above the low level so your van never runs out of diesel). Cost - you can run a water heater on red diesel, kerosene or - like I did - jet fuel (A1 Aviation grade). All can be purchased for a considerable amount less than road diesel IF you have a marina or small airfield nearby. You can pay 45p a litre for red diesel!! It can be a pain filling up and decanting but if you are just using road diesel install the tank next to your vans filler and you can fill up at the same time.

I currently have a heatwave 1 (5kW heater) which pumps out water temps of around 45 degrees. Heatwave 2 (9kW heater twin user) which pumps out water of around 60 degrees and an Ionics hotbox (9kW single user). All will be for sale soon as I’ve now gone down the immersion heater route instead - costs less to run and maintain, I simply plug it in when my tank is a third full and it heats up to 65-75 degrees overnight. 
 

 
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I agree with most of the points above - the battery capacity is definitely an issue. So having an appropriate charging method and sufficient battery bank would be high on the priority list. So that may be the stumbling block for you from the outset if you aren’t able to charge on a daily basis.
Fitting in to a ‘new’ van - nonsense (IMO). It’s a stand alone system that’s pretty much plug and play - I’d have no hesitation fitting it to an ‘older’ model. It can be switched to the next van without too much hassle.
Direct to tank for fuel - I’m 50/50 on this as I have always installed a separate tank to fuel mine, two reasons - I can monitor the exact fuel consumption and tank level on a daily basis, I’m never guessing when it’s going to cut out because the fuel level in the vans tank is running low (the pick-up pipe is fitted an inch or so above the low level so your van never runs out of diesel). Cost - you can run a water heater on red diesel, kerosene or - like I did - jet fuel (A1 Aviation grade). All can be purchased for a considerable amount less than road diesel IF you have a marina or small airfield nearby. You can pay 45p a litre for red diesel!! It can be a pain filling up and decanting but if you are just using road diesel install the tank next to your vans filler and you can fill up at the same time.

I currently have a heatwave 1 (5kW heater) which pumps out water temps of around 45 degrees. Heatwave 2 (9kW heater twin user) which pumps out water of around 60 degrees and an Ionics hotbox (9kW single user). All will be for sale soon as I’ve now gone down the immersion heater route instead - costs less to run and maintain, I simply plug it in when my tank is a third full and it heats up to 65-75 degrees overnight. 
 
What tank do you use please and how do you monitor its fuel level?

PF fit a 20 liter Jerry can with a screw filler cap but as its steel the fuel level can't be seen at a glance. I've seen the standard 25 liter plastic drums used as a fuel tank but the manufacturers of these say they aren't for diesel (or petrol). If its because of gas vapours then its easy enough to fit a breather pipe.

I need to investigate the marina fuel supply currently. Inland marinas (canal marinas for example) have to supply high quality red diesel due to environmental regulations. However, marinas on the coast used to supply a lower quality diesel as the environmental regulations didn't cover boats at sea.

At one time inland marinas used to also sell low quality red diesel which caused carbon and sort buildup problems with Webasto (and other) heaters.

It could well be that coastal marinas have to sell the same diesel these days.

 
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Okay guys thanks all for your input.. so atm I have my van battery and then another battery in the back for my split relay.. would this not suffice? The van is a fiat doblo 59.. very tidy and well looked after so reluctant to upgrade just yet.

 
Okay guys thanks all for your input.. so atm I have my van battery and then another battery in the back for my split relay.. would this not suffice? The van is a fiat doblo 59.. very tidy and well looked after so reluctant to upgrade just yet.
It’s best to have two leisure batteries just for your system and boiler 110-115 amp ones as a minimum the higher the amo hour the better , I have two  gell  180 amp batteries on my vans 

 
Okay guys thanks all for your input.. so atm I have my van battery and then another battery in the back for my split relay.. would this not suffice? The van is a fiat doblo 59.. very tidy and well looked after so reluctant to upgrade just yet.
Don't rely on your split charge relay to recharge your batteries as it won't.

If you are heading down the electric hose reel and/or diesel heater route you need to recharge those batteries every night without fail.

Just because you have an 90 amp or a 160amp alternator doesn't mean it will fully recharge the batteries. Leisure batteries will only accept a limited charge rate. If you have a 110 amph leisure battery the experts tell us it should only be charged at 11 amps.

 
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I have a split relay - purely as back up if my batteries die in the latter part of the day, they are on there last legs (only 14 months old) and are A rated 110aH. I’ve just designed my new system with twin electric reels and a 9kW boiler (only as back up) but calculated I’d use nearly 300a during the day on a two man system. I’ve subsequently brought 2 x 205aH gel batteries As I’m sick of replacing batteries on a yearly basis. These bad boys come with a 6 year warranty so hope they are worth the investment. 
@spruce - I either use a plastic Jerry van with an uplift tube, a 25 litre clear drum with a breather pipe (I store jet fuel in them and have never had an issue) or the clear webasto specific tank (10ltr) but 3 strapped together. 

03D1FA75-FBD6-42CF-A1A1-8EAB4FBCBA00.png

 
Blimey this all sounds very complicated I'm useless with this sort of thing.. I cant cope with the snail trials atm there doing my nut lol.. does anyone use vision?

 
I have a split relay - purely as back up if my batteries die in the latter part of the day, they are on there last legs (only 14 months old) and are A rated 110aH. I’ve just designed my new system with twin electric reels and a 9kW boiler (only as back up) but calculated I’d use nearly 300a during the day on a two man system. I’ve subsequently brought 2 x 205aH gel batteries As I’m sick of replacing batteries on a yearly basis. These bad boys come with a 6 year warranty so hope they are worth the investment. 
@spruce - I either use a plastic Jerry van with an uplift tube, a 25 litre clear drum with a breather pipe (I store jet fuel in them and have never had an issue) or the clear webasto specific tank (10ltr) but 3 strapped together. 

View attachment 21191
I have two haze 180 amp gell  batteries and run the boiler for 8 hours a day , have two electric reels and regularly run three pumps , the batteries are 6 :5 years old and still as good as new .They are  mains charged most nights 

 
The immersion heater option sound much easier cost effective provided you can run an extension lead out to your van. 

 
Blimey this all sounds very complicated I'm useless with this sort of thing.. I cant cope with the snail trials atm there doing my nut lol.. does anyone use vision?
its not complicated at all if you get someone else to fit a system for you with fuel integration into your vans tank.....some people like messing around themselves...id rather pay someone else to do it.....IMO a separate diesel tank for your heater is a faff...these heaters work better using clean road diesel than using red diesel...it costs me around £4 a day which is affordable....

then all you do is press a button in the morning before you leave for work and you have hot water 15 mins later.....lovely....always make sure you have  a quarter of a tank of diesel in your vans tank and the heater will never cut out!

all ive had to do in 2 and a half years since installation is replace a few fuses and a fuse holder...other than that my heater works day in/day out with no problems...they are very reliable(i use hot water every day)..eventually ill have to get it serviced but it could be another 2 or 3 years yet before i need to do that!

 
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