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New member
Fellow nomads,
I'm about to order a 3kw Chinese Diesel Heater to heat a Ford Transit van.
I would like to power this from my Goal Zero Yeti 1400 (GZY) mobile power station. Specs in the link.
I have watched so many installation videos for these heaters on YouTube, and I've also read many posts on the dedicated Chinese Heater Facebook group. However, I'm still confused about the electrical power connection setup.
:huh:
I have not found clear documentation about powering the GZY with this heater. The real issue is my own lack of electrical knowledge, so I am seeking advice and looking for step-by-step instructions. Keep in mind that I have ZERO electrical knowledge and experience. So for example, when someone says, "just crimp the wires" I'm not exactly sure how to do that, or I might guess and do it the wrong way. I'm willing to get in there and try things but I need really detailed instructions. Once I get this all figured out, I plan to share my own "Documentation for Dummies" to hopefully help others out!
My (limited) understanding so far is this:
There are various reports of how much "power" is needed to run the heater. It takes more power to start up (warm-up period) and to turn off than it does to "idle" (1-3 amps continuous) while it's running after the "warm-up" period. Reports online vary, I've seen people post that their heaters need 8-18 amps for start-up, so the general consensus is "20A to be safe." I'm using the smaller 3kw heater while most others use the 5kw, so I think my heater would use the lower range of amperage reported by others.
The Amazon page for this unit lists these specs for the heater: "Operating voltage range: 10.5-16/21-32V" where I am assuming that the "10.5-16" means amps for the warm-up/cool-down periods (but not sure).
Recommendations for solutions I've gathered so far are:
A: "Just crimp" these Anderson Power Pole connectors directly to the power cable of the heater. (I DO think this is the best solution! See below.)
B: Use this 12v Max Current Cable (which seems to be sold everywhere except eBay). (I don't think I need this since my GZY has a 20A Anderson connector)
C: Use a 12V 15A Heavy Duty Male to Male Cigarette Plug Cigarette Lighter Adapter Cord and "clip off the loops and wired direct to the heater's power wires." (I think this wouldn't work due to the 10A limit on the cig port, see below).
The Goal Zero Yeti's 12v ports are mostly limited to 10A, but in the new "WiFi" version of the GZY 1400, which I have, there is now a 12V Power Pole Port (output) with these specs: "12V, up to 20A (240W max)." Yay, right!? Maybe this solves the problem! *Or am I missing something here??*
Given all of this information, and my complete lack of knowledge about electrical connections, it SEEMS like the ideal port to use is the Anderson PP; 20A, which I've noted as option "A" above. It seems to me that no adapter is needed here. If this is true, then my best solution is to figure out how to connect the heater to the Anderson 20A port of the GZY.
For the life of me, I can't seem to determine what the electrical end of the heater looks like. I am assuming it's a red and black cable with ring terminal connectors, with the idea that most people will just pop those rings onto a car battery. I have spent way too much time trying to figure this out and now I'm just going to order the heater and go from there!
If that's true, and the heater has the ring connectors, then maybe I would cut the rings off, strip back the plastic sleeve to expose the bare wires, and then figure out how to connect those wires into the Anderson connectors that I listed in option B. This is where I'm stuck, if indeed this is the best path to take in the 1st place.
Any help or advice is appreciated, and I will follow up with pictures and details to help the next person, once I figure out how to do this. Much thanks!
I'm about to order a 3kw Chinese Diesel Heater to heat a Ford Transit van.
I would like to power this from my Goal Zero Yeti 1400 (GZY) mobile power station. Specs in the link.
I have watched so many installation videos for these heaters on YouTube, and I've also read many posts on the dedicated Chinese Heater Facebook group. However, I'm still confused about the electrical power connection setup.
:huh:
I have not found clear documentation about powering the GZY with this heater. The real issue is my own lack of electrical knowledge, so I am seeking advice and looking for step-by-step instructions. Keep in mind that I have ZERO electrical knowledge and experience. So for example, when someone says, "just crimp the wires" I'm not exactly sure how to do that, or I might guess and do it the wrong way. I'm willing to get in there and try things but I need really detailed instructions. Once I get this all figured out, I plan to share my own "Documentation for Dummies" to hopefully help others out!
My (limited) understanding so far is this:
There are various reports of how much "power" is needed to run the heater. It takes more power to start up (warm-up period) and to turn off than it does to "idle" (1-3 amps continuous) while it's running after the "warm-up" period. Reports online vary, I've seen people post that their heaters need 8-18 amps for start-up, so the general consensus is "20A to be safe." I'm using the smaller 3kw heater while most others use the 5kw, so I think my heater would use the lower range of amperage reported by others.
The Amazon page for this unit lists these specs for the heater: "Operating voltage range: 10.5-16/21-32V" where I am assuming that the "10.5-16" means amps for the warm-up/cool-down periods (but not sure).
Recommendations for solutions I've gathered so far are:
A: "Just crimp" these Anderson Power Pole connectors directly to the power cable of the heater. (I DO think this is the best solution! See below.)
B: Use this 12v Max Current Cable (which seems to be sold everywhere except eBay). (I don't think I need this since my GZY has a 20A Anderson connector)
C: Use a 12V 15A Heavy Duty Male to Male Cigarette Plug Cigarette Lighter Adapter Cord and "clip off the loops and wired direct to the heater's power wires." (I think this wouldn't work due to the 10A limit on the cig port, see below).
The Goal Zero Yeti's 12v ports are mostly limited to 10A, but in the new "WiFi" version of the GZY 1400, which I have, there is now a 12V Power Pole Port (output) with these specs: "12V, up to 20A (240W max)." Yay, right!? Maybe this solves the problem! *Or am I missing something here??*
Given all of this information, and my complete lack of knowledge about electrical connections, it SEEMS like the ideal port to use is the Anderson PP; 20A, which I've noted as option "A" above. It seems to me that no adapter is needed here. If this is true, then my best solution is to figure out how to connect the heater to the Anderson 20A port of the GZY.
For the life of me, I can't seem to determine what the electrical end of the heater looks like. I am assuming it's a red and black cable with ring terminal connectors, with the idea that most people will just pop those rings onto a car battery. I have spent way too much time trying to figure this out and now I'm just going to order the heater and go from there!
If that's true, and the heater has the ring connectors, then maybe I would cut the rings off, strip back the plastic sleeve to expose the bare wires, and then figure out how to connect those wires into the Anderson connectors that I listed in option B. This is where I'm stuck, if indeed this is the best path to take in the 1st place.
Any help or advice is appreciated, and I will follow up with pictures and details to help the next person, once I figure out how to do this. Much thanks!
