Inexpensive diesel heaters

[r27d]

Originally Posted by KDB

Propane will not let you down. Anything in the mid teens (f) and below and my espar (and likely the knock offs) simply stop working. I believe the moisture caused by the glow plug in the deaters ices quickly when the heaters kick into their lower seating causing the heaters to stop working entirely. It's a recurring issue (with mine atleast). Ive purchased a propex and recently had that installed as a redundancy as i nearly froze in -15 temps back in December. Once this espar kicks the bucket i'll likely do a few of the minor fixes and sell it. Propex for the win!

My Espar S2 has kept we warm in colder temps than that at 9000'. Maybe your fuel gelled? Is it supplied from an aux tank or piped into your main tank?

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by KDB

Propane will not let you down. Anything in the mid teens (f) and below and my espar (and likely the knock offs) simply stop working.

That’s odd. I’m currently camping in the mountains with an average altitude of around 7000 feet. This morning the outside temp was minus 1 degree and it was 20 degrees inside. My totally stock heater worked flawlessly, it started right up and worked just fine till I shut it off several hours later. Actually, it has never failed me with plenty of nights in sub freezing temps. I adjust it for altitude every time I move and it’s fine. Perhaps I’m just lucky. Also, this morning when I lit my propane stove with the valve open fully the flame was only about 10% of normal for about thirty seconds, then it slowly increased to normal. Apparently it doesn’t like sub zero temps.

[1der]

Our Espar D4 has been great in sub zero temps and at 9,000 feet. We also have the Altitude kit to help compensate. It draws from the main fuel tank. Exhaust and intake hoses are standard length runs, w muffler on exhaust.

KDB - Not sure what happened with your unit. How is it installed? Where is your thermostat/control? There are a zillion truckers running around with Espar diesel heaters, so they do work.

Propane ? Not for us at elevation and zero temps. Regulator has a good chance of freezing up. The by-product of burning propane is a LOT of water.

Glow plug icing up on the Espar? That is hard for me to wrap my head around since it heats up enough to ignite diesel fuel. I can see low voltage, restricted intake air, super cold intake air, or poorly placed thermostats creating issues. Another possible is diesel fuel additives gumming up the atomizing screen.

We always run our Espar on high (93F) for about five minutes before shut down. If the thermostat is set around 45F can create a short cycling where the unit might gum up by not running long enough to get the combustion chamber hot enough for long enough.

[r27d]

Originally Posted by 1der

Glow plug icing up on the Espar? That is hard for me to wrap my head around since it heats up enough to ignite diesel fuel. I can see low voltage, restricted intake air, super cold intake air, or poorly placed thermostats creating issues. Another possible is diesel fuel additives gumming up the atomizing screen.

We always run our Espar on high (93F) for about five minutes before shut down. If the thermostat is set around 45F can create a short cycling where the unit might gum up by not running long enough to get the combustion chamber hot enough for long enough.

My S2 has the new EasyStart Pro controller which displays specific trouble codes which had been helpful. My hour meter just crossed over 700 and I’ve changed the atomizing screen twice. Once at 500 hours preventatively and again at 675 because of issues (I run Stanadyne additive). What I missed in the first screen replacement was using a wire brush to clean the pilot chamber which was clogged up and causing early flame outs. The new models also have a lowest temp setting of 57F and ramp up output on their own before shutdown which helps with long term usage.

[shenrie]

I’ve poked around these threads and the fb page trying to keep up on these things. Really appreciate you guys posting up the sellers you’ve had good luck with and especially the brands that are proving worthwhile but what I can’t seem to find is what size best suites the amount of space in a pop top or elevations most frequented. From what I gather they are all very similar even if advertised as 2, 5, or 8k heaters. Is there a square foot x elevation equation that could be mathed out or possibly a calculator someone put together or are people just winging it?

[arctictraveller]

Shenrie, I would recommend the 5kw. Many 2kw and 8 kw are really just 5kw’s labeled differently anyway. Lots of folks will tell you 5kw is too much for a van and it’s true they may be a bit much on a day requiring a moderate amount of heat but you can always crack a window if it’s too warm. Also, as you go up in altitude, the fuel settings should be adjusted to reduce the amount of fuel due to the reduction in oxygen, which will also reduce the output temps. My 5kw runs super hot at sea level on a moderately cool morning, but recently while in very cold temps at 7000ft, it had to run a lot longer to bring the temp up inside and a 2kw might never have gotten it warm enough. All this is with my top down. YMMV…..