My £84 Chinese diesel heaters now got 6000 run hours on it and three winters in the Arctic. ever needed is two bearings. It’s always my recommendation for people going somewhere really cold is is to take a full spare heater, particularly a Chinese diesel heater as that’s a far more palatable cost-effective spare. it’s all well and good if you’ve got a nice Western brand heater has a warranty, but a warranty isn’t much good at three in the morning in -20! Most of the issues with Chinese diesel heaters are dangerous installs, opposed to dangerous heaters
I've recently installed one of these heaters in my garage, and I am impressed by it, I ditched the supplied fuel line and am using thick walled rubber fuel lines and learned a lesson from you to run the heater at full blast regularly to keep it burning clean, awesome workshop by the way
I guess any line that doesn't expand will be fine. A lot of automotive fuel lines have some kind of wire or fiber reinforcement on the inside to make them solid. Thanks!
I am going to add one of these heaters on an old house to keep the pipes from freezing. I especially liked the tip about hard lines to improve the pressure of the pump to the heater.
Maintenance is key to making these things last a long time, same with anything really. You wouldn't brag about driving your car for 80k miles without an oil change 😅
My van is in garage Having a Chinese heater fitted underneath the van as I don’t have any room inside my van it’s cost me a fortune but I cannot do it myself has to be done. I was basically told that I’d be better off getting a cheap diesel heater because it is cheaper to get parts.😊
The thing is, you can replace the entire heater for the cost of one part on a more "premium" brand and like I said at the end of the day, they all just make heat...
These heaters are brilliant, mine cost £65 each and I have two. I run 100% Kerosene and Never have any problems, other than self inflicted issues. My exhaust is outputted well away from the building so have no issues with noxious gasses. No problem with bearings and I run mostly on full. Great heater.
Thanks for sharing! I can only talk from my personal experience regarding bearings etc. It's such a cheap upgrade though, I think they cost less than £10 so not a deal breaker.
Just had one fitted by coalition vans last week £450 supplied and fitted Andy did a really neat job, got them to do it as didn't want to drill a big hole in my motorhome floor, plus I have the knowledge that it was done properly
Excellent video Ash - I couldn't agree more. Some groups on the internet just don't get it do they - I've got an eberspacher in my van because when i got it 15 years ago thats all you could buy - but for the price of a replacement fuel pump i could have two of these - i know what i'll be doing when it breaks! Ringo
There's definitely an art to installing them correctly. Can easily run into trouble if a few things aren't quite right. But generally, they are well worth the money!
Good honest video and also possibly solved my 08 issue ….ive replaced my heater and can’t get it to run hot did use the green pipe from pump to heater so I will change this and hopefully be fixed
08 error is "flame out" which normally means fuel starvation. Check there is no air trapped anywhere in the line or getting in and sending air pockets up to the heater. Definitely a good idea to change to the hard line. If you look very closely at the pump outlet side, you will see that every pulse creates a micro bubble. They can accumulate if you have a long flat run or tight turns in the line and cause a pressure cushion. Best bet is a fully vertical fuel run but i know that's not always possible. Hope you get it sorted👍 Cheers
Would be cracking for a shed! I would recommend you run it from a 12v battery which is then constantly charging from your mains though, rather than a 230v-12v power supply. That will save the heater in the event of power failure as they need a cool down period.
Mine is not my main heating unit and when the power goes out the heater works great as a back up. I might buy another and make a portable one for the ice tent etc.
They really are solid. Normally the cheap China stuff tends to break pretty quickly but these seem to hold up well. Guess it's because they are so simple.
@@ash.pollard😂the main reason is those webasto based heaters were designed in Germany with large wear and safety margins. The Chinese factory fit once didn't try to "improve" it and most housings and bearings are not made of the cheapest chinesium.
I was thinking to instal a Vevor heater in our van but then I read article (and verified it) that if a diesel heater doesn’t have a CE and E approval you aren’t insured if something bad happens (van catching fire) here in the Netherlands. So therefore we need to instal a more expensive one and I’m going for the Autoterm as it is the more affordable and more reliable option out there..
I'm not familiar with the rules in other countries but given some of the choices people make when installing their electronics or gas systems, a heater should be the least of their worries 🤣
excellent video ,have seen some of the ones pushing the expensive ones recently and was wondering if there was any difference your video explained it nicely thank you
Sure the parts "may" be made of better quality materials on some of the models but realistically they all do the same thing. The only thing you don't get on the Chinese is with thermostat mode, when it gets to the desired temp it throttles down instead of fully shutting off. That bothers some people but I personally don't think it's worth £1000 extra...
Some Brands of Combustion Heaters have used a Pulse Damper at the output end of the Fuel Pump. It smooths out the Pump pulses and enables a steadier Flame in the Heater.
And you will probably find most of these more expensive heaters are made in China and just branded and marked up. Another thing I find annoying is the same van people are also forever pushing e bikes, even if they already have one, they then flog the old one which they were also given. Not trying to dig at you for yours as you don't do what they all do.
Like I say, you've got to make a living somehow and some of these companies pay extremely well on top of the "free" product. Each to their own! It only bothers me when people say you NEED xyz and anything cheaper is bad or dangerous even though they would never buy said expensive thing with their own money. That's a step too far for me.
Great video, I run mine of Kerosene no problems other than the bearing is showing its age, spare controllers are available from Ali express for 12 quid including cables and remote, extra 4 meter cable seven quid service kit about twelve. I also heat a water cylinder ducting the exhaust through the boiler coil which gives me enough hot water make sure condensate is draining. You have some interesting followers.
@@ash.pollard Very simple just get a small steel (hydronic) convector radiator and send the exhaust in at the top and the the cooler exhaust at the bottom, slight slant to get condensate out and the jobs done. Mine works a treat with no restriction on the exhaust flow especially if you use smooth wall pipe rather than the stainless corrugated.
I have had both in vans, Eberspacher and Chinese. Only thing wrong with the chinese ones is the crap silencers and exhaust clamps, I ditched all the fixtures and fittings in favour of German quality items. Sat in the house currently (-7 in the UK at the moment) with my 3 year old chinese heater warming the place nicely...
Yea the supplied hardware is terrible quality but what can you expect for like £70 haha. Once those parts fail they can be replaced for better quality stuff. Normally last at least a year or two though.
