$200 5KW Portable Diesel Air Heater

[Kirby McRae]

I did some searching and came up empty. Does anyone know if there are versions of these cheap knock offs that use gasoline? Id rather not have to carry an extra type of fuel besides gasoline

I was participating in a discussion about running these units on gasoline (also the espar D2). Best we can tell there is not a whole of of difference between the gas and diesel versions. The combustion chamber is slightly different, and the initial fuel pump ramp speed during startup is different. Diesel and gas have similar enough energy content, that it should run successfully on gasoline. For 200$ it may be worth a try. Just test it thoroughly.

With espar/eberspacher, the D2 (diesel) and B2(gasoline) (B5 and D5 as well) use the same glow plug, same fuel pump, same blower motor etc. Only the ECU programming, and the combustion chamber are different. The Diesel versions have a mesh screen to hold the flame in place, while the gasoline versions use a couple of smaller tubes and flame holder fins.

I have heard yes, but not yet found any.

If eBay doesn't show them, ask the sellers.

I'm also looking for hydronic / block heater style rather than forced air only.

Authentic Espars are available in both diesel D4 and gas B4 versions. They use the same blower motor, case, gasket, fuel pump, heat exchanger, and glow pin. BUT, they are not the same. The differences are in the burner tube and in the control unit. The diesel uses a slinger system of 2 spinning disks spraying the fuel out between them. The motor shaft is hollow and fuel runs through the shaft to an space between the disks. The gas version uses a fixed jet. They also use different startup procedures and air/fuel ratios. This might seem like a small difference, but it's not. And when playing with volatile fuels like gas you're asking for trouble if you run them in systems designed for diesel.

This is what the diesel burner tube will look like: https://esparparts.com/252113100100-p-25147.html
And this is what the gas burner tube looks like: https://esparparts.com/combustion-burner-p-25157.html

It's not worth trying to run a diesel one on gas. It's dangerous and likely to not work at all. As far as cheap ($100-200) gas versions, I have seen them advertised but you'd have to actually take one apart to tell if it is a misadvertised diesel model or an actual gas version. But for a bit more these guys have them and they are pretty reputable and have good reviews. I'd recommend just running a diesel version off of a 5L-10L tank though, diesel is a much safer fuel and 10L should last a long time.

Those guys also have the block heater style heaters available. Don't know anything about them though.

 

[luthj]

I have had a D2 apart, and there is no hollow shaft or spinning disk in the burner/chamber. The glow plug and vaporizer screen are the same between the D2 and b2.

 

[john61ct]

Very useful stuff. Completely agree crazy to think try to convert designed for diesel units to use gasoline fuel.

Those guys also have the block heater style heaters available. Don't know anything about them though.

Website does not inspire, UK "presence" is likely just a Brass Plate at a company registration lawyer.

But interesting if cheap enough!

Here's a cleaned up dump of the main page:

___________
Drivworld Group Industry
Parking Heater

Heating the passenger compartments and cabs of all kinds of vehicles, without having to depend on the heat given off by a running engine.

Chicken wire, welded and woven mesh specifications in Galvanized Before Weaving/Weld (GBW), Galvanized After Weaving/Weld (GAW), PVC Coated and Stainless Steel. Various Garden Mesh, Aviary netting and mesh, Dog Fence.

High Pressure Pump

Cleaning any dirt

Cleaning machine rental civil, industrial, municipal, power, chemical, oil and other industries of high pressure water cleaning construction services, dry ice cleaning services.

Stainless Steel

Material to improve quality

Stainless steel coil,Galvalume&Alu-Zinc Steel Coils,Colour Corrugated Sheets,Deep drawing PPGI coil,Pre-painted Galvanized Steel Sheets.

About us

Drivworld parking heater is a brand of the Drivworld Group which locates in London and has a registered capital of 8 millon pounds. With the Britain's tech and taking the chance of China's grooming manufacture industry, the Group makes its investments and builds its factories in China, with a result of providing the convenient and excellent market servive as well as the low consuming cost for customers. At present, the company mainly sells parking heaters and is developing a series of products like car-carrying refrigerator. and defroster.

The Group is now involving four fundamental industries, this is, parking heater and accessories, high pressure piston pump, stainless steel metal materials and metal mesh, all of which rank in the forefront of their peers in the aspect of tech. The company can offer low cost and excellect service to its customers with the quality guaranteed and cost lowered by its holding plants bulit in China. And the company is expanding the market right now, so we hope to set business cooperation with some more powerful companies.

