Well, this is the reason we wanted the power station in the first place. Jackery Explorer 240 Power Station - amzn.to/39l3o2S Jackery SolarSaga 100 Solar Panel - amzn.to/3da2fwj
Hi David. Thanks for another informative video. My take on a power supply for the heater is two 7amp hour lead acid batteries (14ah) ,solar charger for voltage display and usb output and charging. I use the heater to heat my tent on winter camping trips, and have a small wood burning stove for cooking. Cheers, Jim.
Mr McLuckie. Just when you have an idea somebody is already there, and in your case with a fun comprehensive explanation. This is great for camper vans. You can run your fridge and diesel heater from the cheapest jackery power bank , and you can charge the bank on solar. Cold for bear and heat for sleep and drying wet cocks, all on the cheap, my world just got better. Thank you my man.
hello David nice peace of work. and well presented. thank you for all of your continued help. in the running an maintenance of said device . all the best tone
I like this guy, he's honest and doesn't talk in riddles. He said, this little Jackery will run your heater about 6 hrs. Well, I figure maybe 🤔 a bigger Jackery will run it alot longer and get me through the night 🌙 THANKS for being honest and sharing. Now,I'll be buying a couple Jackery's
Thanks for your videos. I've had a lot of cigarette lighter plugs melt. They come in a wide variety of quality, mostly poor. This one looks like it's pretty good though.
Very useful video. But I found it after I ordered my Explorer 240 because of the seasonal discount code. My hopes are to use it to run a diesel heater, but that's going to take me a couple of months to buy the heater and other parts to build a system. My plans are eventually to put it all in a roof top box that I can mount to my car's roof and depending on how I run ducts and hoses, it'll be used to heat the car, garage or ice fishing tent Six hours operating the heater is a bit of a disappointment, but this is the only size I can afford for the time being so it'll be a good place to start. I guess I'll have to figure out the run time for having it on half and low power and seeing how it'll be at keeping a tent on the ice warm. But it sounds like I'll probably still run a propane heater probably during the non sleeping hours I'm fishing. As for in the garage, I'll probably get a 12V PSU in the roof top box to run the heater since I'll have grid power available there.
Many thanks for the video, just what I was looking for. I want a portable diesel heater and I'm trying to avoid the installation of a secondary battery (perhaps at the end is worth the investment). Regards
The power Oak couldn't run a diesel night heater off the 10 amp power socket, tested by Mel's Van Life. The Jackery did work just like you demonstrated so they're definitely not all equal 👍
that was the old model with an unregulated 12 volt out , the newer AC50S does have a regulated output and run a CH just fine , I know as I use the newer one to run mine .
@@uptowndisco2 I know they started using regulated 12 volt and actually thought the one Mel uses was the newer one but I'd have to go back and check his videos. I know he made a video comparing the Jackery and Power Oak a week or two ago. Anyway I appreciate you replying to tell me yours does work, perhaps I'll check out his video again and mention that 👍
I bought a similar spec portable battery which doesnt have the guts to fire up an 5kw on either its DC or AC with a PSU. I ended up getting a Y cable and connecting the heater to a 3 cell lipo and a lipo charger. The lipo battery handles the starting and stopping current. The charger which is powered from the bank is set to balance charge at 1.4A (depends on heater output setting). A balance charger ramps down its charging current as the battery voltage nears 12.6v. With the load of the heater it never reaches 12.6v so just continuously charges. Not an idea solution but I had the stuff on hand.
@@CallaFab hey same thing here i also have ecoflow. and it keeps saying undervoltage" on my diesel heater. but if you would buy the $14 12v to AC power supply and just use the AC outlet of the ecoflow, it will just work fine.. im goin to different route and probably just have a 20ah Lipo with solar for a standalone diesel heater.
@@21se7en2 I ended up making a 12volt pigtail. Heater plugs into it, then the adapter Y's off to the ecoflow and a battery. This provides enough amps to start/stop the heater and the ecoflow keeps the battery topped off as well. No reason to 'waste' power running an additional AC power supply. I found this works perfectly fine.
I just got my 8kw (same as the 5kw) all-in-one. So, now I have 2 diesel heaters. I ran it today off the Jackery 300. It pulled close to 140 watts at the peak with the fan on high and the glow plug on. Once the glow plug went off with the fan at full speed and up to max temp it pulled a constant 51 watts. At the lowest temp and the glow plug off it drew 11 watts. So, how long it will run depends on how high the heater is turned up. I left the Jackery plugged in so there was no battery depletion. The Jackery 300 had no problems supplying the DC amps.
