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Diesel heater - the voltages and amps used


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OK, it's not the most scientific of experiments - I'll give you that - but here's my look at a cheap 12V diesel heater.

 

I made this video because I couldn't find out (online) the voltages and amps it would use when starting up, running, and when shutting down. I was taking a change buying it as I assumed it would drain my battery pretty quickly, but it seems not. Hell, I've had it sitting for over 4 hours with just the LCD screen on (no heating) and the battery voltage hasn't moved. I'm pretty impressed by it. £160 from eBay.

 

Yes, I know it probably wouldn't pass a BSS exam. It would mysteriously go missing the day before.  :D

 

Anyway, here's my quick look at it:

 

Edited by ronnietucker
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1 hour ago, catweasel said:

My neighbour uses a heater like this to keep his boat warm whilst fitting it out. I am very impressed.

I haven't used mine on the boat yet (hopefully will next weekend) but from using it indoors it chucks out a lot of heat for very little battery usage. My battery started at about 12.6-ish and after a power up, run for an hour at full pelt, then a power down, the battery ended at about 12.59. I left the unit hooked to the battery to see what it would drain with no heat, just the LCD screen, and after about 6hrs the battery is still at 12.59!

I'm impressed.

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26 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

I haven't used mine on the boat yet (hopefully will next weekend) but from using it indoors it chucks out a lot of heat for very little battery usage. My battery started at about 12.6-ish and after a power up, run for an hour at full pelt, then a power down, the battery ended at about 12.59. I left the unit hooked to the battery to see what it would drain with no heat, just the LCD screen, and after about 6hrs the battery is still at 12.59!

I'm impressed.

I think he gets 4 days from a single battery before recharging. I seem to recall that the battery cuts out on the ignition after a few mins so is doing very little?

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13 hours ago, ronnietucker said:

 

Yes, I know it probably wouldn't pass a BSS exam. It would mysteriously go missing the day before.  :D

I know it's tongue in cheek Ronnie, but we hear this a lot and I suspect it goes on a lot more than we hear.  The BSS isn't there to inconvenience boat owners who might do things which could hurt them, it's about making sure that their lack of knowledge, irresponsible actions or neglect don't hurt passers by or those moored near them. 

 

(Perfect it ain't, but it's all we've got)

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23 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I know it's tongue in cheek Ronnie, but we hear this a lot and I suspect it goes on a lot more than we hear.  The BSS isn't there to inconvenience boat owners who might do things which could hurt them, it's about making sure that their lack of knowledge, irresponsible actions or neglect don't hurt passers by or those moored near them. 

 

(Perfect it ain't, but it's all we've got)

Yep, a decent risk assessment on that would be interesting. Kick the exhaust and fall asleep slowly?

Good info on power usage though.

 

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I have (an ancient) space heater which works on the same principle. Chucks out the heat in my workshop - but id doesn't half pong and the smell of the exhaust fumes lingers for ages. It's Kerosene fuelled - methinks a diesel version would be worse.

Ebersplutter air heaters have a separate exhaust for the combustion gases. Does this one have an exhaust?? (I doubt it...)

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3 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

I have (an ancient) space heater which works on the same principle. Chucks out the heat in my workshop - but id doesn't half pong and the smell of the exhaust fumes lingers for ages. It's Kerosene fuelled - methinks a diesel version would be worse.

Ebersplutter air heaters have a separate exhaust for the combustion gases. Does this one have an exhaust?? (I doubt it...)

Yep, the video shows the exhaust pipe burning Ronnie's carpet.

Looks to be a push fit into the unit and where do you stick the end?

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11 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

I have (an ancient) space heater which works on the same principle. Chucks out the heat in my workshop - but id doesn't half pong and the smell of the exhaust fumes lingers for ages. It's Kerosene fuelled - methinks a diesel version would be worse.

Ebersplutter air heaters have a separate exhaust for the combustion gases. Does this one have an exhaust?? (I doubt it...)

Yes, this version has one plastic air intake pipe, and one metal exhaust pipe.

 

Both come from the base of the unit. I have the intake going from the back of the unit to the input. This pipe bends nice and easy. The exhaust I have coming from the side to the unit. The unit is on two brackets that raise it about two inches, but with the exhaust pipe being metal it's hard to get a good bend in it without breaking/squishing it. I'll just keep the unit on two bricks or something to have more space for the metal pipe.

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9 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Yep, the video shows the exhaust pipe burning Ronnie's carpet.

Looks to be a push fit into the unit and where do you stick the end?

Bother! - I didn't take the effort to watch the video. Humble apologies.

The YT video is one of the best I've seen for pure interest and 'quality of information' without ramming it down your throat - I chuckled throughout!

