'Chinese' Diesel Heater

[StreetSleeper]

Drilled the hole this morning then I realised the metal seat frame was going to foul the seating of the heater.

Not a problem; out with my new hole cutter and my jig saw and the problem was sorted.

Here we have the heater in situ. I removed all the carpet around the heater as it will be a lot easier to keep clean and I didn't want the heater sitting on a carpet.

A dry run with the heat ducting. Have managed to use all the existing holes except for the one where the fire was, which I can do at a later date if needed just by putting a T junction in.

A shot in the cupboard showing how much room we have gained.

Rae

 

[wildebus]

I think Rae is quite right about the size of tank. The heaters are very fuel efficient so a big tank is not really needed. The ones generally supplied with the kits are quite awkward to fit in as well (if anyone wants one, I've a few spare!).
I got lucky with my heater as it came with (well, I specifically chose a seller that specified this type actually) a much more compact and more cube like 5 Litre tank

Fuel Station on Carrier by David, on Flickr

I also got a bit lucky as a friend also got the same type of tank with his kit and because I tapped into the vehicles fuel line to his pre-heater to feed the Chinese Diesel Heater when I installed his, that tank was spare and he gave it to me, so I've now got the two tanks with an interconnecting fuel line between the two.

Dual Fuel Tanks - "Communicating Vessels" by David, on Flickr

(I do have a 10 Litre Jerrycan on the roof which I did used to carry Kerosene in for the heater but never actually needed to use it, so I will be now using that instead for normal Diesel as a precaution in case I run short on the main tank and can of course also use it for the heater if ever end up being caught short with that for any reason).

 

[StreetSleeper]

I needed some way to connect the inlet pipe to the diesel heater. I achieved this by cutting the grid off the intake coupling and cutting the ring off the air ducting cap, gluing the two together and then slipping an elbow over the top.

Here we have the finished job. Hole cut in the floor, pipe straight through; may stick a filter on the end of it or, at least, something to stop any large nasties entering.

Rae

 

[mistericeman]

I needed some way to connect the inlet pipe to the diesel heater. I achieved this by cutting the grid off the intake coupling and cutting the ring off the air ducting cap, gluing the two together and then slipping an elbow over the top.

View attachment 2483

Here we have the finished job. Hole cut in the floor, pipe straight through; may stick a filter on the end of it or, at least, something to stop any large nasties entering.

View attachment 2484

Rae

Are drawing air in from the outside?

 

[StreetSleeper]

Are drawing air in from the outside?

yes

 

[mistericeman]

Are drawing air in from the outside?

yes

Are you 100% certain that there's no chance of drawing combustion air back inside...
Because that isn't going to be pleasant.

And are you not going to reduce efficiency of the heater by constantly having to warm ambient air rather than recirculating the cabin air?

 

[SquirrellCook]

Are drawing air in from the outside?

yes

Do you have a reason for this?

 

[StreetSleeper]

Are you 100% certain that there's no chance of drawing combustion air back inside...
Because that isn't going to be pleasant.

And are you not going to reduce efficiency of the heater by constantly having to warm ambient air rather than recirculating the cabin air?

First part of the question: no I can't be 100% sure but as one pipe is going one way and the other pipe is going the other way and there's roughly a six foot gap between the two pipes, the intake is under the van floor inside the skirt and the exhaust is coming out in front of the back wheel but outside the body..........I can't see a problem with that.

I would think the heater would run more efficiently with clean air: all the gas appliances that were fitted to my van have all had air holes through the floor and there has never been an issue.

Rae

 

[StreetSleeper]

Do you have a reason for this?

Explanation above.

Rae

 

[mistericeman]

First part of the question: no I can't be 100% sure but as one pipe is going one way and the other pipe is going the other way and there's roughly a six foot gap between the two pipes, the intake is under the van floor inside the skirt and the exhaust is coming out in front of the back wheel but outside the body..........I can't see a problem with that.

I would think the heater would run more efficiently with clean air: all the gas appliances that were fitted to my van have all had air holes through the floor and there has never been an issue.

Rae

I wouldn't trust not drawing combustion exhaust in from outside...
Air currents can do odd things/breeze in wrong direction etc (let alone the possibility of bringing in smells from outside)
And I'd personally would want to be 100% that no combustion exhaust gasses came back into the van.

As for efficiency....
You will always be drawing ambient air in from outside so on a cold winters night your heater is going to be working extra hard to warm that air up....

You could have minus figures outside whereas in the van the air would already be warmed...
They are designed to recirculate the air in a enclosed space....
Drawing raw air from outside will be like heating your car with the windows and doors open.

