Propex heater install locations Pros and Cons

[Jon_slider]

Karl has always done right by me. Even though I had to send the propex back for service, he made upgrades that eliminated the 5 blinks forever.. give him a shot..

back to location
I had the standard under seat propex 2000 install in a syncro
it prevented me from storing luggage in that spot, which I like to use when I make the bed.. so on my next house heater install I tried the closet

here are my impressions
the seat location for the heater is excellent! other than the luggage issue, which can be worked around, I LOVED wrapping my legs in a towel and sitting on the back bench filling my towel with heat after surfing..

same after skiing..

and I always have my passenger front seat swivelled to the rear, so that was a really cozy spot..

and, I could dry, or warm up, my wetsuit and ski gear on the floor, rather quickly

otoh
the disadvantage of the closet location, is you will need to do some shelving, and provide for air intake to the heater, and box out the heat delivery hose so it does not touch things in closet..

after all that, in my case, I have a heater outlet just above the closet door.. it is angled and can be rotated so it blows down on the bench seat, which I dont like cause it messes up my hair, and blows my stash out of my hand when rolling

or it can be aimed towards the middle of the floor, which works best, cause aiming it at the stove, messes with the flame..

conclusion.. do what Karl says..

its not his first rodeo and I have great respect

Happy Trails Karl!

[scobax]

I have installed two Propex 2800's in the past six months in different locations.

The first was in my Westy, and I thought and re-thought this install for literally years. In the end, I put the thing right under the rear seat favoring the right side as per the "usual" underseat install. After all of the analysis it just made the most sense to me as nothing comes without some compromise. Yes, I forfeited some of that valuable under seat space for an amazing heater. A very fair trade. Of course, I pulled the stock rear heater out years ago, so at the end of the day, I probably didn't lose too terribly much space after all. I built a lid over the Propex to give it it's own space to do it's thing, and routed the heat outlet right out where the old stock heater outlet used to be so no cutting of the cabinetry. After many hours of use this winter, I can report extremely positive results with this location and x2 on everything jon_slider said about it.

The second install was in a friends Syncro that was partially converted using a westy top and the front stove/refer cabinet but retained the typical tin- top style rear bench seat/bed. This van has the stove/refer cabinet in the usual Westy location, but not the Westy water tank or rear storage cabinets allowing the queen sized bed to function as it would in a tin top or weekender. In this case, we put the Propex parallel to the longitudinal axis of the van and to the left (drivers) side of the bench space. to accomplish this, we carefully cut the bench seat fascia so that half of the unit now resides under the seat and the other half sticks into the rear seats footwell area. His priorities here were to retain the stock under-seat heater and utilize the larger bed, the foot space was of lowest priority. He then built a cabinet over the exposed portion of the Propex that matches the rear seat fascia and ducted the outlet so that it blows heat from the left side of the van where the heater lives towards the right. Now that I am writing this I realize that I will have to get some pics of this setup posted up.

I can't say that I was overwhelmingly excited about my friends choice of location initially (nor the idea of keeping the cursed stock rear heater!) but it ain't my van. After we were done it actually came out really nicely and that little cabinet that he built there looks pretty stock. All-in-all, he got everything that he wanted so it was a round success. These guys use the hell out of their Propex and it has upped their enjoyment of their van significantly.

the Propex 2800 itself works extremely well and has a slightly noticeable sound that I find reassuring and a little soothing far from "noisy" in my opinion. I have gone to some extremes outfitting our rig for winter with a custom made pop-top insulation kit (sort of an upgraded version of the Fancher's kit) with a matching front passenger area divider, full window insulation kit and GW rainfly for added dryness when needed. this combination allows the van to get offensively hot if we run the Propex wide open. under normal conditions, the added insulation lets us sip propane and enjoy comfortable inside temps well down into the single digits.