Eber tend to corrode up and the fan stops or it cokes up. Good install and placement, add an extra fuel filter and you should be good. It’s a good way to burn crap old diesel.
The Chinese ones are exact copies of the more expensive ones. The only think I always feel uncomfortable about is the fuel tank when they are directly above the heaters, but even then the risk is no higher than any other heating system.
Do you mean with the all in one units? I've never really been a fan of those to be honest.Alright for outdoor use I suppose but I've seen people install them in vans which makes me die inside a little bit 😆
Both have a place. I’ve had countless hours on both the cheap Chinese ones. And I’ve run webasto’s the price it costs me service it costs double the price of a complete Chinese one. I use the cheap ones for burning not so great fuel. We run them in workshops and garages and work a dream. We’re now doing a underfloor system now
I used to fit eberspachers to trucks years ago.. We used to cut 2x 7/8 holes in the floor and then 4x 6mm holes for the fixing bolts then the heater fitted flush to the floor and if the exhaust broke where it connected it didn't gas you out and were always told the exhaust and inlet needed to be the same length and exhaust must always face away from the cab never under it
I guess if you have a template to follow then cutting the specific holes in the vehicle steel achieves the same thing as using the plate. The main benefit I can see using a plate you can remove the heater from inside the vehicle without going under and unscrew bolts, providing you use self drilling screws for mounting and leave enough play in exhaust/intake to facilitate removal from inside.
We used the rubber seal as a template.. I must admit taking the 4 6mm bolts out afterbit had been fitted to a volvo fl10 for a few years made ya swear a bit 😂😂
Son's Iveco had an Erberspacher unit fitted to the welfare box. It was mounted straight to the floor and the dubious quality of the ally casting took a great dislike to road salt and it broke off flush with the base. I managed to open the exhaust hole out a bit and thread it to take a pipe nipple. Not sure if there was some galvanic corrosion issues with the stainless flexi pipe interacting with the ally exhaust stub too ?
Had this heater in my man cave for the last 3 years, changed the glow plug changed the temperature sensor both easy to do would recommend at less than a £100!!!!!
Great video sharing your humble opinions! Only thing I don't have a problem with is using the provided tubes? I have two vevors and both have no issues with the soft tubing? What happens with yours on the green stuff?
Do you have units like this or the all in one type? It's not that they don't work, it's that they don't work correctly. I would say if yours are running fine then you have been very lucky with the length of your line run etc. Just be careful because the other problem with it is it starts to degrade very quickly and can leak. if you set up a piece of soft pipe and a piece of hard next to each other, you could watch how much faster the bubbles pass through the hard pipe because of the stiff walls and also smaller diameter bore.
@@ash.pollard I have been running a stand alone type and a all in one type. One in my Rv and one heating half off my house. Both came with the flimsy soft green tubing. I have done a little digging on these lines and a believe they need a proper warning because I think pretty much all these heaters come with the wrong Silicon tubing. Softer silicon is great for air hoses but not for diesel. Founding this out yesterday I replaced all my lines with 4mm PVC tubing. Its the same green tubing you find in pet stores but because its PVC it's great for diesel.
The warning you show at 07:15 is so incredibly important. Unfortunately, people die because they don't know about it. I'm a carpenter and work with machines from Festool, which are really good. You can buy a copy of these machines at any discount store, but some of them are extremely bad and therefore dangerous. Cheap doesn't always have to be bad, but sometimes it is.
That's very true. I come from the motorcycle world and the Chinese bikes used to be utter crap, made out of cheese. These heaters hold up very well though.
I fitted two of these heaters in my ambulance just in case one fails although it never has. I've now decided to live in Thailand until April so I'm not sure how much use it will get this year... None hopefully. Happy wintering people 👍👍
@ash.pollard Exhaust is probably where I would start, especially in stationary applications. My opinion, its inexpensive enough to improve, I believe you could double the cost of the heaters and they would still be good value, spend the money on improvement because this type of heater attracts diy fitting, make it more fool proof. I believe these heaters have benefital possibly for people less well off.
Thanks for sharing this video. Given that it’s better to blast the heaters to avoid them clogging up, would you recommend 2kw over 5kw for a small sized van?
You're welcome. Depends on how cold climate you're planning on being in and also the size of your van. You don't have to blast them constantly, just a few times a day if you are running it a lot. I have a 5kw in my peugeot expert and overnight running on low it keeps the van around 15c when it's -30 outside without ramping up at all. I think a 2kw would have to spool up much more often.
Good on yah Ash calling out UA-camrs I’m as guilty as any of them But now I’m at the point where I won’t entertain these companies anymore I’d rather concentrate on making videos that I enjoy making and hopefully my audience enjoys watching. No diesel heater videos from me this year.Fair play to you 👍🤓👍🍻
There's nothing wrong with trying out products and demonstrating them to viewers. In fact, I think it's a great thing for people to see before they consider buying something. But there's a right and a wrong way to go about it. I was offered something a while back. Told the company sure, if I have the freedom to test and review it on my own terms. Their response was, "if you say that it is good regardless we will pay you X amount more on top" 😳 I think making the videos you enjoy is the best way to do youtube. Bending yourself to trends or algorithms only results in a miserable experience. Nice one 👍
@ash.pollard tbh I may bite the bullet and try one but in general I think if you look after either a cheap or expensive heater and basically decoke yearly they do a great job easy to do plus a very cheap way of heating I have a few both chinky cheap and expensive ones heating boats and workshops if maintained work well I have a all in one max speeding tods one in one of my workshops has done great for 3 plus years changed the fuel pipe and cleaned every year all good
Just discovered your channel and this video was really informative. Thank you. Just one question, do you have to run them on diesel or can you use alternative fuels such as filtered chip shop oil or kerosene? Cheers
You're welcome! Kerosene definitely works, have tried that myself. I know you can run used oils but I haven't done it personally. There's some videos of people doing that if you have a search though 👍
White and red diesel and kerosene (paraffin) Anything else will quickly clog up the unit and/or the pump, If you use kerosene it burns so much more cleaner than diesel but not as hot burning as diesel, diesel lubricates the pump but kerosene does not but many say the pump does not require lubrication, I know of people running on kerosene and never having issues with the pump but you can mix kerosene and diesel so maybe add a litre of diesel if this is a concern to you, kerosene is a us name for what we in the UK call paraffin so are both the same fuel which some don't realise, Hope this helps you out.
