Extra installation tips: The air intake pipe and the exhaust pipe/muffler should be mounted at a downward angle to allow water & condensation to drain. If your heater didn't come with a silencer for the air intake, there are upgraded silencers & mufflers you can buy to reduce the noise they make. The exhaust & intake pipes should go in opposing directions so that exhaust fumes don't get sucked into the intake pipe. The exhaust pipe should be pointed toward the closet edge of the undercarriage so that the fumes won't accumulate under the vehicle. If the noise of the heater disturbs you then mount the heater as far away from your sleeping area as practical. They sell quieter fuel pumps as an upgrade but their clicking is still audible. A piece of foam, preferably egg crate foam, can be wrapped around the pump to help muffle the clicking noise. Mounting the pump with a soft mount like on a rubber hanger helps to reduce the vibration when the pump diaphragm starts pumping.
Thank you Hugh for the great video. Can you please tell... if I mount the fuelpump to same level with the heater, is it gonna work properly? Otherwise I must mount the heater higher and theres gonna be a gap between the heater and the camper floor...
You can mount the pump higher or lower than the heater up to a certain amount but it’s quite a lot from what I remember. I would have to double check before I gave you a concrete answer
Hi , great video. Just a tip for priming I used a spray pump from my wife's "Spray & wipe" bottle, the tube is the same size as the fuel line, so its just a matter of sliding it into the outer tube at the filter, it only takes a few seconds and it's done. Just be Shaw you put it back before the wife sees it's missing.
Another tip, a well-seasoned mechanic who has installed many Espar and Webasto units over the years looked at my installation and advised me to, YES, keep the PUMP mounted at a 45-degree angle but the filter should always be mounted horizontally. The reason being is that the filter, when new, will always have a bit of air in it in the top half when mounted horizontally and over time, as it starts to clog up, you can easily tell if you need a new filter when you see that the filter is FULL of fuel. (restricted flow) I have no reason to doubt this man as he has been using these things for decades on his fleet of trucks and has been both a certified automotive and heavy-duty mechanic for more than 45 years.
Excellent information and advice. Very clear. I've been using these heaters for quite a while now. I've had one in my RV for two years and it still runs like new. Your advice about proper fuel line is dead on. It's not so critical for the line running up to the filter and pump, but from pump to heater you must use the 0.2 cm (id) tubing. It's hard for a reason. The soft rubber hose absorbs the pump's metering pulse. It doesn't allow a full pulse with soft hose. Don't know why they send this stuff with many heaters. Kind thanks for taking time to explain these things. You are helping many folks. Instant LIKE and SUBSCIBE! Greetings from Alaska.
@@gnomiedan5424 As for information, there's tons of it here on RU-vid. You'll get it figured out. Just don't take any shortcuts. Install it correctly. Find a way to prime it before just hitting the start button. If done correctly you'll have a good heat source and cheap too! Good luck.
