Diesel heater

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"

The chinese heater package which is including a diesel tank , mounting material ,fuel pump, filters, exhaust pipe etc. cost only 10% of the cost of a new Webasto."


LINK PLEASE?
 
stevensibs said:
Consider Reflex stoves from the Netherlands...thats what im gonna do
Click to expand...

Refleks is a danish brand with a very good reputation here in Europe. A lot of accessories like radiators etc
 
psneeld said:
You can't hear my Wallas exhaust..
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A lot of the comments about noise from forced air diesel heaters not being a problem at anchor I would tend to agree with. Because there tends to be enough distance between boats in an anchorage to lessen the noise. But when you are in a slip in a marina, and the boat next to you has their heater which sounds like a turbine jet engine cycling on and off all night a mere 8-feet from your cabin... can be quite annoying. In an interrupted sleep sort of way.

Like psneeld, you can't hear our Wallas exhaust, and we have had several looks of (pleasant) surprise when a neighbor discovers that it is on and he's standing a few feet away from it.
 
vanderzeeh said:
My 3,5KW Webasto was getting more and more unreliable so I had to take the decision, have it repaired or buy a new one. I found out that my neighbour had recently installed a brand-new chinese 5KW heater with remote control and a digital display and he is very pleased with that heater.


The chinese heater package which is including a diesel tank , mounting material ,fuel pump, filters, exhaust pipe etc. cost only 10% of the cost of a new Webasto.


The chinese heater costed me Euro 145,- while a new Webasto easily costs Euro 1500,- in the Netherlands

And the best part is that the shipping costs from china to the Netherlands was included in this Euro 145,- as well.



If I would show you both units and asks you with one is cheap chinese and with one is the Webasto, I can assure you that you will not be able to point that out.


When the unit will breaks down in a couple of years I throw it away and just by a new one, then my investment will still be much lower then with a Webasto.
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Your last line makes an excellent point. We would be interested to know how well it performs over the next year or so, in terms of heat output, amp draw, fuel burn, and reliability.
 
I have experience with both a Volvo Ardic diesel heater and an Espar diesel heater on prior vessels. My current trawler has a Wallas 30GB diesel heater. I much prefer the Wallas because of less fuel pump noise, lack of exhaust noise and simple operation. The Ardic and Espar heaters cycle on and off and remind me of the noise a jet plane makes on takeoff. The fire in the Wallas furnace does not cycle on and off. I could hear and feel the vibration of the Espar fuel pump cycling in the forward cabin of a 41 foot boat with the furnace installed in the transom locker. I had to install a day tank and run K-1 kerosene in the Ardic to have any reasonable maintenance schedule. I have been very satisfied with the advice and support that I have received from Bruce and Doug McElroy at Scan Marine in Seattle: www.scanmarineusa.com
I recommend that you consider a Wallas heater for your vessel. You are welcome to PM me if you want more information about my experience with these heaters.
 
my boat had a house type diesel furnace in it .i removed it because it looked like a fire hazard and needed 120v to operate . i would like to use something like the 12v planar coolant heater so i can reuse the radiators mounted through out the boat. does any one have a model they like . i will only use it underway and at anchor .i have two ac units with
heat when at a dock.
 
We have an Espar forced air unit on our boat. it's a smaller unit. Has been very reliable and easy to use. Noise-wise, not too bad. I can sleep with it on. But then again, my significant other thinks a hearing aid is in my future.

Cheers,
 
FF said:
"

The chinese heater package which is including a diesel tank , mounting material ,fuel pump, filters, exhaust pipe etc. cost only 10% of the cost of a new Webasto."

LINK PLEASE?
Click to expand...


This is our winter project. We're not completely installed yet, but did the same math, and the knock-off heater makes way more sense. This is the one we got:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/8KW-12V-Di...000W-For-Trucks-Boat-Car-Trailer/323506755578



Expect to spend another couple hundred for a proper install, including a couple CO monitor/alarms, longer exhaust hoses, vents and ducting, stainless through-hull, muffler cement, brackets, clips, wire, etc. But, you need those things with any other brand as well.



We're not completely installed yet, but here's a pic bench-testing it in the pilothouse:
image-748928f9-6c1d-4ee8-ab7e-109504a7a492.jpg




And another pic of my wife running wires and venting under the settee and behind the cabinetry:
image-3cd88544-4218-4c6d-ad8f-2a3d50189088.jpg
 
Here's a post I did on a diesel heater from the Bayliner forum. Hope it helps.

Dave

Hi All:

I recently installed a VVKB Apollo-V2 heater on my 3218. It's a heater that is often used by truck drivers to heat their sleeper cabins when parked.

I was a bit worried about this because it's much less expensive that a Wallace or ESPAR or other brand of well-known diesel furnaces. This heater only cost about $500.

The bottom line: It works and works pretty well.

The downsides:

--It's a heater, not really a furnace. So, there is not thermostat that will automatically shut off the heater when the cabin reaches a certain temperature.

--Because it is designed for installation in an RV or big rig, you'll need to improvise a through hull for the exhaust. I used a stainless steel through hull that was slightly larger than the end of the exhaust pipe. I added some high temperature gasket caulking to make the fit air tight.

--It doesn't have a lot of accessories. I wanted to split the heat output to port one vent into the stateroom and one into the main cabin. The heater just comes with one length of 3" ducting and one vent. In the end I used a stainless steel "Y" from a motorcycle exhaust pipe to split the heated air output. I was able to use some heavy duty stainless dryer vent tubing as ducting and a search on Amazon turned up some vents that worked just fine.