I’ll take a chance with my 2heaters in my workshop and garage against an electric bike no problems with my first one that’s run for 4 winters the other one is new but no problems so far why would I but a second one if I’d had problems 👍🇬🇧
Personally, if it was in a van situation I would just carry a whole spare heater ready to swap out and then repair the broken one at my leisure. Other than the gaskets you basically listed all the parts 😆 never had a motor fail, only the bearings. You've got temp sensor too that's worth having spare.
The thermostat is the most likely part to fail on the cdh but they are cheap and easy to replace but like another comment says why not just have a complete spare unit to swap then repair it out of the van and bench test it before using that as your spare
It’s the all in ones fitted in vans that worry me, I’ve been arguing with some people on youtube recommending them this week and they won’t have it they’re not safe
thanks for the video. I have bought a vw t3 which is running again after being idle for 12 years and I am going to install one of these diesel heaters in it. The one you had in your van was connected to your spare battery? Do you think an ordinary car battery will be able to hold a diesel heater? I hope you are doing well up there.
I have a T25 myself and run a 5kw Chinese diesel heater. They use about 7amp for about 3-5 minutes then from about 1 amp to about 3 amp on full power. It largely depends how much insulation your van has and how warm you like to be. I tried 2kw electric heater at minus 2 degrees and it didn't get my van much over freezing but a 5kw is overkill when it's 12 degrees outside. DC house are selling a 100ah lithium phosphate battery some kind of return for £160 with eBay's current 20% discount you're only about £130. I managed to fit a 100ah lithium phosphate battery behind the drivers seat (AOlithium) which will fit with a lot of work. Unless you are using your van as just a day van it will prematurely wear out your starting battery because it's lead acid technology and is not designed for deep discharge and doesn't have more than 300 cycle from the highest quality battery, whereas a lithium phosphate will achieve 4000 cycle without changing settings to reduce the charging voltage at minimum, which its suggested could extend the battery to 40000 cycles.
You're welcome! You can in theory do it and it would work but you're far better off using a separate leisure battery to save the worry of the van not starting in the morning 😊
They are no good on narrowboats due to bss safety regulations you will end up paying 3 times as much because of extra parts might as well get a used ebspatcher or wabasto
Hi about to put one in our off grid cabin, so thank you. However could you help me, would be ok to run the air inlet from outside not from air inside? Would it not be better to have clean air from outside instead of stale air from inside? This is for an off grid cabin. Would really appreciate the advise. Ps followed you for years now and love this channel. Thank you Gus
It depends really, neither way is wrong but you have benefits with both. External intake will draw fresh air in but also if the wind changes might pull in exhaust smell too. Recirculating internal air in theory should help it warm up faster as you are heating already warmed air rather than cold. It's up to you 🤷♂️
@@ash.pollardEven if the wind direction changes and the intake starts sucking in exhaust fumes, you won't smell it inside as the "combustion process" is completely sealed from the "heater" process and never the twain shall meet, worse case scenario is it might run a bit rough/rich ? I've had a Chinese unit installed in my garage/workshop for 4 years now and it's never missed a beat, but regarding where you site the combustion intake, if you have a draughty garage like mine, having the combustion intake inside the area you're heating will use up the air inside and push it out of the exhaust, meaning that displaced air will need to be replaced, which means it will try and draw it from outside, causing cold draughts to find a way in. IMO, the combustion intake should be outside, so it doesn't pull cold air into your work/living space.
@@graemewhite5029 I think either me or you has misread the original question 😅 I read it as referring to the blown (heating) air being drawn from outside to give fresh warm air inside as opposed to recirculating stale air, that's why i mentioned exhaust smell. Some people mount the entire unit outside and only port in the blow air. On my setup here, the intake for the combustion technically is outside, it just has that plate over to protect from the weather. They are old style windows so the double glazing has a 20cm cavity which is where the intake sits. The inner window is fully sealed so no gas can pass through to inside. (after reading again, pretty sure I misunderstood the question)
@@ash.pollard Yeah, I can see where the confusion came from now. I don't think heating "outside air" would be a very efficient use of fuel ? Imagine having to heat -30° outside air up to a "comfortable" temp, as opposed to say +15° air from inside ?
I've used kerosene in the past with no problems and I know a lot of others do too. Don't know about paraffin though. We live 80km from the nearest town so pump diesel is most economical for us.
Personaly I would pay more for the safety regulated heater than a Chinese heater that's not safety regulated the small cost of a wabasto or ebspatcher is always going to be better than a burnt down boat van or cabin
Not one single case of fire or injury/death from a Chinese heater yet some of the people installing them really shouldn't be let out alone, They are completely safe units due to exhaust gasses being vented outside, I fitted mine in my van 4 years ago and in winter leave it run all night and never had a single issue, I did install my 20l top feed tank in favour of the 10l bottom feed that came with the heater, I also upgraded most of the parts it came supplied with prior to fitting and run it correctly so as not to bake it full of carbon, In the end I have an heater just as good and safe as any eberspacher units for a fraction of the cost but I guess it comes down to how confident you are in your ability based on all the research on all brands of diesel heaters carried out including tests being ran prior to fitting, many just buy and fit straight out the box and still have no issues but for those who have issues it's alway user error in my experience, Hope this helps you out.
Some good tips, although the “mine is two / three / four / five / six years old” comments make me smile. If your original Chinese one ever gets to sixteen years without a single fault and is still going strong maybe then we could compare maintenance notes over an Airtop or D2….
The thing is, you could replace a Chinese one for new 10x over and still be under the cost of a German product. It's each to their own really, nobody is wrong. If you can justify the initial cost of a German product then crack on! I try to help people who don't have that kind of money, like me 😊
@ I totally accept the price thing and that everyones’ priorities vary. Personally though I wouldn’t be happy about the x10 failures, likely at the most inconvenient times, and the x10 occasions that I would have to swap the old units out, even speaking as someone capable of doing so. I just want to fit it once and enjoy a highly reliable and durable installation in a long term vehicle. Scania, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz fit the branded stuff in trucks with good reason.
I wonder who if is? I don't sub to the van lifers anymore that got boring quick. I did enjoy Greg v builds, I do enjoy watching you! that sounds creepy :)
I had one of those cheap ones in my van. It worked very well but due to my agm leisure batteries being old, to keep warm i had to hook up at a campsite when they had no solar on dull days.
