Cheap chinese diesel heater in a VW Beetle ....

[60six]

Hi

Purchased one of these odd devices (£99 on amazon) www.amazon.co.uk/Triclicks-Parking-Motorhomes-Campervans-Caravans/dp/B07V621RMB




My intention is to install into a VW Beetle and was wondering if anyone has any experience of doing this?

The only thing I think I will have to change is the fuel tank as it's 10l and quite large. I was considering installing the main unit in the spare wheel well with the exhaust coming out in the inner wing.

Anyone got any tips/experience?

[kevins]

I've fitted a couple into buildings, it's all pretty straight forward, the exhaust should slope fown from the unit to prevent condensate pooling, the inlet air can follow any route.

They are meant to be recirculation devices so you will need a inlet and outlet to the cabin for the large hoses.

[tofufi]

I fitted one to a Land Rover Defender before.

Pretty sure the original VW Beetle Eberspacher heaters were fitted under bonnet near the glovebox. Might be worth considering if there was a reason they were fitted there...

I did a quick google and found a company does make a bracket for under bonnet fitment...

evaresto.co.uk/products/t1-beetle-60-diesel-cabin-heater-mount

[60six]

was going to put it in the spare wheel well, but as I am using the old water bottle I wanted to keep the wheel so the bottle has somewhere to go.

After a bit of measuring, and cutting this is what I have done so far

[damageandy]

i had one fitted in the back of my old caddy van, used to turn in on 20 mins before work in the winter, was mint.

mine came with a fuel fitting to go in the supplied tank, i stuck that in the bottom of a 5l jerry can and threw the supplied tank away.

[ferny]

Don't use the fuel hoses which come with them or the clips as they're curse word. Also, make sure the wiring is done carefully as they can play games if there's voltage drop. If you can get a CO meter nearby it's worth putting one in too. The fixing plates are pretty pants and the last thing you want is to find out when driving!

[generallee]

Bit late, but does it have to be the right way up? ie the inlet/exhaust pipes underneath..
I don't think I have ever seen one mounted on its side.

[60six]

Jan 13, 2024 12:36:15 GMT generallee said:

Bit late, but does it have to be the right way up? ie the inlet/exhaust pipes underneath..
I don't think I have ever seen one mounted on its side.

I thought this as well, but in one of the manuals I found this


it's at 100 degrees so slightly over - should be ok









biggest issue i had was keeping the intake and exhaust away from each other - so I got some wrap for the exhaust and it will exit under the car, with the intake under the wing. I thought if it was stationary with both under the wing the exhaust would be sucked into the intake.

[60six]

Jan 13, 2024 7:34:03 GMT ferny said:

Don't use the fuel hoses which come with them or the clips as they're curse word. Also, make sure the wiring is done carefully as they can play games if there's voltage drop. If you can get a CO meter nearby it's worth putting one in too. The fixing plates are pretty pants and the last thing you want is to find out when driving!

got a co2 meter coming too, and the thin plastic hose is excellent, and I am a fan of the clips as long as you have the right tool, but are a nightmare without.

The larger hose clips are the most useless things ever invented, may as well be made from cheese.

the fixing plate is a bit too thin to be used but I cut it down and used it as a template to drill the holes with

[generallee]

I thought this as well, but in one of the manuals I found this

Cool! All is well!
You will be amazed at how well they work, I had no idea Eberspacher heaters were fitted to Beetles. Makes sense I guess.

[60six]

back when I had my first bug in the mid 90's I had a pair of gloves that would properly freeze themselves to the steering wheel, and the outside temp was always higher than the inside temp every time I drove it through winter. Using deicer inside the car was the norm. When I finally got the heaters working I had a mild cold, and on my 15 mile journey to college the heaters started working and for the first time ever I was toasty, warm, but feeling slightly out-of-it, I thought this was due to the mild cold I had.

Once I got to college I was feeling pretty rough, and once I opened the door I staggered out and fell on a grassy bank. I was seeing stars and everything went purple! I soon recovered, then realised that I had almost gassed myself. Every air cooled VW has a massive design fault with the exhaust gasket / mainfold gasket that almost by design, will let through exhaust fumes into the car at an alarming rate.

I stood up, once feeling better - and the first thing I realised was I had a wet foot. The grass was damp and my right trainer had it's sole missing. This was still in the car and had detached itself thru the heat.

I think it may of been then that I decided to not bother with heating in a bug anymore - would much rather freeze than gas myself - This is the inspiration for alternative heating.

[squonk]

Now on special offer at £79!! Think I might get one for the shed.

[93fxdl]

Jan 28, 2024 11:39:03 GMT squonk said:

Now on special offer at £79!! Think I might get one for the shed.

Just ordered one,
Ttfn Glenn

[60six]

I can confirm that the heater works extremely well - gets to about 26 degrees in the car!

Watching others panic as white smoke appears from under the front wheelarch is funny - can't hear it when engine running.

the only caveat is to NOT have the device switching on/off with ignition. These heaters need to perform a cool down cycle, so I have it on it's own switch independent of the ignition. The power draw is very light during cooling, and when parking up it can be left on once the heater is powered off via the panel so it can perform the 5 min cooling cycle.

I don't think I will ever drive any air-cooled VW without one of these. The car is almost civilised now! Gloves frozen to the steering wheel are now a thing of the past.