TheSamba.com :: View topic - The official Chinese Diesel Heater thread (Webasto Knockoff)

Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:00 pm

danfromsyr wrote: great review fxr and an awesome trip at colder temps.

a question. for those of us w/o facebook.
is the controller access password a secret or can we just get it listed in the thread for these heaters?

if you're talking about accessing the lcd controller there is lots of info on you tube. I've used this one to change parameters. 1688 to get into the controller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrkwue4gds

Sat Nov 16, 2019 9:50 pm

In the install location below, would it be okay to simply draw air from behind the cabinets? Without any fresh air supply hose? I don't have any insulation there currently. I have eliminated the OEM fridge and wanted to make a platform at bottom of fridge cabinet to allow fresh air be drawn from bottom of fridge also.

Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:42 pm

Why do people still use photobucket??? I can't see crap. It's a useless service.

I think people should upload pics here or don't do it at all. Failed photos and links make the forum very frustrating to use in the future.

Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:58 pm

newerwesty1987 wrote: Why do people still use photobucket??? I can't see crap. It's a useless service.

I think people should upload pics here or don't do it at all. Failed photos and links make the forum very frustrating to use in the future.

Updated the post with a samba upload.

Samba is a PITA to upload pics to.
Someone needs to write an app to upload photos to The Samba :wink:

Sun Nov 17, 2019 6:25 am

Thesamba is stupid easy to load photos up to.

The only real "problem" is they need to be VW based.

I agree, photo bucket sucks big time. It is like they have your photos held hostage and only a select few can see them.
What's the point?
Worst business model ever..... "let me piss you all off and then demand money from you".

Dave

Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:07 am

shagginwagon83 wrote: newerwesty1987 wrote: Why do people still use photobucket??? I can't see crap. It's a useless service.

I think people should upload pics here or don't do it at all. Failed photos and links make the forum very frustrating to use in the future.

Updated the post with a samba upload.

Samba is a PITA to upload pics to.
Someone needs to write an app to upload photos to The Samba :wink:
The Samba is by far and away the easiest forum I've met to upload photos to. OK, you have to choose the 'Vanagon' category, but you can upload many images at one time, and when you are composing a post it's dead easy to pick one of your uploaded images without jumping through different menus.

But as this is off-topic, I now promise to do a write-up of my knock-off install. ;)

Sun Nov 17, 2019 11:12 am

shagginwagon83 wrote:

Anyway. It works. I think I'm going to like the idea of going with a 4k heater.

Neato! My plan is to test out a CDH as a heat source for my one car garage. I considered the versions that are sold with a housing but your simple arrangement will work, esp. if the heater eventually migrates to the van.

The next step is to find a good location in the van: this looks perfect for the above-the-transmission box that I've been dreaming of installing for batteries for a few years. The high-top on my van includes some good possible corner spots. The Propex 2211 is under the van but I may leave both on board for some time for fun.

Thanks to everyone in these threads for clearing the trail.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 1:21 pm

I should have clarified. It's easy to upload multiple photos via desktop web application, but to upload via mobile device it is a PITA. It's easier for me to upload multiple images to imgur then post here.

Back when digital cameras were a thing, that was no problem. But now we all take pics with out smartphone. If I wanted to upload multiple photos to samba I would have to upload the pics to a drive.

I mean a great example is me responding to this post. There should be a button on the post reply page that allows me to upload a photo to this reply. Then it also saves to my gallery. I'm just being picky, I do love the samba and am very grateful. But as a software developer there is always room for improvement.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 1:41 pm

I only use my iPhone or ipad to upload photos. Not a big problem. I can upload multiple photos at a time. There is no upload button on the posting thread, but if you open another tab, you can upload photos from there. You don’t have to leave the reply post, and as soon as your photos are uploaded in the other tab, you can pick them out from the insert photo button.

Hope this helps.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 1:53 pm

shagginwagon83 wrote: I should have clarified. It's easy to upload multiple photos via desktop web application, but to upload via mobile device it is a PITA. It's easier for me to upload multiple images to imgur then post here.

Back when digital cameras were a thing, that was no problem. But now we all take pics with out smartphone. If I wanted to upload multiple photos to samba I would have to upload the pics to a drive.

I mean a great example is me responding to this post. There should be a button on the post reply page that allows me to upload a photo to this reply. Then it also saves to my gallery. I'm just being picky, I do love the samba and am very grateful. But as a software developer there is always room for improvement.

Agreed that I t shouldn't take much more than clicking/dragging or selecting photos and clicking upload. As mentioned, this would be ideal from the "compose post" form as is common on other sites like Advrider.com

That said, your mobile device doesn't appear to be on friendly terms with the Samba.com.
- From my iPhone 6 I click on Gallery>Add photo>complete the form and click submit.
- At the Choose Photos prompt I can select photos from my iPhone photo gallery and they'll all be uploaded, no separate drive needed.
- Those photos are then available in my Samba gallery.

