I found this one out a while back by accident except my heater wasn't oriented upside down, rather on its side (with air hole below the fuel in). I simply filled the existing hole and GENTLY redrilled a new hole in the glow plug sleeve, taking care not to damage the thread.
Deep respect for taking time to correct errors...we all make them but you don’t see many uTubers ever bother to follow up? You’re obviously in possession of a great engineering mind IMHO. Cheers Richard
A few have suggested sweating a pipe into the hole so that it can run in any orientation. My idea, if it could work, would be drill out a larger hole and thread it so that a tube/boss could be inserted and removed for cleaning. Just an idea, it could be bollox of course.
You could braze or even thread a copper breather tube bent up past the heater to the glow plug hole so fuel couldnt leak out and even place a small plastic check valve in place to make difficult for the fuel to run back but still allow suction for starting.
Nice idea, but ... The blower chamber comes under considerable air pressure. Air will exit via any drain hole you drill so the heater will run rich and eventually soot up. It's best to always mount the heater level, whether upright or sideways, with the glow plug at the top.
I accept your apology and raise you two apologies!! 1 I've only just found your fantastic Chanel made Fantastic by your clever and very funny self. 2 the first time I watched I skipped the ads! You've been trumped! Helllllllllllllllo o o o o ( That is brilliant, your trade mark for when you make the big time. Thank yoooooooooou
Oh hey thanks. I already watched your video on running it vertically, hooked mine up vertically, because you said it worked, and now I'm scratching my head why the motor keeps shutting off and it's leaking diesel on everything. $130 down the toilet and my house smells like diesel. THANKS I just ordered a new one to hook up properly.
It would also seem best way to run it, would be to have it vertical, with the fan on the bottom, that way, if for some reason, you lose power, the circuit board would have less of a chance to get damaged, because the heat would rise away from the circuit board from natural convection. Whereas with it horizontal, the heat would stay trapped in the top of the case.
Love your vids and experimenting! not sure the drain off to a small tank, directly from the flame chamber is wise! I used to install ebers for an 'approved' agent, we were told not to install with the glow plug at the lowest point as after a 'flame out' the pump will continue to feed fuel until the temp sensor shuts it off, no biggie if it's on the bench, a right pain if it's fitted in your van!
Not the flame chamber, the one before. Instead of leaking into the case it would leak where you wanted it. Only if you had no other option but to run it upside down.
can you just add a copper pipe to the hole and point that up so it dont leak and can draw in air? braise it on or something. by the way i love your videos.
Is there a way to make the stock fuel pump quiet. I have one in my bedroom and it so annoying tried putting some foam around it and its still crazy loud.
Hi David,I think you idea of putting a drain to catch the diesel that leaks out is a good one however the viscosity of the diesel and the small unvented tube will likely air lock. Keep up the tinkering. :-)
Hi I fit my heater few days ago. Is it big problem if fit it in not horizontal position? Is about 15 20 degree. The hole where the air going in is little bit up. Thanks for answer.
MOUNTING HEATER 90 DEGREES... I filled the factory hole next to the glow plug with high temperature sealant, and then drilled a new hole 90 degrees rotation from the factory hole. Before I did this I had an external diesel leak. To clarify, my heater is rotated 90 degrees clockwise when looking at the air intake end of the heater, with the pipes sticking out of the left side.
Not really - their instructions are pretty clear, inc diagram, over maximum installation angles in both axes. Videos & channels like this are about how to bypass those original restrictions, where needs must.
Do I need the McLuckie catchment system if the heater is used on it's side in such a way the flame front starter hole (FFSH) is above the fuel inlet line ?
So I take it that it *should* be OK to run it in a vertical orientation (with cold intake pointing up and hot air outlet pointing down; engine air intake and exhaust pointing out away from interior). I wonder if having it blow heat down can cause any issues. I'm doing research now to find the best way to do a temporary install as a window unit. Most convenient orientation is vertical.
