Heat alternative?

[72lowslow]

Someone ever tried any safer alternative way to heat you bus on "driving mode" beside the stock?
I hope no look my post!
The fall is here on the northeast and the temperatures starting to change!
I tried to used the stock system but smell so bad like burn oil and as if they were welding metal next to me.


Thanks
Balt

[aeromech]

Google heater buddy
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

in stock form, and in good working order with GERMAN stuff, the original heating is decent.

search here...topic comes up every year at this time. gas heater, propex, etc etc...

it won't be cheap to do no matter what.
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[72lowslow]

[vwwestyman]

Ha ha! Try to drive a little less swervy!

I've got a couple different heater buddys. They turn off with very little "tipping" necessary, so if you did swerve and it tipped over, it would turn off almost immediately.

You could certainly get creative and come up with a way to make it less likely to tip, too! Such as bungee cords, or attaching the bottom to a wider base of some sort.
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[Tom Powell]

I have one of these:
My mount might be different from the picture. I screwed the mount into some of the speaker holes in the dashboard and it plugs into the lighter outlet. It works very well for defrosting the inside of the glass. Not too bad for warming your hands a bit.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-auto-heater-defroster-with-light-60525.html



A Mr Heater Buddy works well, but it puts out a lot of moisture which condenses on the cold glass and windshield.

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-F232000-Indoor-Sa...ater+buddy

Aloha
tp

[SlowLane]

Heat? HEAT?? Think yer drivin' a luxury car or sumpin'?
Just dress for the weather like you were outside, because you are. Get a long- handled ice scraper and practice scraping the outside of the windshield between swipes of the wiper blades.
Kids these days.
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[BayCreamPuff]

Cheapest thing you can do is go look at your current heating system and find out why it smells like burning oil.

How's the seal in your engine bay?
How's the seal for your engine hatch?
Are all the connections tight?
Are the accordion tubes intact?

Those old accordion and paper tubes can get pretty nasty inside and replacing them is pretty easy.

More info
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Heating.html
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[sjbartnik]

[SGKent]

Go see the colors and make an appointment to drop your bus off with Skills. Pay him to take the heat exchangers off, clean them and be sure the heater is working to full efficiency.

FWIW VW heater don't have to smell like burning oil but they will ALWAYS smell like an air-cooled VW engine. There is no way to avoid it.
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[vwwestyman]

[jtauxe]

I would not consider a Heater Buddy safer at all. It's a loose propane heater in your cab, just waiting to cause trouble. I tried one for awhile, and while it did put out heat, I was always a bit nervous about the thing. Also, as has been mentioned, it puts out a lot of water vapor (a product of the propane combustion) that will add to any fogging problems you have.

Honestly, the best thing is to fix your heating system and get it back to stock. When operating correctly, they really do offer some heat!

Your bus is probably not too far from having effective stock heat, unlike my single cab. Some PO in Texas ripped out all the heat ducting. ALL of it - including the Y-tube that runs over the rear torsion tube. They even broke off the mounts for the heater cables in the back. WHY, OH WHY, MAN? Putting this all back together is going to require some creative welding.

I expect in your case it is just a matter of cleaning up and tightening up.
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[SGKent]

[nerdhotrod]

Aftermarket heated seat kits are fairly inexpensive on amazon... They install quick and make a huge difference if your stock heat set up is marginal.

[jtauxe]

[Wildthings]

Stop the oil from getting into the heater box and the smell will go away after 5000 miles of highway driving or so. There are several possible sources for the oil so you may actually have more than one that needs fixing.

[Tom Powell]

[pb24ss]

I put an Espar Airtronic air heater in my bus. It provides more heat than I know what to do with.

[scrivyscriv]

[72lowslow]

Thanks for all the replays.
My idea was buy a small inverter enough to run a small electric heater, but I know if can be a problem with my alternator

Balt