I work with the German unit's quite a bit and i use edith as a diagnostic measure. The amp drop is your glow plug heating up and the German models are the same values you gave on the video. People pick up this unit and save money. ❤
Oh the glow plug probably give you 2.5 to 5 amps on start up and once flame is detected the glow plug shuts off and all you are powering is the blower motor and fuel pump. Think of the turtle vs the rabbit race. It will take just a few minutes to reach operating parameters but one done solar panels can keep the unit going
This is an interresting video. im looking at getting a diesel heater for shed/greenhouse. I dont know if you have done a video on these heaters being run of a 12v battery, how long would a 120ah battery power these heaters on a worse case setting of 40w
Ok now it made me think of the dewalt 20/60/v 9ah running in the converter Will 60v be better going in would it last longer or will the converter just eat your power
Hi David .. really informative so thanks again ... I am really interested but am wondering how would you go about installing the jackery to ensure it doesn’t run to a point that it doesn’t retain enough power to facilitate the correct suit down cycle? for example if you are using this configuration to run a night heater in a boat ? Kind regards - john
I have a Planar portable diesel heater that i run from my 12v connection on my Jackery 1000W power station. It is a 2kwh heater. Upon start up it draws maybe 8 amps for a minute, and on the low setting less than 1 amp. I’d suggest you’d get more than 6 hours on that smaller Jackery. I’ve been using the heater for a year with a heavy duty cigarette plug and it’s been great.
@@acmthere3674 Planar Heaters and Expedition Upfitters are both in Canada. Expedition is an approved reseller for Planar, or you can go direct to Planar. I also found a USA company that got into the market. Seems about the same type of solution, lower price point for now. I have no experience with them though. But these things have jumped in price dramatically, so shopping for options isn’t bad. There is a RU-vid channel called Keegan Builds who has started making these as well. Looked like a very high quality design but he wasn’t in production when I was ready. Happy to give feedback on the 2kw unit, feel free to reach out. Good luck.
Does the heater really use more than 10 amps for startup? I'm looking for a 110v to 12 volt houe adapter, and not sure if I should get a 10 amp or 15 amp adapter. The 15 amp are much more expensive and common.
Great content mate. Would a Jackery be capable of running something like Bobil Vans hot water system too? They're pretty impressive, I'm thinking of getting the 1000 or 1500 and hoping it's all I need to run hot water and a diesel heater. Cheers mate.
Yes. Well more yes than no. Occasionally there are heaters that draw more than 10A at startup which trips a portable power supply. But this can usually be fixed by having the low power set lower so it starts slower. Once it's running there is more than enough current left to run the pump for the Bobil Vans water heater. The pump only pulls 0.5A.
I have a diesel heater and set it up twice but it only stays on for A very few minutes. Can u tell me the correct cord to use from unit to Jackery as I feel this is my problem. I used a 12v cord. Is it different a page????? Nothing in instructions about amps. Thank you for your video.
Hi David, I watched this video so many times it's been really useful as I'm looking into getting a jackery to power my diesel heater. Could I ask, the cigarette socket male adapter I need to purchase for connecting the heater to the jackery, I've seen some that come with a 15amp fuse or a 10amp fuse. Which fusing would I need for connecting the heater to the jackery? Thanks
Very informative, I just wanted to know more about the cigarette cable and what size fuse you used. Got the allpowers R600 and wanted to power diesel heater with it.
So, realistically, how long on a full charge can you run a diesel heater off of this Jackery Explorer 240? full power for 10 mins on startup, full power on shut down, and low power/fan throughout operation? Thanks for any help you can provide.
I've ran mine for about 16 hours on the lowest fan setting without having to worry about a charge. Takes 110w for about 5 minutes for the glow plugs to get going, and then runs consistently around 10W continuous, and 110w to cool down the unit when you stop it.
I got the 240 Jackery and the 500 to me its cutting it kind of close with the 240 esp. you going to need the Jackery to run at almost full power when the heater shuts down. I wouldnt hesitate to use my 500 instead of the 240. Right now im using 2, Valence, U1-12RT @ 40 Ah each Lithium batteries.80Ah should run the heater as long as i need before shutting down with out any worries at all.
Great video Dave, I have set up my diesel heater using the 240w jackery. I used the 12v plug that came with the jackery but my output doesn't go above 5w. I was wondering what 12v plug did you use or would it matter. I do have. E09 error but that's is probably because the sensor doesn't detect the fan . It doesn't seem to receive any power to start the fan, but it the jackery does work to prime. I won't your the 12v plug be the problem.
