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Old 02-26-2020, 12:34 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
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Year: 1984
Coachwork: International Harvester
Chassis: S1753
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Diesel Heater Help

I Have A Chinese 5KW Diesel Heater That I Want To Put At The Front Of My Bus But The Wires For Powering It Wont Reach My Battery Bank In The Back Of My Bus. What Can I Do To Solve The Problem?

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Old 02-26-2020, 01:29 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by NfiniteMile View Post
I Have A Chinese 5KW Diesel Heater That I Want To Put At The Front Of My Bus But The Wires For Powering It Wont Reach My Battery Bank In The Back Of My Bus. What Can I Do To Solve The Problem?
I would run a DC subpanel up front.

Start with the cables to run:
https://www.amazon.com/Welding-Batte.../dp/B01M6CLT6A

Now to protect that cable run, you will want to place a breaker inline on the positive terminal somewhere close to the batteries:
https://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Break.../dp/B0834WH28R

Then somewhere in the front near your diesel heater, mount a fuse panel. This is where your cabling will terminate.
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Syst.../dp/B001P6FTHC

You'll then be able to connect the diesel heater to this little fuse panel and get power.
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Old 02-26-2020, 01:53 PM   #3
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What About Connecting The Heater Wire To 12 Gauge Stranded Along With An In-line Fuse Straight To The Batteries?
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Old 02-26-2020, 02:23 PM   #4
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What About Connecting The Heater Wire To 12 Gauge Stranded Along With An In-line Fuse Straight To The Batteries?

You can do this... The inline fuse should be as close to the battery bank as practical.



If your battery bank connects negative to chassis, you can run just the positive wire. In that case, connect negative from the heater to the chassis somewhere up front.



I ran subpanels in my build because there was no telling what else I'd like to power at the time. Its a futureproofing measure- if you know you're never going to need DC power anything else near the heater, just run the 12 gauge. I'm kinda glad I did.
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Old 02-26-2020, 02:37 PM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
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So To Be Clear, Connect The 12 Stranded To The Heater Wire Along With An In-line Fuse (Close To The Battery) And Then Connect It Directly To The Battery. And Yes My Battery Will Connect Negative To Chassis
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Old 02-26-2020, 02:48 PM   #6
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So To Be Clear, Connect The 12 Stranded To The Heater Wire Along With An In-line Fuse (Close To The Battery) And Then Connect It Directly To The Battery. And Yes My Battery Will Connect Negative To Chassis

Yes, then you connect the diesel negative to chassis as well. You place the fuse close to the battery because then it not only protects in the case of the heater overdrawing, it also protects in case the wire is cut or touches the chassis (shorts).
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Old 02-26-2020, 02:49 PM   #7
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Can More That One Item/Component Share The Same Ground Space?
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Old 02-26-2020, 02:52 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NfiniteMile View Post
Can More That One Item/Component Share The Same Ground Space?

Not sure what you mean by "ground space", and "item/component". Be a little more specific.



Can two batteries share ground? Like, can you connect your solar battery bank negative to chassis when your bus batteries are negative to chassis? Yes.


Can the diesel heater connect to the chassis at the same place as another appliance? Yes.
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Old 02-26-2020, 02:53 PM   #9
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You Answered My Question, Thanks For The Help. I Appreciate It
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Old 03-07-2020, 03:32 PM   #10
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I did this. I had to upgrade to 10ga wire (30 ft wire run). In the start up mode, the glow plug was causing voltage drop that would shut the heater off. Upgrading to 10ga wire solved that problem.
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Old 03-07-2020, 04:09 PM   #11
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This is so important. The voltage drop on a long run when this thing is starting up is pretty heavy. 10 AWG wire or better is a great idea. I used 14 and it was not enough at all and super annoying to fix.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomad57 View Post
I did this. I had to upgrade to 10ga wire (30 ft wire run). In the start up mode, the glow plug was causing voltage drop that would shut the heater off. Upgrading to 10ga wire solved that problem.
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