Just HYPE or cold camping GAME-CHANGER? 1+ Year Diesel Heater Review 

HOW-TO DISASSEMBLE AND REASSEMBLE this unit: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IXqFoRpDEpQ.html

Nailed it 🙌. I installed one of these in my shop and used another one for camping. I've made every mistake you listed here, lol. Diesel spilling out of the vented cap, thinking the plastic smell would go away eventually, running it out of fuel completely... all of them. Once I understood how the unit worked and what not to do, both units have been completely reliable. In the shop, they are amazing, but I'm still deciding if I want to keep using one camping 🤷‍♂️. It's just another piece of gear to deal with, you know?

Have the same unit and never had any problems whether at sea level or at altitude. Its permanently mounted on the roofrack. I did shore up anything I thought was suspect and made a sheet metal enclosure slightly bigger than the unit and put a sliding hatch to close off the heat exit during transport. I did wrap the exhaust pipe and monitor with temp gun. There is a company that makes a small radiator to make hot water with the diesel heater while still providing heat. As far as safety goes yes there is a risk but these units operate inside 1000s of RVs, van builds and garages all over the world every day without issue. Just stay diligent and always have a approved fire extinguisher within reach.

Mine is built into my small trailer. 1 of the biggest failures is the heat sensor and glow plug. Replace them with Korean made Kyocera brand, and I agree on the exhaust, if it's vertical like that moisture will built up I the bottom of the exhaust pipe, remedy by drilling a small hole so moisture can escape. They definitely are a game changer for off season camping, nice hot dry air

Definitely worth it… i have one i installed on my semi truck right now thats tied into my main tanks… when other truckers have their engines running, mine runs all day long and its a lot more quiet than running the truck… i only idle the truck when it gets below 20 and thats only to prevent the fuel lines to the motor to gel up…

Currently my solution for cold nights camping is a 12v electric blanket combined with a 625wh battery it will run for 8 hours solid. That 625wh battery is nice but I'm going to upgrade to a 1500wh so recharging every day is less critical. I really hate diesel fumes, they give me an instant headache so I stay as far away from diesel as I can get.

from article "22 diesel heater installation notes" - When diesel burns, a small amount of water vapor is produced, which may condense on the exhaust pipe walls, forming droplets. Although this is just a tiny amount, the water droplets will accumulate inside the exhaust pipe if the exhaust port faces upwards. At low temperatures, the water will freeze, reducing the diameter of the exhaust pipe, and affecting the combustion performance of the diesel heaters. Lastly, the entire exhaust pipe should be slightly tilted downward. That will allow the water droplets to flow out of the diesel heaters through the exhaust pipe. might help the problems you are having

I have two ofthese heaters one on the boat I live on and one on my sail Boat. The one on my house boat is great for those evenings when it go cold or the early mornings. The one on my sail boat is for those nights at sea early in the season. But for full time heating I will have the wood fire every time.

Honestly I was incredibly impressed by the one my brother bought for my shed, the only problem we had with it was caused by us (feeding it a blend of used engine oil and diesel) I will say that mine has produced no funky smells and that's with me having replaced the gasket with some high temp silicone.

Thanks for The Best Informative Review I have seen so far. Thanks for tips. Wondering if shorter dryer hose to tent would make for more efficiency; as in more BTU of heat per gallon of fuel reaching your tent? Likely not a huge factor, but wonder what a test might reveal.

I bit the bullet and bought a Propex 2211. Sure it was expensive but since it uses propane, there is no need for diesel. My Propex starts and restarts when the temp get three degrees below the therostst setting. Love it! Noissues!

I had a 1960 Corvair that had a heater that burned gas.

Seems like a lot of risks to save a few houndred bucks. Nice job weighing the risks and benefits.

I just got one to run outside my van. What do you cover yours up with in the rain? I am just using a tarp for now. Very helpfull video, thanks.

