Auxiliary heaters and pre heaters

[Snagger]

On 4/17/2019 at 6:13 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

Hard to say, I suspect the prevalence of water heaters as OEM fit is a packaging thing as much as anything, you can use the existing heater fan + matrix etc. and they're easier to tuck away somewhere without big fat air ducting to route.

I guess the question is what you're using it for - warming a running vehicle up faster (as OEM do) I'd go water, warming a parked vehicle overnight you'd want air otherwise you're heating a huge engine block that's just dissipating heat back out to the environment.

Thanks.  That was basically what I was thinking.  Outside of the Artic Circle, it seems an Airtop type is more useful.  They certainly seem cheaper.

I had also been toying with the idea that Lo-Fi mentions - use the Thermo top type, but have a dedicated cabin heater/hot water heater (shower, hand basin etc) circuit that can be run from the Thermotop, isolated from the engine and cooling system (perhaps using the original heater matrix too) for maximum flexibility.  The downside is the complexity and reduced reliability of all that extra plumbing and the isolation/bypass valves.  It's a tempting idea, though...  I think Gaz should prototype it! 😉

[supaimpy]

My hydronic is plumbed into the engine for pre heat also the oem heater, but I've also added a matrix in the front but controlled with a solenoid water valve , turn on the matrix blower and the water valve opens and extra heat into the cabin, also means you dont need to have ignition on and screen blower running . Use the relay switch feed (from the diesel heater) to control dash blower and screen is demisted prior to getting in the truck. 

To get hot water for a shower etc really you need a calorfier to keep up with the demand and also the capacity to keep the heater working and modulating .

Its all nothing new, been fitting systems that do similar into live aboard narrow boats and campers etc for nearly 40 years

[Badger110]

I fitted a webasto which is fairly stright forward and looked at purchasing a Rover 75 thermo top for heating the block on our more northern trips through Norway and Finland, these are 12v control without worrying about plumbing into the vehicle electrics.

 

I did look at a shower set up with the hot water supplied via the thermo top, but there is a lot of work involved for something which you probably won't use much in the back of a 110!

 

I found the sepaerte propane gas showers a more suitable idea for a hotwater supply within the 110 ( or outside for a shower ).  They're fairly compact ( no bigger than a power shower unit ) and if you're already running a gas bottle on board they will supply hot water pretty quickly.

I will get one when we move onto the next conversion but mainly use it for washing off muddy dogs!

[cbtLR5]

Hi!

I've a Dicovery L462 with a Hydronic 2 d5s (diesel) OEM fitted. I would operate the heater for a whole night in case of in car sleeping in cold conditions. The problem with OEM fit is that the system will only operate 1 time per cycle of driving...in others words this cannot run a whole night. The another problem is that the internal front blower is power supplied and operated using PWM, so the pin for blower cannot be usefull alone. (for that problem I could read out the PWM frames to replicate them using a little PCB and a potentiometer to adjust the fan speed...) Currently IDK what is precisely exchanged on the LIN bus between the Heater and the HVAC module into the car.

Thank you for any advises

 

Eberspacher Hydronic 2 d5s 25 2556

On 2/24/2019 at 8:49 PM, supaimpy said:

Just be careful some of the OEM heaters are built by the big manufacturers under license, and the ecu's have their own diagnostics,  also be careful to ensure they are not just CAN or LIN signal controlled.The original supply contracts mean officially spares support is via the OEM not Eber or Web.

If you can get a fabric number from any prospective Eberspacher purchase I can look it up and get a better idea of spares support and controllers.