Cheap Amazon Diesel heater recommendations?

[Dilldog]

@Dilldog Thanks for the info. I know with chinese ones it is recommended to run them full bore on startup, and then for at least 10 minutes before lowering the temp. On shutdown the same run them up to full bore for 10 to 15 minutes before shutdown. I have used this even doinf testing and so far I have had no issues, running diesel.

Sounds consistent with what I have been told / trained. Running on diesel will be just fine if you don't short cycle. Just keep the kerosene trick in mind if you ever have ignition issues or excessive smoke.

 

[reaver]

So, I finally got to use my diesel heater in the field this weekend. Took the kiddo camping this weekend, and used the diesel heater to keep the tent very cozy. Low Temps over night were right around freezing (maybe just below for a bit). Only burned through about half the tank of fuel.

So.... Anyone using a vevor heater on a lifepo4 battery.... They will complain that the voltage is too high, and you need a voltage Regulator. Once you do that, it works fantastic.

 

[rgallant]

Travel /protective case largely complete. It needs the hinged lower doors added as well as some waterproof exterior paint/stain. The one side is peg board, originally it was planned to be temporary, but I decided a bit of air flow would not hurt.

The gap on the exhaust side will stay, there is nothing that can be harmed there, it helps cool the exhaust and lets me see the fuel level.

It is not perfect, but the materials were in the house and it does the job I need it to, protects the unit during travel and from bad weather (rain ,hail, wet ugly snow)

Test of set up for running - still need a bit of heat proofing around the exhaust pipe.

Front - lcd panel is behind the plywood panel, which is attached to the top cover. And yes that gap at the front corner will be corrected.

Rear view -my intent is to add a support for the primary air intake, so it curves upward

Finally top view

 

[PNW EXPLR]

Pick one, buy two.

Your welcome.

 

[smritte]

Check this out for an RTT

Zipper vent

Every now and then, I wish I had a 3d printer.

 

[rgallant]

@smritte I do have one I am not sure how well PETG will hold up, I printed a coupler and it deformed, it was close to heater though. I found a STL file I will print one up and see how it goes, need to dry the tent out tomorrow anyway.

I will test and get some temp readings, and check for deformation

If it works ok, it would be about 10.00 plus shipping

 

[smritte]

I don't have an RTT but I know people who do. Let me know if they work. I may get some as presents for my group.

Every now and then I see something and think, if I had.....I could make my own.
I want a 3d printer, C&C table for my plasma and a C&C router. Oh and a nice tubing bender.

 

[smritte]

I'm starting to think, we should make a "heater post" and fill it with all the data we've collected once we get a few more bugs worked out.

Speaking of.
This weekend I tried to turn down the fuel pump pulse rate to drop my heater some. I found three U-Tube videos with my controller. They were all the same controller but diffrent techniques. None worked. I did manage to set mine to high altitude which does the same. Didnt get a chance to test it though.
As of now, I either need to get a 2kw heater or divert some of the airflow.
I ordered an air filter but didn't notice the ship date was a month away. I was hoping to have my intake system set up by now.

 

[rgallant]

So some solid testing a setup today, and found some minor mildew on my RTT as a result of snow buildup forcing water under cover and past the zipper on the awning side. Brushed off without an issue, but as I had to properly clean that side and get it wet time to test the heater.

I 3d printed a Zipper in vent, a few issues with the PETG material but the vent worked well.

The output, which was purchased in black.
The grey circle is a piece to allow the hose to connect this was left over from another test
The grey diamond is the vent that zips into the tent.

I ended up using the black vent as it rotated and works perfectly

Installed in the tent pointed toward the section that needed drying

Setup with the heater

 

[rgallant]

Now for some runtime info, the image above is where the heater will normally sit, although it can also sit on either rear tire as I am using a cheap tire step as a support.

I ran for 1 hour and 10 minutes plus a couple of false starts - I did not check the fuel ran between 5.4 and 2.4 HZ this dropped my Jackery 240 by 20% not unexpected as I ran at full bore for 20 minutes

The aluminum hose got almost too hot to touch, I may just bite the bullet and get another section of the black. I could not find my IR temp gun to get a temp on that.

The outside temp was 12.7 C or about 55 F

After 15 minutes the inside of the tent was 19.7 or 67.5 F
After an hour, 40 minutes which was at 2.4 HZ the tent was at 34c or about 93 F from 25 C or 77F when I dropped the speed down from max

As I was trying to heat the fabric up I did not try to modulate the temp beyond dropping to 2.4 Hz

The tent did cool down very fast, which is nice for stowage, I will need to play around some more but I would think 1.6 to 1.8 is the sweet spot for temp

There was no deformation of the 3d printed part and I noticed no softness, but the black hose was significantly cooler than the aluminum one

One note on the Jackery I checked and it could actually recharge while running the heater, from an inverter. The Jackery draws 60 watts on AC power and the heater at 2.4 pulls 11 - 13. You could prevent power drop on the Jackery by using a hook up to your vehicle battery, until the heater was run up the switch to the Jackery only. But that is test for another day.

Also, the output fan is forceful enough to ripple the tent fabric while running which is nice.

 

[smritte]

I bought a section of the aluminum hose and haven't tried it yet. Is the black hose metal or plastic?

 

[rgallant]

@smritte The black is the hose that came with the heater

 

[smritte]

Mine didn't have any. is yours metal?
I actually found mine on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Looked like someone didn't secure it well.

 

[rgallant]

The black is like a cardboard & foil construction, but very short. Most are 75mm or 60mm Amazon is your friend as far as stock hose goes.

I will likely cut a piece of the stock stuff to attach to the heater then put the aluminum in the middle, just as preventive to protect the heater. Probably overkill but I have the stuff to do it.

 

[BP Jeep]

Has anyone found some cheap 3" insulation to cover the output pipe. I have mine towards the front of the Jeep for noise reasons and need to insulate the output pipe.

 

[rgallant]

@BP Jeep I have not found anything so far.

 

[smritte]

Duct
You could slip this over the top. I bought the 3" version as my outlet hose. The first 12" of it gets too hot but as a covering it should work.