I have no choice but to have the diesel heater inside my Van. I make 90k a year but I cannot afford a place within 1 hours commute of my Seattle job so I live in the Van during the workweek and come back to my country condo on the weekend. I guess I could afford a dumpy apartment near work if I spent every penny on rent but I really don't want to live paycheck to paycheck paying alot for a place thats not that good that I'm not getting any equity on. Because I'm camping in the city I must be stealthy and can't have anything outside of my Van. I'm going to put it in a fireproof case, make sure there is no flammable material nearby and I have a carbon monoxide detector and fire extinguisher but it still makes me alittle nervous.

Always love your videos. This is very helpful, but a couple of clarifications. 1) CO (carbon monoxide) detector, not CO2. 2) Your video shows the end of the exhaust pipe facing up. It should point downward for condensation to drain out. Muffler also has a small drain port for condensation to drain. Thank you Kevin for your awesome videos and helpful information!

Great video. What do you do to protect the unit against the elements?

The 1965 corvair also had a heater in the trunk.

I have the 8 amp one in my old sprinter and after 2 years the only problem is i had to replace the glow plug once , i had it set at 3 amps and that is why it died , since then no carbon and no problems Do Not Cut the power to turn it off , YOU MUST LET IT POWER DOWN AND SHUT OFF ON ITS OWN, if you run it properly you will not have carbon build up

As usual, another great honest informative video. I opted to buy an expensive unit and put it in a harbor freight box. Had it a year now, and it has been boring , boring, boring. Turn it on and just works. No smell, no clogging up. Hopefully, it stays that way. It will be many years before I can say it was a good purchase versus the Chinese version. Thank you for your RU-vid content. I watch every episode.

As a truck driver who has had many webasto heaters without issues that's what I went with for my imported hiace van. Just tapped right into the vehicle tank and with the smart controller with thermostat I couldn't be happier. I know not everyone had a thousand bucks for one but if you do I think it's way worth the money for the piece of mind alone.

Too much trouble. I want to sleep, not tinker. Propex for me.

Yes. I froze in my motorhome until i got one fitted. Now I sweat on the lowest setting in WINTER!

Cut that flex hose in half, add a collar to the fresh air intake, attach half that host to the supply and half to the return (fresh air) run both hoses to your the tent, treat it like a forced air furnace at home. Nice little review.

Why not get some more of that dryer hose for the intake side? You could run it up to your tent as well to recirculate the air which means it would be not having to heat cold air, or you could run the open end way away from the unit and it’s exhaust.. then would just have to make a sealed connection where the current intake is at the units shell.. Just a thought.

Happy to say that my Planar heater that I built up 3 years ago is doing very well. Starts up with little fanfare and runs well at most altitudes up to about 9500' of elevation.. Only a bit of fuel smell at start up and after that it runs odor free (air output line) with minimal exhaust fumes for the remainder of the operation. Packed it all in an old Pelican case that was collecting dust and its been a nice asset particularly when fire burn restrictions have been put into place.

Thanks for your honest opinions and insight as always. I might have missed it but what's the highest elevation you've run that unit at?

The HARDEST part to find on the internet is how the hell do you power it?! Reddit says power banks dont work, and the ones they say do work nobody reccomends a specific model. The other half of the poeople have them in the garage so they just plug them in. I don't knwo what to do!

nine minutes into the video bro and I'm already no go on that heater. What a living nightmare. I could source my own parts and build one like the Germans. Looks like I'm gonna be practically rebuilding it anyway. lol

Great generic breakdown of the type of heater. That unit is not up to the standards of some of the newer low end units. For less than $200 you could start over with a better unit.

So I did a vevor 5kw unit built into a weatherproof hard case. Ive done three, one for me and two for friends. Zero issues reported and one friend burns kerosene to keep it cleaner. I will say one thing about the plastic/chemical smell is check your hose. It took three hoses and finally found a 4 layer hose that didnt smell. Completely remedied the smell and we now have probably 30 smell free hours on it

Literally just got mine today and was playing with it. Agree with funky smell. I think it’ll be a game changer for the wife and kids thougb

I love my diesel heater. Built my own aluminum box with false floor and connectors for power and corded remote as the unit is an old style. Only have a few hundred bucks in it. Mine is the original German design: Eberspacher. I have used down to 20 F. The biggest plus for me is that it dries out the tent as delivers dry heated air. No clammyness!

