Chinese diesel Heater under seat on a 110.

[monkie]

I had a look on eBay out of interest and yes you can get ones with a remote control all for £136.

I might be missing something here but given the named ones cost so much more, I share Fridgefreezer's concerns about the cheap ones if left unattended. You might have your cab heated just a little too much for comfort.

 

[ianmayco68]

I agree with monkie  and fridge , personally I wouldn’t risk it , after the cheap Chinese go pro incident we had . Where the stepson put it on charge and it melted the wall socket , would rather have a cold truck to get into than a black charred one .

[FridgeFreezer]

My concern is not just it catching fire (Eber/Webasto have a lot of safety cutoffs etc.) but also carbon monoxide leaks - not so much of a problem tooling along in a draughty Defender but sleeping overnight in a camper, parked up, there's plenty opportunity for CO to build up and you waking up dead.

Can't fault the value, and their controllers look like something the Germans should've done a decade ago, maybe we'll see the big names drop their prices a bit in response?

[Ex Member]

You should ALWAYS have a CO alarm if you are using any type of fired heater for sleeping.

[FridgeFreezer]

34 minutes ago, Red90 said:

You should ALWAYS have a CO alarm if you are using any type of fired heater for sleeping.

Well yes - but I'm fairly sure I'll be sleeping better thinking "I've got a heater designed by adults and TUV approved"  than "at least the CO/fire alarm should wake me up if the cheap heater tries to kill me"

It's like buying cheap parts - some places it doesn't matter so much, but when you're stamping on the brake pedal and praying you don't want to be thinking "at least I saved £5 on these brake pads!" as you hurtle towards the proverbial bus-load of nuns and kittens.

[Gazzar]

You shouldn't drive towards nuns and kittens.

 

That's bad.

[paime]

1 hour ago, ianmayco68 said:

I agree with monkie  and fridge , personally I wouldn’t risk it , after the cheap Chinese go pro incident we had . Where the stepson put it on charge and it melted the wall socket , would rather have a cold truck to get into than a black charred one .

+1. I like the idea of a diesel pre-heater but the cost of Webasco/eberspacher is annoyingly high. A second hand one off fleabay is a risk as well so i think i'll stick to a pair of gloves for the time being.

[Anderzander]

Wow it’s a real thing... 

I wonder if they have a Chinese diesel heater on there?

 

[Tim2809]

theres alot of vw campers running the heaters without issues. alot have also done the co tests and someone even used thermal image to compare to an eberspacher and results were very close as to not make a difference. 

also the chinese have flame out and overheat sensors and when stripped down are hard to tell apart. 

now how long they will last is the 5million dollar question. 

facebook have several groups for these heaters and main issues seam to be the glow plug fails which a genuine ebber plugs straight in 

[Mo Murphy]

2 hours ago, Anderzander said:

Wow it’s a real thing... 

I wonder if they have a Chinese diesel heater on there?

 

Doesn't mention kittens on that bus !

I feel cheated now 😔

Mo

[darthdicky]

I had an Eberspacher D2 in my 90 and it was plenty warm enough to defrost the vehicle in 10 mins and then even on its lowest setting it usually got to the point where I had to turn it off or open a window within a few miles as it got so warm - I can't imagine anyone needing a 5kw version unless it was a very drafty 110 heading for the arctic!

Richard

[Maverik]

If you need something to warm a 90 up/defrost, I'd highly reccomend a Thermotop instead, its a little more suited to a 90 as the space to warm up is a lot smaller and as a bonus you get a pre warmed engine too...

I have a remote start so I put it on as I get up, 20 minutes later engine is up to temp and when I start her up I've got instant heat from the vents which defrosts/defogs in minutes - love it, and that came out of a Rover 75 for 80 squid.

[paime]

59 minutes ago, Maverik said:

If you need something to warm a 90 up/defrost, I'd highly reccomend a Thermotop instead, its a little more suited to a 90 as the space to warm up is a lot smaller and as a bonus you get a pre warmed engine too...

I have a remote start so I put it on as I get up, 20 minutes later engine is up to temp and when I start her up I've got instant heat from the vents which defrosts/defogs in minutes - love it, and that came out of a Rover 75 for 80 squid.

Sounds like something i need! Is it one of these beasties: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEBASTO-THERMO-TOP-C-5-2kW-2-5BAR-12V-40W-00-0012-02-1146/253977514621?epid=25025785679&hash=item3b223d527d:g:kOoAAOSwEwhb6bx0:rk:11:pf:0 ? Any pics of the installation? How does the remote start work?

[FridgeFreezer]

16 hours ago, Tim2809 said:

theres alot of vw campers running the heaters without issues. alot have also done the co tests and someone even used thermal image to compare to an eberspacher and results were very close as to not make a difference. 

also the chinese have flame out and overheat sensors and when stripped down are hard to tell apart. 

now how long they will last is the 5million dollar question.