Once running they are very efficient, only consuming around 1 amp at 12v. On startup / shutdown though when the glow plug is on they can pull up to 10amps so that's where weak batteries can let you down
Everything is dangerous in the wrong hands. Treat with respect knowledgeis key. Sleep with it on nice and cosy but have 2 or 3 quality o2 alarms close by. Heat exchangers with a flame all have the same inherent dangers. Simple
That is very true. These are being targeted as dangerous by design though by people or companies trying to push more expensive products which lets be honest, share the same dangers of poisoning or fire risk if installed incorrectly.
I’ve never heard any bad feedback from these cheaper versions of a diesel heater, it’s a basic design so was never good value for money at 7,8,900 quid it cost for the original ones. Literally everyone I’ve ever spoken too have said there heaters have been faultless - they are not dangerous, it’s usually the total plank that buys one then starts messing with it, sure the build quality differs and isn’t that much of a big deal. Anyone that snubs a Chinese diesel heater is a closet racist -they are just as good as the over priced version
That's exactly my point! Even the people who are now slagging them off used to use them themselves and promoted them to others. People will do anything for money.
That is so English, they do it all the time. Don't buy an cheap Android phone instead buy an expensive iphone that was made in the same place as the Android. The iphone is no better, in many ways it has less performance, but just don't be seen with anything cheaper, even if you are not rich.
I watched this video n heard you mention about having to put the heater on full to clear them out.. a tip for free given there only small if you mix about 200 ml of red 2 stroke oil in with the fuel it will keep it clean without putting it on full whack because the 2 stroke raises the temperature slightly. I've done this with all my vans l use 1 litre to keep the carbon virtually non existent in petrol l use half a litre..
I've had a cheap Chinese diesel heater in my van for 6 years with zero problems never serviced it had it running 24/7 when really cold over winter i had an expensive one for a year beforehand and had endless problems spending hundreds on wire looms and controllers still had problems so got a cheap one seems to have solved my problem and have a second one in storage should i need it
Wow nice 6 years! I guess I'm quite a heavy user with them running for like 120days straight a year so that's probably why the standard bearings fail. But yea, the German parts are stupid money.
Oh i do think mine is on the edge of failure it is a bit noisy probably bearings and some build up of carbon but im amazed and very pleased to say it's been a problem free purchase i guess i got an exceptional one to do so well but would definitely not bother with a pricey alternative
Totally agree with you toughts of these! Only way you can make any heater dangerous is if you let the exhaust in your building and not outside! 😆 Got a kind of funny story from my 3rd heater that I got for free! Yes, over year ago, bougth one cheap orage one and month of that the seller refunded my money and ask that I have to stop using it, no return just get rid of it etc. I asked why and I finally got documents that say they have not included proper installation instructions with it and someone installed it inside completly exhaust also and propably died? Darwin award maybe? So it may be dangerous for someone without installation instructions or just lack of common sense! 😄
I believe that was something to do with customs kicking up a stink about it. Remember reading about that. They don't like the idea of people installing independent heat sources... 😳
My £84 Chinese diesel heaters now got 6000 run hours on it and three winters in the Arctic. ever needed is two bearings.
It’s always my recommendation for people going somewhere really cold is is to take a full spare heater, particularly a Chinese diesel heater as that’s a far more palatable cost-effective spare. it’s all well and good if you’ve got a nice Western brand heater has a warranty, but a warranty isn’t much good at three in the morning in -20!
Most of the issues with Chinese diesel heaters are dangerous installs, opposed to dangerous heaters
Haha that is true! Cash in on that warranty whilst you're freezing to death 😆🤌
Can't argue with that Alex 😂
I've got 2 of these heaters one in my work shop and one heating my house I've been using them for 2 years now with no problems.
Great video 👍
Nice! They are really great value
I've recently installed one of these heaters in my garage, and I am impressed by it, I ditched the supplied fuel line and am using thick walled rubber fuel lines and learned a lesson from you to run the heater at full blast regularly to keep it burning clean, awesome workshop by the way
I guess any line that doesn't expand will be fine. A lot of automotive fuel lines have some kind of wire or fiber reinforcement on the inside to make them solid. Thanks!
The internal diameter of the line must be the same as original so each pulse of the pump delivers-the measured dose of fuel
@@garyjohnson5069 Hi, I replaced like for like, 6mm internal bore, but it was 11mm Outside diameter, Thanks form the help
I am going to add one of these heaters on an old house to keep the pipes from freezing. I especially liked the tip about hard lines to improve the pressure of the pump to the heater.
My garage runs one constantly for 3 months over winter now 3 yrs in still apart from 1 or 2 clean outs... perfect...also my camper perfect
Maintenance is key to making these things last a long time, same with anything really. You wouldn't brag about driving your car for 80k miles without an oil change 😅
For the price of them even if you bought one ever year its not bad . Nice to see you mate hope your both well.
Exactly! I think we own make 8 or 9 now spread across various vehicles or buildings. Still couldn't buy a single german one for that price 😆
My van is in garage Having a Chinese heater fitted underneath the van as I don’t have any room inside my van it’s cost me a fortune but I cannot do it myself has to be done. I was basically told that I’d be better off getting a cheap diesel heater because it is cheaper to get parts.😊
The thing is, you can replace the entire heater for the cost of one part on a more "premium" brand and like I said at the end of the day, they all just make heat...
Well said Ash
These heaters are brilliant, mine cost £65 each and I have two. I run 100% Kerosene and Never have any problems, other than self inflicted issues. My exhaust is outputted well away from the building so have no issues with noxious gasses. No problem with bearings and I run mostly on full. Great heater.
Thanks for sharing! I can only talk from my personal experience regarding bearings etc. It's such a cheap upgrade though, I think they cost less than £10 so not a deal breaker.
About to install one of these myself. Much thanks for the excellent info!
Glad I could help!
Just had one fitted by coalition vans last week £450 supplied and fitted Andy did a really neat job, got them to do it as didn't want to drill a big hole in my motorhome floor, plus I have the knowledge that it was done properly
Thanks for choosing us!
Nice! I know Liam, he's a good guy. Would trust him to work on my van if I ever needed it 👍
Excellent video Ash - I couldn't agree more. Some groups on the internet just don't get it do they - I've got an eberspacher in my van because when i got it 15 years ago thats all you could buy - but for the price of a replacement fuel pump i could have two of these - i know what i'll be doing when it breaks! Ringo
I had to replace the water pump on the webasto pre heater in my van. 100 quid used from Lithuania was the cheapest i could find 🤣
Thank you for your honest and thoughtful product review. You are great and I enjoy your videos!
