CHINESE "WATER" DIESEL HEATER: Hcalory Tear down!

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My faithful Chinese Diesel Heater has kept me warm on extreme overland winter vanlife adventures in my self-built camper. However, for snowy and cold conditions, my engine needs its own pre-heater or hydronic heater. Previously, there wasn’t a good value-for-money Chinese-made version/all-in-one kit. But now, Hcalory ⁠has filled that gap. In this two-part video series, I strip down the unit, take it apart, and explore its inner workings
hydronic heater are versatile, they operates by heating a coolant loop, which can be directed through plated heat exchanges for hot water or a hot air matrix for hot air in a leisure format. This design allows for efficient warmth distribution. For another engine it can pre-heat the engines coolant loop warming the block.
It is not recommended you directly heat water, but a coolant solution.
This video is part 1 of 2 reviewing the heater and working with Banggood.com
Here is my affiliate link for the Hcalory 12V 5KW Water heater / hydronic heater
www.banggood.com/custlink/DDv...
Coupon code: BGab5aad
Coupon price: $319.99
*Due to temporary stock shortages in the UK warehouse, it could only be shipped from the CN warehouse.
Other heaters in UK warehouse:
www.banggood.com/custlink/m3D...
Black Friday Sale!
www.banggood.com/custlink/GKD...
#banggoods #ChineseDieselheater #wintervanlife
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Опубликовано:

7 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 208

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

What do you prefer hydronic diesel heater or air diesel heater? Or both and why? I use both, the air diesel heater heats the van’s habitation area and my hot water. The hydronic heater is an engine preheater.

@rik8508 7 месяцев назад

I feel like your setup, with the two separate heaters, is probably the best. Although I like the idea of being able to do everything with one single unit, all the required hoses/exchangers/fittings etc are probably going to be more expensive, bulky and heavy than a separate air heater.

@astronomenov99 7 месяцев назад

I bought a Webasto Hydronic (refurbished for about £450) and am still connecting up stuff to it. I have underfloor heating, a home-made calorifier and a heat exchanger interfacing with the engine coolant system (I wanted to preserve the integrity of the engine coolant system as much as possible). The Webasto is very HOT! I find that I need to give it lots to heat up to keep it happy. Also, the coolant circuit needs bleed points at all the points where it might loop upwards. Once it's bled properly it quickly gets the circuit to about 75 degrees. I don't think it will be very good as a night heater though. It's too fierce as it tries to get to 80 degrees before it cuts out. I have a Chinese air heater to install as well which will be used to give more gentle, constant heating as a night heater or for frost protection during the day.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@@rik8508 I like simplicity, and I also like redundancy. I think next van I would still keep the diesel air heater, primarily for the hot air ( and maybe water ), and still keep a engine preheater for my engine in the cold environments, but extend the engine coolant loop into a SureCal calorifiers, however, primarily to use the engine as a byproduct of driving to heat, opposed to the actual hydronic heater

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@@astronomenov99 I prefer an air heater for heating air. But that’s a great price for Webasto and the parts. Hot air matrix for making hot air from hydronic systems. Just need to be the right size and they can be extremely powerful. But it is a balancing act with the way hydronic heaters work. Don’t remove enough energy via a matrix then you hit the 80° mark in the heater shuts down to then turn on again when it’s cooled a bit. Additionally, their far more complicated systems as well, with the needing of areas to bleed and the risk of leaks

@astronomenov99 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures I spoke too soon! My Thermo Top C has started to not switch the fuel pump on. I'm not entirely sure of the cause. Does it sense voltage? Because my house batteries are now down to 11.9v. Can you recommend a supplier of a new set of wiring and a controller for it? The set that came with it is a bit 'budget'. Is there a controller that gives a bit more analysis and feedback if there's a fault? I'm tempted to just buy one of these Hcalory water heaters!

@collinsampson601 6 месяцев назад

If you want to send me the casting I will X-Ray it and we can see the quality of the casting. Some Chinese castings can look OK externally but have a lot of shrinkage and porosity which would lead to early failure.

@3sides2everystory 6 месяцев назад

Would love to see this

@compactcamperco 7 месяцев назад

Great run through of this wee unit! Lots of info I have literally no idea about so really useful for a heating novice like myself! Thanks for sharing! Looking forward for I watching the testing process next 🤙🤙

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Thank you very much guys, and now you know the size of it, you need to figure out where your mounting it!

@NeuroDAVErgent 7 месяцев назад

I picked up a hauntingly similar unit about a year ago on Amazon from a brand called VPABES, which oddly enough shows on their listing the branding of the heater to be Junyize - The controller is slightly different, but all the hardware is essentially identical. I've bench-tested it on both US diesel and 85 octane gasoline with good results. I'll be using it in my own van running gasoline. Hydronic systems are great when you want multiple ways of collecting and distributing heat. Air heaters are always the simplest when only cabin heat is needed.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Definitely often the case that you’ll find the same castings under multiple names with different electrics and controllers on the side, that’s probably the case here. Hydronic systems definitely have their pros and cons. They can do a lot more things easily than just an air heater, but they are more complicated systems. I think I’ll personally stick with an air heater for heating the habitation and hydronic for the engine.