If someone can avoid a hard 90 degree bend on the exhaust i highly suggest it, have 2 of these heaters and a hard 90 restricts flow in the exhuast heating that bend bad causing risk of fires, burnt my wood stand because of its while out ice fishing. My other heater has a less bend still making a 90 degree angle but over a few inches and it gets hot but not near as hot as a hard 90 degree bend . 2nd year for ice fishing heater 3rd year on one i use to heat my porch in the winter unter months

been using a webasto on my third winter im my trailer im living in. i have been toasty down to -15 F.

Excellent insight Kevin. Looking forward to the breakdown video.

I've been running a propex in several builds now and my latest is a diesel truck. I had to make a hard decision as it would have made complete sense to just tap into my truck's tank. But after much thought I stuck with the propex due to my long established history with a (mostly) worry free system and that carrying a larger propane source I could use the items you mentioned - (fire pit, external cook stove, etc. Like anything you do get use to the cycles and the sounds to allow you to sleep peacefully. I've learned that putting the propex down in a corner and covering it with cabinetry or gear storage bins muffles it and now in my latest build it's barely audible. In fact, sometimes I wake up at night and wonder if it's still working and have to wait and listen for cycle to hear it. I just can't convince myself to deal with diesel, pumps, carbon build up and maintenance. I'm a install it and forget it type of guy!

You can use kerosene instead of diesel In this case, the life of the parts is increased and the failure of the device is reduced.

Need that video on the controller! I am always tinkering with mine. I think I have it set pretty well. Besides low voltage codes on start up sometimes. Which is irritating when your battery’s are full charge.

I bought one of these about a year ago and have come to the conclusion that if you intend to run like a diesel/waste oil blend thru it, get ready to clean the inside at least once a month. However, the exchanger unit is fairly easy to take apart and clean, needs only 3 tools. Pro Tip: use "cold use" oven cleaner, the kind that you spray on/wipe off. Takes all the carbon right out and ur back in business.

Diesel is actually not near as flammable as gas because its flash point is so much higher (if you throw a match in a bucket of diesel it will go out) I wouldn't be worried about these burning down anything. CO poisoning from improper routed exhaust seems more of a concern to me.

Heck I had so many issues with our Espar, I junked it and have been running a Chinese one ever since. I’m not looking back either. Thanks for the video.❤

Hey, great video. Check the base gasket that came with it. It's rubber, gets hot and stinks. Thats where your continuous odour is likely coming from. Its the rubber gasket the combustion air and exhaust exit from. Find yourself a good Webasto silicone gasket.

Just curious did you change fuel line?

Nice!!! Thanks for awesome info!

Glad I’m not the only one who’s getting the constant funk smell! It seemed to dissipate over the year but it’s still there for me. The rest of the fam doesn’t seem to be bothered by it.

For me I’ll stick with my Mr. Heater in my Alu-Cab Canopy. I don’t run it while sleeping and I make sure there’s plenty of ventilation.

What a great informative video…. No gimmicky crap ! Thank you for this 👍🍻🇨🇦

Had one in a Beetle in the 60's. It wood cook you out of the car in minutes.

Finally a channel explaining everything to know about the Chinese diesel heaters. Thanks

All of these units are total crap. You are supporting slave labor conditions of production. You spend $50,000 to buy a vehicle etc. to enjoy the outdoors. Buy your units from the companies, that designed them and stand by their products. If not, when they let you down again and again, you alone are responsible for it.

I purchase one and the tick sounds was very minimal. I have been running this on my rear tire step and it has been working great. I have ran mine for about 300 hours and not have any issues. There is a little carbine but clean it.