_Nice vlog with tips; I'm keeping this one to pass along to others who want to install their own. When it comes to these fuel tanks that come in the kits. There two main things that people miss. First is the tank itself. That little square foot is to give the tank a slight tilt for either way. Not to place the fuel nipple into. Although you can, as many do. Now, secondly, the lid, if you look under it pull these apart, you can put the fuel line through the top and into the next piece, pull the rubber from the clear piece. For installment into any camper, van, or trailer inside, you really want your fuel to feed your heater from the top, NOT under the fuel tank. Here the kicker, then you can use anything that holds diesel fuel for your needs. I just got done using 2 stainless steel jug for a fuel tank for a customer. Or you can use regular fuel can. If it ever goes bad, you just lift the whole line out and drop into a new tank in 10 sec. Those tanks for the kits can and will split right at the seams; I've changed out like five of them already for people and have always replaced with some type of top-down fuel line system with a replacement tank of some sort for the customers. When it comes to the pump, you can take all the air bubbles out caused by the piston's cavitation. You have to use a hand-operated vacuum pump. Once you prime to the pump with a hand-operated vacuum; connect the fuel line to the pump; a pump for a minute, add a foot foot-long, and a hand pump to add a strong vacuum and draw out the air. Once that done, you can run your line to the heater and prime until you get to the heater, pump out the fuel for a sec, then make the final connection to the heater. At that point, you can have the pump at 0° through 90° as long as you don't run it out of fuel from the tank. My own fuel line from the tank to pump is 2'; from the pump is 15' to the heater. A total of 17' with no air bubbles. My own build is the longest fuel line run to this day. Have also started to use 4mm air/ oil push-to-connector within the fuel systems, too, with no issues._
@@rustysummers3217, I was talking about the caps that come with these tanks in the kits. Yes, I use a regular 2 1/2 gallon regular fuel container for my own tank. My thinking was if I ever needed to replace the fuel container. I could go anywhere, even a 7-11 store, for a quick fix. I drilled a hole in the blank that kept fuel in and ran the line into it with the kits' metal nipple. But did use a different inline fuel filter, 1/4 ZYTC clear plastic glass inline filter close to the metal nipple. Right now, those seem to work fine, and I got them off of Amazon. Ten for 10 bucks, I think. You also need to make sure all the air is out of those filters too. I agree with you. I would NOT have any tank inside; you're right, just in case, the fuel would never get out the smell out, no matter how you clean it.
@@rustysummers3217, I'm not sure how long of a line you can have before the pump. I know what the manual has said, but I would think a good 5 meter before. Thanks, I'll set up a test this weekend to find out how long before the pump can't handle the draw in the back shop too. I have set up a couple of pumps and lines to test out more ways to keep the pumps and fuel lines' noise down to a bare minimum or cut out the noise completely. I let you know how it goes.
You are awesome! This was definitely the best pro tip video I've seen for these Chinese heaters. Concise, straight to the point, great video and music and no senseless chatter, which makes your videos very interesting to watch!
For the intake tubing, I would recommend SCAT tubing. Comes in all sizes. Used a lot in aviation, boats, and high performance cars. High temp resistant, durable, flexible, and won't collapse.
fuel may cause stripping of certain types of hose, gradually perforating the fuel hose Make sure to use the rated hose for Diesel And prevent a cause of fire
That is the main problem with the green supply hose that comes in SOME diesel air heater kits. It is suitable for aquariums...maybe. Your local auto supply store can provide the proper fuel-rated line and fittings (if needed) to get you up and running. Take the green line in with you to purchase the good stuff.
1 huge tip is most vans only need 2kw - 5kw is far to much for a van & you end up running them so low & they soot up & fail. 2kw is smaller & takes lest space. They sell 5kw as 2kw because they have changed the software on the controller so BE CAREFUL look for the real 2kg ;)
shoots , i have a 5kw for the back of my pick-up truck cap ...... i ran it for the 1st time today , not inside the cap... thing is radical. I was laughing how strong it was... is there anything on the fuel end , additives that could help with that or just run her full blast every now and then ? 🤘🏼
Searching Life yeah if it’s the 5kw just run full blast every now and then to de-soot mate. It’s critical to do this because it will fail if you don’t.
Royce Munday hey mate genuinely there a lot smaller buddy look at the sizes the de-tuned 5kg are much bigger & they make them run at 2kw.. so definitely look at sizes in this case smaller is definitely better ;)
I have an observation to make concerning the use of a hard fuel line between the pump and the heater. It seems a soft fuel line like automotive fuel line would serve somewhat as a bladder that would reduce the number of times the pump 'clicks' and also take some shock out of the system. A pump 'clicking' into a solid plumbing system is going to see a rapid rate of pressure increase so the pump likely would pump less each 'click'. Another point: It seems drawing some of all of the combustion air for the heater from the living space would be handy for moisture reduction. I doubt that many campers are so air tight that the heater would be starved but if starving were a problem ventilation openings could easily be added. Nice job on the video and install. Thanks.
Great video. My tip is to watch videos by John McK 47. He has an excellent series of videos on these heaters. Explains everything and does great scientific tests.
