REAL LIFE VEVOR DIESEL HEATER REVIEW. The good and bad we experienced along with some tips for use.
Вставка
- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- I bought a $104 vevor diesel heater in October 2023 with low expectations but man was I wrong. I spent a few weeks outfitting the camper with a 12v vehicle battery for power and a few 12v charging ports that we could use to charge cell phones and also reverse feed (charge) the battery from a portable solar panel during the sunny days. Originally I attempted to use a 12 cell phone charger male end to connect power to the heater but I soon realized this was not dependable. Any slight bumps or jarring and power would be lost and the heater does not like it when it loses power and has to restart. These heaters are made to start and stop in a timed cycle and it's important to allow this to happen so you'll have the best luck with heater life. So after that failure I decided to wire in a trailer plug as the connection for power and this worked perfect. The ducting on the heater that sends you the heat is a 3" duct which is smaller than a typical dryer vent but I was able to find a 3" accordion style vent tube at home Depot for about $10 that worked great, extended and collapsed easily. The heater I ordered was supposed to be a 5k but I can't confirm that's what I got since it's kinda a crapshoot from this company and nothing was labeled. We ran the heater from 10 to 12 hours a day at over 7000' of elevation and never had an issue. It kept the camper toasty warm and sometimes too hot even on the lowest setting to where we had to pop the roof vent. The coldest night was 7 degrees Fahrenheit and it didn't seem to care how cold it was it just kept going. I checked fuel consumption on the first night and the heater on the lowest setting sipped almost exactly 40oz of diesel for 10.5 hours of run time. This was better than I had expected by far. The 12v car battery powering the until was more than sufficient for the 3 days and I imagine if someone wanted to do the math they could figure out exactly what these heaters use compared to the Amp Hours your battery will supply but we just went for it and all was good. I did have a 25w Harbor freight solar panel set up during our drives that was charging the battery but to be honest most of our days were white out snow conditions with little sun but it was a good thought if you're somewhere where the sun shines, you'd obviously get more battery run time this way.
Overall for the minimal cost of this heater I am beyond impressed. Atheistically it could be better and seems kinda hokey to have to bolt 2x6 wood to the feet and the exhaust looks like an afterthought but I could have cared less about that stuff when it was below freezing outside and we were toasty warm inside. The diesel consumption was also impressive. The only issue we ever encountered was with the supplied remote not working all the time but I think that had to do with the fact it was below freezing and the remote battery probably isn't the best from the factory. These units have a control panel on the face of the heater so if the remote ever fails you can control it from the actual heater box itself so it wasn't a huge concern. These heaters don't smell like a diesel truck driving by and burn incredibly clean. We also knew that the vent hole on the top of the fuel tank would leak and some people opt to use a baggy to seal the vent hole but we were headed to over 10k feet in elevation and I didn't want to add too much pressure in the fuel tank and have the fuel line fail as opposed to that vent hole on the cap dribbling a little fuel.
Hopefully this video helps answer any questions. Sorry I am all over the place in the video, I'm not a pro video dude. Just some guy out here trying to help people have more fun camping. If I missed something leave a comment and I'll try and respond back. Hope you stay warm this winter.
Great info - thanks. 😎👍
For long term running that exhaust pipe needs to be on a downward slope from the heater outlet to the open end so that condensation doesn't accumulate and eventually drown out the fire.
I saw a bunch of videos that reinforce your point about the exhaust. I didn't realize it would condensate as much as I have seen on other videos. I'll likely be adjusting the exhaust once we get to a camping spot so it faces down and allows drainage of condensation. When I put this in my garage to heat it I'll make sure exhaust is facing down as well. Thanks for the info.
Appreciate the in depth review, I've got one on order.
You can run a red wire from you underhood battery to the rear battery to keep it charged also. Just pickup the black ground from a metal source close to the battery, also, mount the soal panel up top of camper. If you do it correctly it will stay and you will never have any issues with it. Now 1 important safty thing. Get you a yellow approved can for desiel fuel. Even though you know the red one has what you know is in it, someone else may not especially in an emergency. As for the video. All good, you did a great imformative jod, good on you.