The obvious and overriding problem with your diesel heater is your setup and usage , I suggest you take some time and watch an excellent series of videos at youtube channel John McK 47

What would happen if you use gasoline instead of diesel?

Do you have the ikamper insulation for your skycamp? Have you tried camping on cold weather with only the insulation and no heating source? I was just wondering it the insulation is good enough. Thanks

Had a VW with a heater like this. Of course, build in and petrol instead of diesel. Worked really well when it worked.

País : BRASIL 🇧🇷 Estado : Ceará Cidade : Fortaleza 👏👏👏

Also buy a carbon monoxide dector alarm, the gas can escape from the glow plug housing into the warm air stream, esspecially if you meddle with the factory settings by entering the special menu, many people have seen elevated carbon monoxide emissions in use. if you value your life get a carbon monoxide alarm and put in your tent about a foot from the roof, its a silent killer. are you burning any combustable fuel and Not using one? Also check the wiring if yours has a 12 volt dc power supply to be plugged into the mains, the chineese often connect the 12 volt dc power leads and the mains together on the inside of the rear panel and that could cause you a nasty shock or a destroyed ecu inside the heater. I built a plywood cabinet and installed one of these on the side of my house and burn kerosene in it because kero is cheaper here in the UK, it also burns hotter than diesel, produces less coking inside the heater chamber and it has been saving us a lot of money heating the house over the winter, it extracts air from our Kitchen and blows warm air into our living room, we dont hear the tick of the pump because it is outside with the heater housed inside a cabinet. we have been running this like this for two years every day during winter and early spring and yes I have a carbon monoxide alarm in our living room as the carbon monoxide levels increased experimenting with the special settings menu, I reverted back to factory settings once I realised that is would increase the carbon monoxide levels getting into the house. if you change the settings write down the current settings before you forget what to go back to if need be.

I’ve been trying to find a good one to use without breaking the bank and you may just have me sold on this one!

I've just purchased one of these ,I wrapped the exhaust pipe as well. I also painted the exhaust wrap with VHT Flameproof paint which helps with the fibers the heat ,and protects from the elements.. looking forward to the following videos on this heater 👍

I wonder if the units with the automatic altitude controller will have less carbon buildup.

I don’t know how old this is but I had to reseal the burn chamber to stop diesel smell. I had the funky plastic smell and realized the dryer hose has plastic coating you can’t tell it’s there . I got a flex line with no plastic seal and it went away

I heard someone say you shouldnt angle the exhaust upwards at all cause it can build up and catch condensation in there... no issues with that?

iv got one in my house and befor you use it take all covers off and snug up all the bolts screws inside push all pipes on all the way mine where on about 2 mm good job i looked rap the filler neck with paper towels when filling so you dont get drips running down and going in inside other than that thes are v good

Is it possible to run another heat hose from the intake side of the heater to your tent to "circulate" the warm air, rather than having to heat cold air, making it even more efficient and effective?

Or buy a decent sleeping bag and a UCO to cut the humidity 🤷‍♂️

Another pro is that you can buy OFF ROAD diesel anywhere it's sold for greater savings

If you buy a heater with the tuneable ecu and controller and tune it properly you will never have to clean it out.I've had mine 4 years and its clean as a whistle.

Thanks for you Excellent overview.

Is that particular model you have water proof enough as is? or does it need mounting in a water tight container ?

I like the part where you click the remote and the display falls off

I put mine in a 40mm ammo can works great!

CO2 monitors are good, but you really should get a CO monitor, to be safe.

Hi 今日も楽しい映像をありがとうです。　頼んでいた荷物が届いて、書き込みです。　無事、届きましたよ。　これから日本で宣伝します。これからも宜しくお願いします。

Mine emitted a funky smell after I put on the header wrap. The first wrap was a cheap Amazon wrap that smoked for a long time as some chemical burned off. I re-wrapped it with a more expensive header wrap from an auto parts store that still stunk for a while but not as bad, and eventually stopped.

I'm lucky I guess, several years on my Vevor and not one problem.

