Auxiliary Heater Ideas (1 Viewer)

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Still debating on the cost effectivness of these webasto/espar heater units. I would love to find a used unit but that is extremely unlikely in this country. Anyway, if I were to use the existing rear heater in my 80 can anyone think of a way to use the existing in and out coolant lines and run them into a gas or propane powered burner to heat the coolant and thus heat the interior by hardwiring the heater fan? Is there a 12 volt low amperage pump to circulate the coolant that might be suitable at extremely low temperatures? How about a way to remotely ignite and turn on/off the burner unit? I know that these units are the perfect solution but for the same cost I could get a small generator and run that with a portable space heater. Ideas....
 
Have you considered geting an old hot water heater out of a camper/traler of some sort, and hooking it to the rear heater in your rig? You'd need a propane tank, and a pump probably(unless you can get some convection currents going), but it'd be easy to set up and the parts could be had cheap.

Dave
 
Ok, just spoke with Don Schafer at Hilton. He is the owner and founder of the company and sounds like a great person. These heaters need to be mounted in an upright position and stand about 12 inches tall. They are predominately used as engine heaters on trucks, logging equipment and heavy machinery. The small units are sometimes mounted in pickups. They have no pump but curculate the coolant through a convective process. The unit is hooked up to a 12 volt system and only draws power for about five minutes to preheat the catalyst and then switches to propane. A 20 lb propane cylinder lasts about 60 hours. Once the heater is up and running there is no other power consumption from the unit itself. They do however need to be mounted within four feet of the heater core or engine. A Swedish Johnson pump can increase this minimal mounting distance. Don said that if one were to put a probe inside the exhaust hole of the unit the temperture is close to 500 degrees but that you could comfortably hold a hand four inches from this hole. Typically these are mounted in the engine compartment. The price is $595.00 on a new unit or $350 on a reconditioned unit. The optional Johnson pumps are $120.00. The units come with a switch panel that mounts inside the truck and allows the heater to be turned on remotely. This switch opens the solenoid valve for the propane and also preheats the catalyst. You can then shut off the unit with the switch which then closes the solenoid valve.

I am considering installing this as an engine heater or as a sepearte unit for the rear heater core to use as an auxiliary fan. The price is much better than the Espar or Webasto units and propane seems much more convenient than diesel. Any thoughts on this idea?
 
Am I correct in assuming that the Catalyst along with the propane are both "consumables"? If so what is the cost of the catalyst?
 
Not sure, but I don't think so. I think the catalyst lasts for the life of the heater but that is a great question.
 
snowcruiser said:
I have a Zodi Outback Combo X unit that is a propane heated shower, cookstove and tent heater in one unit. http://www.zodi.com Now that the weather is warming up and I'll have about six months before I'll even consider using the tent heater I am thinking on a larger scale. Has anyone considered developing a propane or gas heater for heating the inside of a truck while the engine is off for car/truck/cruiser camping in butt-ass-cold weather? I've slept in my 80 in temps as low as 5 below zero but it is not the most pleasant thing to get out of the sleeping bag in the morning with no heat :p.

I was thinking along the lines of the Zodi tent heater with a coiled tube above a burner and a fan to blow the heat through duct work but somehow integrating the duct or actual heating unit so that you can manually open an air duct and have warm air from the aux. heater blow through the in dash heating vents (ramble). This may require the fabrication of an all new unit somehow integrated into a bumper or other 'safe space' on the truck and running duct work to the inside of the truck or simply tapping into the existng heater core. Thoughts ?? Another thought that may or may not work is to design a propane powered block heater. I am not that familiar with these systems but it would seem as though a warm block would provide for a warm heater and the only power draw would then be on the fan to blow the heat.

It would be nice to be able to operate and turn on/off the gas and adjust the temp and fan power from inside the truck. Also the DC power draw should be minimized so that it only powers a small low amperage fan if anything. This is just a brain storming session that I wanted to take online and bounce around. Thoughts ??? Ideas ???
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I run a 1000 watt electric space heater in my rig. I have an 1800 watt Prosine Inverter powerd by two 660 CCA batteries wired for 24 volts. I also sleep under a 110 watt electric blanket. Wife and I sleep all weekend without needing a charge. As we do not have one of the snazzy showers some of the others have we suffer in the hot springs!

Hot water heater is next. Some guy on pirates home brewed one that looks cool and works.

My 40 had an Eldelbrock heat x that did not work woth beans. 45 degree water to 95 in 10 minutes using block water. gas at $2 gallon, no thanks.

JB
 
RUSH55 said:
Does anyone know of any 12v aux type heaters that could work?
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I am a high current DC addict.

I have tried all the 12 volt DC heaters I can locate, even built my own out of 4 inch by 18 inch PVC and hair dryer wire. It had a 12 volt fan an everything. It drew 20 amps at 12 VDC. And didn't work for a darn.

I suggest a second battery, isolated from the main, a 120 vac inverter, min 1200 watt inverter and SHOP for a 120 VAC fan driven heater that has multiple settings. Look for one that has a setting of 1000 watts or less. They are hard to find. Home Depot, ACE etc.

