Any need to “summer-rize” cheap Chinese diesel heaters?

[TheArgobus]

I’ve got one of those standard cheap Chinese diesel heaters in my bus. Should I drain the tank and then run it until it runs out of fuel to prevent diesel from sitting in the pump/burn chamber all summer long? I know with chain saws you have to do that because gasoline expires within a few months, but is it the same for diesel? I did not add any antibacterials or anything like that.

[Tejon7]

Chinese diesel heater: an inexpensive imitation of a brand-name diesel-burning air or water heater. There you go, summerized

I've been running mine for about 10-15 minutes once a month. I haven't heard a satisfactory answer to your question, so I've been assuming that getting it up to full blast every now and then will keep it primed and keep any critter nests out of the exhaust pipe. Interested to hear if there is an official "summer-izing" procedure. Maybe Eberspracher/Espar have it spelled out somewhere?

[Iceni John]

Diesel fuel doesn't contain the additives that deteriorate and produce gum and varnish in gasoline. As long as diesel fuel is kept in a sealed container so that atmospheric humidity cannot cause condensation and the resultant growth of black algae at the fuel/water interface, and as long as sunlight cannot reach the fuel, you should be OK for a very long time. When a CDH is shut down using its automatic shutdown cycle, all the remaining fuel in the stainless mesh tube around the glow pin is burnt, leaving the heater itself essentially empty of fuel. Any fuel in the metering pump or its fuel lines isn't going to harm anything, assuming you aren't using the soft green fuel tube that isn't always reliable with diesel fuel; the correct 2mm ID hard white fuel line is OK with fuel in it for a long time.

The Eberspacher/Espar/Webasto manuals that I've seen make no mention about needing to completely drain a heater's fuel system. Diesel engines don't need this done, even when they're not run for many months or longer, so I shouldn't worry about needing to do it for a CDH.

John

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by Iceni John

Diesel fuel doesn't contain the additives that deteriorate and produce gum and varnish in gasoline. As long as diesel fuel is kept in a sealed container so that atmospheric humidity cannot cause condensation and the resultant growth of black algae at the fuel/water interface, and as long as sunlight cannot reach the fuel, you should be OK for a very long time. When a CDH is shut down using its automatic shutdown cycle, all the remaining fuel in the stainless mesh tube around the glow pin is burnt, leaving the heater itself essentially empty of fuel. Any fuel in the metering pump or its fuel lines isn't going to harm anything, assuming you aren't using the soft green fuel tube that isn't always reliable with diesel fuel; the correct 2mm ID hard white fuel line is OK with fuel in it for a long time.

The Eberspacher/Espar/Webasto manuals that I've seen make no mention about needing to completely drain a heater's fuel system. Diesel engines don't need this done, even when they're not run for many months or longer, so I shouldn't worry about needing to do it for a CDH.

John

Nice, succinct, comprehensive answer-thanks John!

[TheArgobus]

Thanks, I do have the solid white fuel line so I'll just keep it as is.