@bearhugman 7 месяцев назад

Another informative and nicely edited vid. Thanks

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Thank you very much for watching

@tramptruck4859 7 месяцев назад

Very interesting video and a good explanation of how the different types of heater work. My system uses an ebberspacher d2 for air heating and a webasto thermo top c for hot water via a calorifier and radiators. An additional thermo top c serves as an engine pre heater. The calorifier also has an immersion heater to allow electric heating of hot water.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I like it, lots of options and redundancy. I’ll probably add a calorifier never time to my own van

@Alivefrom45 7 месяцев назад

Great tear down video Alex, keen to see it up and running.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

All being well, that video should be out next week

@truebluetravellers 7 месяцев назад

Cheers Alex, just what i need for our trip, I’ll get one on order 👍

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Hope it works out well and look forward to meeting you guys out there!

@cannaroe1213 7 месяцев назад

While the Aluminium t-junctions will feel crappy, they are designed to be the same material (aluminium...) as the metal in the coolant loop (aluminium radiator and engine block) so it's actually the perfect material for your engine's coolant, usually.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

My concern is the aluminium t junctions will be crap quality because the alloy uses here is extremely light and brittle, as I found out when I broke a support plate. But you are correct. The radiator will be aluminium. The rest of the fittings in my vans Main coolant loop is the same type of plastic The other fittings are

@Rich-n-Cooper 7 месяцев назад

Nice alternative to the used units and looks like reasonable quality too

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Yeah personally i like the scraped Webastos from old land rovers . But I wanted to check out a whole kit as a decent price for others who want a less DIY option

@Rhysowen5418 6 месяцев назад

⁠@@MispronouncedAdventurespersonally, would you recommend an old webasto one from a Land Rover or a new Hcalory one? I’m tied between them ..

@fdgaming 5 месяцев назад

extra points for the 5.11 Hat

@MispronouncedAdventures 5 месяцев назад

I think you are the first person to point it out! It must of been in 50+ videos now! I love that hat

@fdgaming 5 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures I love 5.11 gear such great bits of kit

@MispronouncedAdventures 5 месяцев назад

@fdgaming I got there Bonnie hat as well for jungle work ( I end up working in Borneo a lot )

@BigVanSmallWorld 7 месяцев назад

Nice one Alex I’ve been thinking about getting one of those for my new van build 👍🤓👍

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Cheers Mel. In general, these type of heaters are great, if you want to go for this type or the salvaged were Webasto type shoot me message we can have a chat

@kbwaldron 5 месяцев назад

I have the Eberspacher S3 unit. There are two lines in the wiring loom that are meant for remote but can be connected to an unpowered thermostat such as used on a household furnace. If you are using a hot air register to heat air then that can be used to control temperature in the van as I have done. This is addition to the control unit supplied.

@MispronouncedAdventures 5 месяцев назад

The S3 is a nice unit. I’ve not played with one yet in person. Nice to hear the have be integrated in a few different ways

@Dr.Thundy 7 месяцев назад

I have both a Chinese diesel air heater and a DIY Webasto hydronic system (air, water, floor heating, and tied into engine heat) in my van. The hydronic system is complex, expensive, and infuriating at times, but gives me three ways of heating the fluid if needed. If I'm just looking for air heat, I usually just run the diesel air heater since it's cheaper to maintain and works quite well to heat the space.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I have a Chinese air diesel heater for my hot air and hot water. Plus a DIY Webasto for my engine preheater. I’m not a fan myself as well of using the hydronic heaters for the entire leisure system as a far more complex and areas to go wrong. But I like having redundancy so my next system, I would probably expand slightly the hydronic / engine pre heater system, but keep hot air primarily to a air heater

@akthompson110 7 месяцев назад

I’m just looking to build my van so this unit looks ideal for engine preheat. What else would you link it to given your previous comment. I’d also go for separate air heater but was considering using for underfloor heating? Cheers love the channel

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@akthompson110 I would probably myself look at a surecal calorifier integrated into the engine loop. As not much change to the coolant loop has to be done. plated, heat exchanges and underfloor heating. I feel starts to get a lot more complicated, although I would very much like underfloor heating.

@tetorro5365 6 месяцев назад

👍🏼 tank's great job 👏

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Cheers thank you for watching

@ChristianMilesOnLine 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for this video - I will eventually be looking to replace a Mikuni MX40 water heater for use on narrowboat via radiators (Now 17 years old, still working but one day it will eventually fail) been looking at these Chinese versions but this is first decent review I’ve seen

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Glad you found it helpful. Sounds like you’ve definitely got your moneys worth out of your current water heater! Hopefully the next video will show the performance of the unit

@ChristianMilesOnLine 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Looking forward to part 2! I think park of m my current heaters long life… besides good luck! Is that once the coolant is up to temperature - which can take a few hours on my boat, I switch the unit off and don’t allow it to cycle… I also replaced the room thermostat with a simple on/off switch.

@MrSnowMen 7 месяцев назад

60'c could be a tiny bit hot, oh gosh, I've melted , I've melted if used for your shower Thanks once again on a teardown.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

This warm heats up to 80c before shutting down! Very toasty! I think it’s good to have a look inside these heaters, so we can get an idea of what they’re purchasing

@marconrustNL 7 месяцев назад

Watched all your Arctic videos last few days while being home with the flue. Man, really enjoyed watching them and it brought back memories of our own trip from The Netherlands up to the North Cape a couple of years ago (with a normal car, but in winter in a two week round trip). Hope you will make a new series this winter!!

