Hi all;

       Well it finely arrived the other day, the 5Kw diesel heater that was bought through E-bay. Well packaged and arrived safe and sound . Now for the install. 

With my caravan ( Jayco 17.55.3 Pop Top ) the easy place would have been under the bed for the main unit and easy access to the house battery and main fuse panel. The minister for finance was not to happy with the easy way and had a look for a place under the L shape seating in the caravan. Found plenty of space for the heater under the seating and more important under the caravan. Had bags of room, but had check first. 

As for the diesel tank, this ended up in the front boot. I do have 2 x 9 Kg gas bottles and this area is divided from the rest of the boot by a big divider, made out of some form of hard plastic. One side of the divider is the gas bottles and the other has the diesel tank bolted to it. As for the fuel line this was run under the caravan in 20 mm plastic flex conduct and clipped to the main chassis. 

Under the setting were the main unit was to go, a small hole was drilled first as to workout the exact spot for the heater. This and also needed to cut a round hole for the hot air vent cover out let. A small bit of flex duct and every thing lined up. So far, so good.

The exhaust and muffler and air inlet for the burner were next and have to be kept far away from each other. Installing the little fuel pump and filter and keeping them away from the hot exhaust  pipe ( i used  a couple of 6 mm cable clips ).

I found that working on ones back, on the ground, and in tight spaces certainly tires one down and i called it quits for the night.

Day 2

After a good nights sleep ( slept like a baby ) all that was to do was to run the electronic thermostat wires back to the main unit. i thought i might be able to run the cable through the wall  and down the back of the kitchen sink and to the floor. No such luck, even tried removing the exhaust fan and to see if i could chase the cable that way, and again i failed. The only thing for it would be to run the cable up the wall from the cupboard above the sink to the bench. This is only about 30 cm and the cable will be put in mini trunk ducting. 

Next was the 12 Volt power feed from the main fuse block. This was run in 20 Amp cable ( Don't ask me the size ). So a bit of terminal block for the thermostat and fuel pump wiring. As for the 12 Volts wiring , this went to it own connectors. Heat shrink and a bit of tape also helped in turning a birds nest in to a more professional  install. The 12 Volt feed for the diesel heater was feed though and around the skirting boards around the caravan, this is were Jayco also run cables for one form or the other. Chasing the cables took time and effort ( I'm not as young of agile as i used to be ) but got there in the end. A clean up and putting every thing back were it belongs both in the caravan and my work shop. End of day 2.

Day 3 and the first test. 

Well after the last two days in, under, and through our caravan it was time for the big test and to see if all my hard work has payed off, but first i had to fill the heater's diesel tank up with fuel and the only was was to take the caravan around to the local fuel service station. The fuel tank says that it will hold 15 Lts and i only ended up with putting in 12 and that was up to the neck of the filler. 

Back home, i was checking for any leeks from the tank, lines or filter/ fuel pump. This was the time to bleed the line of air and removing the rubber line from the fuel inlet of the fuel pump, i soon had the fuel dripping out of the filter. Replacing the filter back into the pump and tightening of the clamp and again rechecking for any leaks.

Time for the test, First i had to install the 15 Amp main fuse into the fuse block under the bed. Back at the thermostat, I had to set the time and then followed Mr Google how to purge the system, That done and hit the power on button. The display came alive and after an while i could here the ticking of the fuel pump, then the fan speed increased. Soon after a couple of minuets the heater was putting out nice warm air. It did't take long for the caravan to be come nice and warm.

So, While the process of installing the diesel heater was taken over a few days, I did take my time and not go at the install like a bull at a gate. I did after check with You Tube what others have done with there install of there own diesel heater ( work shop, man cave or even a caravan ). This alone was a big help and i also checked a lot of you tube sites for also the setting up of the thermostat ( the installation booklet is a bit hard to read ).

So what is left to finish off???? well not a lot, a couple of cable ties and a bit silastic were the cables come through the floor and that's about it. I will be installing a return air duct for the diesel heater and will be ordering the extra bits.

Pss;  Current draw. I do have a solar control that i can check the my solar panels are putting in, and also what is being drawn from my house battery. With every thing off in the caravan and only the heater running, on start up with the glow plug heating the heat exchanger  the current draw was about 9 Amps. Once the glow plug has been turned off the current draw drops down to about 3 Amps and once the caravan has reached it set temp the fan will slow down and current draw is around 1~1.2 Amps. 

Once the diesel heater has enter the shut down phase the glow plug is turned back on to purge the heater of any carbon build up. cool time can take about 5 minuets.

So there you have it, if you are thinking of getting one of these little  diesel heaters for your own caravan or man cave, i do not think you could go wrong.

An excellent write-up, thank you.

Very interesting, well done.

Is there any noise to be heard inside or outside?

Hi every one; 

                  Thank you for the replies to my in stall of my diesel heater A couple of questions have been asked and mainly the noise of the little fuel pump. Yes you can here the ticking of the pump when first fired up and is also made a bit worse due to the pump being mounted to the steel chassie of the caravan. While the heater is coming up to the pre determined  temp as set on the thermostat the speed of the fan, kind of drowns out the pump. Of course the glow plug has shut down and not needed as the heat exchanger is more than enough heat to burn the atomized  fuel. Current draw is still in the order of about 3 Amps. Once the diesel heater has reach the required temp the fan has slowed down to quiet a low speed, but is still putting out warm air. With the fan slowed right down the current draw is just under 1 Amp, but it does jump around as the diesel fuel pump "ticks" . This " ticking" is no worse than having a cheap bed side alarm clock and realy hard to hear. 

Once the set temp has been reach the fan slows right down and so dose the pulsing of the fuel pump and over the noise of the wife/ television  ( take your pick ) realy is not to bad. Time will tell and i will report on how things are going. I only finished the install on Monday and with the first firing of the heater. I may have another go and report back over the next couple of days. 

I do have 220 Amp hrs of battery and 240 Watts of solar, would be interesting with my set up running on solar alone and see what happens with the battery voltage over the next couple of days .Watch this space.

Thank youfor the reply Valiant81.