Did you ever make the video about the elevation and piming?

Keven, thank you for this video. I was pretty much sold on them but I am now after watching this one. :) One thing though, I could not find the other video that walks you through the maintenance of the unit that you had clis of towards the end. Am I missing something?

🤠👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

G- whiz sounds like alot.of work just to get this to run good

Will you be getting your coffee mug in orange, right now it’s only blue? Enjoy your videos.

How do you “prime” the fuel?

Can’t you use kerosene in this unit much cleaner burn

absolutely worth the caveats!

I found that dryer sheet or a "filter fresh" in the hose cures the smell.

Is there a video on the settings?

Who, first!

Exhaust is not supposed to be vertical.

I bought one for my shop. wish me luck!

Learn how to pair the remote

I live in the UK and drive and old school LR Defender which are world famous for having absolute rubbish heaters. I mounted one of the small units in a 20mm ammo can which is my center console/armrest. The hot air blasts directly onto and angled trans tunnel and bounces up to the windscreen keeping the inside fog off. It has completely changed driving an old Defender! My toes are now actually warm. But I only run it when I'm driving in cold or wet weather...oh, wait a sec, I forgot this is England and its that way most of the time ;-) Anyway, I think I'll pull it back out and give it a disassembly and thorough check. Cheers from over here!

I built my heater with an Espar d2 into a knockoff pelican case with an external fuel tank. I highly recommend running another hose from the tent to the heater fresh air to recycle the pre-heated air. It'll help prevent dust build-up on the blower motor assembly and it won't have to work as hard. I service both espar and webasto heaters a lot in my line of work.

I always want to scream when I see one of these heaters used improperly. This unit is meant to be installed inside the heated area so that its cold air (the air it heats, not its combustion air) comes from inside the space its heating, just like your furnace at home. Without a cold air duct your furnace has to work triple time to constantly heat cold outside air! Your tent or whatever enclosure your trying to heat becomes pressurized and you need to vent/waste hot air to let the pressure off to keep your furnace moving air and from overheating internally. If your going put the unit outside then put it in a box just like it would be installed inside a camper, attach the cold air inlet tot he box and run the air return to the highest point in your heated space as possible. Plum the hot line so that it sealed from the cold air return. You will burn half the fuel in a night and be 10 times as comfortable. And inside a box you wont hear the fuel pump and the fan noise is greatly reduced.

Should be nothing wrong at all with putting this inside of your rig with proper ventilation. Except for the noise maybe …

if these are installed correctly there is no smell ever unless a gasket goes. you are getting the smell because your air intake is pulling in exhaust here and there with the wind. the unit is supposed to pull air from the cabin you are in, heat it and dump it back. you are heating outside air that is mixing with exhaust and putting it inside which also makes the fan work harder shortening its life and drawing more current unless you have a window open as you are creating positive pressure. when heating inside air you do not make any pressure. i have used these as a main heating source in my boat and they work great with proper installation and tuning along with cleaning here and there but only last around 2yrs before cleaning and rebuilding no longer work and you just need to buy a new unit for whatever reason i have yet to discover. also diesel is a very safe heat source, prob one of the safest, the hazard as you said comes from the exhaust line and if done properly you will have no issues. can even reclaim more heat from them if you get creative.

Great informative video. I'll stay with the buddy heater made in Cleveland. Doing my best these days to stay away from made in China. After learning about Chinese slave labor, hard to support the CCP.

What do you think about fire blankets? They are inexpensive and easily stowed...

Have you happened to make the breakdown video after this?

Hey Kevin, we are about to take our trip starting in May and have never been able to get the diesel heater to work right at altitude. We've made due, however we need it this trip. Are you close to posting the other video about how to make it work in altitude? If not, can you share some tips? Thank you in advance.

Hey Kevin, we are about to take our trip starting in May and have never been able to get the diesel heater to work right at altitude. We've made due, however we need it this trip. Are you close to posting the other video about how to make it work in altitude? If not, can you share some tips? Thank you in advance.