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Old 08-29-2013, 09:47 AM   #21
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Re: No Propane Water Heater in RB?

I don't know where the Espar is typically installed, other than it can't be adjacent to the fuel door. I'm pretty sure it can go under the floor.

When I add my heat exchanger I will put in behind the left rear tire on the outside of the frame. Partly because I can't think of anything else I would want there, but mostly because my van is a wagon, so there's already coolant lines going there, and I already have fittings in place.

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Old 08-29-2013, 09:54 AM   #22
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Re: No Propane Water Heater in RB?

So I just got some more info. about the Espar heater. Looks like that since it will be gasoline powered, it needs to mount externally. Correct?

Would I even need a flat plate? I don't wish to heat engine coolant.

Can the Espar be mounted so that it's in-line with my hot water lines and when commanded (by a switch inside the van) it will turn on and heat water in those lines? It looks as if it's just plumbed into a water source. Turn it on and it heats water as it flows through the heater. Maybe I'm missing something...once I hit 40 my smarts started to dimimish
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Old 08-29-2013, 12:10 PM   #23
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Re: No Propane Water Heater in RB?

The OP is talking about driving and camping in Canada in the winter. Some of the other members here are in Southern California. There may be a difference in what is meant by "winter". We use our van at ski areas in the PNW so winter means temperatures below 20F along with 10 to 30 mph winds. Basically a blast freezer for anything on the outside of the van.
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Old 08-29-2013, 12:27 PM   #24
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Re: No Propane Water Heater in RB?

Typically they are mounted outside under the van inside the frame rail. Jage did a write up of moving the flat plate inside to avoid freezing but SMB won't do it due to RV requirements. If it were to leak or rupture there would be liability issues. I don't know why the flat plate is required. Maybe so the unit won't overheat... as it continues to run, water circulates. Also the flat plate isolates water from the unit itself by heating the engine coolant instead. It's the coolant that heats the fresh water. I think Espar has a water heater/cab heater combo but don't know if rated to run off gasoline.

I still think you should consider the flat plate only option before jumping on such an expensive system but although some have had issues with their Espar systems mine have been trouble free for quite some time. It is true that you need to run them from time to time. There are several threads on the issues owning an Espar. Another thing is I don't recall anybody using a gasoline version so who knows what issues (if any) they have over the diesel versions. There are ways for you to winterize the system but overall very cold temps are something you'll have to look at. If the van sits in sub freezing weather, really all the water systems need to be winterized.
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