Bongo Fury

Having been asked several times for info on fitting extra heating inside a Bongo I thought I would share the following information...

I have used a Propex heater before in the French Alps and have today had it refitted to my new Bongo.
The heater I bought a few years ago for £400 and it runs off Propane/Camping Gaz.
Not sure how much to get to fitted as I did it myself before but the new install is in the engine bay this time and I haven't got the bill yet.
It essentially needs a power in, thermostat comes out from the unit and it needs copper running to the gas supply, which will be in the back of my Bongo.
There is a clean air inlet and exhaust that are on the base of the bongo and need extending to the van exterior.
Pros:
Uses minimal electricity, just for the initial 'spark'
Exhausts to the outside so no extra condensation
Very quick to heat the van.
Can be used on fan only mode in summer
Cons: Needs separate gas supply.

My friend had an Eberspacher for a similar ski trip and he had problems with it draining the leisure battery if he didn't recharge it every couple of days. I understand that the Eberspacher has some sort of glow plug ignition which uses considerably more power than the Propex.
Pros: Uses existing diesel supply (I believe)

The Webasto I have only heard about but this could be a better alternative to the Eberspacher, if the ignition doesn't use as much power.

That said the diesel heaters seem neater if they do in fact use the existing diesel supply, unless you already have gas within your Bongo.
The ignition issue with the diesel heaters should not be an issue if you stay on campsites or travel every couple of days to charge your leisure battery.

I hope the above helps. I will post a trip report when I return from Chamonix, all being well in April.

had a Eberspacher and found it to noisey to get any decent sleep. Hows the gas one for noise??

Although I have slept ok with the Propex running I tend to turn it off during the night anyway. I never noticed it stopping me sleeping, when running it sounds like a fairly quiet fan. Will be able to tell you more again after my next road trip.

Eberspacher D1 (and Webasto equivalant) uses around 20 amps for initial startup until it heats enough to self combust (it uses a glow plug for initial starting. The D2 uses about 8 amps to start.

Once they're both underway they use about 1.5 amp from memory to power the fan.

I'd reckon the leisure battery hadn't been charged properly (they need a good charge from a mains charger at least twice a year) also, the cold was an effect on the LB and if the battery voltage drops below around 11.5v the Eber won't start.

I've wired my Eber to the main battery - the initial 20 or so amps draw has little or no effect on a decent battery as long as they aren't constantly switched on and off. If set to minimum the heater is still self igniting.

dandywarhol wrote:Eberspacher D1 (and Webasto equivalant) uses around 20 amps for initial startup until it heats enough to self combust (it uses a glow plug for initial starting. The D2 uses about 8 amps to start.

Once they're both underway they use about 1.5 amp from memory to power the fan.

I'd reckon the leisure battery hadn't been charged properly (they need a good charge from a mains charger at least twice a year) also, the cold was an effect on the LB and if the battery voltage drops below around 11.5v the Eber won't start.

I've wired my Eber to the main battery - the initial 20 or so amps draw has little or no effect on a decent battery as long as they aren't constantly switched on and off. If set to minimum the heater is still self igniting.

You raise an interesting point here Dandy. I'm suspicious about leisure batteries (or at least mine). It won't handle any half decent current before it's voltage drops, although its fine on small currents (lights, radio etc). The thermostat unit and low voltage cutout I designed t work with a 12v electric blanket worked great on tests with a 75Ah starter battery. I got 2 nights running before the low voltage cutout cut in (ha ha). But as soon as I put it to work with the 110Ah leisure battery, the low voltage protector kept cutting in and out. The current drain (8 amps at a guess) dropped the LB voltage to below 11.5v. So the device was no use.

I'm seriously considering fitting a second starter battery when I replace the LB, for reasons given above. As long as I either use a low voltage protector, or else check my installed panel voltmeter and stop using it once it drops to 11.5v then I wonder if it will do it any harm (after all, the low voltage protectors are sold for use in normal car applications). However, I am still reading stuff that suggests that starter batteries don't like being flattened at all for any length of time so I'm on the fence at present. I ought to start a new thread on this one I guess.