AmbuLand build thread
- Thread starter Abitibi
- Start date
Abitibi
Explorer
Wow, I've been neglecting this thread! It's harder to keep up with the build thread when you are almost done...
Not sure if I had mentioned it but I completed my waste veggie oil conversion (wvo) last June. It's a 2 tanks system so I guess that now makes my ambo an Hybrid vehicle
I've been using it for a good 15,000 miles so far and it's been great. This is my fifth conversion so far and still loving it.
Bunch other little projects got taken care of, Interior lighting, electrical upgrades... but one I've been wanting for a long time was to get going with a diesel heater.
The plan is to have both a airtronic and hydronic system. Thanks to a fellow member, I found a Webasto air heater for $150. I actually bought 4 of them and shared them with some good friends. Turns out 2 of them were brand new (2005 model) and 2 had very little use, great score!
Made our own wiring harness and control units, big money saved again
I put the Webasto into one of my bench storage and vented it directly out under the table. Made for a very simple and direct routing. Had to build a bracket to mount the heater as the ambo floors are 1.5" thick and would have been a pain to mount directly on the floor. I ran my fuel line inside a larger fuel line for protection and for now I think I'll just use this 2.5g Jerry can until I decide if I build a larger one. Finding a tank location could have been a challenge but turns out I had this great space waiting for love.
Still have to finish the wiring and havent received my exhaust yet but coming along, finally! And just in time for the season!!!
I also traded my Espar D10 for a smaller D5 but that project is for later on.
Anyway, here's a few pics.
Cheers
David
Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk
Not sure if I had mentioned it but I completed my waste veggie oil conversion (wvo) last June. It's a 2 tanks system so I guess that now makes my ambo an Hybrid vehicle
I've been using it for a good 15,000 miles so far and it's been great. This is my fifth conversion so far and still loving it.
Bunch other little projects got taken care of, Interior lighting, electrical upgrades... but one I've been wanting for a long time was to get going with a diesel heater.
The plan is to have both a airtronic and hydronic system. Thanks to a fellow member, I found a Webasto air heater for $150. I actually bought 4 of them and shared them with some good friends. Turns out 2 of them were brand new (2005 model) and 2 had very little use, great score!
Made our own wiring harness and control units, big money saved again
I put the Webasto into one of my bench storage and vented it directly out under the table. Made for a very simple and direct routing. Had to build a bracket to mount the heater as the ambo floors are 1.5" thick and would have been a pain to mount directly on the floor. I ran my fuel line inside a larger fuel line for protection and for now I think I'll just use this 2.5g Jerry can until I decide if I build a larger one. Finding a tank location could have been a challenge but turns out I had this great space waiting for love.
Still have to finish the wiring and havent received my exhaust yet but coming along, finally! And just in time for the season!!!
I also traded my Espar D10 for a smaller D5 but that project is for later on.
Anyway, here's a few pics.
Cheers
David
Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk
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Coachgeo
Explorer
Not sure how anyone can do WVO (Waste Veggie Oil) these days. All restaurants I tried are tied up with contracts for their WVO. Good 15 years ago I tried over about a ten year period to get some in OH, FL, TX where I lived and pretty much NO veg oil was available anywhere. All tied to contracts.. even the little places. Suspect it is even worse now.
Have you modified the computer and or anything else to change engine timing for the different WVO burn/Combustion characteristics?
Have you added anything to clean engine of unburnt fuels components (water inject for example) in your conversions?
So miss my Unimog 404 with MB OM617A turbo conversion. That thing would drink most any light oil for fuel happily. Took about two years but I collected enough to drive on it from Northern OH to Northern FL in the Mog towing a trailer.
Have you modified the computer and or anything else to change engine timing for the different WVO burn/Combustion characteristics?
Have you added anything to clean engine of unburnt fuels components (water inject for example) in your conversions?
So miss my Unimog 404 with MB OM617A turbo conversion. That thing would drink most any light oil for fuel happily. Took about two years but I collected enough to drive on it from Northern OH to Northern FL in the Mog towing a trailer.
Photomike
White Turtle Adventures & Photography
I have been playing with the idea of a van conversion and was intrigued when someone mentioned a diesel heater for the back like you have. Any idea on the fuel usage of your heater and how long a tank of fuel would last? I would have the space to mount under the frame but with it inside it would stay warmer so less issue with gelling in the really cold weather.
Found some specs, looks like on low heat about 5 hours per liter of fuel so with a 20 l can I would be able to easily stay out for a weekend with fuel left over.
Found some specs, looks like on low heat about 5 hours per liter of fuel so with a 20 l can I would be able to easily stay out for a weekend with fuel left over.
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Abitibi
Explorer
WVO
Coachgeo, I guess I've been lucky! I've been doing it for over 10 yrs and had good luck so far with supply. Just last year I had to drop my largest restaurant supply (35 gallons/week) cause I couldn't keep up with it. At the time I was probably collecting from 7 or 8 restaurants. I'm very picky and only use oil from sushi places. They use canola oil (best) and change it regularly so the oil is very nice. I've bought some oil in the States while cruising across the country and the oil I got wasn't as nice. It had a lot of animal fat and would get pretty thick if not warm. I tested the oil I collect and it will stay liquid after a night in my freezer. The main thing is to ensure there's no water in the oil, gravity is a very good friend to avoid this...
I haven't played with engine mapping. When I ordered my DPtuner I ask them if it mattered. Their answer was no. Not sure if it's because they are not familiar with it but I've never noticed any difference anyway. As for keeping the inside of the engine clean for sure water/meth conversion couldn't hurt. I have an old kit from a previous vehicle that I may carry over but the main thing is to ensure the oil is nice and warm before switching over (the two tank system can take care of that) and a proper purging at the end of your run. I'm very confident with the way I've designed my system but time will tell if I was cocky or not Regardless, I pollute less than most other diesel of this era, save tons of money and I got some decent bragging rights around the camp fire, lol.