--The controller shows codes, not clear messages. So, for example, when you turn it on it shows "A00" which means "Ventilation Mode," you hit the button again and it shows "A01" which means heater mode. There are other codes for the 5 levels of heating, etc. In other words, don't lose your damn manual so you can look up the codes.

-- Temp readouts are in C not F. Can't figure anyway to change this, although there may be.

-- The unit won't operate if tilted more than 30 degrees. I figured if I'm in seas where the boat is experiencing over 30 degree rolling or pitching, then I have more to worry about than staying warm.

--

With all these drawbacks, however, it was $2,500 cheaper than a Wallace, and seems to heat the cabin really well. It was in the low 40's in Cordova the first night I stayed onboard with the heater going. On the lowest setting it kept the cabin at a comfortable 69-71 degrees all night long.

I was worried about the temperature of the exhaust hose, so I took fairly elaborate precautions to cut large air gaps between it and any bulkheads, and wrapped high-temp insulation around points where it came close to anything. Turns out this was unnecessary. Even after hours of running the exhaust hose is just slightly too hot to touch with bare hands. Far below combustion temperatures for common materials.

For the record: I'm not associated with the manufacturer or reseller of this unit in any way.

You can buy these off amazon. Just search the model number.

Hope someone finds this useful.

Dave
Dave Stephens
2002 3988 "Chinook"
Cape Coral, FL

AND

1988 3218 "Raven"
Cordova, Alaska

(Yes . . 2 boat owner: A special kind of dumb!)
 
Thanks Dave for the information.
 
Here is a couple of detailed and very informative videos about the installation of a couple of diesel heaters from the YouTube channel “Onboard Lifestyle”. It’s on a catamaran, but absolutely relevant for anyone considering it.
https://youtu.be/uQsWXvgtqlg
https://youtu.be/4WPiPhhMtQQ
 
Tamrow said:
Here is a couple of detailed and very informative videos about the installation of a couple of diesel heaters from the YouTube channel “Onboard Lifestyle”. It’s on a catamaran, but absolutely relevant for anyone considering it.
https://youtu.be/uQsWXvgtqlg
https://youtu.be/4WPiPhhMtQQ
Click to expand...


Those were really well done videos, and the guy looked like a real wizard when it came to boat projects. Thanks for the links.
 
dave907 said:
I recently installed a VVKB Apollo-V2 heater on my 3218. It's a heater that is often used by truck drivers to heat their sleeper cabins when parked.

I was a bit worried about this because it's much less expensive that a Wallace or ESPAR or other brand of well-known diesel furnaces. This heater only cost about $500.
Click to expand...


There have been several comments made on all these heater-related threads by guys who have installed "Chinese" heaters that cost a fraction the price of a name brand marine unit. The interesting thing is that every one of them has stated that they work great. No problems, and for the price if it breaks you just throw it away and buy a new one.


The cheap bastard inside me likes this
 
I was just at the Seattle Boat Show. There were two new diesel suppliers this year. A guy importing Chinese Heaters and another importing Russian Heaters. The Russian guy has all the accessories to install his units properly. He was offering 3 year warranty. His starting price is $800. I did not get to talk to the Chinese supplier, maybe tomorrow.
 
Tamrow said:
Here is a couple of detailed and very informative videos about the installation of a couple of diesel heaters from the YouTube channel “Onboard Lifestyle”. It’s on a catamaran, but absolutely relevant for anyone considering it.
https://youtu.be/uQsWXvgtqlg
https://youtu.be/4WPiPhhMtQQ
Click to expand...

Nice video, But he installed the fuel pumps in an upright position:ermm:, if the heater on the Eber / webasto correct installation would be 15-35 ° angle skewed, incorrect installation can cause problems with heater operation. The videos were a joy to look at, he is a skilled fitter ...

eber say"It is very important that the pump angle is not reversed. When checking angle ensure that the inlet (side the fuel is drawn into the pump) is the low side and the outlet (side fuel exits the pump) is the high side. It is very important that the pump angle is not reversed (see figure 12 for proper mounting)."

http://www.manins.net.au/motorhome/images/fuel_supply_requirements.jpg


NBs
 
Last edited:
North Baltic sea said:
Nice video, But he installed the fuel pumps in an upright position:ermm:, if the heater on the Eber / webasto correct installation would be 15-35 ° angle skewed...
Click to expand...


I just purchased a Webasto Air Top 40 diesel heater, and the installation manual makes no mention of the skewed installation that I can see. Maybe they changed the fuel pump design?


1a.jpg



2.jpg
 
makobuilders said:
There have been several comments made on all these heater-related threads by guys who have installed "Chinese" heaters that cost a fraction the price of a name brand marine unit. The interesting thing is that every one of them has stated that they work great. No problems, and for the price if it breaks you just throw it away and buy a new one.


The cheap bastard inside me likes this
Click to expand...

As long as "breaking" doesn't include burning the boat to the waterline, you're good to go....:ermm:
 
Vvkb

I had an OLD Eberspacher in by trawler that would not run correctly. I hunted looked at Webasto's and others and decided to buy a diesel 12,000btu VVKB $600 from Amazon. It installed in the same place as the Eberspacher and was easy to install.
Staying warm is a good thing!
 
seattleboatguy said:
I just purchased a Webasto Air Top 40 diesel heater, and the installation manual makes no mention of the skewed installation that I can see. Maybe they changed the fuel pump design?




Thanks for updating this pump thing nowadays ... it is good that the pump can be installed without a precisely defined angle.

Nbs
Click to expand...
 
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