For solar controllers I have the Epever controller. It’s my second controller the first one I had was Renergy and it got super hot and melted part of the plastic. The Epever is a metal case and it has worked flawlessly. I have four 100 W panels in series. Wiring them in series helps to reduce the wire gauge from your panels to your controller because you’re working at a higher voltage and the Epever can be used at a higher voltage. Thanks for your video on the afterburner controller. I think I’m going to go for it. I’ve been through a few of the Chinese diesel heater’s and I think I’ve got it pretty well figured out, and I have replaced most of the weak parts. I’m finding that the wiring harness from the Chinese heaters are causing a lot of problems. Their wire gauge is too small. If you read the fine print, it will say connect power to battery with no longer than a 3 ft, even though the positive wire supplied with the wiring harness is about 10 feet long. I think the inferior wire harness could be causing the controllers to fail. If someone were to develop an aftermarket wiring harness for the Chinese diesel heaters, they would be doing everybody a huge favor.
Thanks for the info Kirk! That’s interesting about the wiring harness and could be my issue as well. I would highly recommend this controller! Been using for the last 3 months and haven’t had a single issue. The cycle feature keeps the van at the perfect temperature much consistently (although it does use more power).
@@rljzathras what about if the heaters were wired in parallel or if you made a two channel version, where both heaters are connected to the Afterburner and you switch between the two heaters by switching channels
@@jamesmason7124 Anything is possible of course, but the duplication of everything is really not worth the trouble when the reality is 2 totally independent heaters can be chained together at a high level via something like Home Assistant or Node Red. By everything I mean complete reporting of the heater status over wifi etc - a lot of duplication, and questionable merit for the considerable effort that it would involve to refactor a LOT of code. It is simply not worth spending my time on it. As for the actual head unit - well the menus are already quite full as it is without adding confusion over which unit am I dealing with. Whereas 2 panels in Home Assistant boom done, all the info is there. Combine the units? Build some automation scripts to control both heaters from one front end, boom done.
i very much appreciate your series on these chinese diesel heaters especially this one about the new controller. I just installed my vevor 3kw heater using the original hardware and controller and so far so good. Thanks!
For me, the Afterburner makes my chinese dieselheater great. Also the Victron MPPT just works. And the ”talking” to my other Victron stuff is also great. Not sponsored , just amazed. No, the Afterburner don’t talk to Victron… 😊
Most controller faults are low voltage ( volts lost over the thin cable run) Startup needs more current for the glowplug to get hot so higher amps and larger gauge wire needed, maybe even with a relay. Also powering off ( killing the supply) the heater without allowing for its phased shut down ( cooling) cycle is to be avoided. Which itself can melt controller boards.... Otherwise simple devices and generally reliable and frugal.
As I found out after running my Chinese diesel heater on a low setting after start up temp was achieved, I ran the heater for around twenty hours until it had shut down by itself which was something I hadn't expected but on going through the menu the E__ showed up or the Er .Odd then I tapped the exhaust pipe by accident and gobs of soot came out so I checked online and a couple of different UA-camRS had been there and done that so I dismantled the heater and there was huge amounts of soot/carbon in the expansion chamber and the exhaust outlet. So if you have the E__ showing up it means clean the the darn thing, buying new electronics won't fix it DUDE, Really get to and do some maintenance these diesel heater are better running on the higher settings as on the lower setting they really soot up and don't burn off the excess soot etc; as I have learnt so it's a cheap fix and you might have to get your hands dirty but that washes off and your EGO won't get damaged either. As for the after market Afterburner Chinese diesel heaters come out with a remote and BLUETOOTH/WiFi and would more than likely be cheaper than that gadget so not sure there's any advantage except to the sales of the After Burner manufacturer. A penny wise and a pound short.
I’ve had this issue. You need to adjust your fuel settings because there’s to much fuel being delivered which is causing the build up. This is also related to elevation.