Also thank you Hugh for this very informative video, to us rookies who are teaching ourselves, it means the world to have this broken down and explained as simply as possible with the experience behind recommending what to use and what not to use. Greatly appreciated this video
My tip is to not use the rubber gasket that goes next to the exhaust outlet. Mine was heating up and burning, giving off burnt rubber fumes. I took it off and used fire resistant sealant instead.
What sealant would you recommend? I found VITCAS Heat Resistant SILICONE (300°c) of VITCAS Heat Resistant Sealant Sealant (1300 °C).I have no clue about these products
@@mingueyox I am pretty sure it was the one called firemate that I used but I wouldn't know if it is the best one. I have a carbon monoxide tester in the van and it hasn't gone off having used the heater a few times in the last 2 months.
I use the soft Fuel pipe have done for 6 years i have 3 heaters , The hard pipe makes click click noise , the soft pipe nice and quiet , the fuel pulse has no dramas with the soft pipe at all Rob NSW Australia
I agree, that's what makes them so noisy. The fuel line does not affect the pulse at all as the pulse is controlled by electronics activating the pump. The hard plastic line resonates the noise making it even worse.
The instructions that these things come with are rubbish mine was barely intelligible. I have heard that running these heaters on a low setting is not good for them and that when you finish a session using them its good to finish on a high setting.
Good point, you can definitely run them on the low setting but every so often it’s great to run them full blast for a little while to clean out the soot but providing installed correctly they run very cleanly
Some good tips there but a few incorrect statements but such a useful video. The jubilee clips are absolutely rubbish I invest in good quality stainless steel ones every fitting. The pumps can vary in fuel delivery pulses, these can come with any one of 3 different rated pumps starting at 0.16 ML per pulse, the 5KW heater generally comes with the 0.22 ML pump. The pump delivers fuel in pulses which is why the green fuel line is not good as it stretches and pulses with each pump action which the rigid fuel line does not but this can be compensated for in the heater settings. Each heater acts differently and should be tuned after fitting depending on its fitting and fuel line used. The pumps is a solenoid based pump and requires absoluteley no lubrication whatsoever. This is why it can run on other fuels which have no lubricationg actions such as kerosene.
Thank you. I use kerosene to heat the house and I was just about to ask if this heater can work on kerosene but I read your comment, and the next question is if I can use a 20 L different tank. I don't see why not. Any comments are welcome. Bye.
Thank you. I use kerosene to heat the house and I was just about to ask if this heater can work on kerosene but I read your comment, and the next question is if I can use a 20 L different tank. I don't see why not. Any comments are welcome. Bye.
I believe it does require lubrication. It's metal on metal. Search for diesel heater videos by John McK 47. He has an excellent series of videos on these heaters.
I am considering one of these heaters and have been watching several how to install vids. Another tip is to be able to turn off the display unit when not in use, the read out seems to fade quite soon. Easy to buy and replace but just another cost. Hope this helps out. Thank you for a informative video.
Great video and useful safety points too. I’ve heard a number of installers also upgrade the filter as they are often fragile or brittle. Cheap enough from Halfords. Like the idea of something more substantial for the air supply to the heater too. ✅👍
On my heater I used a reinforced silicone pipe with a engine oil breather filter on the end and that helps a little in reducing the intake noise. The exhaust I used the fiberglass heat tape on it just as a precaution. The only other thing I did with mine is to reduce the top speed of the fans by a small amount to reduce vibration noise and it's now lovely and quite (for a diesel heater) and the van is toasty warm.
@@RossTallo press the settings button and then ok a couple of times until you find a set of - - - - then key in 1688. Its done on the up down buttons to select each number then ok to go to next number. After that pressing ok until you reach a low number i think off my head its 1.65hz that is the low pump speed the next one after pressing ok is the high speed of the pump that on mine i reduced by pressing the up/down button to set it at a lower number. Again its in Hertz 5.85hz example. After that after ok the next is low speed fans and high speed fans and by reducing the high speed fans by a small amount (800rpm) it stopped it howling like a banshee on start up. If you still struggle find me on Instagram and I will go through it with you on a video chat. Instagram or Facebook.
