DIY Diesel Heater **EXTREMELY DETAILED** 

Thanks for watching guys! Don’t forget to subscribe! All parts are linked in the description!

Followed your video step by step and built mine identically. Thanks for all the details, it worked out great! Kept me warm in the snow when the rest of my buddies were cold

From UK, NICE JOB! Great detail and almost a tutorial for those new to CDH set up. I also admire your honesty at the end, informing ppl of existing similar devices such as the Hcalory. They are currently £140 ish in UK. But due to season they will reduce in time. Good project and irrespective of the Existence of already built systems you've given alternative kit to improve on them for owners. Well done in my view.

Thanks for detailing your build. I went with a German Eberspacher heater sniped off ebay because I wanted a quality furnace unit. Now I am gathering info on how I will put the components together to complete the build.

Very nice build and love the time you spend explaining what your doing. I'm building a heater for my cargo trailer and placing the heater in a 20 gallon craftsman storage tub. The tub will sit on the trailer tongue and I'll port the outlet tube through a marine deck port I'll mount on the front of the trailer. I'm also using a 3 gallon marine (boat) fuel cell as my fuel tank. I chose to use the hard nylon fuel line because it will not collapse like the green line will over time. Only suggestion I would make for your build is if your fuel supply barb starts to leak use a siphon tube (straw) on the top of your new tank. Very easy to install and no leaks. I'll be interested to see how the unit fresh air inlet works being inside of the box. in theory it should work no outside contamination but heat generated inside the box could pose an issue.I also love the quick connects your using for the outlet air duct very slick, wished I would have known about them before my build. Keep us posted how everything works out and again really nice build!!

I've seen a lot of these types of videos and this is easily the best. Thanks!

As always, very clean and professional project execution. Not a device that I am needing, but interesting none the less. Thanks John.

This is a great video I'm using a old Makita drill box roughly the same ... Hoping will use the same idea in the workshop and simply have it so it can be then adapted to the camper if required

Wow man. Awesome job with this. Im a DIYer so I’m going to build mine. I think yours will be much more reliable bc of the attention to detail of each component. Subbed 👍

Best video on diesel heaters! I'll be copying this design this summer in prep for next winter! Let us know if that fuel outlet in the tank starts leaking at all.

I bought a pre-built one two years ago for $200 and it has worked well but the case and fuel tank and such are starting to break and there’s some design flaws in it that I don’t like so I’m hoping to pull it apart and build it into a better case like this. Really appreciate the video.

You cannot enclose any exhaust pipe inside a container. You absolutely require vent holes in the case to vent heat from the exhaust. The wrap does NOT prevent heat buildup. It only helps prevent excessive temps that may melt plastic. There are plenty of horror stories online of people failing to do this properly and burning down their rigs. One way to guarantee it won't overheat is to eliminate the blower intake hose that isolates the heater to take air from outside only. Just cut the intake case hole and ditch the connector hose and the unit will pull any warm air out of the interior of the case and actually help with efficiency. If you are worried about bugs or critters getting inside just use a piece of stainless window screen in place of the dryer vent hose.

I have an All-In-One unit that I use in my canopy but I might gut it to make something like this. Thanks for the detailed video!

Great Video EXCEPT, the supplied smaller clear tube that comes with most 2kw diesel heaters is known to perform better than these kits that ship with the larger diameter tube. Word to the wise :)

Check your link for the quick disconnect coupler. Thanks for the video! Great work as usual!

The link for the exhaust pipe is the stock pipe… I bought one similar to yours but it was a 22mm… the only other option is 24mm… is that the size you bought?

isn't your fuel filter on backwards? Great video

FYI you can prime the pump on this by holding the up and down arrows at the same time. Better than turning it on and off a bunch to start. I guess there’s different button combinations depending on the style of screen you have but I have this exact screen and it was up and down to prime.