Glad you enjoy them!
Well said x
Mine breaks every September lol just had it fixed again the other day. But they are a game changer in a van. 😊
There's definitely an art to installing them correctly. Can easily run into trouble if a few things aren't quite right. But generally, they are well worth the money!
Extremely helpful, thanks for being so frank and all those ideas.
Glad it was helpful!
Great video wise words from the lots of experience u av thank you
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it 😊👍
Thank you for your unbiased input. Great info,
My pleasure!
Good honest video and also possibly solved my 08 issue ….ive replaced my heater and can’t get it to run hot did use the green pipe from pump to heater so I will change this and hopefully be fixed
08 error is "flame out" which normally means fuel starvation. Check there is no air trapped anywhere in the line or getting in and sending air pockets up to the heater. Definitely a good idea to change to the hard line. If you look very closely at the pump outlet side, you will see that every pulse creates a micro bubble. They can accumulate if you have a long flat run or tight turns in the line and cause a pressure cushion. Best bet is a fully vertical fuel run but i know that's not always possible. Hope you get it sorted👍 Cheers
Great video mate. The green flexible line is fine to use before the fuel pump, which is a suction part.
Yes that is true, I like to keep it all the same of possible though. Personal preference.
thanks bud i have been considering one for my shed
Would be cracking for a shed! I would recommend you run it from a 12v battery which is then constantly charging from your mains though, rather than a 230v-12v power supply. That will save the heater in the event of power failure as they need a cool down period.
Mine is not my main heating unit and when the power goes out the heater works great as a back up. I might buy another and make a portable one for the ice tent etc.
You can actually get them in "toolbox" style now which look pretty cool
the amount of videos about where people throw all sorts of abuse at the cheap ones, they have more or less shown how safe and bombproof they are.
They really are solid. Normally the cheap China stuff tends to break pretty quickly but these seem to hold up well. Guess it's because they are so simple.
They work fine. Sure, the original patent they copied was good design. I never remember if it was eberspracher or Webasto..
@@ash.pollard😂the main reason is those webasto based heaters were designed in Germany with large wear and safety margins. The Chinese factory fit once didn't try to "improve" it and most housings and bearings are not made of the cheapest chinesium.
Great rock solid experience based information Ash - have a good winter!
Thanks! You too!
Another interesting and useful video Ash. Thank you 😊
You're welcome 😊
Been running mine for 4years now no problems
I was thinking to instal a Vevor heater in our van but then I read article (and verified it) that if a diesel heater doesn’t have a CE and E approval you aren’t insured if something bad happens (van catching fire) here in the Netherlands. So therefore we need to instal a more expensive one and I’m going for the Autoterm as it is the more affordable and more reliable option out there..
I'm not familiar with the rules in other countries but given some of the choices people make when installing their electronics or gas systems, a heater should be the least of their worries 🤣
@ that is very true
excellent video ,have seen some of the ones pushing the expensive ones recently and was wondering if there was any difference your video explained it nicely thank you
Sure the parts "may" be made of better quality materials on some of the models but realistically they all do the same thing. The only thing you don't get on the Chinese is with thermostat mode, when it gets to the desired temp it throttles down instead of fully shutting off. That bothers some people but I personally don't think it's worth £1000 extra...
Some Brands of Combustion Heaters have used a Pulse Damper at the output end of the Fuel Pump.
It smooths out the Pump pulses and enables a steadier Flame in the Heater.
Interesting!
Great video Ash and plenty of words of wisdom in there
Nice one 👍
Thanks for making this video, and your tips.
Glad it was helpful!
Well said at last someone talking sense 👏👍
And you will probably find most of these more expensive heaters are made in China and just branded and marked up. Another thing I find annoying is the same van people are also forever pushing e bikes, even if they already have one, they then flog the old one which they were also given. Not trying to dig at you for yours as you don't do what they all do.
Like I say, you've got to make a living somehow and some of these companies pay extremely well on top of the "free" product. Each to their own! It only bothers me when people say you NEED xyz and anything cheaper is bad or dangerous even though they would never buy said expensive thing with their own money. That's a step too far for me.
Nice one Ash. They are so good and worthwhile. You just have to look after them. But that's the same with everything. Take Care Buddy
Very true! I've had more problems with the webasto engine heater fitted in my van than I've ever had with one of these 🤦♂️
great vid ash thanks for the great vid keep up the great vid on channel thanks lee
Cheers Lee, glad you enjoyed it 👍
Great video, I run mine of Kerosene no problems other than the bearing is showing its age, spare controllers are available from Ali express for 12 quid including cables and remote, extra 4 meter cable seven quid service kit about twelve. I also heat a water cylinder ducting the exhaust through the boiler coil which gives me enough hot water make sure condensate is draining. You have some interesting followers.
Nice! I would like to do something with the exhaust in the future as a lot of heat is wasted there.
@@ash.pollard Very simple just get a small steel (hydronic) convector radiator and send the exhaust in at the top and the the cooler exhaust at the bottom, slight slant to get condensate out and the jobs done.
Mine works a treat with no restriction on the exhaust flow especially if you use smooth wall pipe rather than the stainless corrugated.
Thnx for the video
My pleasure
I have had both in vans, Eberspacher and Chinese. Only thing wrong with the chinese ones is the crap silencers and exhaust clamps, I ditched all the fixtures and fittings in favour of German quality items. Sat in the house currently (-7 in the UK at the moment) with my 3 year old chinese heater warming the place nicely...
Yea the supplied hardware is terrible quality but what can you expect for like £70 haha. Once those parts fail they can be replaced for better quality stuff. Normally last at least a year or two though.
Eber tend to corrode up and the fan stops or it cokes up.
Good install and placement, add an extra fuel filter and you should be good.
It’s a good way to burn crap old diesel.
I've actually just pulled 50l out of an old van I bought. Probably 2 year old fuel and it's burning nicely right now 😆
The Chinese ones are exact copies of the more expensive ones. The only think I always feel uncomfortable about is the fuel tank when they are directly above the heaters, but even then the risk is no higher than any other heating system.
