Gladiator Pop-Up Pass Through Camper Build

[Mules]

That’s a great use of the dead space in the bed. I did similar, but mounted the heater inside the bed on the driver side cubby. The fuel pump and combustion air intake & exhaust were in the dead space of the bed.View attachment 810059

Do you have an installed picture?

 

[Mules]

Another Diesel Heater Pop-Up Installation video.

 

[Mules]

Here's another drain hole cover that could be used for a Diesel heater exhaust. Mine is hard to see since it's covered with factory bedliner.

 

[highwest]

Do you have an installed picture?

Unfortunately no. The heater is bolted to the aluminum plate, then the aluminum plate was attached to the truck bed in place of the factory cubby. Any hole in your bed that can accommodate the combustion intake/exhaust and fuel line is a potential option.
(Not my truck/pic)

 

[Mules]

I ordered a Chinese Diesel Heater. For a bit over $100, I'll give it a try. If it's junk, I'll let you know.

Wish me luck!

 

[highwest]

I ordered a Chinese Diesel Heater. For a bit over $100, I'll give it a try. If it's junk, I'll let you know.

Wish me luck!

Unsolicited advice warning…

My first Chinese one was DOA, so plan to get it running at home before you need it out there. The Chinese heaters also have some quirks/features that can be frustrating or greatly beneficial, there’s a Facebook group that can help out a lot if you run into those.

 

[Dave in AZ]

I ordered a Chinese Diesel Heater. For a bit over $100, I'll give it a try. If it's junk, I'll let you know.

Wish me luck!

Mules, I did a few posts on another group listing the common errors folks make installing. Here you go:
Latest info for you after testing my new Vevor.

I just finished starting and testing my new 5kw Vevor diesel heater, all in one vertical. Works fantastic! Took 5 min to set up, I am test running it now going on 3 hrs to see fuel burn.

Good bluetooth app, good control head, and good remote control. Running great off my Pecron e1500LFP power station, using the 30A xt60 port. Runs from 9w min setting level1, to 65W on max level 10.

I watched 60 videos on these, and 90% of them had incorrect installs that would cause errors! Pay attention to these key points for trouble free, apparently:

1. Exhaust pipe must be horizontal to downward so moisture condensation flows out. So many people say, "exhaust is too hot for moisture, I won't worry about it," and get error code.

2. Total bends in exhaust must be less than 270 degrees. Less is better, minimize combustion air loop restrictions.

3. Input Amps, needs 12v and 15A. It doesn't use 15A i.e. 180W, but will use 120W on startup, so 10 amp. If it's power draw of 10A on start is restricted, say by plugging it into a power station port that doesn't really deliver 10A, it will throw an error.

4. Input Voltage, needs 12v. If power station isn't regulated to >12v, most good ones are 12.7 or 12.8, heater can throw an error.

5. Voltage drop from too small wires, too long wire, or bad connections!! Most common error I see thrown. The supplied power cable is long and juuuust ok for 12v and 12A if no other losses. But if you use a crappy cigarette lighter plug on it, you can get errors due to voltage drop/loss from long small wire and poor connection. The best practice is cut the wire to minimum length needed. If long power supply needed, replace wire with larger gauge. Hard wire it to a DC fuse block with good connection, or use xt60 or Anderson plugs that are both good for 15A and don't lose voltage. The 5521 dc barrel plugs many power stations use for output can drop voltage too much during its 10-12A, 120 to 140W, startup cycle. Same with the cigarette lighter outputs, often can't flow the 120w startup power without voltage drop that throws an error. You NEED A 15A DC Output or it is likely to fail! Some folks with 10A max outputs have successfully used an AC to DC charger to get good 12.8 volts.

6. These are intended to be installed INSIDE the heated area, and are safe, proven by a million trucks using them. Recirculating and reheating interior air vs cold outside air, is the correct way.

There are hundreds of vids on diesel heaters out there, but yet these mistakes are made again and again, even by my favorite overlander youtubers...

 

[Mules]

Mules, I did a few posts on another group listing the common errors folks make installing. Here you go:
Latest info for you after testing my new Vevor.

I just finished starting and testing my new 5kw Vevor diesel heater, all in one vertical. Works fantastic! Took 5 min to set up, I am test running it now going on 3 hrs to see fuel burn.

Good bluetooth app, good control head, and good remote control. Running great off my Pecron e1500LFP power station, using the 30A xt60 port. Runs from 9w min setting level1, to 65W on max level 10.

I watched 60 videos on these, and 90% of them had incorrect installs that would cause errors! Pay attention to these key points for trouble free, apparently:

1. Exhaust pipe must be horizontal to downward so moisture condensation flows out. So many people say, "exhaust is too hot for moisture, I won't worry about it," and get error code.

2. Total bends in exhaust must be less than 270 degrees. Less is better, minimize combustion air loop restrictions.

3. Input Amps, needs 12v and 15A. It doesn't use 15A i.e. 180W, but will use 120W on startup, so 10 amp. If it's power draw of 10A on start is restricted, say by plugging it into a power station port that doesn't really deliver 10A, it will throw an error.

4. Input Voltage, needs 12v. If power station isn't regulated to >12v, most good ones are 12.7 or 12.8, heater can throw an error.

