Well I hope the experience comes out to play !!
I don t mean to steal your thread but I have a good idea where to locate the units but have my own concerns that might not be a concern to you so for that I m sorry ... But given the idea of making getting the best of our money better to set up these things to give us more than one purpose!
I m also looking not for idea but for info on the real capacity to heat the cabin with the Webasto thermo 50 or Espar D5 water heater if I am to let the truck rear heater on at night when camping ( 1 amp draw ) + the water heater draw 2- 2.5 A
As far as A Webasto what are you referring too an Air heather ? air top 2000 or a Water heater ?
Depending on the input im hoping to receive about the water heater cabin heating capacity ... If going air: I m going to mount it on the driver side , inside the rear side panel, plenty of room there to mount the unit with exhaust, air intake and nice warm air ducting !!
BTW dont think about routing the unit exhaust thru your truck exhaust it does not work well either unless you T off at the at shallow angle and maybe make a butterfly valve too my test were inconclusive more research need to be done on that topic ...
I made a costly mistake to buy a cheap older unit DL1 C Espar on
Ebay last year and the thing even after rebuilt kit never pass the bench test for me ... I got scammed. do your research and buy new even then... do your reseach some OEM unit are floating outhere too and they do not work as a stand alone unit.
We have to get oversea needing of 24v unit way overprice in North america they are way cheaper there. I have learn so much now since then I m not making an other mistake again...
Now if you are to think camping the amperage these unit draw is misleading.. on my older model air heater if the unit cycle thru on / off as it is to do when it reaches the set temperature on thermostat the glow plug and all are sucking 10 amps plus on start up and cool down cycle for almost two minute making them way less efficient that one would expect reading the specs sheet .
I do not know how to calculate and use the reserve capacity rating of a battery bank to convert into real time allowable amperage draw capacity before you get stranded ... if you want , like me to run the unit for long period like( 8 hours ) because the low voltage shut off on the heater unit 20.1 v is too low for Truck restart and it is not adjustable with my electrical knowledge anyways .
I do not know about water heater .. what I m saying is full blast is better so it is a plus on the water heater I think given it is cold outside and heathing the block an cabin should keep the unit going full blast longer than less power consumption that is for camping also the altitude these things are rated for become an issue too but that I m going to risk .. (1500 meter Espar non adjustable, webesto 2000 adjustable )
Back to your first question on locating the unit :
Water heater the same spot as the Air heather would work (louder ) but it would be protected and low enought( water unit like to be low for bleeeding air purpose ) you then need to hard wire the rear heater for cabin fan , I don t want to have the key on and run the main heather fan, too much Draw .
Or you also have plenty of space outside behind transfer case on the frame . You can than T off the rear heater we need 5/8 line ID should push it but be ok . Provided you make rougth box cover to keep mud out , these unit work outside. I have one mounted like such OEM cube van (10 year)
There is also room beside the battery bank like crusher did if you get creative with a bracket.You would then heat engine first like it is suppose too, the heat would than go thru the cabin heater > I like what crusher did on water line insulation so I will follow this path if I pick the water heater I still don t know ...
