Chinese Diesel Heater Install (Lavaner Pro + Afterburner) | Transit Van Conversion E28
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- After working all through the freezing Winter we're finally getting round to installing our diesel heater into our van! 🔥 (Now that it's warm outside!) We went for the Lavaner Pro diesel heater and have replaced the controller with the Afterburner from Ray Jones.
We have tapped the fuel line for the heater into the actual diesel tank under the van (it was interesting dropping a tank for the first time!).
As Chinese diesel heaters go, the Lavaner Pro feels like a quality piece of kit and we're really happy with it, for a fraction of the cost of a Webasto or Eberspacher.
Having had the heater in and made use of it on many nights now, we can safely say that it's a real game changer in terms of comfort and cosiness in the van. 🙂
If you want to learn more in depth on the inner workings of these diesel heaters, we highly recommend the playlist by John Mck here on YT. A huge amount of detail on every aspect of the install, and well worth a watch if there's any part you're not sure about (or just curious, it's all interesting!): • Chinese Diesel Air Hea...
Thanks for watching! Any comments or questions? Let us know below!
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Products used in this video (includes affiliate links *):
↠ Lavaner Pro 5kw Diesel Heater - bit.ly/lavanerpro (AliExpress)
↠ Transit Fuel Sender Pickup Kit - www.butlertech...
↠ Heatmate Heat Resistant Sealant - geni.us/g8LZyg (Amazon)
↠ Afterburner Controller by Ray Jones - www.mrjones.id....
↠ 127mm Holesaw - geni.us/CyCdde (Amazon)
↠ Gorilla Expanding Foam - geni.us/7LPAPC (Amazon)
↠ 65mm mounting turret - ebay.us/fNeCUU
↠ JB Marine Weld 2-part epoxy - geni.us/IBUYtuo (Amazon)
↠ Wireless Thermometers - geni.us/ce5BS (Amazon)
↠ Cable Conduit - ebay.us/uDmW3h
↠ Air Intake Filter - ebay.us/aFZI9g
Disclaimer: Some of the links above may be affiliate links. If you choose to click on them we may earn a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
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Resources
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You can download our diagrams and power audit spreadsheet here:
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↠ See our full van conversion playlist: • Transit Van Conversion
Filmed with:
↠ Sony ZV1 - geni.us/LW73Jx (Amazon)
↠ GoPro Hero 8 - geni.us/PsIIH9 (Amazon)
↠ Zhiyun Crane M2 - geni.us/WhUBT7I (Amazon)
↠ Rode VideoMicro - geni.us/tzPbJ (Amazon)
Disclaimer: Some of the links above may be affiliate links. If you choose to click on them we may earn a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
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All our videos are for entertainment and show our process of converting our campervan. They're not intended to be tutorials and we may make mistakes along the way, so always do your own research and if in doubt about anything then make sure to get advice from a suitable professional
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#vanconversion #campervanconversion #vanlifeuk
best diesel heater video I've seen far and above
Cheers! 🙂👍
@@SelfBuiltStories is it working well for you? Anything you'd change about the install? About to drop the same one into a shed
@@foopysfarm Yep it's been working great, no issues so far and we use it a lot! Nothing we'd change really, but definitely recommend the afterburner controller. Much more control than the stock one 👍
PEOPLE! USE EYE PROTECTION WHEN YOU DRILL! A 5-inch hole saw is no joke. (Other than that, thanks for the helpful video.)
Yep definitely, we had them for most projects but should have had them here as well. Cheers, and no problem, glad it was helpful 🙂👍
Abbs you should write a book on Camper diy as your diagrams are amazing you are an inspiration to the modern woman :)❤
Haha thank you :) We do love a hand-drawn diagram! We're thinking of making an ebook at some point maybe, so who knows they might all feature then 😃
I'm just about to embark upon my first build so I'm guzzling knowledge. I'm so grateful you've provided such fantastic details of your journey. I agree wholeheartedly with your commenter below - your attention to detail and teamwork are wonderful
You're welcome, and thank you very much 😊 Good luck with the build!
Congratulations and very Best Wishes! I wish for you a Lifetime of Adventures, Laughter, Joy and an Abundance of Love!
Thank you so much! That sounds good, we're definitely hoping for a lifetime of adventures 😊
So happy to see you back!
Ah thanks! It's nice to have been able to release another video, and edited on the move the first time!
I absolutely love your channel. Best and most professional iv seen on here 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thank you very much! 🙂👍
Guys this build is just brilliant, very detailed and after watching this it gives me and I'm sure other's confidence to attempt DIY van camper conversion.
Thanks, happy to hear it's giving you that confidence, we were exactly the same at the start watching and reading from others 😊
You guys are seriously awesome! All I want to do is watch your entire build all day! Learning so much
Haha thank you 😀
Best van build vids on youtube. Thank you for detailed information.
Wow, thanks! Glad you're enjoying them 🙂
Couldn't agree more! This couple are lovely and so dedicated.
@@philwilliams23 Thank you 😊
First class instructional video's, thanks so much.
You're welcome, glad they're helpful 🙂
Love watching your videos, you go into great detail with everything. Fantastic job
Cheers! Glad you're enjoying them :)
Wedding! Congrats and Best Wishes! This is wonderful news. My prayers extend upward for you at this special time in your lives. Great job on the heater. And so good to see the cats, Jackson and (?). BTW: Next time, don't be gone so long. ;-)
Thank you very much! We really appreciate it your kind words 🙂 And the other cat is Aiko... he's a bit more aloof so doesn't get to star as much 😅
Another great vid. If you haven’t I’d replace those cable ties with metal ones, the vibrations on travel etc will more than likely cut through them.
Cheers, and yeah we swapped to metal ones. The plastic ones had been on for over a year with extensive use and were still in perfect condition though, but we figured we might as well still 👍
Thanks so much for your time and it's coming in handy with my caravan build ❤
You're welcome, glad the videos are helpful, good luck with your build! 🙂
Thank you! This video helped me a lot when I installed mine today.