Yes. It would only be an issue if the power were to fail on a hot heater and the ECU gets roasted, but this is also just as likely running in normal orientation.
I had assumed the hole was just to make it easier to get the mesh out, when I first saw it. How does that meme go ?... F around and find out, the more you f around, the more you find out.
Hi McLuckie. . . . I just bought the integrated 5k unit. Had planned to mount it at a height to help with exhaust routing. . . . Now I've looked at unit, I considered rotating the burner unit 90 degrees to have exhaust coming out the side of case (hole cutting & mounting required) Which side is that hole on. . . ? You kept moving it and then it went out of scree :-) If it was on the upper side when rotated it might not drip . . . ? Experiment required . . . . . ;-)
There is a side orientation that keeps the glow plug and the hole on the top. You just need to take the plastic cover off the top to see where the glow plug is. Rotating the unit 90º in one direction keeps it on top, if you go the other way it'll end up underneath.
Hi Okay, thanks for confirming what I was thinking. I will strip it down and remove plastic cover. Mine is the "combined portable" type with fuel tank mounted above, so a bit more stripping needed Thank you for taking the time to reply ;-)
How is you installation working out 1 year later? Having the intake and exhaust on the bottom limits the mounting options. It seems that with a little though, the heater could be mounted to an outside wall with the intake and exhaust going straight out.
Hi of the exhaust is mounted facing down as normal, how much of an angle is ok before oil runs out the hole ? Eg I'm running it in a boat which isn't normally level but can tilt up to 20 degrees
If I want to mount the diesel heater sideways, is there's a preferred side the exhaust outlet and air intake should be pointing? Or is it heater dependent and I'll need to take it apart and check? Cheers!
You just need to take the lid off and look for where the glow plug is. You can roll it onto whichever side keeps the glow plug on the top. If that makes sense.
A while ago you did a video on running one of these diesel heaters on waste engine oil you were trying to heat the oil up in order to make it run properly why didn't you wrap some copper brake line round the exhaust tube in order to bring up the temperature of the oil to make It Burn properly I know you'd have to start it on diesel in order to get the exhaust hot enough you to Burton but I think this could work
So the problem we have is with the carbon in the waste engine oil. It turns into a concrete like ash inside the burn chamber. So while heating the oil will get it to run just fine, it doesn't take long for the ash to build up and either stop it running or stop it lighting. A water injection system may help stop this from happening but we haven't rotated back around to try any of that just yet.
Do you think it would be ok with the hole pointing sideways? I want to use the existing intake and exhaust holes in the wall from the old propane heater if possible
So is there really only one orientation you can run this? I run mine on its side for quite a while and haven't noticed any diesel am I just lucky so far?
Thanks for the tips; in fact, I mounted the heater with the diesel inlet oriented towards the right side of the VWT4 m but with its axis under the axis of the exhaust pipe and, after a little heating, many drops of diesel . If I turn the stove around its main axis, with the exhaust pipe pointing downwards, will the assembled stove work well ?? Let me know and thank you very much again
What about installing it vertically with air intake at the top, hot air at the bottom and exhaust going through an upright wall rather than the floor? Would this be ok?
@@DavidMcLuckie Its installed it in a sailboat locker. Installed normally but unit is rotated so exhaust port is at 3 o'clock instead of 6 o'clock. Works fine just weeps diesel a little.
@@Kmac-hd6vp But that's no good bud - as that diesel will pool in the plastic case, be heated/gently vaporised & enter your heated blown-air. It will be everywhere as a subtle smoky mist - you'll see it if you use a torch.
Takes a great person to admit they are wrong . As i am quite often . That being said All is good Brother McLuckie.
I found this one out a while back by accident except my heater wasn't oriented upside down, rather on its side (with air hole below the fuel in). I simply filled the existing hole and GENTLY redrilled a new hole in the glow plug sleeve, taking care not to damage the thread.
