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

Fri Jan 22, 2021 2:02 pm

Hey All

During my initial test phase I shorted out the power wires; positive to ground and the heater shut down in a puff of smoke

Checked inline fuse and not blown; power to and through fuse

Also tried a back up lcd controller and it won't light up either

Any ideas? Is there an internal fuse??

Thanks all

I bought a Happy Buy 2KW off Amazon fwiw

Fri Jan 22, 2021 2:10 pm

You can buy the entire mother board on Ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-2KW-Controller-Board-...SwkelcIvNm

Fri Jan 22, 2021 4:16 pm

If you just shorted the 12V input wires, then there should have been no damage to the heater. You will have blown something upstream though! Where are you getting the power from?

Fri Jan 22, 2021 4:26 pm

Thanks all for the replies

Im in the midst of traveling for the next month; just got to Vegas and after being spoiled by the heat definitely looking forward to getting it back online

Looks like shipping for the motherboard is 2 weeks out; any Sambites happen to have another one around??

Guess can check where the power inputs to the motherboard; like I said 12 volt going into and out of fuse; but dun see why it wouldn't be going to that as power is coming out of fuse

I did check power at lcd controller and got 1 volt

Fri Jan 22, 2021 4:43 pm

P.S.

For you fellas with the 5kw or 8kw whats your amp draw on startup and after it gets goin?

Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:13 pm

scubasteve321 wrote: Thanks all for the replies

Im in the midst of traveling for the next month; just got to Vegas and after being spoiled by the heat definitely looking forward to getting it back online

Looks like shipping for the motherboard is 2 weeks out; any Sambites happen to have another one around??

Guess can check where the power inputs to the motherboard; like I said 12 volt going into and out of fuse; but dun see why it wouldn't be going to that as power is coming out of fuse

I did check power at lcd controller and got 1 volt
So where exactly did you short the power? With the covers off and playing with the motherboard? Perhaps a picture of 'what you did' may help.

Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:35 pm

I shorted the power where it connects to the battery

The positive and negative leads touched

Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:41 pm

scubasteve321 wrote: whats your amp draw on startup and after it gets goin? Its pretty hard to say exactly because the controller varies current as needed. These are approximate numbers.
5kw unit:
50mA on quiescient (doing nothing)
8 amps during ignition (which can last 3 minutes depending on ambient)
2-3 amps during warmup (after ignition until it is at operating temerature)
1.6 amps running at 3hz of pump volume
Has used .56 amp hours when it reduces heat at operating temperature
Hope that helps, but I am averaging these numbers by guesswork.

Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:46 pm

that helps immensely thank you!

Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:01 pm

scubasteve321 wrote: I shorted the power where it connects to the battery

The positive and negative leads touched
I'm afraid I don't understand that. If they touched 'at the battery', they can't have been connected to the battery...

Precision in history and symptoms is essential for remote diagnosis!

Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:16 am

The unit requires 12 volt power

I connected jumpers from my deep cycle battery to the relevant inputs; positive and negative

The positive and negative wires then touched

alas shorted out

Just trying to pick the hive mind to see if this could help someone in the future

FWIW for those reading in the future; definitely take the extra time to electrical tape the positive input so you don't have a chance of shorting it out as I did

and, apparently, a motherboard may fix it

but certainly not the crankiness of some on this board

Sat Jan 23, 2021 8:59 am

scubasteve321 wrote: The unit requires 12 volt power

I connected jumpers from my deep cycle battery to the relevant inputs; positive and negative

The positive and negative wires then touched

alas shorted out

Just trying to pick the hive mind to see if this could help someone in the future

FWIW for those reading in the future; definitely take the extra time to electrical tape the positive input so you don't have a chance of shorting it out as I did

and, apparently, a motherboard may fix it

but certainly not the crankiness of some on this board

I am not clear on how it shorted. Do you mean that you accidentally connected the positive jumper cable to the neg heater power wire and the negative jumper cable to the positive heater wire? Not sure how to interpret

"The positive and negative wires then touched

alas shorted out".

Maybe I missed a post but I do not get crankiness here. Just folks trying to clarify what to analyze.

Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:35 am

I think what he is trying to say is that a power surge burned his electronics. When you briefly short a battery like that, voltage rises in a spike far above the typical voltage. One reason shorting across main wires is such a bad thing.

But it could have a fuse somewhere that protected the board. Worth checking out.

Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:13 pm

^^^ Precisely

I was just originally posting seeing if there was a fuse or another thing that I should be checking besides the in-line fuse

I figured that shorting out the leads was clear enough but now I know it isn't

Thanks all for your assistance

Mon Jan 25, 2021 10:48 am

hi guys,

my vanagon has a petrol engine, 2.1
it comes with and original auxiliary heater, but we discovered it works when engine is ON, its like an extra heater for very cold weather.. but its useless to me, the normal heater is enough for Spain, and what I need is something to turn on when I park!

what options are interesting in my case?

this is the most sold in my amazon.es page:
https://www.amazon.es/maXpeedingrods-Monitor-Diese...s9dHJ1ZQ==

thanks!

Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:20 pm

That looks like a standard CDH, and appears to be the same unit I installed in our T4. The question you'll need to figure out is how/where to mount the diesel tank. Inside the van isn't a good option.

Also, keep in mind that the display is always on as long as it's plugged in, so I think it's wise to wire in a switch so it can be turned off and avoid draining the battery and/or killing the screen.

Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:16 am

Zeitgeist 13 wrote: That looks like a standard CDH, and appears to be the same unit I installed in our T4. The question you'll need to figure out is how/where to mount the diesel tank. Inside the van isn't a good option.

Also, keep in mind that the display is always on as long as it's plugged in, so I think it's wise to wire in a switch so it can be turned off and avoid draining the battery and/or killing the screen.

there is no chinese heater that can work with my existing gasoline tank?

as you say, all im finding has its own little diesel tank... :(

Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:28 am

andy52 wrote: Zeitgeist 13 wrote: That looks like a standard CDH, and appears to be the same unit I installed in our T4. The question you'll need to figure out is how/where to mount the diesel tank. Inside the van isn't a good option.

Also, keep in mind that the display is always on as long as it's plugged in, so I think it's wise to wire in a switch so it can be turned off and avoid draining the battery and/or killing the screen.

there is no chinese heater that can work with my existing gasoline tank?

as you say, all im finding has its own little diesel tank... :(

The Chinese heaters are all diesel, they do not make a gasoline/petrol version.

You can buy a Webasto or Eberspacher gasoline heater and run it off your existing gas tank (I did) but they are much more expensive than a CDH.

Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:42 am

though when you figure in that it's a single source fuel and not having to install a 2nd tank 'someplace' that you need to remember to refill 'sometimes'
it's not that much really for a long term comfort item installation..

search "Petrol heater" or "Benzine heater"
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Heater-Webasto-Air-Top-2000-STC-12v-Petrol-Benzin/224325603805

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trk...ing+heater

dobryan wrote: andy52 wrote: Zeitgeist 13 wrote: That looks like a standard CDH, and appears to be the same unit I installed in our T4. The question you'll need to figure out is how/where to mount the diesel tank. Inside the van isn't a good option.

Also, keep in mind that the display is always on as long as it's plugged in, so I think it's wise to wire in a switch so it can be turned off and avoid draining the battery and/or killing the screen.

there is no chinese heater that can work with my existing gasoline tank?

as you say, all im finding has its own little diesel tank... :(

The Chinese heaters are all diesel, they do not make a gasoline/petrol version.

You can buy a Webasto or Eberspacher gasoline heater and run it off your existing gas tank (I did) but they are much more expensive than a CDH.

Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:06 am

thanks guys,
yes I see almost everything is diesel
My workshop already works with webasto so Ill just ask for a budget, maybe im lucky and he can pull down the price since im also paying him for other modifications

I think I prefer paying a bit more and winning:

- warranty advantages in case something doesnt work
- forgeting about puting a diesel extra tank somewhere

too bad there are no chineses petrol heaters, would be great to connect it to the pipe I already bust have from the OEM auxiliary heater

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