Espar D2 Heater Install in Late Westy

[vwwestyman]

They do seem to be installed under vehicles sometimes, at least the VW T5 Vans as mentioned earlier in this thread, and in that position.

The T5 does have what seems to be a plastic splash panel to keep it clean. Assuming I do install under the bus, I'll build something similar.

I plan to contact a distributor on Monday to discuss my install plans just to verify assumptions and make sure I'm not missing something somehow before I make any commitments. I.e. cutting holes for return or whatever.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[pittwagen]

Go to:

Eberspacher_Airtronic_D2_Technical_Manual.pdf

Go to pg18 and it will explain the permissible angles. 90 deg so the air and exhaust ports are horizontal is ok as long as the glow plug is straight up. This is th 52 pg manual. The 40 pg one does not have this info. FYI.

[vwwestyman]

[Hikelite]

[vwwestyman]

Since I've seen the instructions on mounting it sideways and underneath the bus, I feel more confident about doing this. Even though I do plan to protect it with some kind of splash shield, yesterday I had the bright idea of smearing some high temp silicone sealant along the openings to further protect it from water and dust intrusion. Or possibly something like Gorilla Tape, depending on how how the plastic outer shell gets. I shouldn't often need to open the thing up, so I figure that would peel away easily enough whenever that might become necessary.

At the moment, my rear Vanagon heater core simply blows into the open door on the seat pedestal. I've long-planned to clean that up a bit and build things so that it blows through the original heat vent instead. Just haven't gotten to that.

So I've been considering how I want to use both.

I'm having a hard time describing what I'm thinking here, but I think it can be set up so that both forms of heat come out of the stock rear vent, and I can put the door back at some point. Now that I'm typing all this out, I suppose I don't actually have to figure this out immediately.

Only related to the fact that we discussed saving interior room, I figured out that i can relocate my air filter box to the passenger side and put the starting battery back in the engine compartment. I will have to put in a new battery tray though! The old one is long-rusted away. So I will probably be using a combination of a few welds on the interior edges and some kind of panel bond product along the exterior to avoid welding burn-through.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[WhirledTraveller]

I mounted my Chinese Webasto copy inside in the Westy cabinet space where the spare tire is supposed to go. I didn't run any air ducts at all. Just drilled holes in the floor for the intake/exhaust pipes, ran the fuel line and mounted the heater directly to the floor blowing the heat towards the cabin.

It's pretty unobtrusive there. I can cover it it up with the spare tire cover cabinet piece if I want. And it's doesn't take much interior space away. My spare tire is on the nose.

As has been noted, basically all of the Chinese heaters sold are for DIESEL even if they say gasoline in the description. For those reading this thread who want to go Chinese, it may be worth having a separate diesel tank. The fuel consumption is low enough to not really be a major hassle.
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1977 Westy, Automatic. Big Valve heads, CS Cam.

[vwwestyman]

[WhirledTraveller]

[Hikelite]

WT, is your heater diesel or gasoline powered?

Yes, I have noticed that the ebay listings say both fuels. I reached out to one of them, but got no response.

I understand the arguments for using diesel, but I'm just not willing to go that route. If I was already running diesel like Dave, it's a no brainer.

Adding a small diesel tank has downsides. First is space. I'm already looking for ways to get stuff out of the inside of the bus. I don't want to find space for another fuel tank too. Second, and related, how small of a tank would I get and then how long would that last? Our goal is to be able to boondock camp for at least a week at a time. If my little diesel tank is too small, now I would need to carry a second gas can? Where am I cramming this little tank? How hard is it going to be to fill from the gas can I now have to carry? Nope. Single fuel source thanks.
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~Kevin

My 1968 Campmobile

[vwwestyman]

Last night I ordered a few more pieces of ductwork I'll need to mount it how I wish under the Bus. Don't know if I'll have them in-hand in time to work on it this weekend-but it would be pretty awesome if so!

Hikelite-I have seen at least one installation in the Vanagon forums where the second tank is located in the engine compartment. Because Diesel is not very volatile, that install doesn't frighten me. You can find the specs on fuel use and speculate how much you need (and therefore whether a tank would last a week) but they are very frugal.

There are genuine gasoline-fired Espar heaters out there, but as discussed they are quite a bit more expensive.

Does your Westy have a propane tank? A Propex heater might be a good option if so.

As far as the spare tire issue: I've had my Bus since 2002. I had one flat in 2003 and that was on old tires. I didn't get around to buying proper load-rated fresh tires until 2004. So yeah I agree that a spare may not be a full-time necessity. But I'm not quite willing to just remove the spare quite yet!