Good video it is good to have these points given verbally, but one point a good inline switch is great and needed if you leave fire not used for long time. But switch must be safe and never used to turn fire off.
fuel pump tip, spray a little shot of wd40 into the pump before you start priming, that way it has a drop of lube to work with before it gets diesel boom!
My video here shows the access to the Boxer/Ducato fuel pipes really well when I fitted a new fuel gauge sender! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Pwt3yPF6e18.html And I dropped the tank on my VW t25, they are heavy! Even with little fuel. I supported it with a trolley jack.
So I used the soft line that you said not to use... And I noticed today that the line had micro cracks all the way up it after some moderate use... I installed it about 5 months ago. So yeah time to get the nylon one and change them over
Honestly, I understand that people are on a tight budget. But personally I won't invest several thousand pounds into a van build and then risk it burning down because I chose a cheap Chinese heater. They aren't even certified here to my knowledge.
As said, the fuel tank access is the same as on the Jumper (relay), Boxer and Ducato (I own a Ducato). I think it also applies to the Ram Promaster as this van is called in the US. A small suggestion: shorten the length of the fuel line in the tank. Make sure its 5-10cm shorter than the depth of the tank. That makes sure the heater can’t draw the tank to empty, it will shutdown due to lack of fuel, while you still have enough to start and drive 😀 And make sure you use proper wiring gauge. Startup current requires some more power than regular running, so use at least 2.5mm2 wiring (very short runs) and preferably 4mm2 Finally, i’d like to spraypaint the tubes and jubilee clips with black or transparant paint. (I used heat resistent black for the exhaust silencer, pipe and clips). I really dont trust the chinese stuff and think they will rust almost instantly once installed underneath, so i’d like to add some layer of additional protection. You might go for stainless steel clips (i think the ones who came with the heaters aren’t) For the fuel pump, mount it as close to the tank as possible. If you need to run a long fuel line, extend the line between pump and heater, and not between tank and pump. First startup will take some restarts since you have to fill the whole line.
Good few tips, there, Hugh.. 👍 I've fitted mine, but not wired it yet. Firstly I discarded the plate and bought a turret plate for £19 with sufficient depth to protect the plywood and insulation layers and protrude through the bodywork..then I had some of the nylon pipe from a previous van. The jubilee clips, are all stainless ones from online. I didn't use any of the ones that came with the unit. When I wire it up, I'll be cutting the battery wires as short as possible, to avoid voltage errors, or maybe changing them to thicker wires.. 🤔 Oh and lastly, I bought some aluminium ducting from Amazon, as the ducting supplied is minimal, considering it came with a T junction and two vents...lol Great vid..thankya.. 👍
I've got three of these. I swapped out virtually all the fittings including fuel tanks. I used a hydroponics 15ltr top fill and top outlet tank, they are fully chemical and solvent resistant. so no fear of leaking from bottom fittings. I agree that the hose clips supplied are not very good quality. And I use proper diesel fuel line with the braided outer covering. I love them super heat output. Cheap spares as well. PS good video for beginners.
OK so I am waiting for mine to arrive (went for an all in one unit). I thought id get it early on so I can dry out my convoy properly before doing all the prelim work and insulating. Had always though I would go with a woodburner but an experienced mate extolled the virtues of the diesel heater. Slightly beginning to wish I hadn't as I am now going down the RU-vid rabbit hole with this stuff! However, thanks for this video Hugh, and thanks to all those giving great insights in the comments! S.
I'm surprised that you have not made a video showing how to tap into the fuel tank of the Relay/Boxer/Ducato. This would be super useful for many as I can't find a good how to.