No worries, glad it helped! 🙂
Hi Tim and Abi, just binge watched your van conversion, and I have to admire your research and building skills throughout! I just hope that very soon (?) You will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labours! I did a similar project in 1985 on a VW van, but there was nothing like the scope of equipment available then as now! How times have changed, and no internet back then! I believe you have just got married, so my heartfelt congratulations to you both, we got engaged on our travels and are still happily married, so a good omen for you both! Looking forward to following your story and sharing your travel experiences. All power to you both, a lovely strong couple.
Thank you! We hope it won't be too much longer to have it all finished so that we can properly enjoy it 🙂 We have taken it out quite a lot all ready so we've got a good feel for what it's like to stay in the van. Each time with a few more upgrades! And yeah it is pretty amazing how many resources there are for doing this kind of project today and we really appreciate that, it's very cool to be able to build it all from scratch and see it coming together 🙂
BEAUTIFULLY described. You really do deserve more subscribers!! Thanks for all your videos 🥰
Thank you very much! We still can't believe how many we have now! 😊
I sooooo appreciate this video and your diagram! Thank you so much!
You're welcome, glad they're helpful 😊
You have just made a simple installation into a hilarious attempt of I can do it ❤
Glad it was entertaining 😛👍
Talk about a dynamic duo, WOW you guys are really very precise and professional. The van is looking brilliant, sure you're going to enjoy it once done.
Thank you for the brilliant videos.
You're welcome, thanks for watching them and for the comment! We hope so, can't wait to be able to take it on the road now 🙂
Great job guys , you are such a great team and looking at all your videos now as i plan to build mine in few months .Thank you for all your hard work and to share it with us 🙏 Big hugs from New Zealand 😃
You're welcome, thanks for watching! We travelled around NZ in Summer 2017 in a rented campervan which is what made us want to build our own, loved it so much there and had a great time 🙂
@@SelfBuiltStories Thank you for your reply & story in NZ .. It's a country made for camper life & no doubts you must have enjoy it getting inspired for more of it 🙏 Keep inspiring us with your videos & always a pleasure to watch you 😁
@@fabianprioux1136 We definitely enjoyed it, was incredible! And thanks, we will try! 😊
@@SelfBuiltStories Thank you 🙏 On the process to convert a Fuso canter Box truck in camper so your videos are a good source as i am fussy like you are in details and workmanship 👍 Keep in touch !
@@fabianprioux1136 Ah cool glad to hear it, thanks and hope your build goes well :)
Congrats.good to see you back.
Thanks! It's good to have another video out 🙂
Very nice install skills. There is a way to get the pump (via the controller) to prime the filter and lines. But, risking lovely diesel in the mouth was fun to watch. I have installed one and have another in route, but I didn't notice the muffler has a drain hole. I was contemplating orienting the muffler vertically, but now I know better, so thanks for that! godspied
Cheers, and no problem, you're welcome 🙂 We did think about priming it through the controller but we figured it would take quite a few cycles running dry so went for the drinking straw way to save time and be kind to the pump. It did take quite a lot of force to suck it through! Made sure to stop before it reached the top of the filter to be on the safe side 😛
Thanks so much for the video. I just followed the whole thing to help me install my own. I also got the error 10. Haha
Haha nice, and you're welcome! Glad it was helpful 😀
Half way through this video, I've reslly missed your UA-cam posts, I think they're amongst the best on here, informative and easy going, it's good watching you learn on the job too... but it's obvious how much time you're putting in to research etc. Honestly. Love this video :)
Thanks a lot! And yeah always learning, it's the nature of this project but we enjoy it 🙂
Stumbled across episode 23 a few weeks so went back to the start & now up to date, wow such amazing attention to detail & the craftsmanship is outstanding , I also think it’s very evident that the teamwork & harmony you both possess is exceptional, congratulations & envious at the same time 👏 my van build starts later this year (or spring if hopefully the price of vans go down) so such a wealth of info on your channel, well done again !
Wow thank you very much, glad you're enjoyed watching through all the videos and finding them useful 🙂 What type of van are you looking to build?
@@SelfBuiltStories looking for a Nissan NV400 L2H2 …… difficult to find though , especially up here in Scotland !!!
@@SteveAggasild Nice, good luck with the search :D
You two are brave hearts for sure, and not just because you are getting wed 🙂. The magnet idea was pure genius. To make life easier for getting under the van you could put 4 inch blocks or similar under the wheels. Some have said that a 5kw heater is too much for a van of this size, as they don't get hot enough for long enough inside the combustion chamber and can soot up!. I'm not so sure about running the fuel pipe over the exhaust silencer heat shield, they can get very hot. That Afterburner looks like a really handy addition. Thanks and see you soon.
Thank you we appreciate it! 😊 Haha yeah we were happy when the magnets worked, it was pretty satisfying 🙂 It would be handy raising the van but we don't have any suitable blocks right now but good idea to keep in mind for sure, fortunately there is a decent amount of space unlike our car! We decided to go with the 5KW as from what we've seen it's more efficient to run the larger unit at a slower speed than the 2KW maxed out (roughly half the current draw, 1.5A vs 3A). We're also going to be heating our hot water tank via a heat exchanger so figured the extra power output would be handy for that 😀 It'll be interesting to see how it works in practice but if we end up running it mainly on slow speeds even when heating the water, then we plan to add it to our maintenance routine to run it at full power for a while every month or so to burn off any excess carbon, so hopefully that will keep it in check, we'll see! Yeah it was tricky to find a good route for the fuel line and the heat deflector is fairly substantial so we decided to go over the top, but we've made sure that it is not touching and there is a decent air gap, with the fuel line also encased in another larger tube for protection. So far all good but we'll keep an eye on it. And lastly yeah, the afterburner is great, highly recommended. Easy to setup, worked first time, and even integrates with the original key fob of the Lavaner 😀
congratulations and thanks for the tips on the awning all fitted.
Thanks! And no problem, glad to hear you got it all fitted 👍
Welcome back and congratulations on your wedding 💏...superb job on that installation guys....👌
Thank you! 😀 We've really appreciated having the heater in already :)
Congratulations you two. That is the best reason not to make videos for some time. Good luck with each other and with the finishing touch of the van.