It's not ideal but my iPhone experience sounds a bit easier than yours.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 2:12 pm

Yes sounds like the iOS platform you can add multiple photos. I'm using android and the file selector I use only allows one photo at a time.

Sorry to get off topic.

Back on topic, I eliminated my circuit breaker. What do you guys think about leaving the plate off and using it for fresh air intake, then output heat under the fridge via aluminum box adapter (to output heat via Westy fridge vent)

Sun Nov 17, 2019 3:35 pm

shagginwagon83 wrote: Yes sounds like the iOS platform you can add multiple photos. I'm using android and the file selector I use only allows one photo at a time.

Sorry to get off topic.

Back on topic, I eliminated my circuit breaker. What do you guys think about leaving the plate off and using it for fresh air intake, then output heat under the fridge via aluminum box adapter (to output heat via Westy fridge vent)

the output is very hot.

ideally, the exhaust and intake would be at opposite ends of the area you want to heat.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 4:39 pm

My installation:

The van has a Subie EJ22 engine, so gasoline powered. These cheapo heaters are diesel/kerosene/(UK paraffin) only, so a separate tank was going to be required. I didn't want this in the engine compartment, as I didn't fancy shovelling all the bedding aside to open the engine hatch just for this - and refilling via the RHS tail light seemed a bit tortuous. I opted for a small 2l tank mounted in the RHS rear wheel well. Yes, it needs dusting off now and then, but no, it is easy enough to fill from 500ml bottles. So I fill those bottles from a 1 gallon can of kerosene. A bit of a phaff, but the smell stays outside. ;)

In the picture below, you can see where the fuel filter (<spit>) was secured before it broke on our first cold night. The pump is enclosed in some closed-cell foam and zip-tied loosely to the main frame member.

I had already eliminated the rear heater as we never used it while travelling and we appreciated the extra space under the seat. So it seemed logical to put this heater under the seat, but taking up less room than the original.

I cut a 70mm hole in the side seat upright, so cabin intake air comes from the gap at the side of the seat, and from the gap the other side of the seat and all the other leaky places there. Quite adequate, even with bedding in place. The output comes out in the same place as original. I *could* make extra holes in that hardboard front plate for extra intake air, but having the intake so close to the output didn't seem very sensible.

The exhaust is routed to just in front of the LHS rear tyre.

The combustion intake is way off to the other side.

The controller (now an Afterburner - YAY!) is on the rear closet, just in reach when in bed to turn on/off, but all other controls can now be done on my phone or tablet.

The main thing is that Mrs fxr is now very happy with the climate control in the van. ;)

Sun Nov 17, 2019 4:48 pm

And if Mrs Fxr is happy then everyone can be happy... :D

Sun Nov 17, 2019 4:53 pm

So I just timed it. 2 minutes to upload two photos to the page. It's not to bad. I really apologize to get off topic.

Back to CDH. I had to move some aux wires today to make room.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 6:11 pm

fxr, I do like your installation, quite well thought out and sensible. :idea:
2l tank is fine for the standard camping weekend of non polar vortex camping.
and you can always have a spare 'emergency' 500ml in a MSR fuel flask that is designed and rated for fuels to not leak/smell.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 6:52 pm

shagginwagon83 wrote: So I just timed it. 2 minutes to upload two photos to the page. It's not to bad. I really apologize to get off topic. Not to worry, all the best threads wander a bit. :) Quote:

Back to CDH. I had to move some aux wires today to make room.

[snip images]

That's quite a good place for the heater - drawing cabin air from the back of the fridge (whatever model) can only help efficiency there AND will help keep that space drier and less prone to rust. :).

Sun Nov 17, 2019 7:32 pm

shagginwagon83 wrote: So I just timed it. 2 minutes to upload two photos to the page. It's not to bad. I really apologize to get off topic.

I sense the sarcasm is strong with this one....

I just uploaded two pics with my phone. 10 seconds to fill in the form and 7 seconds to download. What is going on with your process?

Sun Nov 17, 2019 8:56 pm

Recording now. Going to upload soon.

Here are some photos of my test rig for the Chinese diesel heater.

dobryan wrote: I sense the sarcasm is strong with this one....

I just uploaded two pics with my phone. 10 seconds to fill in the form and 7 seconds to download. What is going on with your process?

Here it is. Disregard the time - it's just the add a photo functionality can be ran asynchronously - all done within this 'reply post' page

Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:59 pm

^^^. That was fun to watch. I seem to be able to upload multiple pics at one time. Selecting more than one each time. Other then that how can it be faster then hosting to some other site?