The official Chinese Diesel Heater thread (Webasto Knockoff)

[DanHoug]

[pinetreeporsche]

[danfromsyr]

I'm pretty sure I'd slipped an image in a page or so back,
but we have an engine swap (2.5 I5), so ours is mounted down the PS of the motor.

but the tailights was an early option.

you can get small engine tanks in black, translucent or metal. I went with translucent so I could get an easy visual.

but the sky and your imagination is the limit, kero & diesel aren't explosive. but use some common sense and heat shielding. remember infra red is radiated and can 'shine' through a windflow to still warm up a surface.

img
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=889008

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[Gruppe B]

[GypsyDriver]

Looks nice, Gruppe B. Looking forward to seeing your installation. My Eberspacher arrived last week. I don't have pictures at the moment, but will update when I get a chance. I went with the diesel model, but am really tempted to order the Webasto gas model to so I can tap into my gas tank. I went with the espar diesel originally because of the reported coking problems with the gasoline models and performance at altitude (Espar vs. Webasto). I'll be interested to hear your report.

[shagginwagon83]

I've been popping in this thread...but a $668 Webasto?! I looked into the B4's and I was looking at like $1500. This is a lot my cheaper (less powerful, but still).

I'm really looking forward to seeing these results.
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[Buggeee]

[crazyvwvanman]

Just got a text from DHL, the international shipping company.
My $85 + $15 diesel 2kw heater from HongKong is due tomorrow, signature required.
Looks like I'll get something anyway. Hope it works.

Mark

[dobryan]

[vwhammer]

Aaawww man a signature.
Am I gonna hafta stay home from work to sign for this $85 thing that is decidedly already junk in most peoples minds.
You know they are probably doing the signature thing so when you try it out and it does not work they can be all like
"Well you signed for it so we assumed you inspected it before you did so. If its not working that's your problem now.
Mad Love
Your friendly Chinese ware hawker"

I hate DHL anyway so I will just make the driver stand there while I hook it all up and test it out before I sign for it.
Of course I kidding... Or am I?

[shagginwagon83]

Does the $561 webasto deal still exist or did I miss the gravy train?
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[dobryan]

[jackbombay]

[tristessa]

Glad people are finding solutions that fit their needs and budgets. Glad you got what you ordered in a timely fashion, Gruppe B -- I've had nothing but trouble with eBay sellers and buyers in Russia over the years. I've had trouble with Chinese *items* from eBay a time or three, but only once with a *seller* until recently when trying to order extra heaters.

I'm more than happy with my sub-$200 Chinese "knockoff" heater. It works fine on the fuel it was designed to use, puts out plenty of heat on a surprisingly small amount of fuel, and I'm happy to deal with the minor inconvenience of having to have a separate fuel source for the savings -- the "extra" $4-800 I would have spent on an Eber, Webasto or Planar went into the European Road Trip fund, which is just about to he point where I can afford to ship the Bus to Belgium, but still not where I could fill the tank at €1.50/liter. Or eat. Or anything else.

[Buggeee]

[dobryan]

[Buggeee]

Just a little note that both my 5k and my 2k Chinese diesel heaters have been running fine so far. The little one is parked under the rear seat in my Super Beetle right now to see if it makes sense there.

I have found that the battery has to be in good shape, fully charged when I start the heater. When the battery was low the heater would stop itself from its startup routine even when the engine was idling in the car. If I kept the rpms up there the heater would start and run fine. I have a 75 amp alternator in the SB. The next night I started with a fully charged battery and the heater started right up and ran fine for over an hour without having to start the car at all, at which point I turned it off and went to bed.
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[vwhammer]

Man looks like a lot of us will be toasty warm while camping this winter.
Just that some will have paid 3 to 5 times more than the rest of us.
ZING!

[danfromsyr]

success isn't measured in costs or savings
but in reliable return of heat..

and a heater is a LONG term commitment (well unless it's a disposable Chinese unit) that a quality unit and a one fuel camper heat solution just makes cents.

I've done the dual fuel, and it's not all sunshine and posies.
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[crazyvwvanman]

Agreed. Even assuming it arrives complete and works fine I won't try using my $100 dice roll heater for much more than a night or 2 now and then. The German heaters are the way to go for serious use, connected to the vehicle fuel supply. We already have Propex and Eberspacher in our vans. I'm hoping to do something portable with the cheapie and at least it will give me something to fool around with.

Mark