The holes under your gas appliances are drop out vents....
Designed to stop any gas from building up and potentially exploding if you have a gas leak.

 

[wildebus]

Got to agree with Mr Rice .... you will get potentially fresher air but the downsides of feeding externally will be heater on more and working harder (so more fuel and more noise) and if you do run a risk of sucking in exhaust gasses (and not only from a heater but exhaust gasses from cows and silage! )
I guess with your engineering/fabrication hat mindset, you could make up a flap to let you chose to bring in external or internal air so you get the potential of both options?

 

[StreetSleeper]

Thank you lads for your feedback, it has been taken onboard; fortunately the block of wood has not been thrown away so it's just a matter of me sticking it back in place. I shall continue fitting the heater and then I'll go back and do the remedial work.

Rae

 

[SquirrellCook]

Murky draws it's air just in front of the drivers pedestal. Inside the original coach intake housing is a dry foam air filter. The heater is mounted in the redundant space by what would have been the driver step. It had air heating before I purchased it, but it had been removed. The air filter needs washing a couple of times a year. I'm shocked at how much dirt is in the air I wouldn't even have the heater in the living space with me.

 

[mistericeman]

Murky draws it's air just in front of the drivers pedestal. Inside the original coach intake housing is a dry foam air filter. The heater is mounted in the redundant space by what would have been the driver step. It had air heating before I purchased it, but it had been removed. The air filter needs washing a couple of times a year. I'm shocked at how much dirt is in the air I wouldn't even have the heater in the living space with me.

That's only dirt that's in the, air already....
You want to see the aircon unit filters I have to deal with (they recirc air too)
Even external fed DX coils run filters to filter the external air.

To be honest on the transit (eber is under front passenger seat drawing air from cab)
I just blow the heater out with the airline once a year....

A filter you can clean is a fair idea (just to keep the internals fluff free)
BUT take care not to restrict the flow.

 

[StreetSleeper]

Still plodding on despite the odd setback, this afternoon was all about getting the intake on the exhaust; put together if only as a dry run. My first job, make up a decent bracket that would hold the two silencers.

I think that should do the job. All that's needed is bolts cut to the correct length, dab of Locktite then screwed to the floor and that should be that.

The inlet was a lot simpler; one substantial L shaped bracket screwed to the floor.

Once the mastic has dried on the exhaust bracket I shall then drill through it and screw it to the floor. The little extension pipe on the end comes out in the wheel arch.

Rae

 

[StreetSleeper]

Decided it was time to reroute the air intake but where to put it? I decided it was best to clean up and see where was available. I have to confess I did like the door well but this would have meant removing my chassis number, or certainly a large part of it, so I've opted for the area behind the driver's seat in between the seat and the door frame. This will be the easiest and the least space used.

But before all that can start I have eight holes to fill in and only one was mine.

Rae

 

[StreetSleeper]

Remedial work started today. First job, make top hats for all the holes that are in the floor; including the one that I made myself. Two of the holes were where a water tank had been removed and the others were gas pipe and vents.

Re-routed the inlet pipe; now inside, tucked nicely away behind the front seat.

Decided to come inboard slightly so I could use the channel between the driver's seat and the living area to draw the air from the centre of the van between the seats.

Cut another hole on the other side of the driver's seat so the air could be pulled through. Hopefully, this should circulate the air.

Rae

 

[Nabsim]

I can’t swear to it but looking at the pics of Raes inlet and outlet silencers they are the same as I fitted. Think I paid just under a tenner For both with extra pipe and fittings.
The original ‘professionally’ fitted eberspacher had no silencers.
When I fitted the exhaust silencer it was as Dave says noticeably quiet but it needed the plastic inlet silencer to get rid of that turbine whine.
I thought the design of the Chinese silencer was quite good, maybe not up to Yamaha race design department but the expansion chamber and muffler material ticked the right boxes.
If I was going to try and change/improve the design I would fit a tube straight through with loads of holes drilled in it, blank off the end and have a second tube for exit. It would need to be able to come apart during design so you get the right amount of holes (what we used to call exhaust tuning ha ha).
I bet Rae knows what I mean cis I bet he used to do it as well

 

[SquirrellCook]

If I was going to try and change/improve the design

I wouldn't know where to start with a turbine exhaust. A piston engine has defined wave lengths and with a little maths you can get somewhere handy. I wonder if an online turbine silencer calculator exists?

 

[StreetSleeper]

I seem to remember 26 inches was the tuned length of down pipe before you could join the 2 pipes together on a 500 Triumph and the old hot rod boys would paint their header pipe and where the paint was not burnt that was where they would cut the pipe and join them together.

Rae