Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 01-18-2020, 09:47 AM   #21
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Carbon

Quote:
Originally Posted by jofred99 View Post
How did you determine that the unit was getting clogged with carbon?

I have been using a 5kw unit on the lowest setting to keep my house batteries warmed since mid December. Keeps on doing the job, so I haven't touched it.

I have not looked at the inside of the unit. It is working perfectly. The exhaust port has become very black with a buildup of soot. The one that has only ran at full speed has not done that. Again, both units are working very well. Just that the one that had been run at lower speed has soot buildup in the exhaust.

Mark

Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2020, 11:10 AM   #22
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Initial measurements of power consumption

So I put an inline ammeter with one of the chinese diesel heaters on my thermostat system. I started at 10:35a central time. I will find out what the 24 hour power consumption is running it this way! (Conventional thermostat, heater at full output) It will also be a great test because overnight low is supposed to be -4F.

Initial measurements.....

8.5a at 12v during start up. (glow plug on, fan cycling up but still low)
4.8a at 12v running. (glow plug off, fan at full output)
Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-2020, 03:31 PM   #23
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 4
Ok. You have my interest. I am from Dryden Ontario Canada. My bus is a 24 passenger school bus body on an E350 diesel van chassis. So approx 1/2 the size of your bus. I plan on hunting from this bus where temps reach -25 Celsius (appx -10f). My bus is fairly well insulated with most of the bus sliding windows removed. Do you think one of these heaters would work to heat the bus if the temperature dropped to that extreme? And what are the make and model of your bus heaters, I was hoping on hooking them directly into my diesel fuel tank on the bus as it runs a diesel motor.
Also. I would love to see the way you wired in everything. Sounds like a great idea as this is how I was looking at going as well. But if you already worked through the stumbling blocks, you can help me not fall in the same ones.
Thanks Eh!!
hammerdg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-2020, 08:39 PM   #24
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Quote:
Originally Posted by hammerdg View Post
Ok. You have my interest. I am from Dryden Ontario Canada. My bus is a 24 passenger school bus body on an E350 diesel van chassis. So approx 1/2 the size of your bus. I plan on hunting from this bus where temps reach -25 Celsius (appx -10f). My bus is fairly well insulated with most of the bus sliding windows removed. Do you think one of these heaters would work to heat the bus if the temperature dropped to that extreme? And what are the make and model of your bus heaters, I was hoping on hooking them directly into my diesel fuel tank on the bus as it runs a diesel motor.
Also. I would love to see the way you wired in everything. Sounds like a great idea as this is how I was looking at going as well. But if you already worked through the stumbling blocks, you can help me not fall in the same ones.
Thanks Eh!!

First off, this is the heater I purchased (x2)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-8KW-1...-/312824896645

Second, my best guess is that it would indeed keep your bus warm in those temperatures. It was -7f this week and my bus still has all the windows and stock roof (poorly insulated). I had the temp set to 50 at night and would bring it up to 68 during the day when I worked on it. The heaters did a very good job. I think one in your bus would probably be great!! The heat really blasts out of that thing...


And for fuel tank, probably meausure your vehicle fuel tank from top to bottom. Then run a little copper line in from the top and mark it so I only goes a certain distance down. Then you need to seal it where it enters the fuel tank. (JB Weld TankWeld) (So if your diesel tank is 24 inches tall and you put the copper line from the top and it goes 12 inches in then it will use fuel from your tank but will not work when your tank is below 50%)(as an example)(pick a percentage you are comfortable with so you will always have enough fuel to run your vehicle)


I really need to make a video tomorrow!