Thank you very much! And yeah it took a back seat for quite a while but we can't wait to finish it! 😀
First class explanation and tips. I am installing one in my outbuilding, the only difference will be how I power it but the very clear and jovial delivery presentation style and the tools you used will certainly help me with my installation. You also made me want to sell my 4 birth caravan and get a van!
Thank you, glad you found it helpful! It's a pretty nice unit and recently has been getting a workout everyday that's for sure, in this freezing weather it's actually been more comfortable to be in the van with the heater on than the house! 😳 Could do with having one in the barn too 😛
@@SelfBuiltStories I could never my Mrs to much in though!
@@gimbalair 😀
Amazing video and Congratulations have a great wedding 💒
Thank you, and we had a great day 🙂
Great informative vlog, thank you.
No problem, you're welcome!
Just found your channel and binged the last couple of episodes of your build series. Wanted to leave a comment, I'm working on a van build myself (slowly) and you guys give me inspiration to get things going a bit more! Love that you explain everything you do really clearly, and for instance how big your wires are and such. Thank you so much for the awesome content, I can't wait to see the rest of the build (and more of your adorable cat)!
Thanks a lot! Glad you're enjoying the videos and hope your build is going well 🙂 What vehicle are you converting? And there will more of the cats for sure 😛😸😸
Love your video you go into so much detail even tho its your first time doing things, plus the detail and care you take doing every job will be a lovely space when finished,
All the best for your wedding day, i wish you well.
Thank you, we're glad you liked it! It takes a while a to figure out everything for the first time so we figure it's a good opportunity to film it and share it back 🙂 And we had a great day, thanks again
Installing a diesel heater is my specialty
Cool, yeah they're quite nice bits of kit to install 👍
Great video and congratulations to you both. 🥂
Thanks very much! 😊
Thanks Abi & Tim, this is awesome! I was hoping to install a diesel heater but the idea of tapping into the fuel tank and drilling a massive hole in the floor is very daunting.. you make it look not easy, but achievable. Thanks!
No problem, it's actually a pretty simple process once you get your head around it, just need to take care to get everything in the right place and make sure everything is installed properly. And a bonus if you can raise the van up to save your neck, the awkwardness of working under the van is probably one of the hardest bits! 😃
Very Nice 👌 Heater I've seen a lot of great things said about this well made Diesel Heater Unit, as a retired Aerospace Defence Verification Qualification Test Engineer I go for Quality first 👍Great Choice 👍 👏
Cheers! Yeah we're really happy with it, we wanted something that would hopefully be a bit better quality than most of the no-name Chinese units. We watched a full tear down of it and it seems to be a pretty robust build so fingers crossed we have lots of trouble free use from it... it's been working overtime the last few weeks that's for sure!
Brilliant heater, got a 2kw Lavaner Pro for our Sprinter too, plenty hot enough
Cool, yeah we love it, so nice being able to have near instant heat! We went for the slightly larger 5kw one as we're going to be using it to heat our water through a heat exchanger too, so it'll mean we have hot water a little faster 😀
@@SelfBuiltStories ahhh ok good idea, yep super dry heat too, absolutely can't beat it in winter.
@@SelfBuiltStories lavaner are bringing out a diesel water heater in 2023, its called Lavaner Lava and will be approx £350 Craig said.
@@matterhorn1975 Ah cool, will be interesting to see how good it is :)
@@SelfBuiltStories yes true if its anything f pome the LP quality it will be a good seller. Half the cost of any other water heater.
Wow!!! Congratulations🍾🥂
Fantastic video…. Almost felt confident to install a heater myself. Very informative & easy to follow. Look forward to the next instalment
Thank you! 😊 And haha, we were a little apprehensive when we first started thinking about dropping the fuel tank that's for sure... But like many things on the van so far, it's often not so bad in the end 😀
Hey Folks, Great to see another video from you both. Love seeing the progress you guys have made. Happy to hear your wonderful recent news too. Was super pleased for you.
You are quite a bit ahead of me on my van, and i LOVE. Its helped me so much. You have such down to earth approach that makes me feel its accessible.
I just finished my DIY roof rack very similar to yours. Have my floor done, and now building frame for my bed :D Take good care of yourselves
Ah cool, sounds like you're making some great progress and we're really happy that you're finding our videos to be helpful! What style of bed are you going for? Thanks for the kind words, and take care of yourself too! 🙂
Congratulations and good luck, loving the van build series 🥰
Thanks very much, and glad you're enjoying it 😊
Congrats to you both followed from the start great content and excellent build attention to detail I amazing
Thanks a lot! We appreciate it 🙂
Happy wedding :) you're both doing a great job on the van. Can't wait to see it finished!
Thank you, and we can't wait to see it finished too! It's been really nice travelling in it for a few weeks weeks and getting a taste for the real thing! 😀
Great team work!
Thank you! 🙂
Great video, had no idea about this system, the only thing I was missing was renting a Flir gun and check the thermal imaging so you know you did a good job on the isolation or if there are places to improve, anyway, thank you both for show us not only how to do it, but how a couple can share the job, even after screwing thing up 🥰
Thanks, and yeah that would be a cool thing to see. At some point if we have access to one of those we'll definitely check it out!
Enjoying your build guys! We are working on something similar. Keep em coming!
Cheers, we will! Hope your build is going well 🙂
Congratulations and Best Wishes from Lavaner Diesel Heater, thanks for your great video. The 5KW PRO you got is 2021 Version, a new black turret plate and a D24 Thru Hull Fitting has been added into the 5KW PRO 2022 Version, hope one day you could have a try. Thanks and Have a good day to both of you.
Cheers 🙂 And cool that's a nice upgrade, yeah we had ours for a little while before installing it. We're loving it so far, it's great to be able to have some instant heat (when not in the heatwave we've just had 😛)
Nice job, well done! Hopefully over time you wont regret not buying the Webasto.