@madetoexplore I'm on the fence bc it does seem so and there's really no competition. But.... The price is just so high when it's controlling something cheaper than it.
@ yeah it’s true. I’m testing out the new BT controller by VEVOR in my garage and it’s not great to be honest. The app is very limited. Probably will do a video on it soon
Can the Controller & Remote (ecu unit) from your link be used on all types of Vevor diesel heatres? I can't find anything about this. And is this plug and play or do we have to switch out all kind of wires? We have not purchased a heater yet, but we want to purchase one that works with the Afterburner, and this is a good solution. Thanks for the video
It’s making sure you have the correct ECU. These can be easily swapped with most, if not all, Chinese diesel heaters. There’s a ton of information on the afterburner website and in my video. I don’t believe the stock ECU VEVOR one is compatible but you can buy a different ECU on Amazon. It’s in my video description. It’s plug and play 👍
Did the heater worked when you first installed it right? Just checking to see if this is a new install. I would double check that you installed the wiring correctly on the new motherboard. I would also check all the wiring for damage and/or loose connections. Try replacing the fuse with a different fuse.
This is a brand new installl, I ordered two units and they both are saying error 07, I ordered a third unit and it actually works! I will try using another fuse. I wonder if the motherboard I got isn’t compatible with the controller, so confusing with zero instructions in the box
It's too bad you really have no information on the new controller that you swapped out, I don't think mine will work because it is a Vevor. Do you have a link for a just a controller? Also, not all of your links work in your description. Thanks!
That’s what the links in the description are for and yes, there’s a link to the controller in the description. All you have to do it switch out your control board and it’ll work.
So why can’t you use your iPhone with it? It has Bluetooth and wifi, so I’m confused. I’m not a tech guy either so I’m not picking up what you’re putting down.
@@madetoexploreHi there. I was under the impression that the controllers that come with the diesel heaters from Amazon have a thermostat in them, or is that wrong? How do they know when to turn on/off with the original controller and what makes this Afterburner so much better?
@@Sugarkryptonitethe controllers that come with CDH will not turn off when thermostat reaches set temp, they simply turn way down to the lowest output setting.
@@scottyzI see that now after getting mine going. So Afterburner actually turns off completely? How does it do it without sooting up the combustion chamber? Does it do a high power burn like the original controller before turning off?
@@SugarkryptoniteYes it will. Although all these folk preferring full Off each time, must have 10 batteries for one night - the thing draws 10 Amps every start-up cycle, & uses the glowplug a little for shut-down as well.
Thank you guys for watching! What do you think of the Afterburner? Also, which solar controller should i get?!
Have mine for years and it's amazing. Never had a flame out or any other issues. Also integration into home assistant via mqtt is amazing!
@@ochjoo77 that’s great! We’re loving ours still too
For solar controllers I have the Epever controller. It’s my second controller the first one I had was Renergy and it got super hot and melted part of the plastic. The Epever is a metal case and it has worked flawlessly. I have four 100 W panels in series. Wiring them in series helps to reduce the wire gauge from your panels to your controller because you’re working at a higher voltage and the Epever can be used at a higher voltage. Thanks for your video on the afterburner controller. I think I’m going to go for it. I’ve been through a few of the Chinese diesel heater’s and I think I’ve got it pretty well figured out, and I have replaced most of the weak parts. I’m finding that the wiring harness from the Chinese heaters are causing a lot of problems. Their wire gauge is too small. If you read the fine print, it will say connect power to battery with no longer than a 3 ft, even though the positive wire supplied with the wiring harness is about 10 feet long. I think the inferior wire harness could be causing the controllers to fail. If someone were to develop an aftermarket wiring harness for the Chinese diesel heaters, they would be doing everybody a huge favor.
Thanks for the info Kirk! That’s interesting about the wiring harness and could be my issue as well. I would highly recommend this controller! Been using for the last 3 months and haven’t had a single issue. The cycle feature keeps the van at the perfect temperature much consistently (although it does use more power).