@@DavidMcLuckie Hi Dave, yes it was the one that is used to charge the jackery from the van 12v. I have also used the main van battery in order to check if it was a power issue. But still the fan doesn't move. I also still get the e09 error. I have also ordered a new cigarette plug, same as the one in your video. its trial and error now to find the issue. I am hoping its not the main motor
@@newfoundlanderoverlander Hi, I bought this one in Amazon, it seemed a bit stronger. KUNCAN 12FT Car Cigarette Lighter Socket Extension Cable with Male Plug, 16AWG Heavy Duty DC Power Charger Cord with LED Lights, 15A Fused. Not sure if that was the problem, as I also double checked all the connection in the heater. its working fine now and no issues so far
I just purchased a diesel heater for ice fishing, I am worried that the 5kw heater might be to big, is there a way to lower it to 2kw if it is to hot for my application? And I bought the 5kw because of the case design it will fit my application the best and it is only offered in 5kw. Thanks
There are these - www.amazon.co.uk/Conductor-Connector%EF%BC%8Cone-Terminal-Connectors-Assortment/dp/B08XZNJS3J/ref=pd_day0_1/258-9429679-4535838?pd_rd_w=BwYvX&pf_rd_p=8ec13b8a-30d2-48fc-8503-84c56766370d&pf_rd_r=V4CBMSF8G0KC9TPGBX9Y&pd_rd_r=02af22de-9a03-478a-a1e2-5a1f1684900c&pd_rd_wg=2CJie&pd_rd_i=B08XZNJS3J&psc=1 And WAGO even started making them as well - www.amazon.co.uk/Connection-Conductor-2-Conductor-Actuation-Transparent/dp/B08X6CPFNR/ref=sr_1_24?crid=7ZN6TD8G77PB&keywords=wago+connector&qid=1644921987&sprefix=wago+connector%2Caps%2C439&sr=8-24
Hey David, do you think the power supply can be connected to the wall while running the heater? I would like to use it for its 12v interface and not start with dapters and wirings. thanks!
I have a Jackery 1000 pro. I tried to use it to power my 5kw diesel heater and the Jackery shut off after about 150w output. Any way around tbat or how did you work around that issue? Here is the kicker, I used my Jackery 300 for the same purpose - no issues at all.
Was it the same heater, same time, same state of charge in the power station? I've noticed it's very much heater and temperature dependant on whether it works or not.
Amazon. Wago also now make a version of the connectors which were a copy of a different Wago connector. www.amazon.co.uk/QitinDasen-Lever-Nut-Connectors-Conductors-Combination/dp/B08B3XG63X/ref=pd_day0_6/258-9429679-4535838?pd_rd_w=2K9QH&pf_rd_p=8ec13b8a-30d2-48fc-8503-84c56766370d&pf_rd_r=T01QTZBGDYV6A1379JDB&pd_rd_r=5925fc20-589d-4154-ae50-c317eed0666a&pd_rd_wg=p6FCo&pd_rd_i=B08B3XG63X&psc=1 www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YXQHLB8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I've a 2kw diesel heater (came with van) connected to leisure battery with crocodile clips. Will this run of my jackary 1000 if the clips are changed to a suir the 12v 10amp socket on jackary?
As much as I love the idea of a power station. The comparison with a tool battery appears a little off except over price. Surely a comparison with a venerable jump start pack would be a more likely one. It too portable and similar capacity
I just bought an 8KW diesel heater. Using my Jackery 500 via the car jack. The jackery shows the heater pulling up to 130W on startup but then E-01 comes up and shuts off every time. I don’t know what to do now.
You ever had any start up issues with the heater taking to many amps for the DC output. I want to get a solar generator but worried about start up. It says the heater can take up to 11.5 amps.
The heaters I tried all pulled just ender 10A at startup, but I have had other heaters pull slightly more. Sometimes tweaking the low settings in the controller and slowing the fan down is enough to get them under.
That is one of the many brandless heaters I have. Depending on the tune of your heater will relate to how much power it uses during startup. If it's less than 10A it'll work.
@@DavidMcLuckie Thanks Lavanar themselves say it's around 9.8 amps so in there words it won't work. But I get the impression they are been cautious just in case it's slightly higher. Other people appear to have had one working via a powers station
Weird...I tested mine with the Bluetti EB3a (600watts) and it would not fire up even though the cig. lighter port is rated at 10 amps. How the hell did this ‘lower' unit do it?
I've noticed through testing that it is depends on both the diesel heater and the power station. Some heaters creep above 10A at start up. On the other hand some power stations the voltage drops off as you near the 10A point. Which means the glow plug doesn't get as hot and the fans don't spin fast enough usually resulting in a non-start.