Cheers, we hope so and it's working great so far. All the mounting plates are the same too so easy to swap out down the road if we ever needed to 🙂
These and Hcalory are the very best you can get built amazing so you picked good buddy
I had this heater in the last van .. but I just got the Hcalory for the temp shut down and Bluetooth app for a 7 day timer it’s amazing to pre warm the van from a app and knowing once it gets to temp in shuts off
Basically a heater and afterburner controller in one
Cheers! And yeah we love being able to control everything from the bluetooth app, really handy. Not sure how we'd live without the afterburner, that and being able to have it auto stop and start on the temperature is pretty key, and yeah as you say all the timers and things. Not aware of the Hcalory ones but nice to have more features built in for sure 👍
Hey Shaun, which heater did you go for, and where did you buy? Ta.
Hey Shaun, which heater did you go for and where did you buy, ta.
@@andrewpurdon2278 it's the hcalory hc-a22 the BLUETOOTH newest on the market with temp cut off and 7 day timer with frost mode
Normally to get all these extras you had to purchase after burner
But these have them built in
Brilliant diesel heater
No matter what heater tho the pump is load
So I got those pumps James browning smith designs they are super silent
I have mine honest under the bed in the motor home below my pilow can't hear a thing
Ah cool, yeah we were looking at those silent pumps too. Might consider it as a potential upgrade down the line, although we've got quite used to the ticking noise now, sort of like it knowing that everything's working 😛
Another fantastic video full of helpful info, as usual. Congratulations to you both, I hope you have a long and happy life together. 🤵♂️🥂👰♀️
Thanks a lot we appreciate it 😊
Clean install, I think the run down cycle is to let the fan keep running until the heatsink has cooled to stop it melting the plastic if there was no airflow carrying the heat away
Thanks :) Yeah it keeps the fan running until the temperature of the chamber inside falls below 50c which usually takes a few minutes for us. It's pretty cool having the Afterburner as you can see graphically how it's cooling down. We've seen some heater manuals mention that if power is interrupted during the run down cycle, it's important to open the unit as quick as possible and get some air flowing or the ECU can be irreparably damaged
good job nice and simple
Cheers 🙂👍
I'd highly suggest that when you come back to upgrade that air inlet, you also cover the fuel line and cable with Glass Braided Sleeving. Used on furnaces etc. Will give extra heat protection to both.
Thanks for the tip we'll keep it in mind 👍🙂
Brilliant video! However I would change the plastic cable ties for metal as they're heat resistant
Cheers! And thanks for that, we didn't even know metal cable ties existed. We might look into that if they start to degrade 🙂
Hi both! My partner and I pick up the keys for a Ford Transit L3 H2 in 2 weeks! Eek! what size is your van?? we are so excited to get started on converting! We’ve binge watched your videos and are currently on this one… we are hooked and just love watching you both!! I don’t know what I’ll do when we get to the end, may re-watch haha. I also have chickens and would love to live on a farm so the way you’ve shot everything (I work in TV!) is just beautifully put together. You are incredibly talented and switched on, it’s a joy watching your project develop and we’re learning a lot from you. A lovely couple, all the very best :) x ps. May have questions in the future for you… :) and Abi, you’re amazing, yes girl!! I only hope I have as much patience for some of the jobs! X
Awesome, that's exciting! We have the L4H3 Jumbo, the biggest Transit you can get 😀 Glad you're enjoying all the videos and that's nice of you to say! We still have a few more from the build to release and then there will be plenty more travel ones after that, it just takes us quite a while to edit 😅 Hope the build goes well and no worries, we always try and answer questions if we can 👍 Abi says thanks!
great video you guys
Cheers! 🙂
Great video.
Thanks! 🙂
Congratulations!!! My and my wife built a van together that spanned our wedding planning too, when you get chance could you share a link to the afterburner very interested in that. Hope you have a fantastic day at your wedding, do t get to caught up on the little things it flies by in no time
Thank you! That's cool, did you take it out for adventures afterwards? 🙂 We had a great time, and sure, here is the link to the Afterburner: www.mrjones.id.au/afterburner/.
@@SelfBuiltStories thank you for the link! We do take it out every other weekend :) and every weekend in the six weeks holiday!
@@leeheaton866 No problem! And that's great, sounds like it gets some good use then! :D
Congratulations
Thank you 🙂
Nice video can you please give me a link for both the heater and control unit if you don’t mind please
Cheers, and all the links should be in the description 👍
I’ve gone onto the link but it says it can’t deliver to that country I’m in England ??
@@cliffwalker3117 Hmm yeah you're right just checked and it does say that at the moment, I'd guess that means it's temporarily out of stock. That happened to us when we wanted to order it too, you could email Craig at craig.he@lavaner.com who is usually very responsive and would be able to tell you. We eventually ordered it to a friend in France as we needed it before it was going to come back in stock in the UK, but it has normally been available to ship here too 👍
Ok thank you for your response I really appreciate it thank you
@@cliffwalker3117 No problem 👍
Love your laid-back approach - obviously a lot of research by yourselves to do all this! The heater seems quite noisy at times - did you consider fitting it under the van?
Cheers, yeah there was a lot of research for every project, tried to cram as much of it as possible into each video 😛 It's fairly noisy when it's starting up as the fan and pump have to go at full speed while it's igniting, but once it's running it dials down and we don't find it a problem at all, we quite like the low hum actually it's like white noise. We did later add another silencer on the air intake pipe though which quietened that down a lot (ua-cam.com/video/sRcqg-e1KoA/v-deo.html ) , and if the pump ticking is something you don't like you can buy a silent pump or try some tricks to dampen the sound, but seeing as ours is outside it's only a low sound that we don't really notice now. Wouldn't want to fit it under the van as there'd be a lot more considerations for protecting it all from the elements, and you'd have to route two large vents for the air in and air out back up to the van, while making sure there is a good separation from the exhaust side so it doesn't inadvertently get sucked back in as well. Happy New Year! 🥳
theres a pump function to use to pull the fuel to the actual heater, i believe u press the power and the bottom arrow key on the remote to turn it on.
