The official Chinese Diesel Heater thread (Webasto Knockoff)

[JEL91Westy]

I literally had that idea 30min ago. I made a tank from 4”PVC mounted on the door side and I rigged a hose that swings out to fill it. It works OK , but it is a two person job with one on their knees. I get about 30hrs of burn time from a tank of fuel, but it would be nice to have a better fill setup. I will never use the city connection , so it seems like a possible solution if I move my tank to the other side - I do not have propane tank anymore.

What I rally need to figure out is tank level gauge.
_________________
91 Westy
85 911

[vwwestyman]

It has been a while since I've seen anything about them, but maybe a year ago I saw that at least one of these companies made a 2 in 1 heater that had the regular air heater function along with a water heater function. Couldn't use water heater without air heat, though.

I've also seen people come up with inventive ways to heat water using the exhaust and some kind of heat exchanger.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

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

[uberaudi]

I've started my CDH install and the first order of business was finding a flat surface to mount the heater underneath the rear bench. It turns out there are none. So I made an adapter to accommodate.

Point of no return, but it's an AW, so no matter. My trusty garage sale jigsaw made quick work of the sheet metal.

The adapter plate ready to rivet:

Sprayed with leftover high temp paint then seam sealed:

Undercoated, with exhaust muffler mounted ready to exit:

Next move is routing the intake. Where's a good spot to place the intake filter that it won't pull in a ton-o-dust? Doesn't seem like there are many options with the included hose length.
_________________
'84 Adventurewagen 1Z Tdi, '89 Tintop ABA, and a 86 Syncro tintop WBX.

[uberaudi]

I didn't realize you could 'untwist' the intake hose and get additional length out of it. That being said, I was able to place the filter behind a small forward facing panel to reduce the amount of dust. We'll see how this works.

_________________
'84 Adventurewagen 1Z Tdi, '89 Tintop ABA, and a 86 Syncro tintop WBX.

[dhaavers]

Adapter plate looks great, but I gotta ask...why mount exhaust up between the frame rails?

Carbon monoxide makes me nervous...

- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[danfromsyr]

indeed exhaust should tuck out the side
_________________

[fxr]

I just bought a second exhaust tube in order to extend the muffler output to the side and down. Cheap IIRC.
_________________
Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[uberaudi]

Hahaa for sure! I ran out of exhaust tubing to finish it out. It will ultimately exit right next to the jack point.
_________________
'84 Adventurewagen 1Z Tdi, '89 Tintop ABA, and a 86 Syncro tintop WBX.

[tristessa]

[Rorke]

I just posted in a custom aux tank thread. Here is more appropriate.

Moved the Propane tank forward. Had to trim the tabs to fit.
Installed a custom tank between propane tank and water tank outlet.
Made a 4th camper port and concealed an angled marine filler neck.
Hose runs through the "Secret Space" with water hose and outlets. Hidden.

Vent will go aft of driver's rear wheel well.
5kw CDH to externally mounted between inner rails.
Hot air to be channeled over gas tank. It will enter a steel center console in between the seats.
The hot air will split between two closable outlets, one pointing aft, one pointing forward near handbrake.
Intake is tricky. Not sure what to do yet. I really want to pull from under the fridge. On hot days, maybe I could rig the heater to just be a "fan" and then the warm fridge air could go near the handbrake.

[Rorke]

Painted the tank.
Mocked the console.
Ordered up connectors, elbows, another duct section, two low profile closable outlets.
I have not resolved the air intake location. Putting it under fridge would require swooping below a rail. Pretty exposed.

[joyfulpursuit]

I'm selling my brand new 5KW CDH here for a discount off the amazon price if anyones interested https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2458520.

It's brand new, I just don't think I'll need 5KW personally. This is the exact heater that Chad installs in Living the Van Life (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j5qW9kKBLM).
_________________
📖 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, Jesus,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life - John 3:16
🚐 1987 Westy, EJ22 small car conversion
🚗 1991 e30 325i Sport MTech II coupe
📸 instagram.com/joyfilledpursuit

[uberaudi]

Damn that's quite the install!

My tank for the driver's side d-pillar is starting to come together.

Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to complete the install and verify my exhaust doesn't have too many bends!
_________________
'84 Adventurewagen 1Z Tdi, '89 Tintop ABA, and a 86 Syncro tintop WBX.

[Zeitgeist 13]

Wow, that's a beaut. Is that center tapped hole for the breather?
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[uberaudi]

Thanks Casey. I can glue stuff together but making it look good is another story! Yes, the center port is for a breather...I'm thinking a moto style fuel cap vent will do the trick.
_________________
'84 Adventurewagen 1Z Tdi, '89 Tintop ABA, and a 86 Syncro tintop WBX.

[uberaudi]

Finished up the install and it works great! I have a feeling this thing is going to get a lot of use! Tank installed with the filter mounted to accessible space in the bay:

The finished exhaust plumbing. Any concern of the feed line being so close to the exhaust? I may add some heat barrier of some kind to play it safe.

The exhaust seems to work fine for now and hopefully the Kerosene will help prevent it from sooting too much with the additional bends.

Exhaust outlet:

Under the bench she lives! A little fan vibration at full blast but manageable for now. I still need to clean up some of the wiring, but man, that's some hot air!

I might also foam wrap the pump to mitigate the sound a bit. I have it zip tied and partially hanging, but it still seems a bit loud to fall asleep to.
_________________
'84 Adventurewagen 1Z Tdi, '89 Tintop ABA, and a 86 Syncro tintop WBX.

[fxr]

[erste]

[Rorke]

[quote="uberaudi"]Finished up the install and it works great! I have a feeling this thing is going to get a lot of use! Tank installed with the filter mounted to accessible space in the bay:

If I saw this 3 weeks ago, my entire life would be slightly different now.
Excellent, simple solution there.

[uberaudi]