I've recently fitted a diesel heater in my camper everything fitted as it should be works perfect except a horrible smell is this cause the unit is new and needs to be worn in or is this an issue, it smells of burning plastic/rubber but nothing is melted?? Thanks for any advice.
ok what have you done with Hugh ..... your videos are too good, the old guy was much more fun to poke holes in what he did. This Hugh Mk11 is on point LOL
Great video! I literally just bought a diesel Ducato (Dodge Promaster here in the US) and am looking to install this exact unit! And wondering how to tap the fuel tank as well! Thanks a bunch, saved me a sh*t load of time
@@RossTallo it's tough stuff used for oil , water and turbos so I imagine it would take being under a van, as under a hot bonnet with high pressure etc
Just installed in my 92 Defender 110. Used 7/8” inner diameter rubber drain hose to extend the air intake 8 feet to a high location in the engine compartment away from water. I’ve got it tied back and away from the hot parts of the engine. It may not last forever but so far so good!
I bought one of these heaters so this is a great video for me. The only thing I think you need change if using the t5s own tank is the pick up pipe. The one that comes in the kit,the nut is to big and doesn't fit on the sender. I got the proper one for about £12 I think.
I installed one of these on my garden workshop, it was a pig to fit, but once in its a godsend. I use paraffin for fuel, only thing wrong with it is, the amps, on start up I have to turn off any other electrical draw in the workshop. It takes 5-10 minutes for it to warm up and drop its amps. Then I can turn on the solar electrics and all is fine. Massive other tip is on shutdown let it shutdown by itself dont just turn off the machine. It stops it choking up with coke. My health and safety inspection on my workshop they made me fit a Carbon Monoxide detector above it, and a smoke detector, oh the exhaust gets mega mega hot, I wrapped my in a silicone,
Cheers Richard, they do draw a ton of amps on startup! Yeah I mention about letting it do its run down cycle, don't want the control board melting. Another good tip on wrapping the exhaust if it passes near important stuff
more tipps and hacks for diesel heater. take fresh air from outside, to heat it up. Don´t re -heat your breathed air inside. So you get fresh oxygene = better breathing air, and less carbon. Mount the diesel pump not too solid. Better ie by rubber, to let it "shake" a bit. So it runs not so noisy. Mount the diesel filter BEFORE the diesel pump. Because, after the diesel pump it´s too heavy work for the pump, and it could "die" earlier. (How many people do it wrong ?) On longer travels, take spare parts with you. A diesel pump, a diesel filter, a glue part, for these diesel heaters. And some spare clamps for the fuel line. If you need it, you can fix your heater. But its too difficult, to find it, while on tour. Greetings from sw-germany.
Regarding the nylon fuel line and the click clicking from the fuel pump. You suggest to “soft mount” the fuel line to reduce the fuel pump clicking sound. Could you please explain what soft mounting means? A valuable video, so thank you.
THE FUEL LINE MAKES ZERO DIFFERENCE...The fuel is drip fed and not in any way pressurised or under any pressure, the pump just metres the drips so a harder fuel line will make absolutely Zero difference, the only thing it will do is transfer the pump noise which is not what you want and that is why it is supplied with a soft line in the first place....
Silly question here. Could I use the jerry can that is mounted on the back of my 4wd. I could maybe find some sort of connector to hook up when I’m using it and disconnect it when I don’t need it
Hi you get compression fitting for the hard plastic use the black as the clear is susceptible to UV degrading !! Also butting it up against input on pump inside some tube if bent can obstruct opening restricting flow !! The best on other fuel lines are crimp ones you get a more even distribution on the grip!! I used to do motorsport and all these that iv’e said are all tested and proven as we’ve all gone through that with fuel lines especially on fuel injected engines as re pressure !! Also same on any air lines like on air jacks same plastic tube with pressure fittings !! 👍
Ah that paper insulated hose again you get reinforced it’s not as cheep though🙈!! But we used it on air ducting to and from brake ducting !! And it’s way more flexible without kinking !!