Yeah there's a prime function which runs the pump on its own, though each dose of the pump only delivers 0.02ml so it would take a large number of cycles to prime it all the way from the tank to the heater, particularly with how much volume is needed to get through the filter. The diesel acts as a lubricant for the pump so running it without adds a bit more wear to it, so we figured it was best to manually prime it most of the way, and then we still needed something like 3 cycles of the automatic prime to get it up to the heater after that. For a short run though (and safer to not risk getting it in your mouth!) it works great. I would probably just partially fill the filter somehow manually first 👍
Hi guys love your videos. Best van build videos on here. I have just ordered the same diesel heater from your link above and just about to order a Bobil Vans Air Exchange can you tell me what the ducting size is please?
Awesome, and thank you :) If it's the same as our Lavaner then it uses the 75mm ducting 👍
It's been 2 years since I bought a 2KW Lavaner pro, all this time I've only had problems with it! then it does not start, then it smokes, then at the most inopportune time it turns off, I do not remember how many times I had to remove it trying to fix it. Before that, I had a Espar EBERSPACHER Airtronic D2, which worked properly for 15 years. I bought the Lavaner for $250 and suffered for more than $1,000!
Ah that's unlucky! Ours has been rock solid for 2 years now and we use it a lot! Works perfect with the afterburner too and for heating all our shower water. We'd definitely buy the same again if it breaks, maybe you got a bad unit 😕
Your videos are awesome. Can I ask what size/weight fishing magnets you use? Thanks ❤
Thanks 🙂 And they're rated for 250kg, at least that's how they're stamped. That was a good sweet spot for us as we could feel the magnetic force through the van even through our composite floor with all the insulation in, but not so strong so that we couldn't remove them from the underside easily 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories Thanks for the info 🙂👍
@@KimPaley No problem 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories250kg? Or 25kg?
Hey..how do you find the 5kw heater for output in your van…? Is it too hot even when really cold outside? I own a 5kw Chinese heater, and looking to install it in my LWB Citroen relay….
@@richardsracingmad 250kg, it sounds a lot but you can get fishing magnets upwards of 1000kg. The pull force is measured pulling from a perfectly flat steel surface, if you pull them off at an angle they're a lot weaker. We found that strength worked pretty well for us as we could feel it through the van steel, 25mm of insulation board, 12mm plywood and the vinyl layer on top.
And we find the 5kw perfect, would go with the same every time for a van our size. We also use it to heat our hot water so the larger size is better for that. Doesn't get too hot as we have the afterburner controller which has a very precise thermostat and once it reaches the set point we want it just turns the heater off and restarts it when it gets colder. On a lower speed it generally maintains a pretty consistent temperature anyway, and if necessary can open a window a little too. HTH👍
When’s the next video coming? It’s been great watching the progress
Thanks! Hopefully not too long... when we find enough time to edit it all 🙂
Congrats on your wedding guys from Australia. Enjoying your build. How well are you handling the heat over there this week in the UK?
Thank you! 😊 Glad you're enjoying the build, and it was pretty hot for a couple of days. The van coped well though! We went up to Scotland for a bit where it hit 28C, and then back down to the lakes where it topped out around 36-38C. Great temperature for a dip in the water!
@@SelfBuiltStories hopefully the heat over now for the moment. We are used to high 30s & 40s is not unusual in summer. Good luck with it all.
@@kevinbeckwith7740 Thanks!
Any links to the fuel tank aux fitting kit ?
My bad. Just found a whole list in the description. ty 😊
No problem, good luck with it 🙂👍
AC Power supply is nice as far there is no power outage, which causes ECU damage. Especially when heater is running high, ECU is likely to melt when heater misses it's cool down sequence
Yep we don't have a switch for the diesel heater for that reason so you can't accidentally cut the power, so the full cool down sequence always happens via the afterburner 👍
Could always drill the pilot hole from underneath the van. Would help take some of the guess work out of it.
You could yeah, we just prefer to drill from above as it's quite awkward under the van 😁 But the fishing magnets have worked great for pinpointing pretty much exactly where to drill every time we've needed to 🙂
Great video, but Surely the exhaust will melt the cable tie??
Thank you! And yeah all of the cable ties are on cooler parts of the system apart from the one on the exhaust, which you're right can get hot upwards of 100C. We didn't have any issues in use but have since bought some stainless steel cable ties just to replace that one to be on the safe side. There is a screw holding it in place too 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories which van did have you converted? I’m still in the process of saving for the van so along way to go, I like how you’ve gone step by step with your build, I’m learning so much…. Thankyou!!
@@fozzylad1981 no problem, glad you're finding them useful 🙂 and our van is a MK8 Transit Jumbo
Hi Abi & Tim. I'm in the process of installing my 2kw Lavaner. I'm using the 10l supplied fuel tank. Quick question, a year on how is everything under the van filter & pump etc? Is everything caked in mud? Also are you happy with location of filter and pump I was going to put inside, but really i think i should make the effort and install on a board outside like yourselves. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Loved your video and you guys are just the best!
Hey! So we've been under the van the last few days actually and happy to say it still looks pretty much as we did it at the time. A little bit of dirt from the road maybe but that's about it, all functioning really well and we use it all the time, so yeah very happy with the location. Keeps the noise down too being outside so on lower speeds it's not very noticeable. Tips wise, get a nice sharp hole saw to cut the hole! The longest part of our install was probably just cutting out the big hole which took the best part of an hour... 😂 Grabbing an extra silencer for a fiver on eBay and putting it on the air intake pipe makes a big difference to noise too, so recommend that. And lastly I guess just having the fuel tank somewhere it's easily accessible and make sure you can fill it without dripping diesel anywhere, as spilling a bit of that will probably leave a pretty permanent smell. Good luck!