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Thank you very much for watching and I hope you feel better soon. I also can’t wait to get back up there this winter for my third winter. sounds like your own trip must’ve been a lot of fun

@marconrustNL 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Thnx, better already. Great to hear you will go back again this season. Can't wait to watch the new series. When will that be, January? Yeah, our trip was absolutely epic too, with 6 friends and 3 cars. But with 2 weeks really just a bit too short.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@marconrustNL that sounds like quite the epic road trip and glad you’re feeling better. Yes, Early January. All being well. The first video will start coming out by mid January.

@marconrustNL 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Awesome, something to look out for 👍

@robww5921 7 месяцев назад

You need to send a video to living the van life about installation of this. In his preparing for artic trip he didn't think any existed for a sprinter so just used a heating pad.....

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I was actually chatting to Chad a few days ago on Insta about this! Considering how big of a channel he is, it was nice he responded to me in DM

@stephenbulmer7148 7 месяцев назад

Another very interesting video Alex. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and thoughts. Be interesting to see what you think of its performance after you’ve tested it. Cheers👍👍👍👍

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Cheers for watching having done most of the testing. It performed exactly as I would expect it to no real problems at all.

@markjaik 7 месяцев назад

Part 2 please 😁 still considering this as an upgrade to my 230v engine coolant heater for our comming winter trip. And I dont bave much time to decide since it has to be shipped from china. Thanks for your insight and waiting for pt 2😊💪🏻

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Definitely diesel preheater will be more powerful and versatile than a 230V one Next video will be out soon, overall though shipping was reasonably quick

@markjaik 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures nice! Thanks

@David_11111 7 месяцев назад

YAY

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I feel like it’s a long time since I’ve had a yay

@russholah 7 месяцев назад

Great vid. if the hydronic is preheating the engine, Guess the vehicle heater matrix gets warmed up as well? Maybe a secondary power supply to the vehicle heater fans so you don’t have to turn the key to have a back up on a back up heat source in case main diesel heater packs up. Maybe put in some diodes etc. just a thought, backup on a backup !

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Yes you can indeed I personally don’t have mine set up in that way as I want the engine to heat up quicker ( and since it’s a campervan and I’m in it, it’s warmer anyway ) , but many of these type of units have the option to have some type of fan related output to turn on the vehicles air heater.

@boatelectricaldiy 6 месяцев назад

Thank you for this. You got my sub.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Thank you very much for watching and subscribing

@112boatman 5 месяцев назад

Be careful with the little fiber squares that keep the plastic case from the heater they are aspestos on the chinese air heaters the gaskets can also be aspestos

@MispronouncedAdventures 5 месяцев назад

They were known for using it in the exhaust muffling material as well

@droeschalain2214 4 месяца назад

Very clear and informative explanation which intelligently complements the manual supplied with the product. I would like to know if the black relay is supplied with the water heater or what brand and type it is. It was not delivered in my package. Thank you Mispronounced Adventures 👍👍

@MispronouncedAdventures 4 месяца назад

Glad you found it helpful. Only that clear see-through relay is supplied. I also did query this with the supplier and they said it only comes with one, not two . Which I do find rather strange. For the testing, I used a standard spare 40A automotive relay. Which is only a few pounds.

@dancarter482 7 месяцев назад

_AMAZING_ timing - just bit the bullet last night and bought a recon Eberspatcher d4 because I have had enough of all the hassle with the Oriental knock-offs! I've got three - one has just given up for reasons most mysterious - the other 2 are in bits for various reasons and I have spares galore .. ....

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

The consistency of the Chinese air heaters change massively between different brands although I don’t generally personally call them the knock offs because they use the expired patient of Eberspacher D4 but there are a lot of changes they’re just a far cheaper unit using the design. but inconsistency wise, I know people who have never had them working whilst mine has got nearly 4000 hours on it and never really an issue. At least you’ll have plenty of spare now

@dancarter482 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Sooting up has been a regular feature - never to the extent of total blockage like some I've seen but enough to stop it producing smoke free heat. I used to swap my 2kw for the 5. so it could go on the bench for a full overhaul. Had to replace a motor, new one was really noisy. had trouble finding a match for parts, got one all rebuilt and shiny and the fan gave up after a few hours - carried on burning but not cooling - lucky I was around to pull the plug! Fault codes that don't correspond to the fault - days freezing trying to determine the issue . .. .. . You say they're not knock-off but look at all the junk parts you have to replace with ^that^ one you've just demonstrated! At least with the German stuff you know what model it is and where parts and advice can be found.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@dancarter482 I think it’s more our definitions of knock off. I’m going for it using a western design made changed so it can be cheaper. Knock off for me is really a Chinese product, trying to impersonate and pretend it as good as. doesn’t really matter anyway. I’ve definitely cleaned out some horrifically clogged Chinese unit and Webastos as well. I find clogging kennels also be massively based upon Howels. It was installed, i’ve seen issues in Chinese and Western units because of this. My personal one has never been an issue apart from £6 in new motor bearings.