Deep respect for taking time to correct errors...we all make them but you don’t see many uTubers ever bother to follow up? You’re obviously in possession of a great engineering mind IMHO. Cheers Richard
That was helpful, I am mounting mine "happy" sideways with glowplug in top corner. Thankyou for your very helpful videos.
Thanks David !! I had no idea you could get this many videos out of a Desil heater ,when I watched the first two !! You are "MR. GADGET " for sure !!
Love the apology it's one of the reasons I watch your videos your not afraid to be wrong.
A few have suggested sweating a pipe into the hole so that it can run in any orientation. My idea, if it could work, would be drill out a larger hole and thread it so that a tube/boss could be inserted and removed for cleaning. Just an idea, it could be bollox of course.
You could braze or even thread a copper breather tube bent up past the heater to the glow plug hole so fuel couldnt leak out and even place a small plastic check valve in place to make difficult for the fuel to run back but still allow suction for starting.
Nice idea, but ...
The blower chamber comes under considerable air pressure. Air will exit via any drain hole you drill so the heater will run rich and eventually soot up. It's best to always mount the heater level, whether upright or sideways, with the glow plug at the top.
I accept your apology and raise you two apologies!!
1 I've only just found your fantastic Chanel made Fantastic by your clever and very funny self.
2 the first time I watched I skipped the ads!
You've been trumped!
Helllllllllllllllo o o o o ( That is brilliant, your trade mark for when you make the big time.
Thank yoooooooooou
Is the burner chamber and blower motor an exact fit to the original Espar D2 heater?
Oh hey thanks. I already watched your video on running it vertically, hooked mine up vertically, because you said it worked, and now I'm scratching my head why the motor keeps shutting off and it's leaking diesel on everything. $130 down the toilet and my house smells like diesel. THANKS I just ordered a new one to hook up properly.
The person who didn't make a mistake didn't make anything 🤜🤛🏴🥴
It would also seem best way to run it, would be to have it vertical, with the fan on the bottom, that way, if for some reason, you lose power, the circuit board would have less of a chance to get damaged, because the heat would rise away from the circuit board from natural convection. Whereas with it horizontal, the heat would stay trapped in the top of the case.
Love your vids and experimenting! not sure the drain off to a small tank, directly from the flame chamber is wise! I used to install ebers for an 'approved' agent, we were told not to install with the glow plug at the lowest point as after a 'flame out' the pump will continue to feed fuel until the temp sensor shuts it off, no biggie if it's on the bench, a right pain if it's fitted in your van!
Not the flame chamber, the one before. Instead of leaking into the case it would leak where you wanted it. Only if you had no other option but to run it upside down.
The recomended mounting is exhaust down or on it's side (glow plug up side). That wil not need any modification and is the smart way of doing things 😉
Great instruction. What about rolling the heater over 90° about its centre? Instead of pointing down, pointing to the back?
As long as the glowplug stays on top.
can you just add a copper pipe to the hole and point that up so it dont leak and can draw in air? braise it on or something. by the way i love your videos.
Is there a way to make the stock fuel pump quiet. I have one in my bedroom and it so annoying tried putting some foam around it and its still crazy loud.
Hi David,I think you idea of putting a drain to catch the diesel that leaks out is a good one however the viscosity of the diesel and the small unvented tube will likely air lock. Keep up the tinkering. :-)
Doesn't have to be a small tube. :)
Hi
I fit my heater few days ago.
Is it big problem if fit it in not horizontal position?
Is about 15 20 degree. The hole where the air going in is little bit up.
Thanks for answer.
Re' the air vent hole, could it not have a short metal pipe welded or screwed into so that a flexible pipe can be put on to be routed 'top side'?
I’ve heard you mention gauze a few times. What’s the gauze for and where is it?
