LRCC

Spider wrote:

No doubt better than my Eberspacher!

Why are you having problems are you having mine seems good only been in two weeks, hope it does not start being a pain.

Hi Spider

Yes, Robin's right.
The Eberspacher is fine and once started draws little fuel.
In fact, at full belt it only uses a third of a litre per hour.
They are supposed to be 'MOT'ed' each year ie Check the glow pin, clean ventilation hole and maybe replace the atomizing screen. If necessary, take the heater apart and clean the combustion tube and the heat exchanger. I confess to not doing those things, and it works fine, but it should be done on a new one each year by a proper Eber Agent to maintain your guarantee.

If the weather lets up I will remove the battery and bring it indoors to charge, and see if it is duff.
Hard to test, as resistance tests don't work on a gel battery.

We shall see, but having the heater working over what is said to be our worst winter in years may be a good thing!

Cheers

Steve

A timely reminder Steve, must check my woolly blanket for moths and my two hot water bottles for leaks..looks like it's going to be a cold one.

John H

Do you yellow leisure battery or a Optima yellow-top? because I have a yellow Leisure battery as 2nd battery.
Do know what you mean if you where to stay in one place for a week, with heater on at night the battery would be flat after a couple of days.
The company told me that you need to run them low/med heat, but not to low that they keep cutting out and starting up again, as this will take a lot more power from the battery.

Yes, all of ours are Optima yellow top (Steve's, Patrick's & mine).

As I mentioned before, I tend to use mine for maybe an hour on an evening (or in the early hours, depending on when the firepit is left to die down ) and perhaps half an hour in the morning.

No need to have it on all night - with a decent sleeping bag and a hot water bottle you'll be snug as a bug ......

Once or twice I have woken up in the early hours and decided to read - not easy trying to do that inside a sleeping bag, so I've put the heater on for a while.
Mine is an ex-BT Eberspacher with a 1 hour timer so I can't fall asleep and leave it on.
I did wonder about wiring in an override so I could have it on all night, but even at -10C overnight I haven't needed to

Cheers,
Robin.

This is what worry be about putting the Dormobile top on mine that the heat will just rush out of the single sheet sides.
I was looking in to putting mine on a timer to come on for say an hour in the night just to help keep in warm.

ahh yes good point that.. ..got to get a good battery the one i am using in the back of the truck isnt 1st class its an old battery so thats got to go...i think i will get a sola panel and put it on the roof so it trickle charges the battery all the time that way it should be ready to fire up all the time....yes rethink on the electrics......

Spider wrote:This is what worry be about putting the Dormobile top on mine that the heat will just rush out of the single sheet sides.
I was looking in to putting mine on a timer to come on for say an hour in the night just to help keep in warm.

Ah, but if you position the outlet right, you can sit on the edge of the bed and warm your feet in the flow - fantastic

My outlet comes out under the middle of the bed, but to be honest, at full bore the airflow is so good and hot that I doubt you would notice any loss through your roof........ until you turn it off, of course

I once did leave the Eberspacher on in Patrick's, on low, to see what it was like through the night, but I don't think I woke up at all so no real benefit. Now it's just when getting ready for bed and getting up in the morning.

As I say, a good sleeping bag and hot water bottle and you shouldn't need to leave it on

Cheers,
Robin.

tuggy wrote:ahh yes good point that.. ..got to get a good battery the one i am using in the back of the truck isnt 1st class its an old battery so thats got to go...i think i will get a sola panel and put it on the roof so it trickle charges the battery all the time that way it should be ready to fire up all the time....yes rethink on the electrics......

Yes, we're thinking about solar panels on ours - the Optima Yellow Tops take so much charging that we find for local shows we're not running long enough for the split charge to put much in.
We usually put our batteries on charge for at least a couple of days before trips, using smart chargers.

A 60W solar panel puts out a potential 5A, though in reality it will be less, so in the summer that would put plenty back in to the battery.
Even at this time of year, we're probably looking at around 6 or 7 hours of daylight (the modern panels don't need sunshine to work) which would help a lot.

Cheers,
Robin.

Ok i have bought a 12v night heater from airstream so i will do the blog of the fitting in and testing....
ok it arrived today..parcel soaked in diesel,, ,,,took it to the garage and opened it up the filler cap on the tank had come off and in transit the little bit of diesel in the tank went everywhere,,,,,, so not amused,,,,no instructions so i had to go on the web site and down load a right load of gobbledegook... ...not amused again.... so in the end i phoned the guy up and fair play he talked me through it...anyway got it running its not bad chucks out some good heat but a bit smoky when it shuts down ...ordered the heater hose ducting and the vent as it dosnt come with it thats another £34 and ordered the aluminium box for under the truck that was another 215 quid.... ok when that lot arrives i can put it all together.....

ok will post some pics tomorrow and a vid......

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ok the aluminium box arrived today so i can start to assemble the heater in it and bolt it to the underside of the truck....