12v diesel heater (cheap Chinese version) for central heating

[silverbuttocks]

Hi All,

 

Our 63 foot NB has a decent multi-fuel burner that is at present our one and only way of heating the boat. It is great, EXCEPT the heat doesn't make it's way down the length of the boat to the bathroom and bedroom at the stern (burner is near the bow). This is a common issue I understand. We have decided to go for a cheap Eberspacher copy (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171155028516?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649) that an acquaintance of mine has fitted and says is very good. We only want to use it for maybe an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, just to take the damp and chill off the bedroom and bathroom, continuing to use the burner as our main source of heat. We already have rads installed that used to be connected to a calorifier, but which is now connected to our hot water supply. I know this is likely to open up a can of worms, as different folks have different experiences, but generally speaking does this sound like a good route to go down? Is there another option? Someone mentioned a combo-boiler to me, but these are expensive so it seems (> £1.3k) and usually need 230v elec (we are CC'ers by the way, although we do have an inverter, but would rather save our batteries). Our burner does not have a back boiler, although we want to be able to have a blast of central heating in the morning, so this would not really be an option. This is our first winter onboard, so open to advice!

 

Cheers for now!!!

 

ps, can we get hot water from the diesel heater too, in combination with our existing calorifier??

[Guest]

ps, can we get hot water from the diesel heater too, in combination with our existing calorifier??

 

Short answer is yes depending on your calorifier type, do you know how many coils it has?

 

 

spelling ed.

Edited October 29, 2013 by The Dog House

[by'eck]

It says it runs on commercial gasoline = petrol!

[Guest]

It says it runs on commercial gasoline = petrol!

 

It's got lost in translation surely?

 

Gasoil - Gasoline

 

The rest of the spec. has been similarly badly translated.

 

I'd love to see the installation instructions....

Edited October 29, 2013 by The Dog House

[silverbuttocks]

It says it runs on commercial gasoline = petrol!

 

well spotted, but i'm pretty sure that this must run on diesel - i have just sent them a query about this anyway. for now, let's just go ahead and presume that it is, or that i wont buy one that isn't diesel powered.

 

there are some reconditioned Webasto Thermo Top C heaters on ebay too, so that's always an option. the main issue is whether people think this is a good idea, or whether there is a similarly priced alternative...

 

Short answer is yes depending on your calorifier type, do you know how many coils it has?

 

 

spelling ed.

 

no, no idea about the calorifier. i've never even had a look at it!! it's under the wardrobe in the bedroom - i guess i should have a nosey and see if i can get a make/model from it...

Edited October 29, 2013 by silverbuttocks

[Phil Ambrose]

The Chinese are far too savvy to make a Ebby/Webby clone that only runs on petrol. I'm thinking the OP's friend would be able to say which fuel it uses, which I suspect is diesel

Oh and not being picky but it is Calorifier

 

Phil

Edited October 29, 2013 by Phil Ambrose

[silverbuttocks]

it's definitely diesel or red diesel - i've just heard...

The Chinese are far too savvy to make a Ebby/Webby clone that only runs on petrol. I'm thinking the OP's friend would be able to say which fuel it uses, which I suspect is diesel
Oh and not being picky but it is Calorifier

Phil

i know - bloody auto-correct on my computer!! but well-spotted!

[Hawkmoth]

My experience with ebersplutters isn't good. A Chinese copy usually isn't as good as the original.

Just bear this in mind when making a decision.

Bob

[silverbuttocks]

My experience with ebersplutters isn't good. A Chinese copy usually isn't as good as the original.

Just bear this in mind when making a decision.

Bob

 

hi bob - what exactly is your experience? problem is i know people that have no problems with them, and people that do. same as anything really. but it would be good to know exactly what bad expereince you have had. also, what about an alternative method of heating the back rooms?? thanks!!

[Jigsawged]

Ebay also has genuine Eberspachers at a similar price. I would think carefully about installing the Chinese Copy until I'd seen some reviews etc.

[silverbuttocks]

Ebay also has genuine Eberspachers at a similar price. I would think carefully about installing the Chinese Copy until I'd seen some reviews etc.

 

really? ah, well, i have seen some reconditioned ebers and webastos for a similar price, but not sure about this reconditioned thing - second hand makes me a little suspicious...

 

another thing to bear in mind is that the original Eberspacher was a celebrated Nazi fighter pilot who had a pretty hot record of blowing allies (including Brits) out of the skies during WWII, before going on to found the heater industry that we know (and love?) today...

[Hawkmoth]

 

hi bob - what exactly is your experience? problem is i know people that have no problems with them, and people that do. same as anything really. but it would be good to know exactly what bad expereince you have had. also, what about an alternative method of heating the back rooms?? thanks!!

We had a D5WSC running the central heating on our boat.

The first one failed at just under two years old. To be fair, They replaced the the faulty part under guarantee.

Some month later it failed again, this time it was the electronics. These cannot be repaired and must be replaced, the dealer told me that as well the electronics, the air motor had failed. The resulting bill would have been close to the price of a new unit, and with the fact that this gave me a two year guarantee I decided on that option.

Just over two year later that unit went the same way.

As well as the above, I had to strip and clean it regularly to keep it working. ( it coked up regularly) A heat exchanger failed and like all parts, they aren't cheap.

When the last one packed up I gave up and bought a Hurricane.

