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Defender PTC Heater Upgrade


mickeyw

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

I've got a smaller one fitted to my heater box... since 2011, I gave up on it ages ago as the negatives outweighed any positives gained by a huge factor, extra heat gained was negligible really. (in my attempts)...

I'm now looking at fitting a secondary heater matrix and modifying the water supply pipework (Def 200tdi) - the engine gives out Huge amounts of heat, its just not being used very well! as per one of Si's comments way back... "the matrix is just to small".

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Indeed I did, and with great results.

Aside from the fact that my 65A alternator can't keep up, the heat delivered is tremendous. Warm air from a cold start in under a minute, and pretty darned hot air after 3 mins or so. I can't wait to try it out on a frosty morning.

Future plans involve an uprated alternator to cope with this and other ancillaries, I'm looking at 120A or maybe more.

Note that I have the original matrix AND the PTC installed. Once the engine is well warmed up, the original heater is not bad, except for really cold days.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi, All,

In Simonr's post #41, if there's not enough alternator output at tick over, what about fitting a smaller pulley on the alternator?

Still on the subject of PTC heater elements, since Citroen and Pugs are not common ever here, does anybody know of a vehicle available in N. America that uses a PTC element, please?

Mike

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Still on the subject of PTC heater elements, since Citroen and Pugs are not common ever here, does anybody know of a vehicle available in N. America that uses a PTC element, please?

Wake up of an old thread :-)

I was going to guess Mercedes, Audi, BMW.

Later (after the poor search results) I wondered if these are parts fitted to modern diesel engined vehicles, which I understand is not a popular category in the USA.

I thought to search eBay UK, this is what I found (note the Search terms and limitations).

I then thought to look on eBay.com (ie USA), this is what I found (note the slightly different search terms).

The availability seems to have changed over the years, either that of it's the wrong time of year, especially in the UK.

Good Luck.

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While I like the idea of an Eberspacher or Webasto, this is a cheap mod for near instant heat in the midsts of non-Arctic winters, and one I'll be doing when I come back to the UK. I'd missed it before, so I'm glad it got necroposted!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for your reply, David. I had looked on eBay.com, but can't find anything over about 200 watt on 12 volt. I suppose that I could put in a bank of 5 or 6, wired in parallel. One benefit of that configuration would be a degree of flexibility in physical arrangement to achieve specific dimensions, and also variable heat output. There doesn't appear to be anything available like the units mentioned in earlier posts. As you say, availability seems to have moved on, but I'll keep searching this side of the pond, and I may get lucky, maybe on an air cooled Asian roller skate.

Mike

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It's all about search terms. "Electric heater" in the eBay motors section finds a few VAG group parts for instance, eg

http://m.ebay.com/itm/MK5-VW-JETTA-HVAC-AC-HEATER-ELECTRIC-AUXILIARY-AUX-HEATING-ELEMENT-OEM-551-/172198851143?nav=SEARCH

I'm sure there are more, I just had a quick look. Ideally you'd want to find which domestic cars use the heaters as they'll likely be more common. Unfortunately they're most often used in diesel engined cars, which tend to be a little rarer in the US

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  • 2 weeks later...

HI, All,

Thanks for the input. You're absolutely right, Aragorn, I haven't experimented with enough search terms, and using the input of your ebay search I did find an advert for a VW Jetta electrical heater. It looks as if I might be in luck after all. And, Lewis, many thanks for your kind offer, but it looks as if I can find one over here after all.

Mike

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  • 3 years later...

Wow! It's been a while since I wrote all this. I had forgotten all about the promise of drawings. Apologies to all who showed interest.
I've found the CAD files, but I need to get on my other computer to open the Solidworks drawings and PDF them.

Meanwhile here's a switching circuit that I can't remember if I drew up or got from someone else.

PTC SWITCHING CIRCUIT.pdf

The heater got transplanted into my 110 a few years ago, and worked well at the beginning. Then it stopped working, and I've yet to investigate why. I have a spare element but it's still on the garage shelf. I don't use the truck a lot these days, so the urgency to fix it is not high, along with wiring up my heated wing mirrors 🙄

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