[haffi]

Hi all.

Spent few evenings this week in installing a Webasto AirTop haeter to my cruiser.

The heater it self is installed under the hood, and blows hot air trough a tube trough the firewall.



Drilled a 70 mm hole for the tube.


Seen from the inside, there is plenty of room behind the heater.


With the tube installed.


The Webasto heater in place. The pump seen on the firewall is the feeding pump for the heater.


The tube goes under the glove compartment.


Made this bracket for the timer switch and the vent for the hot air. This winter I will be able to step into a warm car on the way to work every morning



This shows the connector to the fuel line. Bought a T that goes into the feed to the fuel filter and the Webasto pump.

[IdahoDoug]

Yet another reason we 'mericuns feel cheated that no diesel 80 were built for us. Wait though. We get to drive on the fabulous US road system! Yeah for us!!

DougM

[KliersLC]

It only takes a couple minutes for the 1Fz to heat up, the diesels seem to have a harder time getting the heater hot on cold mornings. And Iceland is much colder than Idaho.....

[photogod]

Average temps in Reykjavik in Dec and Jan, 32, 31. Average temps in Boise in Dec and Jan, 31, 29. Pretty close ayyy. Minneapolis, 19,13. Now somebody send me a cab heater before winter sets in!!! Lowest recorded temps Mpls, -34, Boise, -25, Reykjavik, 3 (not minus 3).

[Miescha]

Temps aside, I really love the webasto! I had one on my '99 Ford F350 Diesel that spent all winter at the house in Bemidji, MN. I think the block heater worked just fine, but I didn't always have access to electric and when I was out of town (most of the winter) I didn't want to worry about a power outage. It was also really nice for hunting or ice fishing (again, no electric for the block heater).

My 80 has the OEM block heater, which is more than adequate for the warm St. Louis winters. And if I really want immediate warmth, I hit the remote start and wait a few minutes (kills the gas mileage for some reason ).

[Diesel Weasel]

Hey Haffi,

Looks good, I'm getting ready to install a Webasto Airtop 2000 in my BJ60. How many BTU output does that unit have? Looks bigger than mine. Anyway, I have a question for you: It seems like these things should take the inlet air from the cab of the truck and not outside, I assume this is to ensure that higher temperatures can be reached. I notice your setup just sucks the air from the engine compartment. I am thinking of just sucking air from the engine compartment as well but I am worried that the performance won't be very good. Have you noticed any problems?

[haffi]

Hi, this unit I have is quite old, (I got it for free ) it might be bigger than yours but it is probably giving me less heat, I dont know about BTU (dont even know what that means) but it is rated 750 watt. I quess that your is 2000 watts.
Mine has to run for a while to make comfortable heat inside on a cold morning.

I have no problems with taking the air from the engine compartment regarding heat. But It is noisy, I have a went that I can close, If not the sounds from the engine would bother me. The dealer here recommended taking the air from outside to have fresh air.

If you have space inside the cab I would think that carefully. I had a 62 with a webasto installed behind the rear panels. Had to make new panels to make space but I liked it. Specially when sleeping in the truck.

[Diesel Weasel]

Yeah BTU is a measure of energy, actually, when people normally say BTU they mean BTU per hour as a measure of energy over time. Watts are a measurement of energy over time as well.. 1 joule per second to be exact. The Americans tend to use the old BTU rating to measure heat output so us Canadians get stuck with it as well . My unit is rated at 2050 Watts.

Anyway, I think I will go ahead and mount it under the hood. I thought about mounting it inside one of the panels like you mentioned but I am too scared about carbon monoxide poisioning to put it inside. I know it's a sealed unit but I'm sure it's not perfect. I will be sleeping in the truck so I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks for your feedback!

[rhyary]

If you have double batteries, is it possible to get a small 12V heater to help with sleeping in the car in the winter?
does anyone know of 12V heater exist?

My application will be a short nap in the car while going on a long trip.

[Diesel Weasel]

I have researched this pretty extensively as I will be living out of my cruiser for a month or so in the middle of the Canadian winter. Basically, there is no way to create electric heat using your car batteries for the purpose of heating while you sleep through the night--you're going to drain your batteries. The options that I narrowed down to was: A. no heater, just buy a lot of warm bedding, B. a propane unit with a heat exchanger that can live outside and C. the top of the line Webasto or Espar air heaters that run on diesel fuel.