MOUNTING HEATER 90 DEGREES... I filled the factory hole next to the glow plug with high temperature sealant, and then drilled a new hole 90 degrees rotation from the factory hole. Before I did this I had an external diesel leak. To clarify, my heater is rotated 90 degrees clockwise when looking at the air intake end of the heater, with the pipes sticking out of the left side.
I have it mounted 90 degrees anti clockwise looking at the intake, will that cause a leak?
How do you recommend mounting vertically?
can you do a video on normal maintenance/cleaning?
Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn ☺
I had diesel leaking out of mine today. Was wondering what it was from lol.
Why couldn't you block the hole and drill a new one for air so you can mount it upside down then no Diesel leaking
Better tell the Australians to flip them over gain. Lol.
@Moon shiner I think there are some already doing that. Although I doubt it for the same reason.
If only the manufacturer didn't leave all this up to experimentation :) but I guess that's the price you pay to not pay a premium price :)
Not really - their instructions are pretty clear, inc diagram, over maximum installation angles in both axes. Videos & channels like this are about how to bypass those original restrictions, where needs must.
does this problem still happen if its verticle
Very helpful information as always. Thanks again !!
Do I need the McLuckie catchment system if the heater is used on it's side in such a way the flame front starter hole (FFSH) is above the fuel inlet line ?
No, if you keep the glowplug on the top you can run it on its side.
So I take it that it *should* be OK to run it in a vertical orientation (with cold intake pointing up and hot air outlet pointing down; engine air intake and exhaust pointing out away from interior). I wonder if having it blow heat down can cause any issues. I'm doing research now to find the best way to do a temporary install as a window unit. Most convenient orientation is vertical.
Yes. It would only be an issue if the power were to fail on a hot heater and the ECU gets roasted, but this is also just as likely running in normal orientation.
Would the bolt pattern on the flange allow you to rotate the burner to the correct position?
You'd also need to re-drill a hole for the glow plug wires though.
I had assumed the hole was just to make it easier to get the mesh out, when I first saw it. How does that meme go ?... F around and find out, the more you f around, the more you find out.
Hey, we are all learning together. !:- )
"send me an angry email" ! :):):)
Hi McLuckie. . . .
I just bought the integrated 5k unit. Had planned to mount it at a height to help with exhaust routing. . . . Now I've looked at unit, I considered rotating the burner unit 90 degrees to have exhaust coming out the side of case (hole cutting & mounting required)
Which side is that hole on. . . ? You kept moving it and then it went out of scree :-)
If it was on the upper side when rotated it might not drip . . . ?
Experiment required . . . . . ;-)
There is a side orientation that keeps the glow plug and the hole on the top. You just need to take the plastic cover off the top to see where the glow plug is. Rotating the unit 90º in one direction keeps it on top, if you go the other way it'll end up underneath.
Hi
Okay, thanks for confirming what I was thinking. I will strip it down and remove plastic cover.
Mine is the "combined portable" type with fuel tank mounted above, so a bit more stripping needed
Thank you for taking the time to reply ;-)
How is you installation working out 1 year later? Having the intake and exhaust on the bottom limits the mounting options. It seems that with a little though, the heater could be mounted to an outside wall with the intake and exhaust going straight out.
Hi of the exhaust is mounted facing down as normal, how much of an angle is ok before oil runs out the hole ? Eg I'm running it in a boat which isn't normally level but can tilt up to 20 degrees
I think up to 20 degrees would be ok.
If I want to mount the diesel heater sideways, is there's a preferred side the exhaust outlet and air intake should be pointing? Or is it heater dependent and I'll need to take it apart and check? Cheers!
You just need to take the lid off and look for where the glow plug is. You can roll it onto whichever side keeps the glow plug on the top. If that makes sense.
@@DavidMcLuckie Cheers!