@dancarter482 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Amazing how they vary - none of mine are really alike and buying parts like motherboards etc. has been crazy 'cause none of the plugs match.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@@dancarter482 in my dismantling of them, I’ve seen at least three different casting moulds with different lettering and a few different design parts on them. But more or less you can make mix and match all of those. It’s the ECU and compatible controllers which can be the bigger issue.

@StephenShreds 7 месяцев назад

Man I wish this video came out when I was doing my van build! I bought the espar hydronic heater and my whole system cost 2k. 😅

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I’m sure your hydronic heater will still be excellent though and have good warranty!

@StephenShreds 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures I bought it from heatso like 3 years ago so I might be out of warranty

@charlessaville1911 7 месяцев назад

It looks like a later top v copy, they have the same pipe connectors also

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I do look at the V as well. I thought the Evo was the successor of the V? As for the pipe fittings, I’ve got two Evo’s one of them had those type of holes and lugs on the body whilst the other didn’t.

@ewanstevenson 7 месяцев назад

I remember, many years ago, watching my neighbour fabricate a gasket on a water pump by laying a sheet of whatever you make gaskets from (🤷) over the casting and gently tapping round the edges with a small hammer to cut it to shape. Don't know whether that would work here as it looks like more of an intricate shape.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

my other videos using the diesel air heaters and they have a far more paper style heater, a number of times in my comments they mentioned using gasket paper like you have done. I was just surprised to see the material of this gasket, but maybe in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter

@AJ-qn6gd 7 месяцев назад

Any good engineering supplies outlet will sell gasket paper material in different thicknesses and for different uses, they will also sell gasket punches for making different size holes it’s handy to keep this stuff in case you need a gasket and are off grid. 👍🏻🇬🇧

@juliogonzo2718 7 месяцев назад

For paper gaskets you can use box board and trace and cut the gasket with a razor blade. I made an intake plenum gasket from an ice cream sandwich box once. I even made sure to cut the gasket out in such a way that it had "ice cream sandwich" written on it for the next time someone took it apart 😂

@StopLossLOL 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for making the video! Looking forward to the actual burn test - Do you think that hydronic systems waste a lot of energy if used as an air heater and water heater, because the unit sits outside? Was wondering if the fuel consumption goes up significantly. THX!

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Not necessarily wastes a lot, going to depend on individual systems. I prefer air heaters for hot air as it’s just simpler. I haven’t tested fuel usage yet, but looking at statistics a 5kw hydronic on the maximum uses a small amount more fuel per hour more than a 5kw air heater on maximum.

@garymichalski5197 7 месяцев назад

Well I made the plunge and will this one out. Should have it in a week now. Now to figure out batteries for it run off.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Best of luck, if your vehicle has a 12 V starter, you could have it on there?

@JonWelford-cf6xh 4 месяца назад

It is now (feb 24) available from uk warehouse at £216. I will use it to replace an Eberspacher D4WSC with an ecu problem in my boat. Even if I could source an ECU It would likely cost almost twice the price of the W51 ! In preliminary testing it doesn't seem to restart after the 80C stop, however I haven't looked closely at the settings. I will try to reduce the coolant setting temp and see how that works. It will be used mainly to heat the hot tank as I have an air heater. Very helpful video though fitting that plug lock to the main body was a nightmare as the heater is in the bowels of a boat locker.😰

@MispronouncedAdventures 4 месяца назад

Nice to see they’ve come down even more and available in the UK warehouse. I believe the restart at 80° is in settings, but it wasn’t a feature I played with during my testing. Although I’m sure I did have it turned on again in one occasion.

@JonWelford-cf6xh 4 месяца назад

I have sorted it@@MispronouncedAdventures If you start it manually it just stops at 80C , no restart. If you set a time to start and a duration and A= ON then it will heat up to 80C , stop, but the pump keeps water circulating and when the temp falls to 60C it restarts and cycles till the duration time is reached.

@garymichalski5197 7 месяцев назад

About time someone talked about the Chinese coolant heater. Been waiting to put one on my semi to heat the engine and if I can get heat from it in sleeper also

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on it to make the video as I’ve not many around. I love engine preheater in my van.

@juliogonzo2718 7 месяцев назад

I don't mean to be a downer, but I wouldn't put one of these on a vehicle that was making me money. It is probably fine and will never have a problem, but if it blows up and you dump a bunch of coolant, you aren't making any money on the side of the road. I might consider putting one of these on my personal vehicle, but if I was an o/o of a semi I'd be putting a webasto or eberspacher

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@juliogonzo2718 you probably want a fair large unit for a semi. 10kw, 12, 16 or more

@juliogonzo2718 7 месяцев назад

I should add, my boss put a webasto thermotop evo preheater on the tow truck I take home because my landlord is a biotch and won't let me plug the block heater in. It does not blow much in the way of warm air out of the vents on startup after the heater has been running. It will only run 2 hours max at a time. I have to be ready to go anytime at night and it started fine last winter even below -30°C ambient temp. I have it set to come on at 11 for an hour, 1am for hour and a half, 4am for an hour and 6:30 for an hour and a half. It's an international 5 ton with a Cummins L9 so not a big bore engine.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@@juliogonzo2718 I use the Webasto Thermo Top Evo 5kw myself. Been a great unit in that arctic, even if we do have smaller engines in Europe