I expect to sleep in -30 C or so for a few nights so I realized I would need some sort of heating device to stay comfortable. The propane units look OK and are cheap but propane is very dangerous and a lot of the units (the zodi, for example) are poorly designed and are not meant to be run overnight. So I was left with a Webasto or Espar. Both of these units can be had for $1000-$1500 US new on ebay. I found a used one on ebay that I got for $500.

I'll try and document the install as there isn't a lot of info on here, however my camera was just taken in for service and I don't expect it back for a week or so.. at the very least I will take some pics after I have it installed.

[haffi]

Yes, Webasto is the way to go in this, preferably with a second battery too. These are very reliable and work incredably well.

If you install the well, they will last for many years. To bad that they are so damn expensive.....

Diesel Weasel are you installing thermostat to control the heat? Did you add some isolation to the truck. -30c is very cold. Do you have any idea how hot the webasto will keep the cabin when it is so cold outside?

Ps. I noticed a fail in my older post, my webasto is rated 1700 watt not 750 watt.

[mac]

Don't mean to be nosey but- you're living out of your 60 for a month in temps that hit -30? That begs the question- what the hell are you doing??

[MARLIN375]

Heres a crazy idea

Propane, diesel or wood

http://www.dickinsonmarine.com/shop5...es-heaters.asp

[haffi]

Lol, how cool would that be in the back of a 60

http://www.dickinsonmarine.com/gallery-heaters4.asp

[Diesel Weasel]

Originally Posted by haffi

Diesel Weasel are you installing thermostat to control the heat? Did you add some isolation to the truck. -30c is very cold. Do you have any idea how hot the webasto will keep the cabin when it is so cold outside?

No, I just have the standard control that comes in the kit. There is a temperature sensor in the webasto itself but it only measures intake air temperature so it'll probably be pretty useless. I'll have to play with the control to get a good setting through the night.

No extra insulation, I was thinking about adding some behind the panels in the back, but I think I'll just leave it. We just bought some good -15 C sleeping bags, so as long as the webasto can keep the temperature above that we should be OK hehe..

Originally Posted by mac

Don't mean to be nosey but- you're living out of your 60 for a month in temps that hit -30? That begs the question- what the hell are you doing??

Lol, no offence taken .. Me and my girlfriend are moving across the country from Victoria to Atlantic Canada. We're going to be sleeping in the cruiser along the way and taking our time, sightseeing etc. It should be an interesting trip. We've got a double-sized mattress back there complete with heavy canvas curtains.. I'll post a thread up detailing my mods before I head out.

[haffi]

Originally Posted by Diesel Weasel

We just bought some good -15 C sleeping bags, so as long as the webasto can keep the temperature above that we should be OK hehe..

Yes, since you will be traveling with your girlfriend you should be able to keep each other warm right??

[mac]

[

Lol, no offence taken .. Me and my girlfriend are moving across the country from Victoria to Atlantic Canada. We're going to be sleeping in the cruiser along the way and taking our time, sightseeing etc. It should be an interesting trip. We've got a double-sized mattress back there complete with heavy canvas curtains.. I'll post a thread up detailing my mods before I head out.[/QUOTE]

You know- that's awesome! Good for you guys! I love to hear stuff like that and I love Atlantic Canada. I look forward to the updates.

[Whimfield]

I am DieselWeasel's girlfriend.

Yes, we did live in our car for a month in the middle of winter--for 28 nights, in fact! I wrote a long photo/blog entry about it at my website.

We used the Webasto heater, and it worked SPECTACULARLY. It was crazy. The winds were whistling outside (-18 degrees celcius was our coldest night), and we were sweating in our 1982 BJ60!

We simply could not have done this trip without the heater. Well, I guess we could have, but...it would not have been nearly as fun! At all. So yes, you can read about our story here, if you like.

Thanks a lot for posting this thread. If my memory serves me correctly, DieselWeasel was inspired to install the heater b/c of your tales.

[haffi]

Must have been a great trip

These webasto heaters are truly amazing things.