I've been wanting to get a afterburner controller, but I've been waiting for him to make a multiple heater version
Yeah that would be a nice addition 👍
As the ECUs do not support such "party line" control, it is simply not possible.
@@rljzathras what about if the heaters were wired in parallel or if you made a two channel version, where both heaters are connected to the Afterburner and you switch between the two heaters by switching channels
@@jamesmason7124 Anything is possible of course, but the duplication of everything is really not worth the trouble when the reality is 2 totally independent heaters can be chained together at a high level via something like Home Assistant or Node Red.
By everything I mean complete reporting of the heater status over wifi etc - a lot of duplication, and questionable merit for the considerable effort that it would involve to refactor a LOT of code. It is simply not worth spending my time on it.
As for the actual head unit - well the menus are already quite full as it is without adding confusion over which unit am I dealing with.
Whereas 2 panels in Home Assistant boom done, all the info is there.
Combine the units? Build some automation scripts to control both heaters from one front end, boom done.
@@rljzathras thank you Ray for responding, I really want to buy your controller but I can't afford two of them 😭
i very much appreciate your series on these chinese diesel heaters especially this one about the new controller. I just installed my vevor 3kw heater using the original hardware and controller and so far so good. Thanks!
Very welcome! Glad you’ve found the videos useful 😄
Thanks for the video. Just putting my 1st diesel heater together and your video popped up today. I look forward to your review on the remote.
Welcome! Thanks for watching. This controller is definitely worth it. It’s been such an upgrade for us over the past couple weeks.
I use the RaspController apk for heating. connected it to the 433mhz remote control and can turn it on and off wherever I am
For me, the Afterburner makes my chinese dieselheater great. Also the Victron MPPT just works. And the ”talking” to my other Victron stuff is also great. Not sponsored , just amazed. No, the Afterburner don’t talk to Victron… 😊
I agree the afterburner is the way to go 👍
Most controller faults are low voltage ( volts lost over the thin cable run)
Startup needs more current for the glowplug to get hot so higher amps and larger gauge wire needed, maybe even with a relay.
Also powering off ( killing the supply) the heater without allowing for its phased shut down ( cooling) cycle is to be avoided. Which itself can melt controller boards....
Otherwise simple devices and generally reliable and frugal.
Thanks for the tips!
As I found out after running my Chinese diesel heater on a low setting after start up temp was achieved, I ran the heater for around twenty hours until it had shut down by itself which was something I hadn't expected but on going through the menu the E__ showed up or the Er .Odd then I tapped the exhaust pipe by accident and gobs of soot came out so I checked online and a couple of different UA-camRS had been there and done that so I dismantled the heater and there was huge amounts of soot/carbon in the expansion chamber and the exhaust outlet. So if you have the E__ showing up it means clean the the darn thing, buying new electronics won't fix it DUDE, Really get to and do some maintenance these diesel heater are better running on the higher settings as on the lower setting they really soot up and don't burn off the excess soot etc; as I have learnt so it's a cheap fix and you might have to get your hands dirty but that washes off and your EGO won't get damaged either. As for the after market Afterburner Chinese diesel heaters come out with a remote and BLUETOOTH/WiFi and would more than likely be cheaper than that gadget so not sure there's any advantage except to the sales of the After Burner manufacturer. A penny wise and a pound short.
I’ve had this issue. You need to adjust your fuel settings because there’s to much fuel being delivered which is causing the build up. This is also related to elevation.
If you have a vevor unit which is not compatible can you just buy a spare ECU online somwhere and then connect the afterburner controller?
Yes for sure!
@@madetoexplore Hey do you have a link to where I could purchase a compatible ECU?
Amazing piece of kit just seems ridiculously high priced considering some of these heaters are a third of the price
It’s worth the price!
