If you're a normal person, and wish to fit a 12v unit, just ignore the relevent switching unit comments!!
"Well, with the weather for January 2006 dry and mild(ish), I took the bull by the horns, and started to fit the heater in the Bongo. Thanks to Dandywarhol and Wrster I had a great set of instructions to guide me.
It started off slowly - I was having trouble fitting the mounting bracket I'd made to support the heater in the engine bay - a lack of room to work - but managed to solve that problem.
The next feat of engineering (bodging) entailed drilling a 65mm hole through two bulkheads - with a cheap hole saw! Needless to say, all I managed to do was blunt the hole saw half way through the first hole!! So, off to the local toolshop, and £23 lighter I had a "proper" jobbie that will last a lifetime - it probably will, as I can't envisage needing to drill that size holes in metal very often!!
Revelations - it cut through like a knife through butter - both holes drilled in 5 minutes!! These were for the hot air outlet, which is on the side of the step into the sliding side door, with a swiveling nozzle - the plan is, nozzle upwards, with door closed will heat the van - door open, and the nozzle outwards, it will heat the awning. That's the theory, anyway!!
I am borrowing a 100mm hole saw from my Son - this is to fit the recirculated warm air intake to the front of the engine shroud, in the passenger footwell. All being well, this should be an easier job than the outlet - even though it's a bigger hole!
After that, later in the week - the burner air intake and silencer, the burner exhaust and silencer, the fuel pump and supply, the electronic timer panel,................!!
Then I have to rip out my split-charge wiring, and replace it with the magic box of tricks that will supply 24volts from the two batteries for the heater, and 12volts for everything else!!
Luckily, Wryster has already done this job, and has written a great report on how to do it - so I'm really only copying his instructions!!
It would be really nice to have it working ready for our first camping weekend in March - depends really on the weather - but at least I've made a start, so that will give me some impetus to crack on with it - I do think that thinking about the job is very often worse than actually getting on with it - especially as one gets older - there is a great temptation to put it off till tomorrow, then it never gets done!!
If this installation proves a success, and I don't blow the Bongo up in the process, the next project will be to fit the Cruise control kit, which has been sitting looking at me since before Christmas!!
Well, the next day was quite a good day - weather a little cooler, but still condusive to "bodging"!!
I managed eventually drill my 100mm hole - the sharp hole saw didn't materialise, so it was back to the cheap set - eventually this one hole took me about 4 hours - I ended up drilling loadsa holes around the outline, and joining them up with a hammer and chisel (screwdriver, actually!!)
I was then able to mount the warm air intake fitting:-
I was soon forging ahead - helped no end by copious cuppas from Sue, and soon had the heater in place, and the ducting connected up:-
I did manage to also connect some pipes underneath the heater - air intake, exhaust, and fuel feed. Sorting these will be one of tomorrow's jobs - but I'm a Happy Chappie so far - it's looking good.
Still a lot to do before it's finished - including removing some interior trim panels to fit the timer / thermostat thingy.
After that, it's under the bonnet to rearrange the wiring to the batteries - this is where the whole project COULD go up in smoke if I get it wrong - but I'm feeling quietly confident, and that's half the battle!!
This is the hot air outlet on the sidestep,
Next day was a milestone day - after tidying up around the fuel pump, and priming the fuel lines with diesel, I connected up an old pair of batteries from Sue's wheelchair, said a couple of prayers, and switched it on!
Lots of flashing from the indicator - traced to a bad connection to the fuel pump. This fixed, I said a few more Hail Mary's, and tried again.
SUCCESS - the motor started - the fuel pump started clicking - the spark plug sparked - and afer a minute or so - HOT AIR !!
Wow - it's great!! The swivelling nozzle (pictured above) works well - makes it a dual purpose heater.
So that's the mechanical part almost finished - just have to remove some side panels and fit the thermostat, then it's the wiring to tackle!
A slow start today, due to the weather, and having to shop for some heat reflecting material to stick on the inside of the sliding door, which is very near to the heater outlet - don't want to melt the trim!!
Hopefully, if the weather is kind tomorrow, I should have it running from the van batteries, provided everything works as designed!!
Then it's just a case of tidying up the cables, and checking I haven't missed anything.
Guess wot - it is all in AND working as designed!! Today was lovely(ish), so managed to start work at the crack of dawn - 9.30am.
Managed to follow my wiring diagram without mishap, and soon there were no more wires to connect! With some trepidation I refitted the fuses - one by one - no nasty flashes or bangs.
With my meter I established that indeed 24 volts was available where it should be, so naturally I HAD to test the heater once more, this time running from the van. Great.
Next was the worrying bit - I had to start the engine, allowing the relay to energize, paralleling the two batteries for split charging.
To prevent the syndrome of the glowing charge lamp, I incorporated an NPN transistor as a switch - so the charge circuit only swithes about 135mA, instead of the whole relay current. This worked well.
Couldn't believe my luck - no blown fuses - and both batteries being charged from the alternator.
SUCCESS !!
All that was left to do was empty the van of all the tools, nuts and bolts, and discarded bits of wire".