Love the vid and the channel! Couple quick questions I had: - Are you concerned with the combustion intake creating negative pressure inside of the box? I’d imagine over time it would draw in a bunch of dust into the box, and put a lot of strain on the unit to overcome the pressure difference. - Is there any good reason not to run the large intake from a duct that you’d also run to a tent/camper? It seems like it would be a lot more efficient to recycle the partially heated air as opposed to heating cold air from outside.

FYI the silicone coupler you linked leads to a 2.5-2” coupler

Allowing it to auto shut down allows the fan to keep spinning Ning so it pushes cooler air through system and let the ceramics cool better. Just cutting power leaves in burnt diesel in the system and can cause damage to the internals with heat not being able to escape.

Great vid! Going to do this myself but realized after receiving that your link for 3" silicone coupler goes to an undersized 2.5/2 adapter

This video is identical to hundreds of others. Exact copy of others. Nobody has done the way I put one together. I used the exact same Harbor Freight 4800 case. Mine is fully waterproof with no hose and wires tethered outside the box. Inside the box has the heater, 20ah battery, voltage monitor, cooling fan, AC to DC charger. I had to move the fuel pump and the filter in its own small case outside the 4800 case to make room for the battery. It actually keeps the fuel away from the heater. The inside stays very clean without the worries of fuel spill. 5 liter tank is mounted next to the 4800 case with quick disconnect. The case can be removed quickly for travel. No worries of spilling diesel.

Consider a vent in the box for the air intake. The box is waterproof, so if the heater is stalling out, think about where the air intake is getting fresh air.

Great video Clean work and very descriptive instructions

I am building mine almost exactly as you have, except i ordered a silent diaphragm pump from Olde England

You’ve got the fuel filter the wrong way. The narrow end is the collector and then fuel should then be drawn through the thicker collar to the pump. It’ll work but its sub-optimal.

Wow, great design and build. Thanks for sharing the process.

Excellent build. I'm sure you've learned this by now, but that is combustion intake and is not connected in any way to your hot air out.

Fyi, if you're using the 2kw kit, the heaters outlet and fresh air inlet is 2.5" not 3"

Nice job, John! Always love watching someone who's really good at their craft. Keep it up!

Note: there's a way to prime it without turning it on. It depends on the remote but holding the two buttons together starts the process

How are the quick couplings working after repeated use?

With the way you mounted the fuel tank nipple you could have put it on the side of the tank that is toward the lid of your box and drilled a hole in the lid making a cleaner exterior install.

Don’t know if somebody mentioned it already, but you can vacuum prime the fuel up to the pump if you wanted to with a little hand vacuum pump.

Fantastic video. Appreciate all the work and enhancements you put into it. We just bought a Lavaner 2kw Pro heater and will install it in a case for our Hiker Trailer. Thank you.

Great video! I think you mentioned storing the the 3" flexible hose inside the box. It looks pretty full so I'm curious if the hose does fit.

I wonder what would work better for your set up, a diesel heater or a mattress sized heating pad. Having the flexibility to be all electric maybe attractive but also having an alternative fuel source if the weather is shit is nice too. I doubt an electric heating pad would warm up your camper as fast or as hot but who knows. Great video, I didn't know people were diying these.

The air inlet for combustion should be outside your case. Poor combustion especially with those plastic air inlet ones supplied that it comes with. I am using a plastic and wire tea strainer as a combustion inlet cover it was a similar size so I half-inched it from the wife's kitchen cupboard. It is enough to stop bugs of dirt going in but increases the air going into the burn chamber. The heater burns far better. Noticed that there is now something similar sold on eBay. The next heater I buy will have the same put on it.

Run a flexible tube from the camper to the heater inlet. A lot quicker to heat up camper because you're not heating outside freezing temps. Just like the recycle air option on your cars AC/heat.

your fuel filter is on back-to-front your filter will get clogged-up the fuel should flow around the outside of the mesh, not up through the center of the mesh, your welcome 👍

I'd contact Vevor to see if this heater is design specifically for diesel or if it was designed for Kerosene. The Espar heaters used in semi truck sleepers is actually designed towards the use of Kerosene. It's really odd but modern diesel blends just mess up the heaters. So in the future if your heater ever has issues staying lit I'd run some Kerosene thru it to get it cleaned out.

