This has gotta be one of the best, in fact.. THE BEST GX builds I’ve ever seen in a long time!! This thing is an absolute luxurious off road monster!! 💪 Great job on the heater setup tho!!
heads up, I may have missed it in the video but those exhaust mufflers have a drain plug on the bottom, so you may be dripping into your compartment with exhaust residue and fumes.
you could also vent the box and just leave the intake pipe not connected. that way the intake would circulate the air inside box and keep the electronics cool.
Hands down the best Diesel Heater set up on an overland rig! I'm working on a far less ambitious project related to my portable diesel heater fuel tank. The vented cap allows fuel leakage. So, I am modifying a Rotopax with a bulkhead petcock and will run fuel straight from it to the heater. Subbed. Cheers!
I appreciate you! Yeah my tank leaked as well. For now I plugged it with silicon and haven’t had any issues. Still on the lookout for a better tank solution that will fit in this box
WOW, good job on that heater setup, thanks for showing the details behind it all. I too would be hesitant about cutting a hole in the bottom of my Alu-Cab. For now Ill be running a hose up to the tent when I need heat.
Thank you for your video. This is a great setup. I need a mobil setup. I will definitely be using some of your ideas. Some changes/ideas for my build: stack the cold intake and heat flanges and mount from the outside, enables solid vent ductwork to attach to the heater inside. On the exhaust, mount the muffler outside the box and use a threaded fitting welded to the thru hull exhaust tip. This allows the muffler to be screwed on/off and a threaded cap for travel. For the combustion intake, same with a threaded end outside for a travel cap and just leave it open inside and put a bug screen over the opening inside the box, this allows for the air to be slightly heated and no fuss with an intake tube. Then a high side vent for cross venting the box. Anyway, thank you again for your video.
Great video! Would have loved to see how warm the tent was all night and in the morning and how everything was still doing at that point. Thanks for the video!
Looks like some good ideas for me. I like to take pictures at night and don't need it to heat a tent (which I don't have), but I can use the idea of hanging it off the roof rack rails. Thanks!
Some of those mufflers have a weep hole (opposite side of the notched side of the muffler) to allow condensate to escape and prevent accumulation of moisture. That weep hole is now inside your closed cabinet, IF your model muffler has the weep hole. This could get carbon monoxide into the case, but I don't know how much. The cabin air path has good air pressure just downstream of the fan that blows the air across the fins outside the heater body (but inside the red plastic heater case), so that's not a risk for entry of the small weephole exhaust to enter your tent. However, just upstream of that fan, the fan creates lower air pressure. IF your path of intake cabin air is reasonably well sealed between the fan and the intake opening, then you will get very little air from your case drawn into the intake cabin air path. I have not noticed condensate dripping out of my muffler weep hole, and the muffler likely gets hot enough for my runtimes that it burns off the moisture. Still, if you see condensation inside your case after you run it, that could be the source. cheers.
This thing is awesome. Super job for a DIY type of deal. Thanks for sharing your build. Only input I have, the duct into the tent is acting like a head exchanger, and could be insulated down the road. Not sure how much real world heat loss there may be due to that, but just a thought. Be very proud of what you have put together!
Appreciate the feedback! So far with this short of a run, there isn't much loss to make too significant of a difference (as opposed to designs that sit on the ground and have 5-6 foot long ducts). The tent windows are almost always cracked and we never go above low haha. During the trip in the intro of this video we actually used a splitter to heat both my tent and Hunter's GMC cab. His cab leaked a ton so it wasn't nearly as effective, but was better than nothing for that trip. Thank you again!
@@TwoTrackNation That makes total sense. Thanks for the reply, and thanks again for sharing such a cool project. I look forward to watching more of your videos.
Definitely going to be getting rid of the muffler at some point, but the fuel tank still would not fit. Maybe a smaller tank but these boxes are pretty small. Filling the fuel tank in the other case is just barely do-able as-is with the current height so I honestly wouldn't want it any higher.
@@TwoTrackNation that makes sense. I recommend running the heater on high for a while before shutting them off. People have issues with them getting built up won’t soot when they are ran on low allot.
Awesome DIY project. Would love to see a follow-up review on how it's working. Some of the ones from Amazon just seem to be cheaply made and I see nothing but videos of problems and headaches with them.
Nice build! Wondered if you considered a return air duct? I would think reheating the tent air would be more efficient than the sub-freezing outside air.
Like hitting the recirculate button in your vehicle. Although the air would be incredibly dry and how it is now it’s introducing oxygen to the tent as well
@@ChrisSmoove77 The sprinter crowd mounts the heater inside and only pulls air from outside into the burn chamber. I suspect there's enough of a leak you're not going to run out of oxygen. That said my build is inside a metal canopy and I plan on have an outside air inlet independent of the heater. Just a window slightly opened etc is probably a healthy idea.
Don't forget to run your truck heater up a few times during the warmer months to keep things moving as if there are problems you can fix them before you need it in the winter months
Awesome build! I built one of these couple of years ago using an Apache case. On 34:15 - You said you that "I should really seal the heater." I found that its a good idea to seal with aluminum tape. there will be some pressure in that case from heat build-up and could get in the crevice of the heater. Also, that heater gets really hot(150+ F) inside and a 100mm computer heater would metigate this issue. Since your dealing with heat, I also installed a temp sensor with an auto power shutoff just for extra measure.