@madetoexplore I'm on the fence bc it does seem so and there's really no competition.
But.... The price is just so high when it's controlling something cheaper than it.
@ yeah it’s true. I’m testing out the new BT controller by VEVOR in my garage and it’s not great to be honest. The app is very limited. Probably will do a video on it soon
@madetoexplore looking forward to the video. I've heard you can't turn the heater on thru the app?
What distances have you seen?
Does he do them for a eight kilowatt diesel heater?I just got my diesel heater and i'm wanting to upgrade to one of these before I even install
Can the Controller & Remote (ecu unit) from your link be used on all types of Vevor diesel heatres? I can't find anything about this.
And is this plug and play or do we have to switch out all kind of wires?
We have not purchased a heater yet, but we want to purchase one that works with the Afterburner, and this is a good solution. Thanks for the video
It’s making sure you have the correct ECU. These can be easily swapped with most, if not all, Chinese diesel heaters. There’s a ton of information on the afterburner website and in my video. I don’t believe the stock ECU VEVOR one is compatible but you can buy a different ECU on Amazon. It’s in my video description. It’s plug and play 👍
Do you have a link to buy the compatible Controller and ECU trying to avoid the dreaded 07 Error
The link is in the description!
I keep getting error 07, can’t figure it out I have bought a new controller and a new motherboard and I don’t know what to do.
Did the heater worked when you first installed it right? Just checking to see if this is a new install.
I would double check that you installed the wiring correctly on the new motherboard. I would also check all the wiring for damage and/or loose connections. Try replacing the fuse with a different fuse.
This is a brand new installl, I ordered two units and they both are saying error 07, I ordered a third unit and it actually works! I will try using another fuse. I wonder if the motherboard I got isn’t compatible with the controller, so confusing with zero instructions in the box
@@LynnRichens sounds like a motherboard issue to me 🤔
It's too bad you really have no information on the new controller that you swapped out, I don't think mine will work because it is a Vevor. Do you have a link for a just a controller? Also, not all of your links work in your description. Thanks!
That’s what the links in the description are for and yes, there’s a link to the controller in the description. All you have to do it switch out your control board and it’ll work.
What brand is your heater?
Mine is Foknya and my backup is Happybuy. I wouldn’t worry too much about much about the brand. They are all pretty much built the same.
Did you have to pay duty or vat etc on the import?
Yeah I think I had to pay 5%
Where did you buy it ???
You have to order it from his website. The link is in the description.
So why can’t you use your iPhone with it? It has Bluetooth and wifi, so I’m confused. I’m not a tech guy either so I’m not picking up what you’re putting down.
iPhone will work via Wifi but it won’t work via Bluetooth because the app isn’t compatible with IOS devices.
@@madetoexplore Ah, ok.
Where can you buy this
Links in the description!
So, you can set the temperature for the heater to turn on / off and it can then be left to its own devices thereby turning on / off repeatedly?
Yes, it’ll work the same as a furnace for a house. It’ll cycle on/off as required although this setting does use more power.
@@madetoexploreHi there. I was under the impression that the controllers that come with the diesel heaters from Amazon have a thermostat in them, or is that wrong? How do they know when to turn on/off with the original controller and what makes this Afterburner so much better?
@@Sugarkryptonitethe controllers that come with CDH will not turn off when thermostat reaches set temp, they simply turn way down to the lowest output setting.
@@scottyzI see that now after getting mine going. So Afterburner actually turns off completely? How does it do it without sooting up the combustion chamber? Does it do a high power burn like the original controller before turning off?
@@SugarkryptoniteYes it will.
Although all these folk preferring full Off each time, must have 10 batteries for one night - the thing draws 10 Amps every start-up cycle, & uses the glowplug a little for shut-down as well.
What's the price in 🇺🇸 dollars?
$85-110 USD plus shipping
Dang that sux! No Apple
@@letzgow6110 sure does! Maybe there will be an update for that one day