I run my diesel heater from my engine battery, I think it would flatten my leisure battery quickly, I run the engine in my motorhome while it's starting, consuming must power, till it quietenes after about 5 minutes, then I turn my engine off, so the power comes back to the habitation section of my fiat Ducato coach built motorhome..( stupid idea) anyway, how long can I run the diesel heater ( on low ) before it flattens the battery ? Thanks 🙏
The mounting of the fuel pump at 45 degrees etc is a complete myth and stems from a translation problem when the chineese manufacturers copied the now defunct patent. Yes do not mount horizontal but at an angle, you best angle is vertical. Straight up and down. Reduce your potential for leaks and air bubbles in the lines especially if using the small bore tube and joining pieces by using the in line filter as a suction strainer, drill tight hole in TOP of tank or use compression gland feed line in and direct it toward filler cap, poke it through, fit filter supplied, (well its a screen really) on the end and pull it inside tank allowing it to rest on its side on the bottom. You have just eliminated 3 potential leak/bubble collection points, made a neater job and a safer install.
Today I called eveyone in Liverpool and no one sells kerosene on pump which is frustrating. £37 for 20Litres even with 20% business doscount is still too much compared to just ordinary shell diesel ⛽
I never hear anybody mention OC detector should be the first thing it has some kind of built-in one I wouldn't trust it anytime you can bust in a small enclosed area you should have that on the wall stay safe
Hi i put in a 5kw that f the fuse, no ideas whats up with it, i put in another fuse but nothing works it doesn't light up or work in any way , so putting in a 2 kw, does anyone know if the wiring harnesses are the same
icve had one shut off while it was running full bl;ast.. it smelled a little hot but didnt die.. for some reason the fuse popped while the heater was on.. personally i dont care for these.. I like the coolant version better because it can pre-heat my engine.. so ive switched to the coolant units that keep the coolant warm and then I use the interior heater fans to keep the cabin warm (mine are in Busses and not caravans)
Why do theses folks keep saying pre-prime the line before the pump but don't say how? If you use the prime feature on the controller, it's still using the pump to draw the fuel to the pump.
the reason they changed from the side filling cap to the one you have with the filling port in the middle is because there is less chance of diesel leakage as its splashing about in there. You do not want any diesel anywhere in your van and its best to either tap into the vehicle supply(difficult for most)or fit a separate external tank. Tanks under the bonnet are not recommended as you also dont want any diesel in the engine bay.
The vw t4 has a round metal panel under the passenger seats unscrew that and you have access to the top of the fuel tank/sender it means unbolting the seats but easier than dropping the fuel tank 😉
Hi Hugh, I hear that those who fitted 5KW diesel heaters in their vans have constant trouble `sooting up` because they never run them for long enough at high temperature (it gets too hot in a confined space), do you think its better to purchase the 2KW version?
Yes you can definitely do this but if you have installed a 5kw one you can run them on full every so often (depends on usage amount) to burn off the soot but yes getting a 2kw would suffice
Being an engineer, we pulled one of these apart in the work shop, straight to the point my life is worth more than £90, its that price foor a reason, their shite
What are your thoughts on mounting them externally? Ive see a few and am thinking myself about doing so but mounting it in a modified small toolbox to splash guard etc
@@HughTube I've since sourced one of these www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-ctb400b-tool-box/ Lot cheaper and seems the right size.... However since I have now thought about mounting inside and using this as a cover box
I found the pump very noisy on first installation. Now mounted in a diecast box with filter. The box is on vibration mounts on the caravan chassis rear. I can just hear the pump faintly when in side, if I want to and that is loud enough. Mine is through its own switch at the battery. On at the start of a trip and off on return home. I kept hot air hose to one length and one vent for a 21 ft heavily insulated van in Australian climate. All good.
Does any English speaking person in the world know how "Plateau Adaptive Function" for altitude adjustment works on the new Blue or Red controllers with lcd remote? The digital black controllers are adjusted in Advanced settings by adjusting hgh low and pump speed/fan speed- know that. How do the blue controllers adjust with "Plateau Adaptive Function". Thanks in advance, frustrating search for info after marketing BS about it being "easy"
Sprinters and Masters have an aux feed fitted on the sender, it's capped off and is really simple to use. My Ducato had a hatch like your Boxer but bizarrely it did not line up with the sender! External tank to the rescue.