Advanced car independent heating program

In the cold winter or alpine region, maybe you want to be able to go out into the warm car room, but the vehicles often need to warm up, then, a set of independent of the engine heating system to make driving very comfortable！


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2kw 12V Gasoline air parking heater with Rotary controller--FJH-2/1Q

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The Remote controller （30 meters）

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LCD switch with remote control

 

[Kirby McRae]

I have had a D2 apart, and there is no hollow shaft or spinning disk in the burner/chamber. The glow plug and vaporizer screen are the same between the D2 and b2.

My bad, I have never had mine that far apart and got my info from this guy - got lesson of not trusting the internet in for the day. And now that I've been looking at the burners I agree with you. I don't have a gas one to look at and can't find very good pictures either, but maybe he got them confused and the gas models have spinning disks? I'm not sure where the motor would be though. Maybe the old models used spinning disks? Anyway, thanks for the correction. I wish I knew what he was talking about though.

 

[Kirby McRae]

Also, even if the diesel combustion chamber would work fine with gas there is still the problem with the controller. I've attached a PDF somebody else put together of how the electronics in the heaters work, most of it is above my level of electronics but he lays out how the controllers work really well.

 

[hour]

I like what you've done there. Any issues with the unit getting hot in the box? I want to do something similar, and hang it off my spare tire. Then run the fuel line into one of the jerry cans on my swing arm. I would extend the vent up into the rear door of my RTT.

Cool this thread is still going. Yeah it does get warm in the box as the entire unit gets warm. I could also do some better sealing of the hot air out side to the flange i put on the box. In hindsight, if installing a unit like this in a tool box, don't mount it centered in the box. Push the unit over so the hot air outlet is as close as possible to the side of the tool box. Better to ensure all the hot air is going out and not accumulating inside.

Can't wait to get one of these LCD controllers to run instead of the janky included one that I still don't really understand. I only got maybe 12 hours of this running this year, between 5k-8k feet. It worked well, and I'll like it even more with a better controller.

Since I have no use for diesel in vehicles, and ended up with extra diesel in my garage, I think I'll treat it to convenient bottle of kerosene from the hardware store while I figure out what the heck to do with nasty old fuel.

 

[Heavyopp]

Nasty old fuel? Diesel doesn’t go bad like gas.

 

[luthj]

Nasty old fuel? Diesel doesn’t go bad like gas.

Not the same changes, but diesel does go bad, and trust me, the results are not pretty.

 

[Heavyopp]

Not the same changes, but diesel does go bad, and trust me, the results are not pretty.

I've never had any issues with diesel other than water and thats not really a diesel problem -- if it does go bad it must take a long time

 

[Dock Rocker]

I've never had any issues with diesel other than water and thats not really a diesel problem -- if it does go bad it must take a long time

Algae will speed it up quite a bit. That why it has to be treated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[luthj]

Diesel tends to age slower than gasoline. The major aging mechanism for gasoline is evaporation of the volatiles, leaving behind a stew of heavier materials, semi-organic gums etc. With diesel the aging mechanism is oxidation. This can cause long chain waxes to polymerize, forming plastic like coatings when disturbed and pumped. These polymers don't vaporize well, and can cause coking in some instances.

If water gets introduced, microbial growth at the water/fuel interface can rapidly create a stew of organics, oxidized metals, and nasty business.

 

[Heavyopp]

Algae will speed it up quite a bit. That why it has to be treated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have heard of algae, now that you mention it

 

[snowfiend]

I think a 2kw would be great for our small wall tent, much easier than lugging the wood stove or 20lb propane tank heater. If you were to put a battery in the box to be self-sufficientwhat size would be suggested to balance portability and runtime?

Seems they draw ~9 amps for a few minutes at startup, then drops to .5a at idle. If it ran overnight for 8 hrs let's call it 5a used, so a 15AH 12v deep cycle AGM battery might get me 3 nights before needing a recharge? Something like this: https://www.mightymaxbattery.com/p3421824/ml15-12-12v-15ah-sla-battery.html

 

[john61ct]

I'd go bigger, also carry full spares to swap

 

[Utah KJ]

A proper overland rig should burn diesel anyway.

My heater should arrive this Friday, and I'll be putting something together very similar to the OP. I think that I'm going to drop the fuel line into the jerry can already on the bumper rather than use the supplied tank. I may use that if I ever get my 4Runner campaign-ready.