Has anyone tried one of these Chinese Diesel Parking Heaters?

[Jim_Rockford]

I wonder for the DIY fans, if you could run this diesel heater off of waste vegetable oil that has been filtered like many folks do with their diesel cars/trucks. There are also folks who run WMO (waste motor oil) through a centrifuge to eliminate the solids, and debris, and then dump into their fuel tanks at a 50/50 mix of fuel/WMO.

This would be a way of having a free, and never ending source of usable fuel to heat your shop, or RV.

 No do not run these heaters off anything but diesel , and maybe once in a while off a max of 50/50 kero /diesel . Straight kero has 0 lubrication properties and will ruin the pump in a short amount of time . The veggie oil will leave soot and deposits on the burn chamber and ignion screen. Waste engine oil same thing . This guy here does a good 16 part series on every single thing about these heaters. I highly suggest you watch them all and understand how these heaters work and just how cheap and easy they are to run before buying one and either installing it wrong or ruining it. 90%of problems with these heaters is wrong install or someone using the wrong fuel. 

 

[Jim_Rockford]

Holy Smoke.Wouldn't that be like having a semi running in your rv?I hate the smell of diesel,burned or unburned.

You don't smell anything when the are running.  Definitely nothing inside. I just hooked mine up last night and even without venting the exhaust I got no smell at all, just the slightest oder from oil burning the exhast pipe.

 

[Firebuild]

You don't smell anything when the are running.  Definitely nothing inside. I just hooked mine up last night and even without venting the exhaust I got no smell at all, just the slightest oder from oil burning the exhast pipe.

Holy Smoke.Wouldn't that be like having a semi running in your rv?I hate the smell of diesel,burned or unburned.

I ran mine all last winter and just cranked it up for the first time this year about a month ago. I get a very slight smell for a minute at startup, then nothing.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

are these controlled with a thermostat so you can "set it and forget it" of do you have to adjust the heat output manually like a buddy heater or something?

 

[RogerD]

are these controlled with a thermostat so you can "set it and forget it" of do you have to adjust the heat output manually like a buddy heater or something?

I just ordered a 2kw heater to test. Won't have it till next week. I want to see if it is more cost-effective to run over a Camco Olympian Wave 3 heater.

The 2kw heaters on the lowest setting are like 3K BTU. The 5K heaters are like 5K BTU on the lowest setting.

They don't shut off. My understanding is that if it reaches the desired temp, it will then just run on the lowest setting.

I've seen some propane heaters on Amazon that say they are thermostatically controlled and supposedly turn on / off.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

if it had a thermostat to reduce to the lowest setting there is no reason it could not just shut off. that does not make sense?

yes, there are a couple vented propane heaters out there that do have thermostatic control


the wave 3 is not even comparable to the parking heaters. one is vented and the other dumps the exhaust into the living space. even if they burn the same amount there is a huge difference with the moisture and condensation potential.

personally, i would never ever consider installing anything but a vented heater where the exhaust/combustion gases go direct to the outside

 

[RogerD]

The vented / not vented issue is irrelevant to me. I've had zero problems using the Wave 3, so I could care less about that. I'm just looking to see which costs the least to run.

The diesel heaters don't just simply turn on / off. They go through a start up and shut down process. So it's not built in to do it.

You can replace the mainboard / controller with one that will do it.

http://www.mrjones.id.au/afterburner/

There are some non-vented propane heaters that have the thermostatic control on Amazon.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

almost all forced air furnaces go through a start up/shut down series of events. has nothing to do with the ability of operating on a thermostat.

thanks for the link

never said non vented heaters couldnt have thermostatic controls

as far as the wave 3 vs a parking heater. keep in mind the parking heater does require some electricity to run and you will need to have enough electricity to run the fans and such through the night. were i am pretty sure the wave 3 requires none. if that is also a non issue for you then heat out put perceived can only be determined for comfort level by each person. the radiant heat of the wave can help you feel the heat very quick, but the warm air in the room can tend to stratify and the ceiling may be considerably warmer than a normal bed level. the forced air style of the parking heater may make for more even temps through out the room. some people like one over the other

you wont know till you try even if the 2 heaters were identical in output

 

[RogerD]

almost all forced air furnaces go through a start up/shut down series of events. has nothing to do with the ability of operating on a thermostat.

OK, but I'm pretty sure that is why they don't turn on/off.

