Webasto Diesel Heater

[roosmith]

I have an Eberspacher diesel heater sat in the garage waiting for me to install. I was intending to get it fitted before the winter season was over, perhaps it's a summer project, ready for next winter!

[BigPanzer]

Hi,

Just a thought, because I too have been looking at fitting a gas or diesel heater. I liked the idea of being able to run one off the main (diesel) fuel tank, but then I read somewhere - possibly on this forum - that veg oil is a big no no because it is likely to knacker the heater.

Can anybody confirm this or otherwise because if true it would presumably apply to any equipment fed by diesel, whether it is a space heater, water heater or whatever.

Peter

[dave_aber]

Veg doesn't knacker the heater, but it won't run on it.

I've got a Webasto Airtop 2000 and when I've used veg oil the heater just won't fire up.

Once I'm back on diesel, it takes a bit of trying to start it to flush the veg out and get diesel to the burner (5 or so start attempts) the it fires up as normal.

I'd never get to sleep with the smell of chips if it ran on veg!

[BigPanzer]

Dave -

Thanks for the info, it looks for my needs that the Propex is the way to go.

Wonder if anybody has thought of or tried running the hot exhaust flue on a Propex through the water tank to act as a heat exchanger. How efficient it would be would depend on the exhaust temp of the Propex and the design of a custom made flue amongst other things and a mod would be required to the tank before lagging it.

Peter

[winchman]

You couldnt run it in the flue as it may restrict the exhaust gasses comming out, but you could wrap it around the outside of the flue but give Propex a call first.
I have a none working propex in the garage if any one has a circuit diagram it would be useful?

[Velocette]

Veg doesn't knacker the heater, but it won't run on it.

I've got a Webasto Airtop 2000 and when I've used veg oil the heater just won't fire up.

Once I'm back on diesel, it takes a bit of trying to start it to flush the veg out and get diesel to the burner (5 or so start attempts) the it fires up as normal.

I'd never get to sleep with the smell of chips if it ran on veg!

My Airtop 2000 seems happy on 25% Veg.

[dave_aber]

Interesting. I don't think I've been above 25%, but the heater wasn't happy.

[Velocette]

Interesting. I don't think I've been above 25%, but the heater wasn't happy.

Maybe it depends on ambient temperature and type of veg oil. I probably had Tesco Veg Oil in at the time. I have noticed that both Tesco Sunflower and KTC cloud in cold weather but The Generic Veg oil from Tesco stays clear. A few people on Marine Forums use veg oil in their boats but I guess they aren't using them in freezing conditions.

If I was to plan an overnight stop and was really dependent on the heater rather than a "Nice to Have" I would probably fill up with diesel and add the veg oil in the morning.