Bob

[PhilR]

 

 

another thing to bear in mind is that the original Eberspacher was a celebrated Nazi fighter pilot who had a pretty hot record of blowing allies (including Brits) out of the skies during WWII, before going on to found the heater industry that we know (and love?) today...

 

Are you suggesting that the boat heaters are designed for blowing up British narrowboats? But seriously, thanks for that snippet of history.

[Guest]

no, no idea about the calorifier. i've never even had a look at it!! it's under the wardrobe in the bedroom - i guess i should have a nosey and see if i can get a make/model from it...

The main thing is to check how many coils. You need one for the engine water circulation and one for the diesel heater circulation. If it has two you should be able to see the spare connectors for the currently redundant circuit.

[NMEA]

Ask the seller what his (her) spares inventory is. These Chinese heaters need tobe carefuly checked, I was offered a dealership from China and when checking the CE marking found it to be the usual China Export con mark and obviously would not proceed on that basis as apart from worries about quality I was deeply worried about my PL insurance should anything go wrong, that said there are some good Chinese heaters available in the UK which are properly CE approved and have a good importer and spares / service back up but the price is far more than those units. The "shop" terms and conditions contravine the distance selling regulations too, Caveat Emptor.

Edited October 29, 2013 by NMEA

[PaddingtonBear]

What about any BSS issues? and also check ou the electrickery consumption, an issue often forgotten.

[NMEA]

What about any BSS issues? and also check ou the electrickery consumption, an issue often forgotten.

BSS is more about installation, particularly the fuel supply rather than the heater unit per se, however any lack of CE marking could affect RCD as all kit installed must be CE marked, probably why no new builds have them despite the fact they have been available in UK for quite some time, at the price new builders would certainly be looking at them if they were worth the trouble.

Edited October 29, 2013 by NMEA

[onionbargee]

A Chinese knockoff Eberspacher ?

 

Service life of how many minutes ?

 

warrenty, Parts and service.....no chance.

[silverbuttocks]

A Chinese knockoff Eberspacher ?

 

Service life of how many minutes ?

 

warrenty, Parts and service.....no chance.

 

ok, so these are good points. i emailed the ebay company, but you're right, they are unlikely to have an engineer and maybe parts are difficult to come by. but surely eberspacher/webasto diesel heaters are rarely serviced by engineers from those companies, more likely by people experienced with diesel heaters, no? so you think that i would do better buying a reconditioned webasto thermo top c which can be bought for around 400 on ebay?? because that is the other option at the moment...

[Guest]

 

ok, so these are good points. i emailed the ebay company, but you're right, they are unlikely to have an engineer and maybe parts are difficult to come by. but surely eberspacher/webasto diesel heaters are rarely serviced by engineers from those companies, more likely by people experienced with diesel heaters, no? so you think that i would do better buying a reconditioned webasto thermo top c which can be bought for around 400 on ebay?? because that is the other option at the moment...

 

They are often serviced by 'agents' of the companies though and they will be familiar with those particular models. You may not find somebody willing to tackle a service or repair on the Chineses ones. You could of course tackle that yourself if competent enough.

 

I would be inclined to go for a second hand ebby or webby rather than those 'copies' - that is just my view though, others may disagree.

[silverbuttocks]

 

They are often serviced by 'agents' of the companies though and they will be familiar with those particular models. You may not find somebody willing to tackle a service or repair on the Chineses ones. You could of course tackle that yourself if competent enough.

 

I would be inclined to go for a second hand ebby or webby rather than those 'copies' - that is just my view though, others may disagree.

i appreciate your advice martin - i am beginning to think this is the best idea. i have just found a recon webasto which has all new parts except the actual heater for 500 but with option to make an offer. if i can get it for 450 i think that i might go for it... anyone else out there got any last words on the matter???

[Guest]

i appreciate your advice martin - i am beginning to think this is the best idea. i have just found a recon webasto which has all new parts except the actual heater for 500 but with option to make an offer. if i can get it for 450 i think that i might go for it... anyone else out there got any last words on the matter???

 

When buying (this came up in a recent thread about second hand diesel heaters) make sure the operating voltage is correct for your boat - some from vehicles are 24V - mainly taken out of trucks, this will obviously be fine if your boat is 24V too but not if it's the more usual 12V.

Edited October 30, 2013 by The Dog House

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

or use a ecofan to distribute the heat from your stove.

[Arthur Brown]

If it comes from China I'd doubt the availability of spares, unless genuine eber parts will fit.

Genuine Ebers don't like gas oil with the problems it's probably cheaper to use derv, modern red diesel works better and with a little care you can use ordinary heating kerosene which is cheaper and ebers run better for it.

 

I once saw (here?) that the design life of an eber is 5000 hours which you can soon eat up, it will not get that far if you don't treat it well. Ebers must run an antifreeze inhibitor mix so you can heat water in the calorifier if you have a spare coil.

[onionbargee]

they are going to be the same as all the other low price stuff like the generators that look to good to be true, the ubiquitous 6 kva Diesel for £700 !! that lasts a few months .

 

they are built down to a price by skimping on proper materiels, and using low quality electronic components, they are built to get money coming in to China not provide the customer with a good product, as soon as they leave the glorious peoples factory thats it.They know it's coming back on the next scrap metal shipment.

 

Its ok for tools you only use once, but if you want to rely on it for your heating your going to be sorely let down.

 

( the £7 Ebay digital vernier caliper is good though, much less stress when you drop it in the cut )