@A-Nobody 7 месяцев назад

Wondering if spare parts are going to be an issue with this water heater. It's one thing to spend a hundred quid on a CDH and easily replace it but £300 is a different story. Excellent video though. Thanks.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Yeah I think you’ll hard pressed to find main body spares and the £300 is considerably more than just buying a whole new CDH

@michielmeijer5653 7 месяцев назад

Hi, very interested here! Especially in energy consumption. Both fuel as well as wattage to run the unit. With the hydronic heater cycling on and off, it would it consume a lot of wattage starting up the burn? And then there are the hot air exchangers. I have an American classic motorhome, heating systems are simple and parts are relatively cheap, but near cost of one of these Chinese units. The simplicity comes at cost of efficiency. I think 50% of the combustion heat is lost for air heat and the blower wheel motor takes 150 watts, all a bit crude and doesn’t go well when I wild camp almost indefinitely. So, I’d like to replace this, and am looking at air and hydronic, perhaps using gasoline as that is what’s in the tank. Thanks!

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

The next video has the testing in it. Where I’ll cover electrical consumption, glow plug and general running. Fuel is not necessarily going to be the easiest for me to work out, but I’ll give it again. I remember reading the spec sheet it was around 560ml per hour on max. But generally the unit wouldn’t be on max all the time it would’ve got the coolant up to plan temperature and then turned off again. Cycling on and off.

@tcs7678 7 месяцев назад

Is the circulation pump a descent quality ? Would you recommend to replace it with one from Webasto or Eberspächer ? Thanks ! Great video. Looking forward to part 2 !

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Looks circulation pump middle of the road, nothing special, but definitely not bad. I thing I was buying just a pump, I’ll look for a high quality one but not necessarily the price tag of a Webastos

@tcs7678 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventuresDo you think it is possible/useful to direct the hot exhaust air of the engine pre-heater to the engine oil pan, so that the very cold and viscous engine oil is somewhat pre-heated as well ?

@moobaz8675 7 месяцев назад

I've used the diesel heater in all my Discoveries and they have proven to be really good at pre warming the engine. Sadly my new Defender has done away with it and just uses the engine via the app. Not sure that is progress. 🤔 Looking to add something like the to my Renault Master.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

If you are familiar with the unit, I’ve had quite a lot of luck with with Webasto models from scrapped a discovery. I retrofitted it to my transit, not too difficult

@moobaz8675 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures interesting. Not thought of that. Lots of Discoveries being scrapped now. I’ll have a look at options.

@muserbellamy1140 7 месяцев назад

Hi very interesting do you think I could heat a hot tub with it or got any ideas thankyou

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Yes, I’ve heard of this been done a few times before. In my testing it’s around a 4kw heating output. So you work out the time taken heat the hot tub if you know the water volume and what start and target temperature. There are a few online calculators which can do the water heating maths

@wanderingzythophile9083 7 месяцев назад

So early on in this video, you talking about the differences between air heaters and hydronic heaters, it made a question pop into my tiny mind. :P With air heaters, the common wisdom is to fire those things up to full power for a few minutes every now and again, to help keep the combustion chamber from getting clogged up with soot. Easy enough to do, just dial controller "up to eleven" and let it go. But as you say with the hydronic heaters, those things go by the coolant temperature - the furnace runs til the coolant inside is up to the set temp, then will cycle off and on to maintain that coolant temperature. But - they have the same burn chamber and such - how would one force a hydronic heater to run at the highest level to achieve the same result? Is it as simple as dialing up the desired coolant temp on the controller? I've got an Espar S3 hydronic heater that I'm going to be installing in my van Real Soon Now but I have yet to do anything with it, so I've no direct experience with these units.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Good observation and knowledge of some of the recommendations out there for the air heaters. Pretty much, the hydronic heaters only run on maximum. They are always running at full tilt until they reach around 65 to 70° (depending on the model) start to dial back to half power, so they don’t overshoot 80c and then shut down. They don’t get to 80° and then dial back to low to maintain it. They just shut down, then come back on again when the heater has probably dropped around 65° depending on unit So you wouldn’t really run into the potential issue when the diesel air heaters are run on low for hours on end So depending what you’re doing, you may have cycles on and off a lot if you’re using it in a leisure format, whilst normally for an engine preheat you’re only using it once to get the temperature hot before starting it

@wanderingzythophile9083 7 месяцев назад

I suspected as much, that they'd just go full bore til the coolant reached the desired temp. That tells me that hydronic heaters, in general, will require less maintenance? At least of the "take it apart and clean the guts out with brake cleaner" type maintenance? My heater will be on the leisure side, air through a heating vent with the heat exchanger on the back, and then for hot water via regular heat exchangers, so it'll run a fair bit, much more than a block heater.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@wanderingzythophile9083 Shouldn’t require much maintenance or cleaning, unlike the equivalent in air heaters

@wanderingzythophile9083 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures That was my theory as well. Excellent! Thanks Alex.

@lukasz_kostka 6 месяцев назад

You can replace gasket with red silicone (high temp resistant)

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Simple as it sounds? draw around the perimeter you wish to seal

@lukasz_kostka 6 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures I did seal some stuff with it. Just don't smear a lot of it.

@lukasz_kostka 6 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures I did seal some stuff with it. Just don't smear a lot of it.