@@andrewmarkmusic I have a Jackery 2000 Pro and it will not start my Espar gasoline heater. they tell me it requires 14amp at start up and the DC output only outputs about 10amps?
I solved my start up issues by buying a converter that plugs into the 3 prong AC port. Works every time now and that is only with a 600 watt Bluetti. The problem with the DC ports is they are often only 10Amps. @@guy4fawkes
Hello i had my heater running with ecoflow river pro And it worked for maybe total of 40 hours in different days .. after it stop working ... i had to change the system and the professional that checked the problem said that it cant be supply by the ecoflow and try with a normal battery and everything was good
@@8rubino8 Hi That seems strange to me did he say why ecoflow couldn't run your heater .Mine ran it perfectly but I've haven't used it for an extended period yet as it's been warm here in the UK. Shall soon find out though lol . Wayne
Might be a silly question, but i have no electric knowledge. If a power bank only delivers 12v 7.5a can i use it to run a boost converter 12v 15a to get a diesel heater running ?
But would it still fry the diesel heater once it ran out of juice as it has a Lithium (18ah?) battery and as you said would step down in voltage and shut down the heater and not go through its cool down phase?
That is one of the problems. We need some way of shutting down the heater when the battery is low, as it will output practically the same voltage until it shuts down.
@@DavidMcLuckie What about putting a low voltage disconnect on the fuel pump power wire? If the heater loses fuel does the fan continue to run long enough to cool down?
I want to do this instead of running a leasure battery in my van. My diesel heater is currently connected to my car battery. How do I connected the connector that plugs into the unit on the wires from my leasure battery. Do they require soldering?
You could use crimp connectors or a screw type block connector if you didn't want to solder. Just need to make sure the connector is rated for over 10A.
Sadly not a yes or no question. Some heaters use more power on startup than others. So while one heater might work, another might not. The Jackery should start most 2KW diesel heaters though.
I have a Jackery 2000 Pro and it will not start my Espar gasoline heater. they tell me it requires 14amp at start up and the DC output only outputs about 10amps? How is this video possible?
Hi there , you have probably been asked and talked about how do you go about putting a 12 vault connection on the diesel heater ? . All diesel heater s come with positive and negative battery wire's instead of the 12 v connection to plug into the battery pack
very interesting .. i can't help but wonder how this would compare to trying to run heater on a generic 12v jump-pack ( i doubt many could sustain the 8amps from their cig lighter )
i have a jackery 500 but after i started my heater and the fuel pump kicked on i got a E01 error code for low voltage, do you know why that would happen? I think i have a 8kw heater, is it too much for the jackery? Thanks
Hello. First thing is there's no such thing as 8KW heaters, they're just mis-sold 4-5KW, but that's a whole other topic. Could be your wiring is causing a voltage drop at high load, lots of the heaters come with undersized wiring. Other possible reason could be the low setting on the heater is too high.
Really the best way is go online to a rc hobby store and order a 4s lipo and a charger. If you want to save money, take the computer power supply out of an old/free computer tower. They typically range between 300-600 watts. Plenty of power for this application, and absolutely free.
All I can say is it might. Depending on the heater, and on the temperature of the batteries. Failing that a main to 12V transformer is cheap, and the losses are pretty low.
I am having a time trying to set mines up like this. When plugged to the Jackery 1000 and powered on, 5k heater display lights up, motors/fans kick in, then display flickers for a minute then the whole thing cuts off. But when plugged into van 12 volt plug, heater works. Unfortunately I can't just leave the van on and run it this way as it defeats the purpose. I'm speculating reasons as to why it's not working but I need solutions more than I need reasons.
Odd. The 12V output on the Jackery and most portable power supplies is 10A. Unless your heater is one of the oddballs that manages to pull more that 10A at startup, which it sounds like that's what it's doing. Sadly.
@@DavidMcLuckie Wondering if I get a 12volt to AC adapter and just plug it into the AC port on the Jackery will it work then? Would it pull like a regular heater (too much and kill my battery quickly) or pull less since it's technically still a 12 volt heater with typically low wattage. May have to try this. Cause my next move is selling the darn thing cause I can't use it. Thanks for the reply btw, 🙂.
I have the same issue at the moment. Bought a 8kw all in one diesels heater from eBay, wired it up to male 12v 15am cigarette and trying to run it on jackery 1000, the fan start up for about 5 seconds then the battery sign on the diesel LCD display start flashing. It’s giving me erro code E-2. Did your get the AC - Dc adapter ? And does it work ?