The wife likes sitting in the truck with her shirt off (so do I) at 20 degrees outside, and 65 degrees inside, reading in bed, under her electric blanket. (She's happy I get to buy more current toys)

My inverter is multi $$$ but a 1800 w modified square wave is less than $100 and a heater is $30 and the battery is say 50. So spend $200. Its better than breathing propane fumes and worrying about fire.

Nuff?

JB
 
Throttleman_610 said:
Nuff?

JB
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Nope. Need pics. Of the topless wife of course :flipoff2:

Oh and the setup would be good to. I'm not grasping the H2o heater idea you've got.
 
12 volt warm air heater

Be patient I am new to all forms of BBS.

If we're talking of warm air heaters in the cruisers... then like I wrote.
Get a good battery and properly sized inverter for a 1000 watt forced air heater and blast away. We stay very toasty.

My #2 battery is connected to my number one battery by way of a switchable solenoid. We run the #2 battery down at night powering our e blanket and electric space heater. When we get underway in the AM I flip a switch and begin to charge the number two battery via the 80 amp alternator. I monitor the #2 charge amps and volts from inside the cab.

Its a simple and cheap set up. I don't do hot water yet cause I like to watch the wife in the water. Actually I had an Eldelbrock heat ex and pump installed and disconnected it. The Delta t is to low for the amount of fuel used. I run a 350 with 185 stat, the one time I used it I got 105 degree water from 45 water in and it took to long in my opinion to heat the water. Someone can have it and the pump for $100.

JB
 
Why dont spend some $$ and get a serious Heater that works as it should?

Webasto Heaters

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webasto_logo_151x80.gif
 
There gas/electric. Fan and pump are electric while heater is fuel. They run off your tank.
 
Check the links on the earlier posts by me. Eberspachers are the same deal.
 
3FJ40- The webasto heaters are nice and are a combo of either gas or diesel AND electric. The burner runs on the fuel and the fan runs on low-amp DC. They are about $1200-1600. PRICEY

Throttleman- I am intrigued...Every time I've worked out the figures it seems as if a battery would drain with in a few hours max running a space heater. I have two Optima Redtop starting batteries with an automatic charging circuit through a 200 amp solenoid in my 80. The solenoid isolates the batteries when the engine is not running. I had a 1500/3000 watt xanterax inverter but sold it to a friend of mine thinking that a space heater would kill the second battery in a short time. Are you using a deep cycle battery and running the heater all night? What is the state of charge on the battery right before starting the truck in the morning. I have a 12 volt electric blanket that works rather well but as I state earlier, what I am trying to eliminate is the condensation from breathing inside the truck. Slept in it this week-end but it was a balmy 5 degrees....not the -20 that I would really use the heater for. What is the longest you have run the heater before having a low-voltage shutdown on the inverter? C'mon...need to know...and yes pics would help...of the wife that is....
 
Find an old VW Camper with a 12v gasoline heater, some of these units were rated at 80,000 BTU's and we used to sell them as cores for $80.00 at swap meets. It mounts under the truck and uses fuel from your tank. We used to set them up on a rolling bench, rebuild them and use them to heat the shop with. Took about 15 min. to get a drafty old VW Camper to 85 F.
 
Problem with the old eberspachers is size. They're frigging huge and heavy as all get out. I've been tossing that idea around myself but they're just to damned big for what I want to do. I'll just save up the pennies and step up to a new Espar when the ime is right.
 
snowcruiser said:
Ok, just spoke with Don Schafer at Hilton. He is the owner and founder of the company and sounds like a great person. These heaters need to be mounted in an upright position and stand about 12 inches tall. They are predominately used as engine heaters on trucks, logging equipment and heavy machinery. The small units are sometimes mounted in pickups. They have no pump but curculate the coolant through a convective process. The unit is hooked up to a 12 volt system and only draws power for about five minutes to preheat the catalyst and then switches to propane. A 20 lb propane cylinder lasts about 60 hours. Once the heater is up and running there is no other power consumption from the unit itself. They do however need to be mounted within four feet of the heater core or engine. A Swedish Johnson pump can increase this minimal mounting distance. Don said that if one were to put a probe inside the exhaust hole of the unit the temperture is close to 500 degrees but that you could comfortably hold a hand four inches from this hole. Typically these are mounted in the engine compartment. The price is $595.00 on a new unit or $350 on a reconditioned unit. The optional Johnson pumps are $120.00. The units come with a switch panel that mounts inside the truck and allows the heater to be turned on remotely. This switch opens the solenoid valve for the propane and also preheats the catalyst. You can then shut off the unit with the switch which then closes the solenoid valve.

I am considering installing this as an engine heater or as a sepearte unit for the rear heater core to use as an auxiliary fan. The price is much better than the Espar or Webasto units and propane seems much more convenient than diesel. Any thoughts on this idea?
Click to expand...
Propane is great no doubt but not convenient. Go with propane if you have other appliances using propane; otherwise take a fuel unit. it really worth the spending. It protects your mechanics as it heats up everything before use. Also it's good to carry some extra fuel with you. You never know when shtf.
 
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