@NexusTracks 7 месяцев назад

Great videos as always. Could you explain how the hydronic heater works with the vans existing heater matrix. To run the vans blowers? Would this mean I could get away without the separate blown air heater matrix? And also I’ve seen some hydronic heaters have a 1hr cutoff is this one the same. Thanks a million

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

So hydronic heaters in the format you’ve mentioned pipes are put on the cabin air matrix return line hose before it gets back to the engine block. See the hydronic heater is just heating that so coolant loop. Depending which model of hydronic heater you have, they normally have a fan output wire, or you can manually add one which when wired in correctly turns the cabin fan on to use the cabin blower to heat the cab.

@NexusTracks 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures thanks for the speedy response, rather than keep bugging you, could you recommend any good sources for info, on installation 🙌

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@NexusTracks there’s two videos on my channel how to integrate them into vans. Additionally, I found Nordic countries van manuals as many of the Nordic countries auxiliary heaters like this are factory fitted are a good way to show how they’re also implemented.

@NexusTracks 7 месяцев назад

Thanks 🙏🏼 I’ll do some reading

@LoremIpsum1970 7 месяцев назад

Part 2, please! Hi Alex, been waiting for a video like this, and the positives of running on diesel! A question, if I may? With your LA starter being in the cab, have you had any issues starting at low temps?

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

All being well part two will be next week I’ve got the vast majority of it filmed and edited. Just need to pick up on a few pieces. In Europe it’s necessary to run diesel as that’s realistically the only option of vans are available in. The only time I had issues starting in the cold was when the coolant froze in the lines because the mix was wrong, so the preheater couldn’t actually pump the coolant around. all the other mornings of the last 2 winter. I’ve never had an issue starting the van, when the engines been preheated, always caught on first twist of the key

@LoremIpsum1970 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures And you've never had the need to have a battery warmer for your LA starter battery with the cold?

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@LoremIpsum1970 nope not at all, I have a trickle charger which makes so it remains charged, but never any form of heating for my lead acid starter

@LoremIpsum1970 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Thanks, Alex 👍

@luvenstefan 7 месяцев назад

Thank you, Sir for this Video! Will wait for your testing before change the one in my Sprinter 5,5 t 4x4. By the way, do you have changed the screws " Lights/Hood" 🧐😁 Kind regards Stefan🇩🇪

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Glad you enjoyed the video, hopefully testing video will be out soon but having tested it it performed as I would expect it too. Screws/lights/hood? Not sure what you mean?

@luvenstefan 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures As you had installed the lights on the hood, you used mutch to long screws ( freaked me out 😁🙄) you've promised to change them. Have a good evening, Sir. Stefan🇩🇪

@markjaik 7 месяцев назад

Hey again! Quick question while in order.. there is a Type A and type B. Do you know any of the differences? The control unit and remote look different, and on the control panel is text Park Heater. However type A is in stock in Europe and cheaper.. do you think this is the same unit or are there any other differences? Thank you!

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I think the only difference between the controllers is the colour and layout, the overall functionality, as far as I’m aware as the same

@markjaik 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Thanks, I will consider ordering that one this weekend. The remote and control panel doesnt really bother me. It is 100 euro cheaper right now also..! Thank you!

@MarkStaton-qz2fq 3 месяца назад

Is the glow plug same as the as the parking heater

@MispronouncedAdventures 3 месяца назад

Mechanically, it works the same and is doing the same job as an air heater but component wise, it’s a different component

@garymichalski5197 7 месяцев назад

Do you think that is big enough to heat a 14 L diesel engine. It also has 11ft sleeper that uses coolant from engine to heat sleeper area when driving. Will be big enough to get a little heat with when parked. For the not so freezing night where air heater is to much.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I’m sure it will. I do know there are larger models of hydronic heater out. 10kw, 12kw, 16kw. this 5kW will heat the engine and definitely your loop for heating the habitation part of the sleeper. It just might take longer to heat that block up to working temperatures in the cold.

@Globalizmas-Keiksmazodis 5 месяцев назад

Can you use it at home instead of a boiler + to heat the water in your radiators

@MispronouncedAdventures 5 месяцев назад

Wet heating is popular in boats. You could use it with radiator but this is only 5kw unit. It might be enough for a house.

@heinzehenrik752 6 месяцев назад

Does Somebody know if the chinese hydronic heater has an runtime limit? For example my autotherm flow it shuts off after two hours and ich need to start it again

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

I remember reading a 8 hours note in the manual, I’ll try and fit it when I get the manual back

@zuk4wd 5 месяцев назад

With the knowledge you have now. Would you reinstall the airheater, or would you go for a waterbased system for underfloor heating, airmatrix, heat exchanger circuit for shower water and a second for engine preheat ?

@MispronouncedAdventures 5 месяцев назад

I’d 100% still go for an Air heater + engine pre heater. However I’d link the engine pre heater to a water tank like this.

@zuk4wd 5 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures thanx for the answer and the facts that come with it. I’m currently running the Autoterm 2KW ducted out in 4 places. But since me and my mate are planning to do an arctic trip like you are doing. Engine preheat is a must. And since i have that then, why not add at least a airmatrix unit for redundant heating.