Yep, same problem, the support folks for Espar said to ignite it will spike over 10 amps and that trips the Espar heater causing E2 error. It's a brief draw, but you need it. I just wired to the house battery because the heater will automatically shut off if it senses voltage drop, so you will never be stranded. @@hoannguyen-re4zm
I wonder....could you get enough power out of a Peltier plate(s) to offset the draw from the fan when up to temperature? Think stove fan on steroids!? You would obviously need an additional supply to get it up and running, but if you could generate enough energy from heat...the thing could run forever!
Im interested on the wiring and what i need to buy. I have no knowledge of wiring at 61 year old grandma. I have a 300w jackery and a 300w inverter although the inverter is not a puresign wave.
Heater, 20L fuel can, battery, solar panels etc. Battery has maybe 500 charge cycles if it is kept above freezing and below (?) temp and never totally drained or overcharged? Anyway thank you for all your work. I have come to conclusion to forget about all of the above and just get 2000 watt generator/inverter and electric heater. The out of pocket expense, longevity, maintenance and required dedicated space in a vehicle for diesel heater et al don't seem to make as much $$$ sense as generator/inverter. Open to being convinced I am wrong. Cheers.
Your argument is sound. Without knowing the usage scenario I can't say which I'd pick if I was doing what you're doing. The only thing I would add for consideration is fuel cost/consumption. Assuming a petrol/gasoline generator to be 30% efficient and it also having a 20L tank, 6L would be usable energy for the electric heater and 14L would be exhaust heat and noise. A fuel burning heater is nearer 80% efficient so out of your 20L tank 16L would be converted into heating. But of course you still need to power the heater. A single 110AH deep cycle battery will run a heater for over 24 hours on a charge.
@@DavidMcLuckie and most "deep cycle" lead acid batteries will only do around 500 80% discharges. A lithium battery should do more like 2000-3000 so it might actually work out cheaper in the long run to go lithium...
@@DavidMcLuckie Dont get us wrong. We really appreciate your effort! I guess Christopher only wanted to point out that alternative solution for people who didnt watch all your videos (shame on them!). :-)
I killed 2 used deep cycle batteries I used for years running led lights. Running my Chinese heater in my garage. Heater is awesome but I need to tinker more with it.... I just got a jackery 240 but was not thinking for the heater but wow cool
I have a Jackery 2000 Pro and it will not start my Espar gasoline heater. they tell me it requires 14amp at start up and the DC output only outputs about 10amps? How is this video possible? Same issue as you also already trying your idea. Waiting on the AC-DC converter to arrive.
@@guy4fawkes I have a lavaner pro heater. I was able to make it work just off 10 amps by allowing the heater to go in low voltage mode for a longer time before cutting off. Changed to 3 minutes instead of 2. That works.
9amps for 1 minute each time the diesel heater starts up or stops. So it is better to keep the heater running slowly at 1anp than it cycling on and off more frequent than every 18 minutes. in low mode the heater draws 1amp. at full speed its 2.7 amps. This is why it;s a good idea to go for a 2kw in a small camper van than a 5kw. Also the jackery has a boost converter to lift the Lion batteries that would be 11.6v at full charge up to 13v. As the batteries voltage drops steeply at the end the boost converter will need to pull more current to maintain the 13v until the current limiter will suddenly cut out the 13v Supply. As you say this would be bad for the heater as it will suddenly lose power without a chance to go through cool down. It would have been nice if you had proved or disproved it. Diesel heaters are designed to run off lead acid car batteries, So that they can detect a battery low voltage 11.6amp at glow plug startup. And then just shut down without injecting fuel. And while running the heater will detect a low voltage and go through it's shut down sequence.
Oh we've been through that one a lot in other videos. There is no auto shutdown on low voltage on these heaters (none of the ones I have). They plough right on down to 9V and then stop dead.
I'd say no. In the manual it says it can charge and be used at the same time but it's not recommended. I'm guessing it's to do with the battery maintenance trying to charge and being used at the same time.
You can power the heater using a Victron 12V-15A IP65 battery charger actually. I've tested running my Espar D2 heater which is connected to my van starter battery, which in turn is connected to my Victron plugged into wall power. With this setup you could run your heater, charge your jackery (if you have one) while connected to wall power - let's say you're camping and you have power access, or you are parked on your driveway and run an extension cord to your house. I haven't tested connecting the Victron directly to the heater bypassing the battery but in theory it should work.
@@naomiobrien3543 depends what other loads you have and how long you wont it to run remember 1x 110 ah battery is only 55ah as you dont want to take them below 50% battery discharge
