Office Diesel Heater Install

[Kayos]

Any links to a decent DH?
I may have to join the club

Got mine from Ali Express, UK seller and arrived in 3 days

It was £6 cheaper when I bought it

[UK Stock] Diesel Air Heater 12V All in One Car Heater With Silencer Remote Control for Car Truck Boat RV Parking Diesel Heater - AliExpress 34

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

 

[Newlands]

Any links to a decent DH?
I may have to join the club

Have a look on Amazon and eBay - loads of sellers and they are all rebadged versions of two or three basic models. I bought mine some time ago from an eBay seller - dhd_4505. Not the same model (mine was an all-in-one ie with a fuel tank inside the enclosure) but the one he currently lists is this one. I'm sure there are plenty of other sellers though.

 

[fizzy]

Make sure you get a 12v 30amp supply. Usually badged up for powering LEDs. Usually around £20 on Ebay. Beware terminals are live and exposed so needs to be out of reach or in a box.

 

[Newlands]

Make sure you get a 12v 30amp supply

Yes, they draw a fair current when they start up. I butchered a computer power supply for mine and stuck it in a box. lots of people say you should run them off a car battery in case of a power cut as it supposedly fries the control board, but I haven't bothered. I have inadvertently switched mine off at the mains a couple of times but it hasn't caused a problem.

 

[Kayos]

Yes, they draw a fair current when they start up. I butchered a computer power supply for mine and stuck it in a box. lots of people say you should run them off a car battery in case of a power cut as it supposedly fries the control board, but I haven't bothered. I have inadvertently switched mine off at the mains a couple of times but it hasn't caused a problem.

I think it's the shutdown procedure, probably to stop them coking up

We do suffer power cuts, but the battery is more hassle than risking it

 

[Gragson]

It was £6 cheaper when I bought it

Come summer it will probably be cheaper, the old axiom, buy out of season..

Any tips or links to 240v to 12v PSU for these?

 

[Newlands]

Come summer it will probably be cheaper, the old axiom, buy out of season..

Any tips or links to 240v to 12v PSU for these?

If you can scrounge a dead PC you can knock one up - https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/blog/convert-atx-psu-to-bench-supply.html

 

[m_c]

Just a thought, but if the exhaust is getting as hot as some have measured, why isn’t that bit kept inside the workshop, and not let out through the wall until the temp has dropped markably?

A straight run of corrugated pipe along the wall would be adding more heat inside the workshop, so when it goes outside it’s barely 100° or so.

Someone I read about installed a log burner in their workshop, and had the flue running diagonally all the way across one wall, before it went outside, to grab the maximum heat from the whole thing.

From a text book installation point, the burner intake and exhaust should not be within the habitable area, due to the risk of exhaust fumes escaping.
The typical exhaust pipes used are not exactly durable, and are prone to splitting if subject to any movement, especially once they've been used for a while, so it's something to consider with any installation.

However, there's quite a few people running the exhaust through an old radiator to extract as much heat as possible.

Certainly on vehicles when I worked on them, if I was to come across one that hadn't been installed correctly with the combustion inlet or exhaust within the vehicle, I'd have to refuse to repair, and advise the customer why due to any potential liability.
However what you do with your own personal heater on your own property, is entirely up to yourself.

 

[Kayos]

Come summer it will probably be cheaper, the old axiom, buy out of season..

Any tips or links to 240v to 12v PSU for these?

https://amzn.eu/d/c0nssOx

 

[m_c]

Yes, they draw a fair current when they start up. I butchered a computer power supply for mine and stuck it in a box. lots of people say you should run them off a car battery in case of a power cut as it supposedly fries the control board, but I haven't bothered. I have inadvertently switched mine off at the mains a couple of times but it hasn't caused a problem.