Oh I'm sure the Chinese ones are a perfect copy of the Eberspacher and have all the same safety features... but a cheap knock-off of a safety critical item like a seatbelt or airbag would make me think twice for the same reason.

While I'm sure Ebers have quite a markup, I'm also sure the Chinese ones have to have saved money somewhere 'cos you can't sell a £1500 heater for £150 without having done something differently.

[martyn668]

I’m with Monkie and FridgeFreezer. I’d be scared to leave it unattended (or sleep in the Landy with it running), which sort of defeats the object. I’ll just wear an extra jumper and some gloves. 

[Anderzander]

I wasn’t convinced about them - so paid more for a 2nd hand Airtop.

[Ex Member]

They are fine.  Lots of people use them and I've not heard of a single complaint.

[Ex Member]

People commenting that they don't want to buy something that may be unreliable and unsafe on a Defender forum is very funny.

[Retroanaconda]

17 minutes ago, Red90 said:

People commenting that they don't want to buy something that may be unreliable and unsafe on a Defender forum is very funny.

Why? Defenders are neither unreliable nor unsafe?

[Ex Member]

Not from a 1950s persepctive.

[supaimpy]

The Chinese and the Russian Eberspacher and Webasto copies have been tested for output and materials, suffice to say they are not constructed from the same materials,  the likes of Bosch have supplied parts  to a quality not a price.

The costs of testing and reliability to satisfy the likes of DAF, Scania, Volvo BMW even JLR , who actual purchase heaters and then assume full warranty on them  because of the testing regimes that include EMC testing , TUV and where applicable CE testing of not just the heater  but also the ancillaries such as fuel pick ups, the use of lead free solder goes someway to explain the cost differential , add in a 3 year warranty and a support network it doesn't come cheap.

Eberspacher and Webasto prime markets for Heaters are OEM, the after market fitment is a very small part of the business, almost considered an added bonus off the back of OEM supply. There are plenty of 20 year EBERs and WEB Heaters still running , so overall lifetime costs are pretty low .

[Snagger]

On 12/9/2018 at 5:58 PM, Anderzander said:

I think there is a Facebook group for people lamenting their failure ??

Yes, there is a group, but no, they mostly seem to congratulate themselves on their thriftiness while asking where to get instructions, missing parts, replacements for cracked cases and non-functioning parts and how to repair malfunctioning units.  They all fail to see the connection between them all buying cheap, illegal copies and them all having major problems.  They also don't seem to consider the risks once they get the heaters running, either fire or fume derived.  🙄  I was a member for a while, trying to find out if these Chinese units were viable, but the answer was quick and resounding.

Do yourself a favour and get a Planar unit if you don't want to pay Eberspacher or Webasto prices; these three all have good reputations for reliability and safety.

Red 90 may be quite right that 5kW is necessary for his use, but Canada is a mite colder than most of us contend with in winter.  The vast majority in the camper groups I frequent all say the 2kW unit is more than enough and far less prone to coking as it can be run on a high setting more than the 5kW types.

[RedLineMike]

I have a 5kw chinesbacher installed in my van, so far no complaints

[paime]

1 hour ago, Snagger said:

Yes, there is a group, but no, they mostly seem to congratulate themselves on their thriftiness while asking where to get instructions, missing parts, replacements for cracked cases and non-functioning parts and how to repair malfunctioning units.  They all fail to see the connection between them all buying cheap, illegal copies and them all having major problems.  They also don't seem to consider the risks once they get the heaters running, either fire or fume derived.  🙄  I was a member for a while, trying to find out if these Chinese units were viable, but the answer was quick and resounding.

Do yourself a favour and get a Planar unit if you don't want to pay Eberspacher or Webasto prices; these three all have good reputations for reliability and safety.

Red 90 may be quite right that 5kW is necessary for his use, but Canada is a mite colder than most of us contend with in winter.  The vast majority in the camper groups I frequent all say the 2kW unit is more than enough and far less prone to coking as it can be run on a high setting more than the 5kW types.

Planar looks to be a bit more reasonably priced (https://planarheaters.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products%2Fplanar-diesel-heater-2kw-12-volt-kit) and there are some very worrying knock-offs going about on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5000W-LCD-Air-Diesel-Heater-5KW-12V-PLANAR-for-Trucks-Motor-homes-Boats-Bus-UK/192596307855?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55149%26meid%3Db211f9fd6ad740fda87c2eba98aa6afd%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D192596307855&_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226

[FridgeFreezer]

What *would* be interesting is to try the Chinese controller / remote with a genuine Eberspacher, because that would be a good upgrade for £15.