@MispronouncedAdventures 5 месяцев назад

@zuk4wd what size vehicle have you got? I would be worried a 2kw on the coldest night not be enough. One of my subscribers was out last year with only a 2kw in a MWD transit and he had some very cold nights! Engine pre heater is a must! I did think about adding an air matrix for a back up. At the moment I can have the key in the ignition and have the cabin heater going.

@zuk4wd 5 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures well that would be L2H2 Ducato with the 3.0 Iveco engine.

@zuk4wd 5 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures found your IG account. Do you have a website or email addess. So i could ask you a few questions. Maybe we could do a trip together?

@Pixelkill3R 7 месяцев назад

This unit is described on the HCALORY website as "...Smooth, automatic room temperature control with temperature pre-set facility. With continuous monitoring and diagnostic system..." does this system thermostatically measure room air temperature if used run through radiators/undefloor?

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I doubt that and don’t see any way that it could. The heater is only sensing the temperature of the coolant loop which is up to 80° whatever type of heating system be an air matrix or a radiator or under for heating must have to have its own thermostat. the heater just turns off at 80c and back on at 65c again. I’ll have to look into that more I don’t see how it would do that

@Pixelkill3R 7 месяцев назад

Thanks.. looking at the Hcalory website images of the W51 , there is one which shows a different controller including a description that states 'temperature can be controlled from 16 - 35 degrees Celsius' which i would assume to be be air temperature.. who exactly knows, Chinese advertising is wishy washy :) @@MispronouncedAdventures

@Bordberti 6 месяцев назад

Ist der Lüftermotor ein Bürstenlos Motor?

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Brushed DC motor, the only company I know who use brushless / induction motors in heaters are Autoterm

@JimBiddle. 7 месяцев назад

Comment for the algorithm. For what it costs, I'd buy a second hand quality unit, use the change to buy all the quality accessories/parts you'll need. Seeing the mounting plate, the one that keeps it attached to your van, rusting before it's even fitted, doesn't inspire confidence.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I use a Webasto and keep a second Webasto as spare for my Arctic trips. But I wanted to looks at this kit. The bracket is about the same thickness as my Webasto version which was painted. This bracket looks zinc plated to me with some tarnishing around some of the bolt holes. So I would imagine it would rust over time. It doesn’t stick out to me as an immediate part of the kit to replace unlike others, but the Webasto bracket is cheap online

@court2379 6 месяцев назад

How much noise does it make? I have wanted to replace the heater in my camper with a hydronic system to make it completely silent.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Depends how you heat. They hydronic you would still potentially hear the heater running, depending where you’ve mounted the exhaust or the pump. Inside, you might still hear the hot liquid to hot air exchanger if the fan is blowing hard.

@court2379 6 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures Ah yeah, the fuel pumps are noisy, particularly if you mount them at all. Is the fan on these quieter than the air heaters? Being mostly enclosed I would think so so long as long lines were used on both intake and exhaust. As far as heating the space I would use passive components. Either tubing under the floor and heat spreader plates, and insulate behind it. Or some finned tubes inside a vertical space for natural convection (turn the cabinets into a radiator). Neither of those would make any audible sound unless there are air bubbles in the pipes.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

@court2379 the fan wouldn’t be the best example. diesel air heaters are based inside the Vehicle, so you hear the internal fan. Hydronic heaters are based outside the vehicle so you wouldn’t hear the fan. But if you can go for a complete wet heating system, I imagine it should be rather quiet once all the air has been bled out

@garymichalski5197 7 месяцев назад

What exhaust pipe would you upgrade to?

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I don’t know the correct name of it, but I did a bit of B roll showing the type I use. Searching diesel heater exhaust upgrade or Webasto exhaust might get you a better results.

@ProlificInvention 7 месяцев назад

In my most recent video on my channel I show a nifty way to heat water with a diesel heater or generator. Works flawlessly

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

Interesting use of an old steam radiator. One thing I would wonder is the Chinese diesel heater are particularly sensitive to restrictions upon their exhaust. Restrictions affect the air of fuel burn ratio and potentially might need lead to soot up sooner. Did you tune it afterwards or measure particular count?

@ProlificInvention 7 месяцев назад

@MispronouncedAdventures While not scientific like a particulate count, I have anecdotal observations: The steam radiators have a 1" input which is larger than the diesel heater exhaust pipe, as well as a large internal volume-so zero back pressure, even under load. Also this is my third winter of using a diesel heater connected to a steam radiator. The first and second winters I used a different diesel heater which I subsequently decided to change the glow plug on and clean the combustion chamber after hundreds of hours of use (if not a thousand) and there was no excess buildup out of the ordinary (I have 5 of these so very familiar with them) Many people commented on my original videos of this and mentioned this and various other predicted or assumed issues like moisture buildup but real world tests showed no issues, steam moisture is pretty much the only exhaust coming out. When its all said and done, it's a little over a hundred dollar heater so its not an expensive risk to find out.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@@ProlificInvention sounds good to me, didn’t know the inside of them would be so open

@dane21au 6 месяцев назад

Problem is if it's at temperature and the power fails it fries the PCB. I have killed my unit that way.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Same is for any diesel heater, regardless of brand

@TRAVISGOLDIE 7 месяцев назад

Hey alex, im in Australia where the chance of water freezing overnight is next to zero, is there any reason not to run water directly through in my case?