Mark Miner
Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-2020, 09:31 PM   #25
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 58
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cummins 5.9
Rated Cap: 8 seats, 5 wheelchairs
Now you all have me interested in these heaters since the coolant based heaters in my bus are pretty much useless. The one by the door gets warm and the defrost warms up pretty good but the others just don't get warm at all. The little 12v electric aux pump appears to be running, or at least it sounds like it is, but still no heat on the other heaters. So my question is... Can these Chinese diesel heaters be used while the bus is going down the road? Or do I have to be stationary for them to work? Thanks
1dmpo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-2020, 10:00 PM   #26
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1dmpo View Post
Now you all have me interested in these heaters since the coolant based heaters in my bus are pretty much useless. The one by the door gets warm and the defrost warms up pretty good but the others just don't get warm at all. The little 12v electric aux pump appears to be running, or at least it sounds like it is, but still no heat on the other heaters. So my question is... Can these Chinese diesel heaters be used while the bus is going down the road? Or do I have to be stationary for them to work? Thanks
Recently took my bus from Des Moines, IA to Pensacola FL and back. 2400 miles.


The heaters worked while I was driving just fine, but they did not keep up well when I had the bus pointed into a direct 65 MPH wind. (driving down the road). The whole bus stayed in the low 50's but not much of the heat got to the me (the driver).

Mark Miner
Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 10:59 AM   #27
New Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 5
Another thing to consider for turning these units on and off (and your thermostat), is to use cheap arduino chips with a relay/temperature sensor.

They are wifi, so you don't need to run any wiring between them. You can hook up the relay of the switch unit to the power button on the heater, it just needs 5v (or a 12v -> 5v converter)

The thermostat unit can be run off a battery and placed anywhere in the bus (in a box with magnets?), or wired up to any 5v supply (eg usb phone charger). You could even put an LCD on it to see the temp/humidity, if you didn't want to just check from your phone or a tablet or whatever, attached to the wifi. Something like this: https://www.hackster.io/mitov/remote...display-ff57bb

Sorry since this is a bit off topic, I've tried to keep it brief, just thought it might be a tip that would help for people who don't want to need to run thermostat wiring from their heater(s) all over the place.
Squigley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 11:13 AM   #28
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 58
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cummins 5.9
Rated Cap: 8 seats, 5 wheelchairs
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Miner View Post
Recently took my bus from Des Moines, IA to Pensacola FL and back. 2400 miles.


The heaters worked while I was driving just fine, but they did not keep up well when I had the bus pointed into a direct 65 MPH wind. (driving down the road). The whole bus stayed in the low 50's but not much of the heat got to the me (the driver).

Mark Miner
Well low 50's would be better then what I have now. Thanks for your reply. I wish I could figure out why those two big heaters that were under the seats won't get warm. I flushed all the lines out and put new coolant in this fall and a new water pump on the engine. Makes me wonder if the little auxiliary is actually working or just making noise like it's working? Oh well, I'm ordering one of these diesel heaters so at least I'll have something warm while I try to figure it out.
1dmpo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 12:43 PM   #29
Bus Crazy
 
WIbluebird's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,259
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins ISC
Rated Cap: 75
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1dmpo View Post
Well low 50's would be better then what I have now. Thanks for your reply. I wish I could figure out why those two big heaters that were under the seats won't get warm. I flushed all the lines out and put new coolant in this fall and a new water pump on the engine. Makes me wonder if the little auxiliary is actually working or just making noise like it's working? Oh well, I'm ordering one of these diesel heaters so at least I'll have something warm while I try to figure it out.
It's possible that you have air bubbles in the coolant hoses.
WIbluebird is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 03:38 PM   #30
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,758
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
which heaters werent keeping the bus warm? the factory bus heaters or the chinese diesel heaters? ive driven my buses in minus 10 and had it so warm I was comfortable in short sleeve T shirt...


make sure all of your heater valves are open.. there are valves in the engine compartment and many buses have one or more in the passenger area too that need to be opened up.. usually around the driver heater..



the rear heaters may have their own little bleeder valve at each heater to bleed out the air.. there is usually a main blleder for the heater loops in the engine compartmenr where you can bleed out the air.. if your bus has a heater booster pump switch, turn that on when you need lots of heat.. it helps with coolant circulation through the loops..
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 03:44 PM   #31
Mini-Skoolie
 
DoxieLuvr2015's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 68
Year: 2004
Coachwork: Freightliner
Chassis: S2
Engine: 6.4 MBE 906
@ Mark Miner