A while ago you did a video on running one of these diesel heaters on waste engine oil you were trying to heat the oil up in order to make it run properly why didn't you wrap some copper brake line round the exhaust tube in order to bring up the temperature of the oil to make It Burn properly I know you'd have to start it on diesel in order to get the exhaust hot enough you to Burton but I think this could work
So the problem we have is with the carbon in the waste engine oil. It turns into a concrete like ash inside the burn chamber. So while heating the oil will get it to run just fine, it doesn't take long for the ash to build up and either stop it running or stop it lighting. A water injection system may help stop this from happening but we haven't rotated back around to try any of that just yet.
So it seems obvious but I'm going to ask anyways. That same issue applies to vertical mount I would reckon ehhh?
If you go vertical and mount so the hot air is coming out the bottom I think it would be less likely to leak than the other way up.
@@DavidMcLuckie proper input! Thanks for your work friend! Cheers!
Do you think it would be ok with the hole pointing sideways? I want to use the existing intake and exhaust holes in the wall from the old propane heater if possible
You can run it on the side, as long as the glow plug is on the top side.
This helped me - Thanks
What about if it’s turned on it’s axis so the it’s straight up ?
Runs fine in that instance. No leaking fuel.
hello,try with an one way valve,so that the air wil go in and the diesel will not go out
air wouldn't have enough pressure to flow up through the fuel that collects there
So is there really only one orientation you can run this? I run mine on its side for quite a while and haven't noticed any diesel am I just lucky so far?
@@andrewbartleman9169 That's kind of what I was thinking. Thanks
Can it be mounted on its side?
You can run it on the side, as long as the glow plug is on the top side
can you do a video of retrofitting webasto glowplugs or any different glowplug to these chinese heaters? the glowplug that came with these suck.
You could try a genuine Eberspacher glow plug for the chinese heater. You'll have to cut the plug off and solder the wires.
Good man!
Why not put a metal pipe in the hole like a snorkel.
David,
Do you have a Facebook page,got a little project you might be interested in
facebook.com/davidmcluckiediy/
Thanks for the tips; in fact, I mounted the heater with the diesel inlet oriented towards the right side of the VWT4 m but with its axis under the axis of the exhaust pipe and, after a little heating, many drops of diesel .
If I turn the stove around its main axis, with the exhaust pipe pointing downwards, will the assembled stove work well ?? Let me know and thank you very much again
Exhaust pointing downwards is the preferred operating direction. It can run on its side but the glowplug needs to be at the top.
Take away; holes are important sensitive to orientation!
Please point out for our Australian viewers as their orientation is upside down 😂
LOL now go spend a few days over at The Potters Clay channel
What about installing it vertically with air intake at the top, hot air at the bottom and exhaust going through an upright wall rather than the floor? Would this be ok?
I was wondering the exact same thing. I want to install one of these like a removable window unit and a vertical orientation would be the most neat.
@@sigilvii I just did it in the end and it’s ran fine for a year
Did it continue to run fine or die after a year?
@@ferret23 what happened after a year , I assume it didn’t leak even after the yr. Follow up
@@steveriley1000 still works fine. I did need to replace a thermostat sensor which was a really minor cheap fix, but that’s it
Ran my diesel heater on its side and yes.... it runs perfectly but it leaks diesel!
Which side?
@@DavidMcLuckie Its installed it in a sailboat locker. Installed normally but unit is rotated so exhaust port is at 3 o'clock instead of 6 o'clock. Works fine just weeps diesel a little.
@@Kmac-hd6vp But that's no good bud - as that diesel will pool in the plastic case, be heated/gently vaporised & enter your heated blown-air. It will be everywhere as a subtle smoky mist - you'll see it if you use a torch.
And nobody likes a leaky hole after all... :P
Hellooooo
HI !
Hellllllo Tomas
Andrew Bartleman that’s right dear , would you like a nice warm cup of coco?
Oops , 20 days in the stocks for you young man............................
No problem dude shit happens !
the problem is the water on diesel...
Look if someone has to tell you what that hole is for you missed something in primary school. 😃 😊
Wrong hole will get you in trouble with the Ladies,,,,,
Helloooooo
Ahahahaha