If you run them of a car battery, you'll get more heat out them as the fan will run faster.
(Some 12V supplies will let you trim the voltage up higher, so it can be worth trying to get it up nearer 13V to get a little bit extra fan speed at full power)

The shutdown process powers up the glow plug to try and burn off any soot deposits, and also keeps the fan running until the heater cools down.
Killing power with the heater at full output probably isn't advisable, as you could potentially overheat the internals.
And the typical ECUs are not exactly a strong point on these, so anything that causes sudden power surges are best avoided.

 

[fizzy]

If you can scrounge a dead PC you can knock one up - https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/blog/convert-atx-psu-to-bench-supply.html

Not worth the hassle for £20

 

[fizzy]

If you run them of a car battery, you'll get more heat out them as the fan will run faster.
(Some 12V supplies will let you trim the voltage up higher, so it can be worth trying to get it up nearer 13V to get a little bit extra fan speed at full power)

The shutdown process powers up the glow plug to try and burn off any soot deposits, and also keeps the fan running until the heater cools down.
Killing power with the heater at full output probably isn't advisable, as you could potentially overheat the internals.
And the typical ECUs are not exactly a strong point on these, so anything that causes sudden power surges are best avoided.

Depending on the state of charge. Truly.not worth the hassle.

 

[m_c]

Depending on the state of charge. Truly.not worth the hassle.

It does depend on the state of charge, but I run mine off a battery with a smart charger permanently connected, so it's nearly always above 13V when running.
I can hear the fan speed drop if I unplug the charger.
Plus it means I can still get heat if the power is off, and don't have to wait for it to cool before reigniting if the mains does go off.

 

[JOEPRO]

Actually I rang my insurance about enclosing the PSU. They said this would constitute a modification similar to fitting a tow bar

 

[Wallace]

I made the mistake of asking a question on one of the Faecesbook CDH groups about the priming button on my controller. Gods teeth it pulled the dregs of society out to pillory me for even considering the thought of priming the system. I had one fella who took the time to answer and had a sensible conversation with him, the rest of the festering seanuts can F.R.O.

 

[pawsnizzy]

Come summer it will probably be cheaper, the old axiom, buy out of season..

Any tips or links to 240v to 12v PSU for these?

I bought this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Padarsey-Universal-Regulated-Switching-Compatible/dp/B09YRGTTJ6?pd_rd_w=NAwMf&content-id=amzn1.sym.a77cfdfd-0ce5-4063-9311-c27eac6a4663&pf_rd_p=a77cfdfd-0ce5-4063-9311-c27eac6a4663&pf_rd_r=S30GDY6XVCP0QAKFXJR1&pd_rd_wg=EINab&pd_rd_r=1e791546-8a88-46f8-bdba-dd517f347b56&pd_rd_i=B09YRGTTJ6&psc=1&ref_=pd_basp_d_rpt_ba_s_3_t

 

[Blobber]

It does depend on the state of charge, but I run mine off a battery with a smart charger permanently connected, so it's nearly always above 13V when running.
I can hear the fan speed drop if I unplug the charger.
Plus it means I can still get heat if the power is off, and don't have to wait for it to cool before reigniting if the mains does go off.

Thats all I do, got loads of battery's and chargers hanging about already
Im not going to post pictures of my install though...

 

[Kayos]

Thats all I do, got loads of battery's and chargers hanging about already
Im not going to post pictures of my install though...

Why no pictures????

Had the IR thermometer out today, 240ish at the elbow, less than 60 (outside of insulation) before it got to the wall, less than 100mm run

Disappointed it wasn't 500 degrees and glowing if I'm honest

 

[MattF]

Im not going to post pictures of my install though...

Wise man.

 

[MattF]

I made the mistake of asking a question on one of the Faecesbook CDH groups about the priming button on my controller. Gods teeth it pulled the dregs of society out to pillory me for even considering the thought of priming the system. I had one fella who took the time to answer and had a sensible conversation with him, the rest of the festering seanuts can F.R.O.

It's annoying when it happens, isn't it.

The effect it has is to make it so that you get to the point where you think sod it, it's not worth the hassle of posting photo's, or asking advice, & just crack on with something, when in reality it would be nice to just have some advice, or a second opinion.