Thanks for the info. I was thinking of making a wire jumper that came off my trailer light plug on the truck that would keep the battery tended while the truck was on. I know that plug has power while truck is running since the trailer lights would be operational then so I just need to figure out a way to make that power feed into that stand alone 12v battery. Future plans so I don't need a solar panel.
I would just recommend putting the charge controller on that circuit with the solar panel so you don't have to worry about damaging the battery or starting a fire (I know, not likely but still). Also keep in mind the heater is not waterproof. It's designed to be put inside the rig and the exhaust vented outside. The bonus there too is the exhaust pipe dumps some heat into the trailer too.
A couple of these have been on my list for shop heating. They are very efficient on diesel, and don't have a huge power draw.
Good tip. I read up on this particular solar panel and I believe it has some sort of charge controller built in? Maybe I'm wrong but I think it will not overcharge the battery from what I have read. As far as being waterproof yes I agree. They are not made to get wet. I'm trying to figure out some sort of cover that will make it more tolerant of poor weather while we camp. We got lucky this last trip because it was dry snot and not rain or sleat. Thanks for the advice
Should look at marine grade 12v connectors or an Anderson plug
U can get just one 250 watt panel on ur lical craigslist for 75.00 around here in louisiana they r constantly ripping down the panels on rent to scams n they can only put new panels on homes so if u want permanent never have to worry route that n mppt u r done n done bro
Fantastic video
Thanks for that info. I looked at the more permanent panels but I'm hesitant to attach anything to the roof of this old rv. It doesn't leak as it is now and I kinda want to leave good enough alone!!! Also the power usage of this little heater is so minimal I'm not sure if need that much solar to keep the battery recharged. I think if we had a bigger camper with more 12v draws I'd definitely do what you're saying just to make life easier and not have to think about always moving a solar panel. Awesome advice and I appreciate it though. Thanks for that.
Hey this was awsome in that im making a heat station for my bride while shes outside drinking her coffee an hanging out, i was worried about the exhaust smell. Also noise, fuel use, portability. Thank you, my question is how did it handle the weather, in that i didnt know if they are weatherproof?
I don't think they are really meant to be exposed to the rain. We were in very cold 7 to 20 degree weather with snow that was dumping so it handled that fine. I think if there were rain or a really wet snow dumping the LCD screen and the inlet may be compromised. I'm kinda thinking about ways now to make this a little more "waterproof" after hearing that some people were concerned and I'm sure it may create issues. I don't want to be nice and cozy sleeping in the woods and have a rain burst wipe out my heater so Il have to get creative and make some sort of cover for it before our next expedition.
If you wrap the pump in some fiberglass insulation you won't be able to hear it at all. Mine is completely quiet while it's running.
Need a solar controller MPPT is the way to go with a brief case panel that folds and gets 100 or more watts.
It's good you got your feet wet tho. Great write up.
Thanks man. Yeah this was my half a$$ thrown together little camping set up. I was trying to do everything as quickly and cheap as possible. I definitely can see where everything can be improved though for sure. I'll check out those other panels you mentioned. Probably a lot more user friendly and take a lot less room in an already cramped environment. Thanks again.
Evidently you had no problem with the diesel fuel turning to gel from cold?
CAUTION the RED fuel can should NEVER be used for DIESEL fuel. Confusion can occur and GASOLINE might get fueled up in the RED fuel can. If that gets poured in a diesel heater, someone might get hurt and/or someone gets to meet a bunch of firemen.
Additional interesting note ... during my garage warming days with a kerosene/diesel heater (salamander) I would "treat" my 5 gallon yellow/blue fuel can with my favorite aroma lamp oil.
Good info. Yeah I couldn't find a 1 gallon yellow diesel container. I'm going to use a sharpie and mark "diesel" on that can so there is no confusion. Good tip on the aroma too. Thanks.
"Promosm" 😕