Installing my cab heater

[DrivingDutchman]

Hi all,

I'm putting up here where I have installed the cab heater I bought from Robin.
I know there are some who struggle with the location of the heater. I did too. But I found it best to locate it directly under the sink in the kitchen unit.
The control unit I have mounted above the seatbelt reel on the second row seat. I wanted to be able to control the heater from my bed. This seemed the best spot for it.
The heater takes the air from within the kitchen unit. The heated air is blown out into the ducting pipe that goes straight down into the lower part of the unit into a T piece. From this T piece it goes out in 2 directions. Forward straight out into the outlet blowing hot air forwards into the cab. The second direction is rear wards. On the other side of the unit it exits via the second outlet. When the door is closed, the hot air is deflected by the door (I still have to add a metal plate to the door, the fabric of the door gets too hot for my liking) and goes upwards. When the door is open, it warms up the rear awning tent that we attach to the rear of the Dormobile (if that makes sense). We have a Kyam drive away awning and the part that normal attaches to the side of the campervan we attached to the rear of Dora, making a closed tunnel into the awning and thus trapping the heat blown out from the back.
Because I still have the 6pot, I needed a separate diesel fuel tank. I managed to find a shrunken metal jerry can. Picture the 20 lt. one, but then in 5 lt. version with separate pouring spout. I still need to mount it and it goes in the space next to the engine. One of the pictures shows the space where it is going to be. The spout I will convert into the fuel pick up system with the pick up pipe supplied with the heater. This way I can take it out of the jerry can, close the lid and carry it to the pump to fill up. I don't have to akwardly fill it under the bonnet if that makes sense.
I'm not 100% sure of the location of the fuel pump, but for now it is ok there. I would like a bit more protection from flying mud and rocks for it, so might move it to a more protected spot somewhere between the chassis legs and the floor maybe. It still needs to be easily accessible.
I hope the pictures make more sense then my words...

[jerryd]

Does it warm the tins of baked beans in the cupboard "on the go"

[RMS]

Ah, that's great Michiel - thanks for the write-up and pictures

I've got something for them to refer to now.

I particularly like the idea of venting through the door into the awning - ingenious

Cheers,
Robin.

[DrivingDutchman]

Thanks for the compliments Robin.

The only thing I didn't take into account of the spot I had chosen is the fact that where the cables come out of the unit, there is a rib on the inside of the kitchen unit. This now fouls the cable a bit, it is a bit tight there. So next time I would move it a bit more away from the side panel of the kitchen unit. I only discovered this when putting the kitchen unit back. There is enough space to do it, but I wanted the unit as far to the side as possible.

Jerry... Yes the tins get warmed up nicely... , luckily though I only keep some tools and non food items down there.
All the food is stored in the overhead cabinets. Once I have insulated the ducting sufficiently I will store some food items down there. But to be honest, we don't take much food with us, just some essentials for first arrival on campsite and some extra tins in case we can't get to any shops. We have got the fridge for the cool stuff and like to shop local where we camp.

Cheers,

Michiel

[jonjeans]

I have a 2 Kw Webasto Night heater Petrol unit installed in a tray under the centre front seat, above the overdrive on my 6 Pot “Dreadnought”. That way it is easy to access if required, adjacent to batteries and underseat fuel tank for connection facility, and high enough to avoid casual wading water ingress. I don’t plan to wade above axle line. Air outlet into rear seat footwell, exhaust outlet under LHS Rear door, and controller on the wardrobe. Most useful device and as mentioned many time by other readers, it makes camping cosy.

Downside is the fan and burner noise, and battery drain: I use split charge and leisure battery.

[wagoner]

Hi wagoner here ,long time since I,ve been on read your write up with interest having just bought one off robin ,and looking forward to trying it out this weekend at Newark ,let you know how I get on

[romanyrose]

G'day Trev, i will bring the milk but i only have the cream from the gold top but then you are used to milk without the cream

Just a joke between Trev and myself from the sixties when i was a milkman and used to deliver his milk that was always minus the cream not that he knew until 40 odd years later when i told him after meeting up at a landrover gathering i guess he either thought it was from the freezing weather or the blue tits had been at the bottle tops which was a common thing in those cold bitter winters.

If you look at it this way Trev at least the cream won't go off if it gets to hot from the heater you got from Robin

Catch you later. R-Rose the milkman that was

[romanyrose]

G'day matey, i should say sorry really for interrupting in your post but i replied to Trev not thinking sorry and yes i know i can talk the hind legs off a donkey where memories on the past are concerned so i will en-devour to think before i start waffling next time that's going to be hard but i will try R-Rose

[Troika]

Thought it was about time I got my finger out and installed the same heater kit I purchased last year, but ahead of making any cuts or drilling have done a dry bench assembly just to confirm lengths/runs etc, and here comes the question, in the picture of the exhaust pipe adjacent to the sink waste pipe, what is the rectangular box in the middle of the exhaust, first thought was it's an aftermarket spark arrester and secondly if so, where did you get it from?

[RMS]

Hi,

It's an exhaust silencer.

Although these heaters are relatively quiet (compared to some on the market), adding a silencer quietens it down even more.

You can also get intake silencers to quieten the sound of the combustion intake pipe.

If you decide you want/need one, do an ebay search for (eberspacher, webasto) 22mm (silencer, muffler, exhaust) you should find one for around £30.
eg. HERE and HERE

Cheers,
Robin.