I just read that if you set to a specific temp and once reached, they then run on the lowest setting.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

do you have a link to where you read that. i cant seam to find that info

thanks

 

[highdesertranger]

what I find hard to believe is y'all putting your life in the hands of a no name Chinese knock off heater. it only takes one flaw in the manufacturing process or one to many corners cut and it's bye, bye user. all to save a buck.

please be careful with these. I would still have a fresh air source, a CO alarm, and never use it when I sleep.

highdesertranger

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

making accusations claiming the use of these heaters is some how any more dangerous than a buddy heater is pretty irresponsible and unsupported. these units have been demonstrated time and time again to burn damn clean when set up according to the instructions. also, these units direct the exhaust, the combustion gasses outside where CO that is there can dissipate. i dont understand where your vendetta against these units come from. and i certainly dont appreciate the derogatory insinuation that any of us that may want to use/try one is some how flawed in the head. i would expect better from a moderator

we get it, you dont like them. nobody is saying you need to use one. there is a tremendous amount of data out there showing them to be safe when used appropriately. just because you cant or wont do or try something does not mean it is a horrible idea for everyone

more people each year suffer CO poisoning from running generators where the exhaust wafted back in through windows, or leaky car exhausts. anything can be dangerous when not used appropriately and not maintained. follow basic safety precautions and the risk is not inherently higher. no one here has been talking about skirting any of the recommended safety procedures or recommendations

it is not just the Chinese that end up with manufacturing defects/cost cutting procedures costing lives. ever done any research into space shuttle issues? how about the refusal of car companies to implement double redundancy/cross checking of computer actions until they were forced to after killing people due to flipped bits. smoking cigarettes will expose one to more CO then you could ever want yet i dont hear you bashing RJ Reynolds because they are dangerous?

 

[highdesertranger]

I never said that they were, "any more dangerous than a buddy heater". please don't change what I said. in fact I never mentioned Buddy heaters or any other heaters for that matter. if you were to check my posting history I have always recommended to not sleep with the heater on and to be able to stay alive without an artificial heat source.

what I said was, "what I find hard to believe is y'all putting your life in the hands of a no name Chinese knock off heater".

I stand behind that.

y'all can do what you like, but I still find it hard to believe.

highdesertranger

 

[Sasnak]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YV4GM1...1RJ65RJYFW3JM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

Here is a all in one diesel unit.

 

[user 22017]

From watching this video, appears that these are worth it for the price, less than$200 on Amazon.
This van lifer describes his application and install in a Westy.

Thanks for the link. I watched it last night and was impressed. I haven't tried the heater yet in my truck camper (it's a Suburban that came with the camper), but I read that typical RV furnaces use a ton of propane. If I go through a lot, I may try the diesel heater instead.

 

[66788]

if it had a thermostat to reduce to the lowest setting there is no reason it could not just shut off. that does not make sense?

yes, there are a couple vented propane heaters out there that do have thermostatic control


the wave 3 is not even comparable to the parking heaters. one is vented and the other dumps the exhaust into the living space. even if they burn the same amount there is a huge difference with the moisture and condensation potential.

personally, i would never ever consider installing anything but a vented heater where the exhaust/combustion gases go direct to the outside

The real issues with catalytic non-vented heaters for me are excess moisture in the vehicle and uneven hard to control temperatures.   I used both the Wave 3 and Wave 6 for more than 3 winters and experienced a lot of moisture on the ceiling and metal door frames in the morning.  All night long the temperature was too cold or too hot.   Adjusting the windows and vents to preventing  a low oxygen situation while maintaining a constant temperature was nearly impossible, not to mention all the heat that escapes through the vents.

I now use a 93%  efficient vented propane heater that draws 1.9 amps at 12vdc while running.  I use less than a pound of propane at 26 degrees F per night and the rig stays 68 degrees all night long.

The Chinese diesel heaters can draw 9 amps while the glow plugs are on, and that can be in excess of 5 minutes per cycle.   Add the fan draw and you had better have adequate battery amperage or additional problems come into play, some of which are safety issues.

As for CO being a problem, I can say that on a few nights I did forget to ventilate my Dodge van and slept all night long with the Wave 3 on and all windows up and the roof vent closed.  I certainly don't advocate doing that, but I'm here still none the less.

I agree with you about vented heaters though, no more catalytic heaters for me.

 

[Riverman]

What is the vented propane heater you use, and where do you buy it?

 

[B and C]

Suburban seems to be the RV industry standard for vented propane furnaces. Mine is 16,000 BTUs and has a thermostat.

 

[66788]

What is the vented propane heater you use, and where do you buy it?

I have the Propex HS2800 (9,600 BTU) in a step van.   The smaller HS2000 (6,000 BTU) would be good for smaller vehicles.   Westyventures.com in Oregon sells them, as well as other VW bus websites.

Compare the specifications of this heater with RV type heaters and the advantages of Propex become clear.

Also the propex vents out the bottom, not the side, so it is much stealthier.   Each unit has 9 safety features that are checked many times per second by the controller, any one of which will stop the gas flow when activated.   I've only had 1 fault code and that was when the voltage went over 15 vdc when the batteries were equalizing.   A simple reset from the controller and it was good to go.

 

[jimmydean]

You can replace the mainboard / controller with one that will do it.

http://www.mrjones.id.au/afterburner/

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]This looks really cool, but there isn't info on what models and where to get it. [/font]

I sent an email for more info. I could see running this and if I get a year out of it, that would work.