@@SelfBuiltStories ah that's brilliant, great to hear that's its been working well. Managed to get filter and pump installed on a board outside like yours but got covered in diesel tonight connecting all the fuel pipes up! My fault thinking I'd be clever my filling up the fuel tank before connecting everything, duh! That's interesting that you've put a silencer on the air intake will look into that! Hopefully, all being well I'll have the install finished tomorrow.🤞 Thanks again for your advice and love all your videos. You guys have the most amazing work ethic and are insanely dedicated.
Ah no! Hope you got it all finished okay and get some good use out of it on the road 🙂👍
Which version of the afterburner did you blokes go for? I see he has an environmental one and a few others? Which one and for what reason? Thanks so much! I loved stumbling into your videos this morning for the first time! 👌
Ah cool, hope you enjoy them! And we went for the full GPIO one and and with receiver. Don't remember there being an eco option so perhaps that's a new thing? Haven't actually used the gpio for anything yet but thought we'd go for that because who knows what project we might want to do with it 😄
Spotted a snag..... What if you have to service the heater like most every couple of years or replace a glow plug... Sealing it to the floor will not allow you to remove the heater and the only way to do that will be from under the van.... Not so good when its pissing it down or snow on the ground.. I have used a heat resistant runner mat which stops heat transference and dampens noise from the heater... That way i can service from inside the van... But saying that great videos some good ideas that i had not thought about like using a magnet..
Cheers :) Yeah we haven't replaced the glow plug or atomiser yet but we have a decent space inside the cupboard soit might be a bit awkward but we're hoping we can change them in place if needed without having to remove the heater, we'll see how it goes! We'll probably also only do maintenance like that if we're parked up with friends/family for a few days and the weather isn't terrible. For us the main priority was ensuring no exhaust gasses could find their way back into the van so we wanted to seal it down, but worse case we'd just go nuclear and break the sealant, service it then reseal it back in 👍
Hi Nice and easy video to listen to and watch..one question does it not concern you should you go through a flood or drive a wet road could the heater air supply suck up water destroying the heater motor?
Cheers! And nope not worried about that, we've driven through some terrible weather and never had any issues.There's quite a lot of clearance to the ground so you'd have to be driving through some seriously deep water to submerge the inlet, but even then it's not used while we're driving only when we're parked up so any small splashes of water would just drip and dry out over time. More of a concern would be the inlet pipe getting crumpled by a rock flying up against it. The tube normally supplied isn't very rugged, more like cardboard, so we might swap that out for a metal one at some point 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories good point. Quick question did you fit an inline fuse between the heater and the leisure battery. If so what size fuse ? Cheers. Keep the videos coming
@@tarsneyisleestrelas4659 yep there's a fuse for every device to protect the wires, not inline though they're all running back to a 12v fuse hub. We have a 15A fuse for the heater as on startup heating the glow plug is quite power hungry and can reach ~10A. HTH and thanks 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories thanks for the reply 👍
No problem 👍
Absolutely love this video!! Thanks for all your help! Unfortunately I can't seem to find the Eberspacher Fuel Tank Sender Standpipe Kit ford transit. What would you suggest I use? I'm assuming It's needed:)
Many Thanks
No problem, glad it's helpful! 🙂 And the kit we bought is here: www.butlertechnik.com//eberspacher-ford-transit-mercedes-vito-fuel-tank-pick-up-e7193-292199017193-p1702/s1715. From the kit there's only two key pieces really, the 'drinking straw' that drops into the tank, and the black plastic clip that clips onto the top and allows attaching the fuel line. The rest of the kit is just pipe, rubber joiners and jubilee clips. Not sure what else could be used as the clip fits perfectly onto the Transit fuel tank sender unit, so you would need to find something else that's compatible and also the drinking straw. A kit for another diesel heater for the Transit, maybe? Or possibly something designed for the Mercedes Vito 2016+ as according to the listing for the one we bought, it's compatible with that too. Good luck!
@@SelfBuiltStories thank you so much for the link! Unfortunately it is out of stock and we can't find it anywhere else. Is it important to have this piece for installation? As we've bought the same heater as you and it's just waiting to be installed 😂 thanks again!
@@solisyoutube it was out of stock when we wanted it too but we gave them a call and it came back in a couple of days later, so possibly worth a try. You only need the kit if you're tapping into the Transit fuel tank, if you want to use the internal fuel tank that comes with the Lavaner then everything is included with the heater
@@SelfBuiltStories Thank you so much!
@@solisyoutube no problem, good luck with the install :)
Great video, as usual. Can I ask what wire number did you use to connect the pump to your electrical system. Mine is a little far from the fuse box to set it directly there thanks 😊
Cheers 🙂 If you mean specifically for the diesel pump we used the existing wire that came with the heater for that, which we didn't measure but it is quite small, would guess ~1.5mm^2. We just cut it to put it through the floor then spliced it back together afterwards. And then we used 6mm^2 cable from our fuse hub to the diesel heater wiring loom. HTH 👍
Hi guys, great videos just wondering how you going to heat your water for the shower etc.
Cheers 🙂 We're going to be using the diesel heater to heat the water using a heat exchanger on the air ducting. That'll give us an 18L hot tank for the shower
Excellent video guys❤.
What type of conduit did you use to protect the fuel line and also the cable to power the pump?. Many thanks
Cheers! And it's just cheap plastic cable conduit from eBay, have added a link to the description but there's lots of similar sellers on there 👍
Thank you for this instructive video! Have you, or do you know if you can, adjust the pump speed and "tune" this model of the Lavaner Pro for higher altitudes? If so, is that only possible with the Afterburner you added, or with the standard control is it possible? Thank you!!
No problem! It's easily configurable with the afterburner (www.mrjones.id.au/afterburner/assets/files/AltitudeCompensation_V3.5.0.pdf ) although it's not something we've tried. Not sure if it's possible with the stock controller as we swapped it out straight away, but I'd guess probably not as it has a lot more limited functionality 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories thank you so much!
