Diesel cab heater

[Barking Mat]

Be warned they take a big current at startup - so you need a 20 or 30amp supply.
I melted two power connectors I bought for the psu - so in the end I hard wired it.

Well familiar with all that, but good advice. Thank you.

 

[fizzy]

i assume by russian you mean the planair/autoterm ones?


they're a little better built than the chinese ones, and generally accepted to be the best quality heater that isn't Webasto and eberspacher.

having said that i have a webasto and 2 chinese heaters. one "8kw"(not really, they're all 5kw, whether they say they're 3,5 or 8) chinese all in one. it heats my garage and is 100% reliable over 2 winters now. fuel tank could be a bit bigger though. second is a 5kw in my lorry, does a good job, not had much use but seems to work well. i found it needs a non return valve near the tank to stop it draining back when not used for months, and the fuel tank cap seal swelled so the tank got vacuum locked. both easy fixes. the webasto is in dads horsebox, does the job, only issue was with the pump failing as it would mounted outside with no protection, and the doggy 24v supply that caused it to go into fault every time it tried to start. fixed with a decent fuse box not the low quality crappy one that was already there.

my point is, i don't have any issues with the chinese ones, in fact I've had more issues with the webasto, although to be fair, its older....

They aren't even 5kw - only 4. But as you say they are incredible for the money.
I use a 30L outboard motor fuel tank.
It honestly runs 10 hrs every day and has been faultless thankfully.

 

[Barking Mat]

They aren't even 5kw - only 4. But as you say they are incredible for the money.
I use a 30L outboard motor fuel tank.
It honestly runs 10 hrs every day and has been faultless thankfully.

I've worked with Webastos, Eberspatchers, Trumatics, Kabolas and all this for a good 15 years, just never heard of this Russian supplier before. Hence the post.

Thanks to everyone, once again the knowledge base in this forum never ceases to amaze me.

BIG THANKS! And keep it coming.

I'll do a full review when it's installed.

 

[Ashley Burton]

i can do better than that...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-5KW-...740465?hash=item340fc30cf1:g:~UgAAOSw-DRdPb3v

Mine was a UK seller

That's probably in China

 

[Ashley Burton]

@fizzy I thought it was nearer to 10 amps?

David McLuckie on YouTube has some great videos

 

[qwakers]

Mine was a UK seller

That's probably in China

probably. but who cares. patience is a virtue anyway.

 

[Barking Mat]

Mine was a UK seller

That's probably in China

At that price if it arrived and it works it's a winner!

Shocking that at that price it is disposable.

I don't like that stuff, I'd rather buy something for a lifespan of 10 to 20 years.

It's only when the parts become obselete, you upgrade, for me.

When the company no longer supports thems. I.e Trumatic, or Traumatic in my books.

 

[Ashley Burton]

@qwakers You aren't retired are you?

If it's not here in a week, Then I'm not buying it! Too many times I've waited a month for nothing to arrive

 

[Barking Mat]

@fizzy I thought it was nearer to 10 amps?

David McLuckie on YouTube has some great videos

I'll try and dig out the details tomorrow, you don't need big cables...

 

[Ashley Burton]

@barking mat It's just shows the mass production they're churning out!

 

[qwakers]

Yep, that's the company, the name was escaping me, never heard of them before last week.

Interesting what you've written above, exactly what I wanted to know.

Companies idea, is for the price of one Webasto, you have two, should one fail, you've a spare to replace it, off the shelf.

Just my initial look at it was 'cheap', hence the post. Thanks @qwakers .

a good thing to remember is genuine eberspacher heaterplugs are a direct replacement. and get rid of 99% of issues with the chinese ones...

 

[Barking Mat]

@barking mat It's just shows the mass production they're churning out!

Wonder how Russian and Chinese wages compare, workers rights, conditions and all that jazz.

 

[fizzy]

@fizzy I thought it was nearer to 10 amps?

David McLuckie on YouTube has some great videos

I think when I measured it mine was nearer 15amps at 12V. Running it drops way down but with a cheap Chinese power supply it is better to err on the side of caution

 

[Barking Mat]

There's not really a hell of a lot to go wrong with them.

Easy to check and diagnose, the glowplug, the flame detector, older Webastos used an absorbent pad for diesel dispersion , that was rectified 12+ years ago, the pump can die but it's rare, the electric cards, the same, but rare, I used to have a box of spares, including the gasket sets, 95% of problems, was low batteries, or charging circuits.

a good thing to remember is genuine eberspacher heaterplugs are a direct replacement. and get rid of 99% of issues with the chinese ones...

R

 

[Ashley Burton]

Wonder how Russian and Chinese wages compare, workers rights, conditions and all that jazz.

Do you want me to answer that question?

 

[Barking Mat]

There's not really a hell of a lot to go wrong with them.

Easy to check and diagnose, the glowplug, the flame detector, older Webastos used an absorbent pad for diesel dispersion , that was rectified 12+ years ago, the pump can die but it's rare, the electric cards, the same, but rare, I used to have a box of spares, including the gasket sets, 95% of problems, was low batteries, or charging circuits.

R

It's all a question of the quality of components used at the end of the day.

 

[Barking Mat]

Do you want me to answer that question?

Well, your thoughts at the very least...

 

[Ashley Burton]

It's all a question of the quality of components used at the end of the day.

If something is cheap I don't expect much

But everyone swears by these chinese diesel heaters

 

[Barking Mat]

I think when I measured it mine was nearer 15amps at 12V. Running it drops way down but with a cheap Chinese power supply it is better to err on the side of caution

it's only on start up, once it's lit, it's a ventilator and diesel pump, not much.

 

[Barking Mat]

If something is cheap I don't expect much

But everyone swears by these chinese diesel heaters

Well at a tenth of a price of a Webasto.......

If you really can buy one that cheap.

Have we mentioned safety yet?

The Webasto have massive Kevlar cladding, the Russian one by comparison is laughable.

If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll get some photos of the difference in the quality of the supplied kit.

Different worlds............