Propex heater exhaust/intake route

[climberjohn]

Jay,

Great, thanks for tracking this down.

-CJ
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'86 Westy, 2.5 Subaru power
Know your limits. Exceed them often.

[singler3360]

Does this setup effectively allow you to refill the stock propane tank completely? I hate going to the filling station to have the tank refilled only to find it needed half a gallon or something. I'd rather top it off at home but don't know if this has a enough pressure to work. And then there's how to operate the release valve or whatever it is the attendant has to open first.

[BillM]

It's wont allow you to fill the tank. What it does is the higher pressure of
the spare tank will over come the valve in the fill port until
the tanks are equal in pressure. I have a couple of the fittings that screw onto
the fill port then you would need to provide your own hose.
A hose with a male POL on each end would work. I would sell them at
pretty much cost 25.00 each.
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Bill M
87 Westy

[dubbified]

I'm curious if anyone is backfeeding the vanagon air distribution system that runs up to the dash/upper ceiling rails??

[presslab]

[WillSharp]

I installed a Propex HS2800 in my 91 Westy and after a couple of trips with friends complaining about how loud the exhaust was, I began looking into doing a muffler. It was very easy but I thought I would share what I did and my results. I got the muffler from Amazon for $8 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DGALO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Overall it decreases the sound by about 50%, which for $8 is worth it.

Here is a video sound test I did. (Sorry for crappy video quality) https://youtu.be/MEKvrXo48fI

Installed under the slider door. I just used a hose clamp and some high temp RTV silicone to attach it to the hose.

[Sodo]

With sound test, that's great! Thanks for the definitive post.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[jimf909]

I heart science. Thanks for the legwork. Cheap muffler ordered. Looking forward to a quieter exhaust.

I'm assuming you haven't had any airflow errors?
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- Jim

[WillSharp]

I haven't actually camped overnight since I installed it but I'm guessing airflow will be fine. I started up the heater and it seemed to be fine. I also blew threw it before installing it and it was quite easy. I really don't think it will be an issue but I will post something if it is.

[bosruten]

Can we have the part # for the large brass adapter that fits the fill valve on the propane tank? I'd like to try this.
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'87 Syncro Weekender

[danfromsyr]

it will probably be 'ok' unless you camp at altitude.. I'd wager it'd have breathing issues at 9~10k ft. when we went to CO, both my buddy & I have propex heaters.. his was having an issue with the bug screen/hardware cloth he put over the intake.. ran fine after removing that.
mine was no issue, we didn't camp over 10k ft so hard to tell anything else.

as for the noise they make w/o a muffler, tell your friends to get a westy and out of the tent and they won't hear it.. it's really no louder than some of our camping friends snoring in their tent.. fwiw, they're really really loud snorers

[Stephan Schmidt]

This thread is great!

I was JUST thinking about this the other day as I'm going to eliminate my fridge and want a heater but DON'T want to cut any holes into the body like most people do.

There will be a day when those heavily modded Westfalias with all the goodies glued and tacked to them will become "worn out". All the hacking at the body will eventually deem it as needing replacement

[Sodo]

[WillSharp]

Danfromsyr, In response to your concerns about altitude, I live at 10,000 feet in the mountains of CO. I have never had any issue with my propex even camping at like 11,000'+. We will have to see if there are performance issues with the muffler or not. I ran the heater for about 10 minutes after installing the muffler and performance seemed normal. Im hoping to get out soon to camp if it stops snowing here, so I will post my results. Its great hearing peoples thoughts! I think my friends were just complaining because they were jealous of my warmth! Haha

[WillSharp]

[danfromsyr]

I'm sure their complaints were more jealous based. but then you can't hear them when you're standing upright half nekkid putting on your clothes with warm air blowing across your toes. they will razz you deeply if you run out of propane though.. (so I installed the big propane tank)

it's the increased usage of the westy with a propex (or other furnace) that will cause wear and demise to the van not the 2 holes thru the floor. you''re just going to get out and use it more..
and imho having a aux heat source makes it far more valuable. so valuable in fact it isn't even for sale
heck the furnace is nice to run while the slider is open while I'm sitting on the threshold watching a sunset or a sunrise, or just the XYZ's playing in the distance.
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[Stephan Schmidt]

[WillSharp]

Ok update on the muffler install.
I live at 10,000 feet in CO. I recently camped in the van at about 7,000 feet and had no problems with air flow. I am now in the middle of a Subie conversion so no more tests until that is done.

My best guess is that it is not inhibiting flow.