@@thedrewbug1717 no problem 👍
Hi great video just about to fit ours. I am just a bit worried that the base plate will get hot and set fire or melt the flooring we have a vinyl floor. Did you experience any problems thanks
Cheers, and we haven't had any problems with it like that. It's mounted on a turret which goes through the floor and keeps the hot exhaust away from everything. We've probed the heater while it's running and on full power the hottest the burn side of the heater gets on the outside casing is around 50C on ours. The air intake side stays cool enough that we can touch it. The really hot exhaust is the one to watch for but that's routed down under the van. The air coming out of the ducting can get pretty hot too, but that's mounted in the kick plate area of the cabinet so raised off the floor and blowing out into open space
Go check out ukvanlife they removed heater to upgrade vinyl was burnt underneath it
@@iSeaUnplugged do you have a link to it?
Awesome video! I'm now looking into one of these but the PRO Max with automatic elevation adjustment since I want to take our van to the alps in winter. I have a couple of questions though.
1. Do you feel the 5kw model puts out too much heat for the van? I have a Ford Transit L3H2 and it feels like it might be overkill for my van's size.
2. Do you know if the mounting plate works for both the 5kw and 2kw models so they can be swapped out if needed?
Thanks!
Cheers! Yeah they're great heaters, we've put it through its paces for sure and it hasn't skipped a beat running all day long. 🙂🔥 We went for the 5 as we're using it to heat the water for our shower too so wanted lots of power, but from tests we've seen it's also more efficient for the same heat output too. We personally don't find it overkill as it just means we can run the heater on a lower speed, and paired with the afterburner the thermostat works great to switch it off when the van reaches temperature. As long as you have some way of regulating the temperature it works great, but the 2 should also give enough heat. And yeah, from everything we've seen the mounting plates and turrets should be interchangeable between the two 👍
Very nice job! 😊👍 We got a 2KW Eberspächer Diesel Heater with the van, but need to move it from under the passenger seat to a similar spot further back. The 2KW will suffice in a van conversion. We also already bought a 6 litre heat exchanger for hot water to go with that setup. It'll run on the hot air generated by the diesel heater or 230V (500W) off the inverter or shore power. Do you have plans for hot water aside from the stove top?
Cheers from across the pond and stay safe! 🚐⛅🍀
Cheers! Yeah we are doing something similar actually, we're going to be heating our hot water tank with a Bobil kit, that is a heat exchanger that works just like that off the hot air. That's one of the reasons we decided to go with the larger 5kw heater as we should be able to heat the tank to 40C in 10-15 mins. From what we've seen it's also more efficient to run the 5KW at a slower speed than the 2KW at a higher speed to get the same heat output. So for ~2KW heat the larger one running slowly is roughly half the amp draw of the smaller one running maxed out (1.5A vs 3A). The only thing we need to do is run it at full power every month of so for a bit, to burn off any built up excess carbon etc. The key bit for us though is the afterburner, it makes it so much easier to control. It took a bit of fiddling around with the settings over a few days in the van until we found a nice sweet spot, but it's great as it can turn itself on and off automatically and we use the mode that increases and decreases the pump and fan speed linearly as it moves further away or closer to the desired temperature. 🙂 Have you got any further with your van? 😊
Great job. How did you get on with the plastic cable tie on the exhaust silencer?
Cheers, we eventually replaced it with a metal one as we were concerned about the heat but it had held up fine in that time (a few months) and was still perfectly normal when we cut it off
Excellent workmanship. Just note there is no concern of the exhaust mixing with the combustion air intake. They are recommended to be within 6" of each other to eliminate flame out caused by differential air pressure from gusts of wind. The exhaust disburses very quickly at the end of the pipe.
Cheers! 🙂 And that's interesting, the manual for ours and similar ones like the D4 just says a generic "route the exhaust so that the emitted fumes are not sucked in with the combustion air" but doesn't specify a distance. But looking at the espar D2 that one is a bit more specific and says to keep a "minimum of 12” apart". When you say within 6", do you mean at least 6"?
Great install guys, I’m about to fit a lavaner 5kw pro in my camper and this really helps so thank you☺️ just wondering did yee install the rubber seal between the heater and the turret plate? I’m not sure wether to use it or not? Tia ☺️
Cool, it's a nice bit of kit! And yes we did use it, we wanted to make sure there was a nice seal all around to stop any harmful gases making their way back into the van. We used a grommet on the extra hole we cut in the turret for the wires too and filled that with a bit of sealant for the same reason. Good luck with your install 🙂
Hi love the videos very informative just a question ,were did you get your Windows from. Keep up the good work.
Hi! We got them all from www.leisurevehiclewindows.co.uk/ and installed them in episodes 9-11
Congratulations guys, wish you many happy years and well done for the diesel install. It’s the afterburner controlled with apple phone app?
Thanks a lot! 😊 And the afterburner has it's own (basic) bluetooth app but only for Android. It can also broadcast it's own WiFi network though, so you don't actually need the app (and we don't use it). You can just use your browser to load the heater page and control it from there. It also pairs with the original key fob we got with the Lavaner, so we can still use that for basic control too. The full features are here: www.mrjones.id.au/afterburner/features.html. 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories Thank you for your detailed reply, much appreciated 👍.
@@aureltanasan1413 No problem, you're welcome :)
Hi great video just starting my own conversion and wondering what kit you used to tap into the auxiliary fuel line in the deisel tank thanks
@@miketattum6846 Cheers, and the kit we used is linked in the description 👍
Maybe you are aware of it or not, before shutting down run on high fo 10-15 minutes..It burns all the buildup of carbon in the combustion chamber, people who run them on low and don't, usually have problems and need to pull it apart and clean the chamber out way early....So as a great prevention maintenance rule, run on high for 10-15 minutes before you hit off/shutdown cycle..
Cheers, thanks for sharing. Yeah we are aware of that and try to run it on high for decent periods. It's easier for us to do as we also use it to heat our hot water, so anytime we want to heat the tank up we have it running on high power as well 🙂
Hi where did you get your filter from 😊
@@markbell7859 Hiya, if you mean the air intake filter then we got it from eBay, have added a link in the description 👍
This may be partly correct, but heater's max temp, around 215 °C, is not enough to burn any sooth. In general it may produce less sooth when running hotter.