This is amazing and exactly what I’ve been wanting. Would you or do you know anyone that builds these for a fee? I just don’t have the time or know how to get it done. Loving the content so far, keep up the good work and enjoy following your IG!
Don't get me wrong this is a great build! I just wonder if you have issues with the sealed fuel tank? Also do you see issues with pressurizing the tent?
AWESOME !!! but you should direct that exhaust away from the air intake. Just a safety precaution :) But that is the best all in one DIY I have seen. Thanks for the upload
Thanks for all the build detail and follow through that included the driveway and on site performance. On-and-off for the last year I have been looking for a reasonable design solution for a squaredrop camper. Thank You
i added up the equipment list i need to buy,the welding classes,and the extra expertise needed. i best get one thats already in a box at a savings of 15k dollars.
Hazarding a guess here that mounting the muffler inside brought temps way up? I note those building with plastic boxes keep muffler outside and no issues with fuel line melting.
Nice work on this, just one thing though, and this is something a few other video's are missing too. More info on how you hooked up the panel/thermostat to the bulkhead connectors it would be nice to see how easy it is. Thanks and new sub !!
Yeah the idea was to keep a nominal length exhaust for proper back-pressure/combustion while still utilizing the muffler. Hence the snaking of it. I will likely be relocating the muffler to just be a slip-on piece that goes on outside if needed.
Lots of cool ideas to take away here. You have said that you figured out the muffler problem already. I like the idea of having it *outside* the box so I can point it away from the vehicle to reduce fumes. Inside the box is really slick though. I wonder if filling the hole in the muffler would inhibit the exhaust spilling into the case? Now that you moved the wiring above the heater unit, is there still room to remove the heater for maintenance?
I expected you to build a sheet metal shroud lined with heat reflective foil that covers all of the exhaust. Also, do you intend to connect the intake to the tent to recirculate the air? It seems the heater would tend to inflate (pressurize) the tent. Lastly, I would imagine the interior temperature of the Zarges box would be something to consider.
Header wrap really helps in this area. No intention on recirculating the air, that’s how condensation builds and there is plenty of heat out of this to not need recirculation. We also generally keep one small area of the tent cracked.
These furnaces were actually built to be installed inside cabs of trucks to reduce idling. And actually, recirculating isn't how condensation builds up, it's poor air quality management, or lack thereof. A large majority of people who purchase these units do not recirculate because they purchased a 5KW unit, which equates to roughly 17,000 BTUs. Pumping that sort of heat into a closed system would literally roast them out of the tent. Instead they opt to literally throw efficiency out of the window by opting to not recirculate. I mean we're not here to save gas, we're here to burn it. 😂😂 Climate Change is a hoax. Another side effect is that because the tent is closed off without any venting, any air fed from the heater towards the tent interior, there's actually some back pressure at the heater outlet. Running this at max during the winter has some potential reliability issues because the outlet gets hot but the inlet, stays cold. Ideally a 2KW diesel heater would be spec'd out for this type of build, and would be run at Low with the proper air/fuel ratio so the glow plug doesn't kick on. On low, the 2KW units can burn around 0.12L to 0.14L per hour outputting roughly 3,000 BTU. That's perfect for recirculation, and with a slight crack at the top of the tent, you will not have any condensation issues. A typical 5 Gallon Jerry can full of diesel will last you almost 21 nights with a 2KW unit on recirculation w/ tent temperature in the 80s. A 5 Gallon Jerry would last you about 5 and a half nights running on almost high using the unit pictured in this video in the 60s. Assuming nights are in the 20s.
Why didn’t you just have exhaust going out the bottom of case so exhaust is on the outside, don’t forget condensation from exhaust has too have a hole otherwise rust takes over
I mentioned in the video to not place the exhaust like I did here. I wanted less things to setup but it is not smart to place the muffler inside due to its weep hole
I don't get the idea of the exhaust and why all the bends in it before it exits? One elbow out of the heater directly to the muffler would look and be alot better instead of that circle jerk mess you made in there.
So happy I found your video. What settings are you running your heater during the winter (30F or below)? Do you think the fan is running at low, medium or high power to keep the heat going to your desired tent temps? Am wondering if it's better to get a 5kW and run on low or a 2kW and run on medium/high for the RTT (louder). Thanks!
probs too late now but a no brainer - 2kw.. Even then I'd expect it to run on the lowest setting - dependant on the insulation qualities of the tent itself
First and foremost, great video and build. I plan to do my own soon. It sounded like you ran this off on the vehicles battery. Did you have problems doing this? I’d like to run 1 to 2 nights without moving camp and starting the vehicle. Also any problem with the exhaust and air intake being so close?
I also would like to know if you have issues starting the vehicle after running the heater for a few nights, assuming you are running on car battery. Great set up though!
You replaced the rear window glass with a beautiful piece of iron or aluminum. Can you explain to us about it? I want to get an idea to do it on my car. I really need it.
Does it hurt when you think, or is that just a smoking air inlet pipe waiting to choke you out at night, dude hot pipes and an cardboard pipes don't go that close togther, at least shorten your exaust pipe by 12 inches, not very good exaust plumbing, sorry can't likethe video