Do you mean with the all in one units? I've never really been a fan of those to be honest.Alright for outdoor use I suppose but I've seen people install them in vans which makes me die inside a little bit 😆
Both have a place. I’ve had countless hours on both the cheap Chinese ones. And I’ve run webasto’s the price it costs me service it costs double the price of a complete Chinese one. I use the cheap ones for burning not so great fuel. We run them in workshops and garages and work a dream. We’re now doing a underfloor system now
I used to fit eberspachers to trucks years ago.. We used to cut 2x 7/8 holes in the floor and then 4x 6mm holes for the fixing bolts then the heater fitted flush to the floor and if the exhaust broke where it connected it didn't gas you out and were always told the exhaust and inlet needed to be the same length and exhaust must always face away from the cab never under it
I guess if you have a template to follow then cutting the specific holes in the vehicle steel achieves the same thing as using the plate. The main benefit I can see using a plate you can remove the heater from inside the vehicle without going under and unscrew bolts, providing you use self drilling screws for mounting and leave enough play in exhaust/intake to facilitate removal from inside.
We used the rubber seal as a template.. I must admit taking the 4 6mm bolts out afterbit had been fitted to a volvo fl10 for a few years made ya swear a bit 😂😂
Son's Iveco had an Erberspacher unit fitted to the welfare box. It was mounted straight to the floor and the dubious quality of the ally casting took a great dislike to road salt and it broke off flush with the base. I managed to open the exhaust hole out a bit and thread it to take a pipe nipple. Not sure if there was some galvanic corrosion issues with the stainless flexi pipe interacting with the ally exhaust stub too ?
Had this heater in my man cave for the last 3 years, changed the glow plug changed the temperature sensor both easy to do would recommend at less than a £100!!!!!
Thank you, cheers from southern Sweden
You are welcome!
£85 on Ebay with lcd and remote and so far over six years full time van dweller without issue. Most hours run on 1 alpine mode and still runs fine.
Nice👌
The emissions are the deadly bit
Great video sharing your humble opinions! Only thing I don't have a problem with is using the provided tubes? I have two vevors and both have no issues with the soft tubing? What happens with yours on the green stuff?
Do you have units like this or the all in one type? It's not that they don't work, it's that they don't work correctly. I would say if yours are running fine then you have been very lucky with the length of your line run etc. Just be careful because the other problem with it is it starts to degrade very quickly and can leak.
if you set up a piece of soft pipe and a piece of hard next to each other, you could watch how much faster the bubbles pass through the hard pipe because of the stiff walls and also smaller diameter bore.
No problem in last 2 years with my green tubes either.
That's great 👍 it's a £5 upgrade
@@ash.pollard
I have been running a stand alone type and a all in one type. One in my Rv and one heating half off my house. Both came with the flimsy soft green tubing.
I have done a little digging on these lines and a believe they need a proper warning because I think pretty much all these heaters come with the wrong Silicon tubing. Softer silicon is great for air hoses but not for diesel.
Founding this out yesterday I replaced all my lines with 4mm PVC tubing. Its the same green tubing you find in pet stores but because its PVC it's great for diesel.
Thanks Ash,, 👍🌟👍
My pleasure!😊
The warning you show at 07:15 is so incredibly important. Unfortunately, people die because they don't know about it.
I'm a carpenter and work with machines from Festool, which are really good. You can buy a copy of these machines at any discount store, but some of them are extremely bad and therefore dangerous.
Cheap doesn't always have to be bad, but sometimes it is.
That's very true. I come from the motorcycle world and the Chinese bikes used to be utter crap, made out of cheese. These heaters hold up very well though.
Best video yet.
Thanks! 😊👍
I fitted two of these heaters in my ambulance just in case one fails although it never has. I've now decided to live in Thailand until April so I'm not sure how much use it will get this year... None hopefully. Happy wintering people 👍👍
Haha that's one way to tackle the winter... Don't!😆
Nice workshop, good video, the heaters could be safer to be honest. Please be careful the gaskets might be Asbestos, still widely used outside EU.
Cheers👍 What would you do to improve their safety?
@ash.pollard Exhaust is probably where I would start, especially in stationary applications. My opinion, its inexpensive enough to improve, I believe you could double the cost of the heaters and they would still be good value, spend the money on improvement because this type of heater attracts diy fitting, make it more fool proof. I believe these heaters have benefital possibly for people less well off.
What AMAZINGLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!
ANYONE that needs heat NEEDS to watch this!
💯You are a TRUE HERO ASH❣Thank you🙏
Thank you Renay 🙏
Hello Ash
Vevor´s latest bluetooth control has possibility to true thermostat mode I.E it turns itself on and off. Nice feature
Interesting! That would be really handy in a van.
Great video
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this video. Given that it’s better to blast the heaters to avoid them clogging up, would you recommend 2kw over 5kw for a small sized van?
You're welcome. Depends on how cold climate you're planning on being in and also the size of your van. You don't have to blast them constantly, just a few times a day if you are running it a lot. I have a 5kw in my peugeot expert and overnight running on low it keeps the van around 15c when it's -30 outside without ramping up at all. I think a 2kw would have to spool up much more often.
Good on yah Ash calling out UA-camrs I’m as guilty as any of them But now I’m at the point where I won’t entertain these companies anymore I’d rather concentrate on making videos that I enjoy making and hopefully my audience enjoys watching. No diesel heater videos from me this year.Fair play to you 👍🤓👍🍻
There's nothing wrong with trying out products and demonstrating them to viewers. In fact, I think it's a great thing for people to see before they consider buying something. But there's a right and a wrong way to go about it. I was offered something a while back. Told the company sure, if I have the freedom to test and review it on my own terms. Their response was, "if you say that it is good regardless we will pay you X amount more on top" 😳 I think making the videos you enjoy is the best way to do youtube. Bending yourself to trends or algorithms only results in a miserable experience. Nice one 👍
Have ypu tried the air heater plus water heater ones ? Seems a great idea if they work
I haven't yet but I have seen them a few times. May have a play one day if not too expensive
@ash.pollard tbh I may bite the bullet and try one but in general I think if you look after either a cheap or expensive heater and basically decoke yearly they do a great job easy to do plus a very cheap way of heating I have a few both chinky cheap and expensive ones heating boats and workshops if maintained work well I have a all in one max speeding tods one in one of my workshops has done great for 3 plus years changed the fuel pipe and cleaned every year all good
Just discovered your channel and this video was really informative. Thank you.