@@kasuuni Cool, yeah we'll give it a service periodically as well to keep it running nicely. Been rock solid so far, but we're going to pickup some replacement atomiser screens etc and keep them on hand as well 👍
20:12 how is that plastic cable tie holding up on the exhaust 😜
We had no problems with it but eventually replaced it with a metal one after a few months. It was still perfectly fine when we cut it off 😛👍
What cable size did you run to the heater. Im sitting trying to work out cable size.
Over a 7meter run im woking it out to 16mm? Any help would be amazing
Hiya, we used 6mm² for the heater and went through the reasoning for that here: ua-cam.com/video/DTzaAh7on4c/v-deo.htmlsi=MmB9P-OxShL7DRIs&t=1004 . And the bluesea chart we referenced is this one: assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/newsletter/images/DC_wire_selection_chartlg.jpg .
It's important to size it for the roundtrip distance (i.e there and back), so it depends whether your 7m is the total or if you actually have a 14m circuit. 16mm² for a 7m run would be a lot of overkill as the heater draws a max of ~10A, and that's only during startup and shutdown when it's heating up the glow plug. But if it's 14m then 16mm² sounds about right to stay in the 3% voltage drop range. HTH! 👍
@@SelfBuiltStories Hiya in hoping this comment reaches you as as ive been scratching my head over wiring size. Am i right in thinking the cables you ran are 6mm, but then you connect those to the original wiring that came with the heater? So 6mm red and black connected with the little spade connectors to the 2mm red and black that came with the heater?
Ive been thinking i needed to change the 2mm cables that came in the wiring harness for 6, but couldn't fathom how, but now i see i may have been over thinking it 🤔 😊
@@hollygrinstead7252 Hiya, yep we ran 6mm² from the fuse hub to the heater and then joined them to the existing wiring loom on it with spade connectors here: ua-cam.com/video/VDz7J1r8kzE/v-deo.htmlsi=Q87MRZTMBcy-p59h&t=1311 . You don't need to change the original wires at all, just use the original loom and join it to your own wire. Even though it's smaller it's still rated to carry the max current that the heater users (~10A at startup and shutdown for a few minutes) so there isn't a safety issue with it and you'll have a fuse on the wire as well which should be rated to blow well before it would ever reach the limit of the wire.
The larger wire is for the secondary issue of voltage drop which over a long wire (ours is probably around 8m when you take into account both positive and negative legs) can be significant. But it's not a problem that the last leg is still the original smaller wire as over such a short run it won't have much impact. One thing we did do later on though is cut off the excess wire from the bundle so the run length is as short as possible.
For actually joining the bigger wire to the smaller wire what we found works quite well is using spade connectors, as you can use a different size one on each side but conveniently the actual spade part is the same size (So you can join a yellow female spade with a red/blue male spade for example). Another easy way is to use wago connectors, as something like the Wago 221s can take any wires from 0.14 to 6mm² with no problem. HTH 🙂👍
Curious how you'd rate the amount of heat the 5k puts out? We're hoping to build out an extended length, high roof Ford Transit and are undecided whether to go with a 2k or 5k.
You guys do an excellent job of walking through each project - appreciate the time you spend doing so!
No problem! It puts out some nice heat that warms up the van quickly, and paired with the afterburner we can regulate it to a nice temperature. It also runs more efficiently than the 2kw for the same heat output. One thing that's handy is the mounting plate and bolt locations should be the same, so if you size for the bigger unit you can swap one out for the other if necessary down the road too. We're really happy we went for the 5kw unit and we're going to be heating our hot water using a heat exchanger too so the extra power for that is helpful 🙂
21:52 wire connections for battery
Hey both! Just wondering about the plastic fuel line - did you cover it with something else? Or just use the bare white plastic line that Lavaner provided? Currently doing the same job and put the fuel line in plastic conduit, but was told it may do more harm than good… thanks!
Hey, yep we ran it through a larger diameter tube for protection, you can see it at 23:01. Can't see how putting it in something to protect it would do harm, we wanted to make sure it wouldn't get damaged from stones and debris flying up from the road. We've driven thousands of miles over the last two years with it like this now and no issues at all 👍
I have been watching you two for a while now. We live in Exeter and are at the start of converting a 2014 Ford Transit XLWB. I was wondering what themormeter you were using inside and outside the van to monitor the temps?
Hiya, great, good luck with your build! 🙂 The thermometers we have are called Oria Mini and we picked them up from Amazon (added a link to the description)
I realize this video is relatively older at this point, but I’m curious to know how often you’ve needed to maintain it or take it apart to clean. I purchased one myself a few months ago and it was great at first, but it started running too rich and carbon build up was a huge problem to where I needed to replace the whole unit because I couldn’t get it to run reliably. So now that I have my replacement, I’m curious to know if this was due to my own operation error or if others have also had trouble
Hiya, we actually haven't had to do any maintenance on it yet, it's still running great. We use it heavily on a daily basis so at some point we'll be doing a small service and replacing the atomiser screen and checking everything else is nice and clean. Right now we're in the Highlands and it's below freezing outside so we have it running almost constantly for 12 hours or so a day, and we use it for heating up our shower water as well. We do run it on high frequently but other than that nothing in particular we do. Highly recommend the afterburner as well for advancing control 👍
Do you think it would be possible to create your own fuel pickup with the included fuel line that comes with the heater? I see that the available kits now only include an elbow connector.
Hmm there isn't much to the kit, it's really just the elbow clip, some pipe and jubilee clips. But the elbow clip is the important bit as it's an exact fit for the auxiliary connection on the Transit tank. The kit we used (in the description) does have all the parts with it though 👍
Hi guys, did you cut a small end bit off the exhaust and attach it to the end of the muffler? Just trying to work out why it's so difficult to remove the end cover piece of the exhaust? As shown at 20:20
Hey, yep exactly that, we also tried to remove it and gave up, so we just cut it off and put it on the end which was a lot easier 😀👍
@@SelfBuiltStories yep did the same. Thankyou guys 👍
@@philwilliams23 Cool, no worries!