Karl is THE source for the Propex heater and knowledge in the U.S. and he provides a great deal of free help and advice to get them working for anybody who asks. I can't imagine why he would be so generous with his time and knowledge when you consider the variability of the installs and wildly varying skill levels of the potential installers not to mention the occasional misdirected frustration from novice installers. I guess he's just a hell of a nice guy!
_________________
87 Syncro Westy w/ Suby 2.5
RIP: 2.1 WBX. You were a good dog 'ol feller

“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong, that's when adventure starts” -Yvon Chouinard

"It's not expensive, its priceless" -Unknown

[boulderdrop]

[KMT]

I just picked up my 2800 from someone who decided not to install. Being a teacher, I dreamed of a Propex but never could justify the money. I got a deal and can't wait to install. I may try under the Norcold fridge route.
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Jamie Auch
The Kooky MathTeacher

'68 Panel
'78 Champagne Edition Westfalia
'89 Blue Star
‘90 Hightop TDI Vanagon
'90 AFN TDI Leisuredrive hightop
http://www.highcountrybusfestival.com
Pisgah Bus Rally

[LLCoolRog]

FWIW - I recently had Kirk at North Westy install my HS2000 under the bench seat and port through the original heater grate. He used some of the wood material that was covering the OEM heater to fashion a little box to surround and protect the Propex unit from storage items. I still need to come up with a few finishing touch mods, but it's a great location in my book.

Additionally, I need to center the heat output hose/pipe over the grate because all the heat blows onto the fridge cabinet right now...some sort of diversion.

The best things about this install are that we get heat AND there aren't any holes in the bench cabinet making it all still look stock!

Rog
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'88 Westy 2.1L 2WD

[teletrimble]

my thoughts were to place it between the front seats so the vent faces bacwards. it seems that the unit isnt so tall that it would sacrifice much height in the walkthru. i often lay my skis thru there (i like to do ski/camp trips, hence the desire for the propex in the first place). i wonder about the difficulty in getting a propane line and the inlet/exhaust to work for that area. has anyone tried this yet??
cheers

[BillM]

I think Mark has his propex installed between the front seats. If I recall and the pictures are on the net,that it was bolted to the pass seat pedestal.
I have mine under the rear seat even though it takes up that storage space.
The ability to just set a thermostat and be warm makes the space lost worth it.
I like where Frank C has his mounted in the cabinet near the water tank but I didn't see his install before I put mine in. If we didn't use a porti potty or a jumpseat occasionally in our Westy behind the pass seat we would use one of the boxes by Rocky Mountain Westy. The ease of install and additional secure locking storage would be a big plus. I have a set of their locking drawers and love them.
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Bill M
87 Westy

[madspaniard]

I'm half way thru the installation of my Propex under the Isotherm (same as Truckfridge). I used to have it under rear bench seat. I'll post pics once it's done.
_________________
1991 Westy auto w/ Peloquin TBD

"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad” - Salvador Dali

[Californio]

I've had a 2800 mounted under the bench for almost two years, works well in that location, no problems.

From an efficiency standpoint, the problem is not where you mount the heaters, it's where you put the ducting and heat outlets. What I'd like to see is a system of multiple heat outlets around the walls of the van, not just in the center.

The Propex heats it nice and toasty in the middle, but at anything under 25* the walls/glass areas are freezing, which makes it hard to sleep. What would be nice is to be able to blow hot air into the panels themselves somehow, thereby warming the perimeter, just like placing the heat outlets under windows in a house.

Easier said than done, though. Anybody tried this?

[Cygnus]

I am getting ready to install a propex in my hightop syncro and I am concerned about the exhaust and intake pipes being under or outside the van with various install locations - Wouldn't this be an easy target for braches, sticky clay mud, or water entrance from a creek crossing etc?

Does anyone have any experience with problems from clogging or water entry with these installs? If so where else would you mount it to avoid this? I was even considering installing it in the forward bulkhead above the driver (hightop) and venting it out and down (or diverting it into the main vent system on the walls).

-Brian
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'86 Syncro Timbertech Hightop "Cygnus"

[J Charlton]

[J Charlton]

[Cygnus]

Yup really liking the hightop - stays fairly cool just because of the volume now that I have it tinted. I am doing major work inside and will have some pictures pretty soon to toss up here. Those NA hightops are good quality and mine holds up to brutal shaking well (no cracks or anything after over a year).

So yes I would really be only using it when parked so the cap idea is sound - But I would be concerned about water entry even with a cap say in a deep creek crossing - and as far as branches (just catching and ripping the pipe off) or mud (caking and then breaking off with the weight). Also not keen on trying to remove said cap when the whole side and underside is covered in partially frozen clay slime.