How did you arrange your ducting? Great thread BTW.
__________________
🚌 2005 Freightliner 30', MBE 906 6.4L, AT 2500PTS
DoxieLuvr2015 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 08:40 PM   #32
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
which heaters werent keeping the bus warm? the factory bus heaters or the chinese diesel heaters? ive driven my buses in minus 10 and had it so warm I was comfortable in short sleeve T shirt...


make sure all of your heater valves are open.. there are valves in the engine compartment and many buses have one or more in the passenger area too that need to be opened up.. usually around the driver heater..



the rear heaters may have their own little bleeder valve at each heater to bleed out the air.. there is usually a main blleder for the heater loops in the engine compartmenr where you can bleed out the air.. if your bus has a heater booster pump switch, turn that on when you need lots of heat.. it helps with coolant circulation through the loops..
Yes, thanks for the info. I am sure the bus heat would have been plenty to keep it warm. I removed all the internal heaters and hoses from my rear pusher so no warm coolant to the front. I may run a single hose from the rear to the front so I can use the defroster heater core still.

I am saying the chinese diesel heaters did not keep the bus very warm while moving. They are crazy good warm when stationary, even to -7f this week.

Mark
Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 08:54 PM   #33
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,758
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
Put the bus heaters back that’s what they are there for.. in effect you are burning diesel to try and heat a bus while throwing free heat away out the radiator while driving....

The driver front heater door heater and defroster do a fine job for driving .. Not sure why people tear them out..

You’ll need 2 hoses a single hose won’t work..
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 09:17 PM   #34
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 58
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cummins 5.9
Rated Cap: 8 seats, 5 wheelchairs
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
which heaters werent keeping the bus warm? the factory bus heaters or the chinese diesel heaters? ive driven my buses in minus 10 and had it so warm I was comfortable in short sleeve T shirt...


make sure all of your heater valves are open.. there are valves in the engine compartment and many buses have one or more in the passenger area too that need to be opened up.. usually around the driver heater..



the rear heaters may have their own little bleeder valve at each heater to bleed out the air.. there is usually a main blleder for the heater loops in the engine compartmenr where you can bleed out the air.. if your bus has a heater booster pump switch, turn that on when you need lots of heat.. it helps with coolant circulation through the loops..
I have flushed the complete cooling system, I brought the big heaters up close to the front and put them under seats I'm using for the dinette. there are two valve on the right side of engine (Cat) that go to all the hoses, some go to the defrost and right heater by the stairs, they tee and go to the left side of bus and catch a small heater behind driver seat and the two big heaters in the rear. The electric aux pump is just before the driver seat heater. It makes noise like is running but the three heaters on the left side don't get warm, the two on the right side do. Would it be possible that that aux pump is creating a blockage? I'm sure everything else is clear, when I flushed and put new coolant in I ran clear water through every hose and heater with the garden hose. Has me baffled.
1dmpo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 10:33 PM   #35
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
Put the bus heaters back that’s what they are there for.. in effect you are burning diesel to try and heat a bus while throwing free heat away out the radiator while driving....

The driver front heater door heater and defroster do a fine job for driving .. Not sure why people tear them out..

You’ll need 2 hoses a single hose won’t work..
Of course, I meant a SET of hoses to the front. The origional hoses were all internal to the bus and I removed them all. I will replace it with a pair of hoses under the bus that comes clear to the front. I won't do that this winter though.

I will not be putting any back in mid bus. I don't drive as much as I go somewhere and park. And I just need to be warm while I drive and I can wear appropriate clothing for that. The trade off of having those heater cores mid bus 24/7/365 for the relative small amount of time I need to stay warm driving does not justify the real estate.

As soon as I stop for the day the diesel heaters have the bus completely warm in 20 minutes, and while I am driving it is still hovering around 50 in the bus.

The 2400 mile trip was very fun. But my bus has been parked and enjoyed without starting the engine for two weeks since I have been home.