Just one question, do you have to run them on diesel or can you use alternative fuels such as filtered chip shop oil or kerosene?
Cheers
You're welcome! Kerosene definitely works, have tried that myself. I know you can run used oils but I haven't done it personally. There's some videos of people doing that if you have a search though 👍
@ash.pollard brilliant, thank you
White and red diesel and kerosene (paraffin) Anything else will quickly clog up the unit and/or the pump, If you use kerosene it burns so much more cleaner than diesel but not as hot burning as diesel, diesel lubricates the pump but kerosene does not but many say the pump does not require lubrication, I know of people running on kerosene and never having issues with the pump but you can mix kerosene and diesel so maybe add a litre of diesel if this is a concern to you, kerosene is a us name for what we in the UK call paraffin so are both the same fuel which some don't realise, Hope this helps you out.
@@daveboxer8486 brilliant. Thank you
Well said mate 👌
Thanks man 👊
Can you do one on why you really don't need to use MC4 connectors or special cable when you have a couple of solar panels on your van.
Mc4 connectors are only worth it if you will be disconnecting them often to move panels around etc, otherwise I don't see the point.
I’ll take a chance with my 2heaters in my workshop and garage against an electric bike no problems with my first one that’s run for 4 winters the other one is new but no problems so far why would I but a second one if I’d had problems 👍🇬🇧
As a heavy user, what spare parts would you carry other than a glow plug, wire mesh, motherboard?
They're a copy of the eberspracher D2.
Personally, if it was in a van situation I would just carry a whole spare heater ready to swap out and then repair the broken one at my leisure. Other than the gaskets you basically listed all the parts 😆 never had a motor fail, only the bearings. You've got temp sensor too that's worth having spare.
I have another 5kw heater but I've a VW T25, so don't want to carry it with me so I've ordered two temperature sensors. Thanks Ash
The thermostat is the most likely part to fail on the cdh but they are cheap and easy to replace but like another comment says why not just have a complete spare unit to swap then repair it out of the van and bench test it before using that as your spare
It’s the all in ones fitted in vans that worry me, I’ve been arguing with some people on youtube recommending them this week and they won’t have it they’re not safe
Yea they really should not be marketed in the way they are. Definitely not safe to be installed inside, I hope nobody gets hurt doing that 🤦♂️
thanks for the video.
I have bought a vw t3 which is running again after being idle for 12 years and I am going to install one of these diesel heaters in it.
The one you had in your van was connected to your spare battery?
Do you think an ordinary car battery will be able to hold a diesel heater?
I hope you are doing well up there.
I have a T25 myself and run a 5kw Chinese diesel heater. They use about 7amp for about 3-5 minutes then from about 1 amp to about 3 amp on full power. It largely depends how much insulation your van has and how warm you like to be. I tried 2kw electric heater at minus 2 degrees and it didn't get my van much over freezing but a 5kw is overkill when it's 12 degrees outside.
DC house are selling a 100ah lithium phosphate battery some kind of return for £160 with eBay's current 20% discount you're only about £130. I managed to fit a 100ah lithium phosphate battery behind the drivers seat (AOlithium) which will fit with a lot of work.
Unless you are using your van as just a day van it will prematurely wear out your starting battery because it's lead acid technology and is not designed for deep discharge and doesn't have more than 300 cycle from the highest quality battery, whereas a lithium phosphate will achieve 4000 cycle without changing settings to reduce the charging voltage at minimum, which its suggested could extend the battery to 40000 cycles.
You're welcome! You can in theory do it and it would work but you're far better off using a separate leisure battery to save the worry of the van not starting in the morning 😊
The vinyl fuel line more issues, compared to, decent non Chinese pipe
I've never had an issue with the hard Chinese fuel line but I'm sure there is better quality stuff out there
They are no good on narrowboats due to bss safety regulations you will end up paying 3 times as much because of extra parts might as well get a used ebspatcher or wabasto
Hi about to put one in our off grid cabin, so thank you. However could you help me, would be ok to run the air inlet from outside not from air inside? Would it not be better to have clean air from outside instead of stale air from inside? This is for an off grid cabin. Would really appreciate the advise. Ps followed you for years now and love this channel. Thank you Gus
It depends really, neither way is wrong but you have benefits with both. External intake will draw fresh air in but also if the wind changes might pull in exhaust smell too. Recirculating internal air in theory should help it warm up faster as you are heating already warmed air rather than cold. It's up to you 🤷♂️
@@ash.pollardEven if the wind direction changes and the intake starts sucking in exhaust fumes, you won't smell it inside as the "combustion process" is completely sealed from the "heater" process and never the twain shall meet, worse case scenario is it might run a bit rough/rich ?
I've had a Chinese unit installed in my garage/workshop for 4 years now and it's never missed a beat, but regarding where you site the combustion intake, if you have a draughty garage like mine, having the combustion intake inside the area you're heating will use up the air inside and push it out of the exhaust, meaning that displaced air will need to be replaced, which means it will try and draw it from outside, causing cold draughts to find a way in.
IMO, the combustion intake should be outside, so it doesn't pull cold air into your work/living space.
@@graemewhite5029 I think either me or you has misread the original question 😅 I read it as referring to the blown (heating) air being drawn from outside to give fresh warm air inside as opposed to recirculating stale air, that's why i mentioned exhaust smell. Some people mount the entire unit outside and only port in the blow air. On my setup here, the intake for the combustion technically is outside, it just has that plate over to protect from the weather. They are old style windows so the double glazing has a 20cm cavity which is where the intake sits. The inner window is fully sealed so no gas can pass through to inside. (after reading again, pretty sure I misunderstood the question)
@@ash.pollard Yeah, I can see where the confusion came from now.
I don't think heating "outside air" would be a very efficient use of fuel ? Imagine having to heat -30° outside air up to a "comfortable" temp, as opposed to say +15° air from inside ?
@@graemewhite5029 For sure in our climate it would be nuts to drag in air from outside. I wouldn't be surprised if it came out the other end cold!
Is it better to use paraffin or kerosene rather than diesel in these heaters? I’ve heard it burns cleaner and less likely to soot up.
I've used kerosene in the past with no problems and I know a lot of others do too. Don't know about paraffin though. We live 80km from the nearest town so pump diesel is most economical for us.
So, The heater runs more like a cat than a dog....Runs fast and hot, but doesn't go WOOF! Good wisdom, Bud....!