This video is great and I had an easy time following the process except for one thing that i cant figure out. Connecting The exhaust hose to the exhaust outlet. I ordered the parts from the list and had to cut the exhaust hose to fit. Once I do that, since they're both 1" I can't fit the wavey part of the hose over the outlet. I even got a 22mm outlet (vs. The 1") and can't do it. What am I doing wrong?

Filter is wrong side should be opposite. This green soft hose isnt the best. Consider switching to hard line.

This is the best instructional video I've seen on all of RU-vid for this DIY build. Thank you for the video and the links. I am attempting a version of this next week (still waiting on a few parts to arrive) and plan to use some of your ideas. Did you ever post a follow-up on if the intake needed to be moved outside the box? Did you notice any fume or heat smells leaving it inside?

I was just wondering if you still had your micro trailer? If you do are you happy with the overall material design and how is it holding up?

This is cool video of DIY. I am motivated to build one, I may bother you with some questions 😂

I just finished my build out and love it. But I can’t get the thing to run off my ecoflow battery like yours. Have you ever heard of anyone having issues with this?? It will run off the jump-start battery I have with no problem.

Hello! I am following this build with a 2kw instead. I am at the cutting the exhaust pipe part, mine does not fit like a glove when cutting it afterwards and even cutting a slit just to get it on. No success after this, I can still use the pipe for the exterior. I found another video mentioning using the brand pipe because when you cut it and inner diameter is still the same.

I had issue with the DC output required at startup, my portable power station, same as what you have eco flow river 2, keeps tripping at the start up, did you figure out a solution around that? I tried running it from my car first to get it to warm up and then switch over to the power station which works but it's a hassle.

As far as fuel line goes, most upgrade to good quality fuel hose because the cheap Chinese fuel line works at first, but being Chinese they use cheap materials to make it. What happens is as the fuel line ages, it becomes brittle and will eventually fail. If you have trouble getting the clear line over the fuel nipple, just warm it up slightly and it'll slip on easy. Overall a good build and well thought out. One thing, I would change is running the air intake to the combustion chamber to the outside, combustion likes cold dense air to efficiently burn. One tip I would use when shutting the unit down, it is recommended to turn it up to high mode for 10 minutes after running on the lower mode to raise the heat up in the combustion chamber to burn off any soot etc. Then put it in the shut down mode. Just my opinion.

Do you know what cables you would need to extend the remote wiring?

STEP BY STEP.........exhaust melted my apache box!

2023 diy means I opened a case myself and put things into it all by myself

If you use an outboard motor primer bulb to draw the fuel though the pump it will speed up the process 😉👍

Any advice please??? Following your set up - love it - but having difficulty attaching dryer hose to the aluminum connector. Can’t get the hose on - seems too small. Thank you. Kate

Nice job...thank you.

Thinking about going this route vs a tent stove. Which would you recommend? If I don’t have a battery bank can I use a deep cell battery? I’ll need it for 3 nights

Does the heater in the box need to breath? Or are vent holes required? Is it for the potential conndensation to escape?

Good job documenting build. I went with 9 liter tank. I don't like refilling often. Did you get any fumes using inside-case intake? I expect this would be noticed when you're heading the tent.

Great video. Will definitely do the same for my self built teardrop camper. I just have a question. How about the vent on the fuel tank? Did you need one? Or do you just loosen the cap a bit?

Can you mount and run the heater on it's side with the glow plug up? I.e. exhause would be ejected on side of case instead of the bottom?

You out the wrong exhaust hose on there amigo. Bad links make for bad experiences.

Good video ,but i cant find the link for the 3d printed parts ? I hope they can be purchased from someone . Thanks

Good video, what is the size of the fuel hose? and where can I get it?

Did you get 2 pin for the power supply & 3 pin for controller?

The pump is installed in the horizontal plane. But is the pump not suppose to be installed in the vertical plane?