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

It’s a good point, I guess it depends on how you want to use it. Whilst I really only mentioned, coolant and freezing temperatures. The other advantage of coolant, which is the water glycol mix is it also increases the boiling temperature of the liquid as well so you don’t have the risk of boiling in the unit

@TRAVISGOLDIE 7 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures yeah didnt think about steam production and pressure risks.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

@TRAVISGOLDIE use case will be the important bit here. I would say definitely risks in a closed system, but for people who are heating things like hot tubs, so on in an open system less of an issue.

@HermitHippy 6 месяцев назад

You also want the anti-corrosive properties of the anti-freeze, even in a mild climate.

@Heterchristian 6 месяцев назад

I would like to see a very detailed instruction how to mount it. Think a lot of people are struggling/can’t be fucked cause it seems hard to mount.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

It’s usually very specific to each vehicle model. Different mounting location and coolant runs. I found the easier way was to find a workshop manual online for my van from a Nordic country they are often installed at factory. I have a few videos on how I installed mine

@IDK_Mr.M 6 месяцев назад

Chinesium metal casting

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Indeed

@daan3298 6 месяцев назад

Too bad it isn't a brushless motor for the fan. That, the wear on the brushes, the grit that gets in the bearings specifically, is a known failure point on the chinese air heaters and I suspect will be on these as well. Otherwise, this unit looks not too bad at all! What kind of glow plug does it come with?

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

It’s the same for the western brands, the Thermo top by Webasto doesn’t use brushless motors either. I believe some of the autoterm units use a brushless motor.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

As for the glow plug, it’s not the variety you adore see in a Chinese diesel heater which are threaded ones. but similar to the ones used in the thermostat top.

@daan3298 6 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventures I've gone through a bunch of chinese air heaters in the last 5 years of vanlife and sold them too. Once Vevor entered the market they started to fail more and more, mostly on bearings (from the grit of wear on the brushes) and failed glow plugs. This is why I now recommend Autoterm. They have the brushless motor and better glow plugs. Have seen many Autoterm heaters go for 5+ years, without maintenance even. Great product for the price. But having fun with Chinese heaters is also, well fun :) Nothing wrong with that!

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

@@daan3298 I primarily use the Chinese heater. I’ve swapped the motor bearings at the two 2000 hour mark for some high-quality Japanese ones, which only cost £6 and been fine ever since. Autoterm do make some great kit

@daan3298 6 месяцев назад

@@MispronouncedAdventuresYeah, I've changed the bearings too. First with the metal walls but they started to make a sort of shilling noise so I ended up using rubber walled versions that don't make noise. Those were also high quality Japanese ones. I wish I would have a balancer so I could balance the whole fan unit myself, that (and better glow plugs) would fix most of my annoyances with the Chinese units. But with all of that extra investment... It just makes more sense to get the Autoterm. I have two Eberspächer Airtronic S2 heaters and two Webasto Airtop heaters (3500 ST and 5000 ST), which I've either got gifted of bought for really cheap. Not sure if I'll keep them for experimenting or have someone take a shot at them. I've tried to modify one of the Eberspächers to run with a Chinese motherboard and controller but it faulted on the polarity of the magnet in the main fan.

@zorrobyte4183 7 месяцев назад

Wait until you run it, loudest, highest pitched POS ever.

@MispronouncedAdventures 7 месяцев назад

I agree it was loud and high pitched, but i was standing next it on a closed environment with it out in the open. my outdoor tests it didn’t sound anywhere as bad and I’d guess when mounted under a van even less so

@dylanetaft 3 месяца назад

Reinzosil can make a gasket. It is for high temp and fuel safe. I just got one of these. I am going to try hydronic heating. I have lost faith in the safety of the air heaters.

@MispronouncedAdventures 3 месяца назад

Call few people have mentioned different materials for making your own gaskets. Good luck with your hydronic heating testing

@Melicoy 6 месяцев назад

What kind of sensor. Finish the sentence please. Temperature sensor? Flow Sensor? Humidity Sensor...

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Whats time stamp? Apologies if a cut in the editing clipped the end of a sentence off.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Although whatever it is, I’d imagine it was a temperature sensor. Three wired ones plugged into the ECU are all temperature sensors

@higyedattila3999 6 месяцев назад

Chinese copy/paste Webasto thermo top v......

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

I say that throughout the video, although I do think it was the earlier Webasto Thermo top Evo model. Not a direct copy and paste though, I have a Thermo top Evo and V. They are 100% based off the design and layout of the Webasto and copied The burn chamber and gaskets are the same. The actual body casting whilst Similar shapes are rather different and actually overall quite a bit larger than the Evo model. So much like the air heaters, which use the Espar 4D design. Heavily uses the design, but makes alterations and changes presumably to make production costs cheaper and easier.

@Robertrls01 6 месяцев назад

hows this survival when you obviously on a well groomed, and plowed road? Where I live you'd never get that van up there. This is car camping right outside of town videos.

@MispronouncedAdventures 6 месяцев назад

Not entirely sure where I said anything is survival in the video? Of course it obvious it’s on groomed and plowed roads, that shown throughout the videos. If they weren’t plowed, they would be metres deep in snow, and no one would go through them. Not necessary just outside of Town, the Nordic in place can be pretty sparse but they maintain even smaller roads pretty well