You're likely correct that a can of fix a flat plus AAA would very likely get you out of most situations just fine.

It did occur to me yesterday that I'm running around in my Thing with a spare, but no jack or other tools to change the tire! ha ha It is light enough that when I had a slow leak (valve stem) one one of the General Grabber tires, I never would notice that it was low.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[danfromsyr]

as mentioned the chinese list both fuels. and don't answer inquiries..
I have one I sourced via Alibaba.. and while i ordered gas/benzine I got diesel..

I've been meaning to trial it on gasoline mounted to a portable stand outside the bus/van.
it does expect to make fire afterall.

so how's a heater operate.. well like a furnace..

they purge the chamber with air for a minute(s)
then they glow the glow plug
and spray fuel onto the plug expecting it to ignite and there to be fire.
diesel has more BTUs than gasoline. so gas will burn less hot
diesel is harder to ignite than gasoline.. so diesel has more chance of not igniting..

the chamber and parts are all designed to have a fire blazing inside.

if anything it will be metered for the btu of diesel and gasoline may burn lean. or maybe blow out?
hence I'd planned to run it on a stand and well that's a winter job.. so maybe by fall I'll get to it..


not saying in the least anyone should burn gas in a diesel heater.. but.. I'll be giving it a try.. will let you know then..
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[notchboy]

Im still waiting for one of you rocket scientists to call a Espar rep/sales and find out the real reason if any, why you cant run gas in a diesel and vise versa.

I would but I just spent $11.62 buying a f*%k that I plan to use in another thread. So I have none for here.

Post some pics Dave, I cant follow all this word stuff.
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[vwwestyman]

Dan I have to say I do like your line of adventurous thinking!

I believe that on the Espars (and probably therefore, the copies) the pump is the same part for diesel or gas and the difference is some kind of adjustment to the pump for how much is metered. In fact, I believe I even saw some marking on the pump saying something about both diesel and benzine. I would suggest someone do more research on this, though.

I guess the thing I'd worry about is the ease of gasoline igniting compared with diesel and therefore that somehow messing up the "timing" of everything and potentially creating an explosive situation.

Perhaps one could do some more research on what other differences there may be and could swap out just those parts.

Seems wise to do some good testing prior to mounting on the Bus to find out how it will work.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[vwwestyman]

[notchboy]

An on off switch for driving and a inline thermostat in the back for camping. You should have a crude thermostat for it then you can buy a cabin air temp controlled unit for your sleeping area.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/EBERSPACHER-Airtronic-hea...Sw5cJay9uS

https://www.ebay.com/p/RVP-8330-3862-Coleman-Mach-...0005.m1851

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CPtV_iX9GQ
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[Opossum]

I have an Eberspacher B1L (similar size & configuration). It is mounted under the bus between the main rails inside of the front right wheel rail. Using the existing heater set up allows for circulating the hot air. Both heaters can run together or separately.

I made a stainless steel ell shaped holder for the heater. It exhausts through a pipe just past the front left tire. The thermostat is mounted above the side cabinet in the back, so we can turn on the heater without getting out of bed.

Works great and heats up the bus fast and hot.
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"You can lead an aircooled to water, but you can't make it drink"
"Live and learn or crash and burn"
"It's only Cool, If it's Air-Cooled"
Virginia Whiteface (Opossum) the first VW
Camper Special Club Member
1973 Orange Westfalia Hard top, Original owner

[vwwestyman]

Mine came with a pretty nice thermostat controller that displays fault codes and all that. The little instruction book that came with it mentioned that some of them have an extra wire that can be used for a second on/off switch, but unfortunately mine wasn't one of those.

I'll do some digging around to see if there is another way to control it via a switch of some kind up front.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[danfromsyr]

I have a propex furnace in my ASI vanagaon and the thermostat is on a long protected cable. I place it on the counter by the driver.. I can reach it from the drivers seat and from the upper bunk..
but it can be moved to the back drivers side cabinet fairly easily as that's how long the cord is... though I still usually just manage it on the front counter..


the propex blows out under neath the extended lower bed so it's not directly on anyone but the dog on the floor.. and if it's cold out the floor gets alot of drafts from the poor door seals etc..

camped in low teens *f at the grand canyon north rim comfortably. ~8oooft
and at meuller state park in colorado at ~94ooft
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[WhirledTraveller]

[pittwagen]

There is an enclosed box available for external mounting. Top comes off for servicing the heater. Saw it on the Butler site but Google will pull it up as well. Might be worth a look to see how to construct one to protect the heater under the bus.

https://www.butlertechnik.com/installation-accesso...0152-p1009