I have a unique cabinet made that might allow enough room behind it (and with the side panel off since its behind the cabinet) to allow the propex to be mounted there. Then perhaps using a westy type fridge vent as some here have done. I need to make more measurements. My only concern with that would be increasing the heat back there since the TF-65 also blows its heat off back there.

-Brian
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'86 Syncro Timbertech Hightop "Cygnus"

[J Charlton]

[shepherdsond]

My propex is in the usual place under the rear seat and I have not had any problems yet from the pipes getting snagged or water coming in - I will grant that it is certainly possible though. I put copious amounts of high temp RTV sealent arround the intake and exhaust pipe and have been through some pretty deep water (about 2') with no noticeable ingress of water yet. My pipes face to the rear so they do not scoop water. If you mounted the furnace a few inches off the floor in the rear seat compartment you could further decrease the chance of water entering through the pipes in a realy deep crossing I guess.

The only problem I have had after 2 years is ice building up on the exhaust pipe and blocking it - not a problem to fix once you realise what the problem is.
_________________
87 Syncro Hightop Camper
3 knobs + solid shaft
2.2 Phase II Subaru
Hi-Top build thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=534517

[Hodakaguy]

I went with the under the fridge installation on my unit. Just returned from a 1600 mile trip where we used the Propex a LOT, it ran beautifully in this location.

We use the under seat storage to capacity so I didn't want to loose any space there, for me the under fridge mount worked out perfectly. A couple nights the unit ran a bunch, never effected the fridge If I ever need to pull the unit for service its pretty quick to slide the fridge out and gain access to the unit.

Noise doesn't seem to be a issue at all in this location, You hear a slight rumble of the flame and the fan running....the sound off warmth to me....puts me right to sleep

Here's a pic of the final installation. I did add one more matching vent to the left of the vent in the pic after this pic was taken. I used the extra vent for a fresh air vent for the fridge, just to help create a draft to help pull away heat.

And a link to more pics of the install: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...;start=360


Hodakaguy
_________________
My Syncro Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=517384

My Unimog Build: https://advrider.com/f/threads/meet-the-trotn-turtle-unimog-u1300l-build.1143869/

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My 4wd Sprinter Build here:https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9334401#9334401

[shepherdsond]

Beautifull install Hodakaguy. Since you blocked off the fridge vent I assume you put the inlet and exhaust pipes through the floor in the usual way so you don't actualy get any more clearance from high water than in the usual position under the rear seat. I don't know if water would actualy enter up the pipes though since if the unit is sealed and the ends of both pipes are under water air pressure might prevent further ingress. Of course if the water is that high you might have other things to worry about.
_________________
87 Syncro Hightop Camper
3 knobs + solid shaft
2.2 Phase II Subaru
Hi-Top build thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=534517

[ragnarhairybreeks]

Recently installed Propex, HS2000, and copied simonslp install, that is between the front seats.

Oh and I should mention that Karl of Westyventures, was the key guy in helping me get this heater (salvaged from fire damaged Westy at the wreckers) running. Thanks again Karl.


Yeah, this location has its pros and cons. The pro is that the space between the front seats was been used by an aftermarket console so the heater wasn't taking up any additional floor space, or any cupboard space. But still, the heater is out there in the cabin.

The cons are... It's a little more difficult to run the gas line and the intake and exhaust lines up over the front diff ( obviously this a syncro only install location). You cut the carpet and or the rubber mat.

The full story is in three parts on my blog here

https://shufti.wordpress.com/

Here is shot of it hidden in console. I've since remade the aluminum bezel and it hides the wrinkles on the console a little better. The console has pretty thin plastic and vinyl construction, cutting the duct hole didn't go as well as I had hoped.

I can remove the console and have the heater alone, I made a box to cover the heater , covered that box with some scraps of veneer. Grain not matched, scraps weren't large enough for that. Corners and edges dodgy. But hey, it's sort of classy in a retro way

Looking at the pic reminds me I have to quit fooling around and get those carpeted corners fixed.

And the thermostat in a debatable location. Little swing away bracket. Wire run untidy, need to make that better.

Alistair
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com