5. Voltage drop from too small wires, too long wire, or bad connections!! Most common error I see thrown. The supplied power cable is long and juuuust ok for 12v and 12A if no other losses. But if you use a crappy cigarette lighter plug on it, you can get errors due to voltage drop/loss from long small wire and poor connection. The best practice is cut the wire to minimum length needed. If long power supply needed, replace wire with larger gauge. Hard wire it to a DC fuse block with good connection, or use xt60 or Anderson plugs that are both good for 15A and don't lose voltage. The 5521 dc barrel plugs many power stations use for output can drop voltage too much during its 10-12A, 120 to 140W, startup cycle. Same with the cigarette lighter outputs, often can't flow the 120w startup power without voltage drop that throws an error. You NEED A 15A DC Output or it is likely to fail! Some folks with 10A max outputs have successfully used an AC to DC charger to get good 12.8 volts.

6. These are intended to be installed INSIDE the heated area, and are safe, proven by a million trucks using them. Recirculating and reheating interior air vs cold outside air, is the correct way.

There are hundreds of vids on diesel heaters out there, but yet these mistakes are made again and again, even by my favorite overlander youtubers...

Thanks for the tips! I like to think that this forum designed my camper, and I just put it together.

 

[Mules]

The heater arrived. I'll have to wait for some good weather to do the install. I plan to route the exhaust through the unused 120V outlet cover in the back of the Gladiator. It's a plastic cover that I will put a marine throughwall exhaust fitting on. You can see the cover behind the heater in the picture below.

 

[86scotty]

So if I'm understanding you correctly you'll build a little tower for it to sit on so you can route the exhaust straight out the side in to the fenderwell?

If so consider one of these:

Webasto Heater 22mm Exhaust elbow

Webasto Heater 22mm Exhaust elbow 1320117A

www.heatso.com

The "flexible" pipe they supply with these heaters is hardly flexible. My work truck (Volvo semi) has a solid pipe for the exhaust, no flex hose at all, and it is a bulletproof install. The 90 doesn't cause the condensation issues Dave noted above in my installation.

Edit: I found the fixed style online. I'm kind of surprised they aren't more popular for these heaters. I personally think it's a much more robust solution.

WEB001SS, Custom Bus SS Webasto exhaust pipe turn with down

www.unityparts.com

 

[Mules]

So if I'm understanding you correctly you'll build a little tower for it to sit on so you can route the exhaust straight out the side in to the fenderwell?

If so consider one of these:

Webasto Heater 22mm Exhaust elbow

Webasto Heater 22mm Exhaust elbow 1320117A

www.heatso.com

The "flexible" pipe they supply with these heaters is hardly flexible. My work truck (Volvo semi) has a solid pipe for the exhaust, no flex hose at all, and it is a bulletproof install. The 90 doesn't cause the condensation issues Dave noted above in my installation.

Edit: I found the fixed style online. I'm kind of surprised they aren't more popular for these heaters. I personally think it's a much more robust solution.

WEB001SS, Custom Bus SS Webasto exhaust pipe turn with down

www.unityparts.com

Good find on the elbow.

It's definitely a design flaw of these "All In One" diesel heaters. They should route the exhaust out the back of the unit, instead of the bottom. Because of this, most people end up building a platform to raise them up, in order to route the exhaust out.

All they had to do was make the housing 2" taller, and leave holes for the exhaust to run out which ever side we wanted.

I grabbed some scrap wood last night and built a platform. I used a scrap wood I-joist. So the platform has a floor, just in case I use this outside, on grass. It should also protect my truck's bed liner from the exhaust. I might slide a piece of sheetmetal or mica between the exhaust and wood, if it get's too hot.

 

[jhl99]

Make sure you can refill the tank on the heater without spilling the diesel (maybe remove the unit from the truck?). The diesel stink from spilled fuel may not be that pleasant for some.

I have a 5kw unit with separate fuel tank version installed in my van.

The reason the combustion intake and exhaust as well as fuel and electrical are routed into the bottom of the actual heating unit is that this style of heater was originally designed for installation in the sleeper cabs of over the road trucks.... it was an afterthought to package them as 'all in one' units. Careful reading of the manual that came with my heater states that they can be mounted in one particular 90 degree rotation so that the combustion air/exhaust exit horizontally instead of vertically. This mounting is probably not mentioned with the all-in-one units--given that they are already mounted.

 

[Mules]

Make sure you can refill the tank on the heater without spilling the diesel (maybe remove the unit from the truck?). The diesel stink from spilled fuel may not be that pleasant for some.

I have a 5kw unit with separate fuel tank version installed in my van.

The reason the combustion intake and exhaust as well as fuel and electrical are routed into the bottom of the actual heating unit is that this style of heater was originally designed for installation in the sleeper cabs of over the road trucks.... it was an afterthought to package them as 'all in one' units. Careful reading of the manual that came with my heater states that they can be mounted in one particular 90 degree rotation so that the combustion air/exhaust exit horizontally instead of vertically. This mounting is probably not mentioned with the all-in-one units--given that they are already mounted.

Thanks, I definitely plan on filling the diesel outside of the truck. Being a farm boy, I've experienced the smell of diesel inside vehicles for way too many years.

 

[Mules]

One thing I might try in the future is running Jet-A fuel in the Diesel heater. I run an aviation company, and we often have to drain the airplanes fuel tanks to do maintenance. We don't reuse this in the aircraft, so we always have some sitting around. Jet A is very similar to Kerosene and Diesel, but doesn't have the bad smell. Most can be used interchangeably.

 

[ITTOG]

Wouldn't the Jet-a fuel run too hot. My neighbor has a fueling station and he gets us jet fuel to run through our lawn equipment every spring. I have definitely burnt a few parts using too much of it. I think I have to keep it below 50%.