It's  a low cost variant on the ebersplutter, so I guess it's excellent value IF and ONLY if you make an effort to minimise the risks, such as putting the unit on the rear deck and running the hot air pipes into the boat? 

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28 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Bother! - I didn't take the effort to watch the video. Humble apologies.

The YT video is one of the best I've seen for pure interest and 'quality of information' without ramming it down your throat - I chuckled throughout!

It's  a low cost variant on the ebersplutter, so I guess it's excellent value IF and ONLY if you make an effort to minimise the risks, such as putting the unit on the rear deck and running the hot air pipes into the boat? 

I have seen a few as you describe. Doesn't seem any more risk than a petrol generator outside?

Lots of people use them in camper vans and there is a Farcebook group that know every last nut and bolt in these Chinese heaters. From what I have read, they appear to be reliable enough.

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2 minutes ago, catweasel said:

I have seen a few as you describe. Doesn't seem any more risk than a petrol generator outside?

Lots of people use them in camper vans and there is a Farcebook group that know every last nut and bolt in these Chinese heaters. From what I have read, they appear to be reliable enough.

I put the caveat in because Mr. Tucker suggested 'putting the unit on a couple of BRICKS' - that of course, even if a throwaway line filled me wit horror.

The exhaust from my wet eberspluter gets very hot indeed and the unit itself not a lot cooler. Thus I suspect an air heater will be even hotter...

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15 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

I put the caveat in because Mr. Tucker suggested 'putting the unit on a couple of BRICKS' - that of course, even if a throwaway line filled me wit horror.

The exhaust from my wet eberspluter gets very hot indeed and the unit itself not a lot cooler. Thus I suspect an air heater will be even hotter...

The unit INSIDE the case might be hot, but I can't get to it. The outer case is cool to the touch.

 

The reason for the bricks is to lift the unit more (off the stone slab that it'll be on) to give me more space under the unit for bending that metallic exhaust pipe without breaking/kinking it. The exhaust pipe touching my carpet burned the carpet (see end of video). So it is definitely hot.

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57 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think most people when they fit these on boats change the exhaust to a gas tight one that doesn't leak exhaust fumes into the boat

On this model, the exhaust pipe is a single solid piece of metal (held on with a jubilee clip) with a ribbed shape (for your pleasure) for bending. Still a bugger to bend though...

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think most people when they fit these on boats change the exhaust to a gas tight one that doesn't leak exhaust fumes into the boat

Seems reasonable.

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30 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

How risky is that ?

Depends on the circumstances. I believe that my use of a petrol genny at the boat is safe, though I could point you to two on our marina that seem lethal, though they have survived. Common sense is the order of the day, but it seems it is none too common. 
My biggest concern is CO with a petrol genny so we have doubled up on alarms since moving aboard full time (we never use shore power.) Second is the safe storage of petrol, which I believe we do as safely as possible. I do have a propane kit which will be fitted soon, so safer still all round.

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1 minute ago, catweasel said:

I believe that my use of a petrol genny at the boat is safe, though I could point you to two on our marina that seem lethal, though they have survived. Common sense is the order of the day, but it seems it is none too common. 

Use of a petrol generator on board (even outside) if certainly frowned upon by the BSS folks - understandably so.

The recommendation is to use it on the bank.

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Use of a petrol generator on board (even outside) if certainly frowned upon by the BSS folks - understandably so.

The recommendation is to use it on the bank.

That is where mine is. 

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2 hours ago, catweasel said:

Depends on the circumstances. I believe that my use of a petrol genny at the boat is safe, though I could point you to two on our marina that seem lethal, though they have survived. Common sense is the order of the day, but it seems it is none too common. 
My biggest concern is CO with a petrol genny so we have doubled up on alarms since moving aboard full time (we never use shore power.) Second is the safe storage of petrol, which I believe we do as safely as possible. I do have a propane kit which will be fitted soon, so safer still all round.

Saw one on a cruiser deck with a full cover, merrily running at Middlewich, I suspect the vents into the boat were also into the cruiser stern.

 

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Well, this is weird.
Took the heater and both my freshly charged batteries (one of which I used in my testing) down to the boat. Plumbed the heater in and fired it up. Error code E-01 which means the batteries are too low for the heating to start and continue.
It's the exact same setup I had working at home, except it's on the boat.
Once the unit switches off the batteries recover back to about 12.6V. Just like in my video. Weird!  :huh: :banghead:
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20 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:
Well, this is weird.
Took the heater and both my freshly charged batteries (one of which I used in my testing) down to the boat. Plumbed the heater in and fired it up. Error code E-01 which means the batteries are too low for the heating to start and continue.
It's the exact same setup I had working at home, except it's on the boat.
Once the unit switches off the batteries recover back to about 12.6V. Just like in my video. Weird!  :huh: :banghead:

Same cables?

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