As for the heater Photomike, my neighbor has a Chinese 5Kw version (more powerful) and he can run it on full blast for just about a week on 2.5g of diesel during mild weather (while testing his unit). Might not be as efficient when the weather drops but his van is well insulated and fairly small so quite efficient. It's a no brainer if you ask me!
Your other option is what my good friend did in his bus, cheaper and extremely efficient. Plus it's much nicer to hang out around his heater than a diesel one...
Cheers
David
Coachgeo, I guess I've been lucky! I've been doing it for over 10 yrs and had good luck so far with supply. Just last year I had to drop my largest restaurant supply (35 gallons/week) cause I couldn't keep up with it. At the time I was probably collecting from 7 or 8 restaurants. I'm very picky and only use oil from sushi places. They use canola oil (best) and change it regularly so the oil is very nice. I've bought some oil in the States while cruising across the country and the oil I got wasn't as nice. It had a lot of animal fat and would get pretty thick if not warm. I tested the oil I collect and it will stay liquid after a night in my freezer. The main thing is to ensure there's no water in the oil, gravity is a very good friend to avoid this...
I haven't played with engine mapping. When I ordered my DPtuner I ask them if it mattered. Their answer was no. Not sure if it's because they are not familiar with it but I've never noticed any difference anyway. As for keeping the inside of the engine clean for sure water/meth conversion couldn't hurt. I have an old kit from a previous vehicle that I may carry over but the main thing is to ensure the oil is nice and warm before switching over (the two tank system can take care of that) and a proper purging at the end of your run. I'm very confident with the way I've designed my system but time will tell if I was cocky or not
Regardless, I pollute less than most other diesel of this era, save tons of money and I got some decent bragging rights around the camp fire, lol.As for the heater Photomike, my neighbor has a Chinese 5Kw version (more powerful) and he can run it on full blast for just about a week on 2.5g of diesel during mild weather (while testing his unit). Might not be as efficient when the weather drops but his van is well insulated and fairly small so quite efficient. It's a no brainer if you ask me!
Your other option is what my good friend did in his bus, cheaper and extremely efficient. Plus it's much nicer to hang out around his heater than a diesel one...
Cheers
David
java
Expedition Leader
David, can I suggest running kerosene in your heater since you already run a separate tank? It burns much cleaner (especially if your at any kind of altitude) and will prolong the sooting of the heater. It seems to be their one weak point. Not hard to fix, just take the two halves apart, clean it out really well (replace burner if needed). Gaskets and parts are easily available. But running kero will keep the maintenance intervals down.
Photomike
White Turtle Adventures & Photography
I thought about a wood stove/pellet stove but the vehicle I am working on now is mainly for driving. I want/need something that I can use to take pictures, storm chase, etc in and the main use will be driving so having a vent or needing to wait till it cools down or goes out is not good. I do love the idea of free heat in the sense it does not use electricity and has few limits to run time. I don't think I even want solar panels as the less hanging outside the better for noise or wind resistance.
Ty_Deschaine
New member
Just curious, do you run the Webasto on veg or diesel? Im guessing diesel but I’m curious how these heaters will perform on alternate fuels. I run B5 bio full time and sometimes run higher blends (up to B100 in the summer, but I won’t be running the heater that time of the year).
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Abitibi
Explorer
Good point Java. I too read that burning kerosene really helps cleaning them up but from what I gathered doing it a few times a year will make a difference so I'll mostly use diesel and mix some kerosene tanks here and there (especially in the spring to clean it good before it stops getting regular use).
As for running them on veggie, I wouldn't. The heater might be fine to burn wvo but the fuel line is so tiny I bet it would get clogged right away. Actually, that's why I'm running a dedicated small diesel tank just for the heater as my main diesel tank could get a small amount of residual veggie oil during the purging process. It was also a lot easier to install, lol.
Cheers
David
Sent from my SGP511 using Tapatalk
As for running them on veggie, I wouldn't. The heater might be fine to burn wvo but the fuel line is so tiny I bet it would get clogged right away. Actually, that's why I'm running a dedicated small diesel tank just for the heater as my main diesel tank could get a small amount of residual veggie oil during the purging process. It was also a lot easier to install, lol.
Cheers
David
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Abitibi
Explorer
Can't install a diesel heater and not make use of it! So myself and 3 van buddies took our vans to Mt Baker last weekend for some skiing/snowshoeing.
Left Friday after work and headed out to the Boundary Bay Pub in Bellignham. So nice to be able to safely crawl out of the pub without a care for how much we drank. Our "houses" were parked just behind the pub
We woke up with some of the pub's staff lurking at our vans. No complaints especially when they offered us a 24 pack of free beer!
With extra beer in hand (actually in fridge) we headed up to the mountain. Gorgeous drive, great weather!
The little Webasto air heater did it's job and kept me toasty all weekend. Best of all, I barely used 1 gallon of diesel with the heater running non-stop.
Cheers!
Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk
Left Friday after work and headed out to the Boundary Bay Pub in Bellignham. So nice to be able to safely crawl out of the pub without a care for how much we drank. Our "houses" were parked just behind the pub
We woke up with some of the pub's staff lurking at our vans. No complaints especially when they offered us a 24 pack of free beer!
With extra beer in hand (actually in fridge) we headed up to the mountain. Gorgeous drive, great weather!
The little Webasto air heater did it's job and kept me toasty all weekend. Best of all, I barely used 1 gallon of diesel with the heater running non-stop.
Cheers!
Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk
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