Champion vid! Quite nice tips! Liked and subscribed- Questions: Is the large air intake for the engine (2-3") simply to cool the combustion chamber? (I'm not referring to the small air intake for combustion air). In 'normal' interior setups the large air intake would be getting air from inside, however 'if' the sole purpose is to keep the combustion chamber cool I see an advantage with 'outside' cold air. I was wondering if you were getting enough 'combustion air' from inside the case without routing to outside air? Ta, mate- all the best to ya, Jack

Why didn't you just wad all the wires and hoses into the case like everyone else??? LOLOL Great job, very neat and tidy!!!

Quick question. Looking at heating a 16' diameter canvas bell tent in Northern NM elk hunting. Is the 5k going to be enough or should I spend $10 more on the 8k? Future use might be a roof top tent and then 8 is overkill. Thanks Awesome build!

Is the whole point of building this unit to prevent the need to drill holes for inlet/exhaust? I'm putting one of these in my van build and dreading the drilling of those 2 holes in the van floor. If the purpose of building this is to prevent that, this is exactly what I'm gonna do!

I'm following along with a build of my own and after cutting the exhaust tube (for the combustion exhaust, not the hot air), it won't fit over either fitting (the pass-thru or the heater). I ordered the same exhaust pipe you have listed and it didn't work! Anyone run into something similar?

So how to you run it into the vehicle

What gauge wire does the chinese heater controller require? Like to run it about 10-15 feet.

awesome

There's a prime mode

great design, especially the air outlet. to bad I can't find a simular pipe plug. if I order the same plug in the Dutch Amazon it will cost me 40 Dollar :S

I’m really thinking of building one like yours, but I’d love to know how it has been operating? Have you done anything else to it? Any thoughts of what you could have done better or different?

For a honda civic would you recommnd the 2KW or 5KW heater? Or they basically the same? Perhaps more fuel usage on a 5KW? I'm in canada, so it gets cold, -15 celcius, want to do some winter camping.

Hi I have also built one of these but I’m having trouble with pipes and fittings on the hot side producing smelly fumes and we actually get headaches, I have tested for any gases like carbon monoxide etc but it’s actually a plastic smell so my question is how is yours - die the silicone and or pipe produce and smell

Just curious there a reason so have part of the exhaust (1 foot or so) on the case before exhausting it out? Would it be better to mount the heaters exhaust right against the case, and have it leave right away?

Does box have good fresh air vent for heater inlet? If you leave inlet pipe inside box, you need remember good airflow for the heater or it might interfere combustion.

I mounted a computer fan inside the force clean air into the filter

Can it be ran without attaching the exhaust hose to the exhaust pipe socket? Or does that exhaust hose need to be hooked up? Also, mine came with an actual muffler, did you use that down the road at all?

Do you have a link for that 3 inch aluminum coupler set with that silicone tube?

I'll be surprised if it doesn't flame out due to the combustion intake being inside an unvented box.

Update, any melting issues? looks like you are using better fittings but I had an issue w/ it being super HOT in the case after hours and days of use

Is this build waterproof?

Are you having any condisation issues with the heater being on it's side. Also, how many hours of run time can you get on one tank of fuel, Thanks

That hose is smelling real strong while running the heater. Idk why people can't smell it🙄

d you have a link for the collarred bolts you used?

The Amazon link for you 3” silicone coupler is actually for a 2.5”-2” reducing coupler…. Do you have the link for the 3” one?

Can you update the link for heater?

Diesel filter is the wrong way around

No one ever talks about how much power they need to operate. How much battery for a days ice fishing at -40?!

isn't the case airtight? what about the air intake?

diy diesel heater? " diy diesel heater case" "diy diesel heater enclosure"...... next time i expect pc fans baked bean tins and a glow plug from a landrover !!!

Man soldering those quick connects sucks.And I was a jeweler years ago! Nice concept though.Needs a 90 pin.

By all accounts, that green hose isn’t great. Apparently it’s prone to splitting from various posts I’ve read, so something to keep an eye on

How did the quick release system end up working out?