Diesel Heater Wars (Forced Air)

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Sorry. It is the muffler that comes with the unit that isn't airtite. The supplied muffle is made for mounting under a car or trucks and not an enclosed space like a boat... but I'm sure you know this since you were smart to replace the flimsy stainless flex pipe too. I replaced it with a Webasto sealed one piece muffler and pipe (part number 9014067A).

Being an unpainted metal boat, I didn't need the double walled insulated thruhull, so I saved money there.

Matt

ok that makes me feel better about your installation .
I don't have a muffler installed don't need it the unit is real quiet can't hear it from 5 feet away .

[Frank 101]

A hint to almost stop the clicking noise of the fuel pump. Instead of solid mounting, hang it from cable ties. Also anchor it with cable ties so it doesn’t swing around. I purchased a VVBK (based in US I think) and had no issues apart from a few queries which the lady responded to immediately.

[Blaine]

Originally Posted by basssears

One thing to consider is how these handle not being used often, like many mechanical / internal combustion items I think a lot of these work better when being used all the time, another test is how does it fire up after a year of sitting there.

I can answer this... They don't handle it well! This scenario caused me to have my Webasto repaired, and their tech told me to use it at full power for a half hour every month to avoid further problems.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Sorry. It is the muffler that comes with the unit that isn't airtite. The supplied muffle is made for mounting under a car or trucks and not an enclosed space like a boat... Matt

Think Matt is right, the vehicle types of muffler (silencer) have a small hole in them to stop moisture being drawn back in when they are switched off, that or it's a drain hole. This isn't something you want if it's mounted in say a cockpit locker. Of course on a vehicle it doesn't matter.

Thankfully our Webasto ST2000 ins't noisy even with the standard 4ft hose so I didn't bother fitting a silencer.

Think Matt and Jessica are in Ireland at the moment, were if you can see the mountains, its going to rain and if you can't see the mountains it is raining. That heater will be on double time whilst its not the cold, the heaters do a great job of keeping thing dry on board.

Matt, love the videos btw, brilliantly presented and filmed.

Pete

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Think Matt and Jessica are in Ireland at the moment, were if you can see the mountains, its going to rain and if you can't see the mountains it is raining. That heater will be on double time whilst its not the cold that's the problem the heaters do a great job of keeping thing dry on board.

Matt, love the videos btw, brilliantly presented and filmed.

Pete

Thanks Pete7

We are currently North of Alesund Norway. And while the weather is sunny and pleasant, my wife insists on testing the limits of the heater and recreating the tropics inside our boat

Matt

[Pete7]

What you're heating a metal boat to the sort of temperatures you find in the Caribbean, oh lord you will need an oil tanker in tow.

Buy her some socks, hot water bottle and a woolly hat yes we do have a hot water bottle on board.

[CaptTom]

So far, I'm pretty happy with my Planar. This has been discussed to death, so I won't repeat here.

I will add that I've heard using kerosene instead of diesel helps keep the igniter and combustion chamber clean. My idea is to run diesel whenever the heater is going to be used a lot, and kero the rest of the time. I haven't used it much in the past two years, so it's been straight kero. I do run it from time to time, but probably not once a month.

[Chotu]

Thanks for all these posts of your experiences. I'm going for the planar. The $1700 one, since it seems to be the right size for the boat.

[newhaul]

Do an install thread with a couple pictures we all like a good install thread.
Don't forget the monthly or no monthly full power run to keep the carbon buildup burnt out

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Thanks for all these posts of your experiences. I'm going for the planar. The $1700 one, since it seems to be the right size for the boat.

I think you'll be happy with it.

A few pointers on installing it:

1) The exhaust gets HOT! No, not "ouchee I got a boo-boo" hot, but "OMG that thing will catch anything near it on fire!" hot.

So, keep the exhaust as short as possible. Buy some shielding for it (look up manifold insulation for race cars on Amazon.) The shorter exhaust will also help keep the unit from overheating; the fan is only designed to push the exhaust out the bottom of a car or truck, not snake it around.

2) Install the little fuel day tank. That way you can burn kerosene instead of diesel off-season.

3) Minimize any ducting on the supply (cabin) or return (heated) air. Again, the fan is sized for small spaces. The unit will overheat if it doesn't move enough air.

[CatNewBee]

Anyone installed a chinese heater, planar, webasto, eberspachter on a production cat? Where you put it in and where do you place the throughhull for the exhaust?

I am planning to install mine next to the salon AC and get the exhoust out down the bridgedeck but I am still unsure about it, there is a lot of pounding in rough sea, maybe I will have to add a stainless steel spray protection to the exhaust to prevent water ingress similar to the other openings there.

[insatiable1]

Hi all,
I've got a question about how effective adding a muffler would be? I have just finished replacing an old WD80 that didn't work when I bought the boat with a new Webasto Thermo Pro90. Last night was the first run and it is truly awesome inside the boat. Virtually silent and very comfortable with 4 independent radiators. The problem is outside noise, I'm worried that my neighbors may try to hang me. It is obnoxiously loud!
Will the Webasto exhaust muffler really make enough of a difference?
Thank you for your help!

[Pizzazz]

Well, install a muffler! Two options, a marine approved one for about $150 from eBay or a motorcycle muffler from Amazon for around $30 but then you need to make it air right with one of these muffler repair kits. It is kind of risky if you are not experienced, so I recommend the marine one.

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

Anyone installed a chinese heater, planar, webasto, eberspachter on a production cat? Where you put it in and where do you place the throughhull for the exhaust?...

We have one of the Chinese knockoffs installed, exhaust runs down and out through the bottom of the bridgedeck. About midway fore/aft. We've had no problems so far. The exhaust pipe runs up about 600mm/2ft, so I think it would be hard to get water all the way to the heater.

If you run #2 diesel the unit will need cleaning from time to time, so think about access when installing. We've shifted to #1 diesel (still available on the fuel dock up here and same price) and it burns much more cleanly.

Overall we've been very satisfied, had only one problem with a bad connection on the controller, resolved by seller. Hardest part of the installation was running the duct (we have 80mm duct) finding routes and places for outlets was a bit of a challenge.

We are considering putting one unit in each hull for next year. Still in the thinking process.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

.

If you run #2 diesel the unit will need cleaning from time to time, so think about access when installing. We've shifted to #1 diesel (still available on the fuel dock up here and same price) and it burns much more cleanly.
.

I have found running the unit on full power for about 30 minutes a week keeps the soot burned out quite well .

Using the provided day tank gives the option of running kerosene in place of diesel a couple times a year to burn out the soot even better . ( I try to run about an hour at full blast with kero at end of heating season each year)