Something like that 😆👍
The one I fitted to my sprinter 6 years ago is still going strong and it cost me £55!
All diesel heaters are made in China
I'd imagine the one still sitting in my Iveco would fire straight up too. I wouldn't be surprised to be fair
@ they are all the same
Personaly I would pay more for the safety regulated heater than a Chinese heater that's not safety regulated the small cost of a wabasto or ebspatcher is always going to be better than a burnt down boat van or cabin
Not one single case of fire or injury/death from a Chinese heater yet some of the people installing them really shouldn't be let out alone, They are completely safe units due to exhaust gasses being vented outside, I fitted mine in my van 4 years ago and in winter leave it run all night and never had a single issue, I did install my 20l top feed tank in favour of the 10l bottom feed that came with the heater, I also upgraded most of the parts it came supplied with prior to fitting and run it correctly so as not to bake it full of carbon, In the end I have an heater just as good and safe as any eberspacher units for a fraction of the cost but I guess it comes down to how confident you are in your ability based on all the research on all brands of diesel heaters carried out including tests being ran prior to fitting, many just buy and fit straight out the box and still have no issues but for those who have issues it's alway user error in my experience, Hope this helps you out.
They have quite pumps ?
What would be the best way to store one of these heaters?
What do you mean by store? storing a spare unit or installing one?
@ash.pollard to store away until next use long term storage .
Some good tips, although the “mine is two / three / four / five / six years old” comments make me smile. If your original Chinese one ever gets to sixteen years without a single fault and is still going strong maybe then we could compare maintenance notes over an Airtop or D2….
The thing is, you could replace a Chinese one for new 10x over and still be under the cost of a German product. It's each to their own really, nobody is wrong. If you can justify the initial cost of a German product then crack on! I try to help people who don't have that kind of money, like me 😊
@ I totally accept the price thing and that everyones’ priorities vary. Personally though I wouldn’t be happy about the x10 failures, likely at the most inconvenient times, and the x10 occasions that I would have to swap the old units out, even speaking as someone capable of doing so. I just want to fit it once and enjoy a highly reliable and durable installation in a long term vehicle. Scania, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz fit the branded stuff in trucks with good reason.
I wonder who if is? I don't sub to the van lifers anymore that got boring quick. I did enjoy Greg v builds, I do enjoy watching you! that sounds creepy :)
Not directed at anyone in particular, this has been happening a lot recently so felt like I should try and bring some reality back 😆
I had one of those cheap ones in my van. It worked very well but due to my agm leisure batteries being old, to keep warm i had to hook up at a campsite when they had no solar on dull days.
Once running they are very efficient, only consuming around 1 amp at 12v. On startup / shutdown though when the glow plug is on they can pull up to 10amps so that's where weak batteries can let you down
Everything is dangerous in the wrong hands. Treat with respect knowledgeis key. Sleep with it on nice and cosy but have 2 or 3 quality o2 alarms close by. Heat exchangers with a flame all have the same inherent dangers. Simple
That is very true. These are being targeted as dangerous by design though by people or companies trying to push more expensive products which lets be honest, share the same dangers of poisoning or fire risk if installed incorrectly.
👍🏻🔥
They are not dangerous the installers are.
Decent setup that. I bought a silent pump off of ebay for £11, best thing i ever did for the heater and also my sanity.
Oh really? I assumed they would be just as loud, good to know for future installs where the pump cant be outside.
I’ve never heard any bad feedback from these cheaper versions of a diesel heater, it’s a basic design so was never good value for money at 7,8,900 quid it cost for the original ones. Literally everyone I’ve ever spoken too have said there heaters have been faultless - they are not dangerous, it’s usually the total plank that buys one then starts messing with it, sure the build quality differs and isn’t that much of a big deal.
Anyone that snubs a Chinese diesel heater is a closet racist -they are just as good as the over priced version
That's exactly my point! Even the people who are now slagging them off used to use them themselves and promoted them to others. People will do anything for money.
@@ash.pollard Exactly Ash! Subbed 👌🏻
That is so English, they do it all the time. Don't buy an cheap Android phone instead buy an expensive iphone that was made in the same place as the Android. The iphone is no better, in many ways it has less performance, but just don't be seen with anything cheaper, even if you are not rich.
No matter where they are made or sold from the parts are from China, just like all your kitchen appliances / electronics / cars etc. 😂
Exactly 😆
dirty diesel wtf? it aint 1970, just have 70s spending power :)
It's a cheap way to get reliable heating. Our house is not connected to the grid
@@ash.pollard i get the finances, sure, tho dont see how cheaper than gases tbh and far dirtier which can have huge costs outside of money :)
snake oil salesmen and women......its the same old thing....lol
Haha too right
I watched this video n heard you mention about having to put the heater on full to clear them out.. a tip for free given there only small if you mix about 200 ml of red 2 stroke oil in with the fuel it will keep it clean without putting it on full whack because the 2 stroke raises the temperature slightly. I've done this with all my vans l use 1 litre to keep the carbon virtually non existent in petrol l use half a litre..
Thanks for the info!
I've had a cheap Chinese diesel heater in my van for 6 years with zero problems never serviced it had it running 24/7 when really cold over winter i had an expensive one for a year beforehand and had endless problems spending hundreds on wire looms and controllers still had problems so got a cheap one seems to have solved my problem and have a second one in storage should i need it
Wow nice 6 years! I guess I'm quite a heavy user with them running for like 120days straight a year so that's probably why the standard bearings fail. But yea, the German parts are stupid money.
Oh i do think mine is on the edge of failure it is a bit noisy probably bearings and some build up of carbon but im amazed and very pleased to say it's been a problem free purchase i guess i got an exceptional one to do so well but would definitely not bother with a pricey alternative
Totally agree with you toughts of these! Only way you can make any heater dangerous is if you let the exhaust in your building and not outside! 😆 Got a kind of funny story from my 3rd heater that I got for free! Yes, over year ago, bougth one cheap orage one and month of that the seller refunded my money and ask that I have to stop using it, no return just get rid of it etc. I asked why and I finally got documents that say they have not included proper installation instructions with it and someone installed it inside completly exhaust also and propably died? Darwin award maybe? So it may be dangerous for someone without installation instructions or just lack of common sense! 😄
I believe that was something to do with customs kicking up a stink about it. Remember reading about that. They don't like the idea of people installing independent heat sources... 😳