Mark
Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2020, 06:58 AM   #36
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,758
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
the diesel heaters are great for being parked.. I have a small one that heats coolant.. so when I drive my bus its warm heat instantly.. ive even used it while parked by turning one of my blowers on and it warms the bus up decently and my bus is stock..


to the other post about heaters that arent getting hot.. it sounds like you hsve a series-parallel system.. where there are 2 loops of heaters running off of T's.. the way that works is the coolant is going to take the path of least resistance.. and also requires the water pump and booster pump enough coolant to over-come whatever resistance may be in the non circulating loop.. what im wondering is if you squeeze the hose going into one of the operating heaters with a pair of vice grips.. (take a piece of rubber hose sliced and wrap around the asctual heater hose and then clamp it with viece grips.. doesnt need to completely lock the flow but restrict it..



now does the coolant circulate through the non working heaters? (and the ones that were working will likely be cooling off).. its a test to see if the issue is that one cooling loop takes so much force and pressure that it wont circulate whole the other one is wide open and gets all of the hot coolant..


my carpenter bus has a reducer inside the heater core of the rear heater.. that creates a slight resistance in the main loops so the coolant circulates through the heater cores...



some busses have all of the heaters in a single series loop... that works on busses that have 3 or 4 heaters butthe big busses with heaters on both sides of the bus will have these 2 loops..
cadillackid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2020, 02:25 PM   #37
Bus Crazy
 
s2mikon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NM USA KD6WJG
Posts: 1,324
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE 40 FEET
Engine: Cummins 8.3
Thank you Mark. I too have a 40 foot pusher conversion and I have installed 2 of the Chinese diesel heaters and would like to know more. Can you supply timer and relay part numbers? I have to agree that if left alone these things will keep getting hotter and hotter. I have spent a few nights in mine when it was 20 degrees F and they can get too warm. Thanks.
s2mikon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2020, 08:47 PM   #38
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 1,358
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Crown, integral. (With 2kW of tiltable solar)
Chassis: Crown Supercoach II (rear engine)
Engine: Detroit 6V92TAC, DDEC 2, Jake brake, Allison HT740
Rated Cap: 37,400 lbs GVWR
Quote:
Originally Posted by s2mikon View Post
Thank you Mark. I too have a 40 foot pusher conversion and I have installed 2 of the Chinese diesel heaters and would like to know more. Can you supply timer and relay part numbers? I have to agree that if left alone these things will keep getting hotter and hotter. I have spent a few nights in mine when it was 20 degrees F and they can get too warm. Thanks.
What size are your heaters - the smaller 2kW or the larger 5kW/8kW? I'm thinking of getting two for my 40' bus, but I'm worried that two larger ones would be too much, especially that I don't plan on ever being anywhere really cold.

John
Iceni John is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2020, 09:07 PM   #39
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Quote:
Originally Posted by s2mikon View Post
Thank you Mark. I too have a 40 foot pusher conversion and I have installed 2 of the Chinese diesel heaters and would like to know more. Can you supply timer and relay part numbers? I have to agree that if left alone these things will keep getting hotter and hotter. I have spent a few nights in mine when it was 20 degrees F and they can get too warm. Thanks.
Custom Timer

This is the timer part. You need one for each heater. They are only 17bucks and shipping is fast. Ask the timers.shop guy to put the diesel heater timer program that we worked out on it. It is already made and he just has to flash it to the timers you order.

The relay is just a standard 12v automotive relay from amazon. (5 pack was like 9.99). (You need one for each heater which will still leave three in the pack)

That covers the heater side. The thermostat side depends on if you have 120V continuous or not. My inverter is always on so I always have 120. So I have a 120 to 24v AC transformer and a 24vac relay for the thermostat side. If you are running the thermostat off of 12v you will have to get a different transformer.

Mark
Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-24-2020, 09:30 PM   #40
Mini-Skoolie
 
Mark Miner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 65
Year: 2007
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 Pusher
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceni John View Post
What size are your heaters - the smaller 2kW or the larger 5kW/8kW? I'm thinking of getting two for my 40' bus, but I'm worried that two larger ones would be too much, especially that I don't plan on ever being anywhere really cold.

John
My heater is 5kw, the ones that are for sale that are 8kw are probably only 5kw in reality. I would certainly try ONE if I were you. If the temperatures here were in the 40's and 50's (F) here ONE would do my bus fine.

Mark
Mark Miner is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.