Diesel (vented) Heaters

[Flying kurbmaster]

Hey grateful have you even used that heater of yours yet? Is it installed can you give us some feedback on how many hours you have had it running, how easy it was to install, how many nights it has heated your ambulance how the thermostat and controls perform over a period of time? I hear you talking about all this research, can you give us some of your own personal experience with the heater. Cheers

[tx2sturgis]

 Just to be fair google this.
"problems with diesel bunk heaters" & you'll see the same problems with the cheap & the expensive ones.

This is turning into a circular conversation....we are going in circles. Yes, as I said, more than once, they WILL fail sooner or later, at the worst possible time. I spent about 20 winters in a truck, with a bunk heater whizzing along on every cold night, sometimes way below zero actual temps, and they work great....until they DONT...does not matter where it was made or what the brand name on the unit is...they ALL FAIL, sooner or later. 

I worked at a location with about 250 trucks, all equipped with bunk heaters...we had an entire section of the parts room in the shop with nothing but bunk heater and APU replacement parts. Our entire USA fleet (over 8000 trucks) had a driver policy directed at what to do when the APU or bunk heater fails...because they FAIL. When the driver needs them not to fail: winter conditions, sub-freezing temps, windchills below zero sometimes.....that's exactly when they fail.

Repeat after me: Carry spare parts, and have a backup heat source. How many times do I need to repeat that? That is my advice for the OP...as far as what you want to do...do as you like. 

No need to turn this into a faith-based argument.

[Gr8ful]

I said carry spare parts, YOU said buy 2 heaters. What's this have to do with faith? I just showed that your high $$ brand was made in china. The OP I believe nor would I pay the cost for a brand name heater & I showed that Espars are chinese made. I said I had a catolytic back up heater as well as reat heat from then engine. Maybe read what I type as I was only trying to help. You have some need to win so I've told you you won, what more do you want? Everything mechanical breaks usually without properly maintanence. Maybe that was your job & that's why you're so upset. Also what does this mean? I'm not your kid & am allowed to have my own opinion & I do back up what I say with facts & don't claim to be the HEATER KING so you don't need facts. Please explain what you wrote below & & why you need to repeat it. At least I knew where they were made. This has turned into something way beyond me trying to answer somenes questions so I'll be the bigger man & stop posting about this. Flying Kurbmaster it's worked great but I don't have 20 million hours on it & dumb enough to read up on them & read the instructions. PM me anytime.

Tx2Sturgus I wasn't posting to you the MIGHTY HEATER KING You already know all there is to know, so why post this? "Repeat after me: Carry spare parts, and have a backup heat source. How many times do I need to repeat that? That is my advice for the OP...as far as what you want to do...do as you like."
No need to turn this into a faith-based argument."

[Riverman]

Here's about all you need to know on the Chinese Diesel Heaters.... 19 video's.

I'd say this guy is an expert on them:

https://www.youtube.com/user/johnmck1147/videos

[tx2sturgis]

I said carry spare parts, YOU said buy 2 heaters.   

The best, cheapest way to carry spare parts for an off-brand chinese diesel bunk heater is to buy TWO identical units, and at $130 for yours, that would be a very reasonable $260...seems entirely doable to me. You might  not need to carry a spare plastic fuel tank, but the main heating unit, fuel pump, filter, and control panel, would not take up much room. 

Maybe that was your job & that's why you're so upset. 

Whos upset? Not me....I'm good with this...I'm the teacher...you're the student....and you are very passionate about your choices...to me, its a piece of ubiquitous, although complex, transportation hardware, with many points of failure.

At least I knew where they were made.

Maybe you missed it, but I recommended name brands like Espar, Webasto, and Airtronic because of the availability of service and parts on the road...you said the chinese brands can be fixed at any place that works on trucks....which I highly doubted. If you roll your class B RV or self-built van into a Kenworth dealership, or a ThermoKing dealership, and ask them to diagnose your self-installed and now failed ZING-ZONGH chinese brand heater that failed the night before, I am fairly certain you will be turned away...or at the very least they will have zero parts on hand for that unit. They dont actually repair these things, the techs at a truck shop just swap in new identical (or substitute) parts.

If it was an Espar or Thermoking, and even if the replacement parts are made in china, they will likely have those in stock or similar parts that can be swapped in...maybe even a free replacement if the warranty is still in effect. Heck, even good old American Rolling Stock like Peterbilt, Kenworth, and International have lots of chinese, mexican, and japanese parts, mainly small motors and servos, small plastic parts and panels, and various sensors, and microprocessor boards....no surprises there. And of course the large diesel engines these days have many globally-sourced components. That's the world we live in now. Yes, we all know this.

One more time: If someone else (not you) chooses a chinese brand (or generic) diesel heater, I would recommend them to carry spare parts (an identical duplicate unit) and have a back-up heat source.

This will allow them to swap parts in and out as needed when it fails....and of course, its a good idea to carry a couple of spare filters.

[tx2sturgis]

A very timely video...pretty lady with a troublesome diesel heater...first 6 minutes or so....

The takeaway is as I stated...carry extra parts....

[Gr8ful]

Correction, I said extra parts, YOU SAID COMPLETE EXTRA HEATERS.I had a couple prewar planes that used O-145 Lycoming engines which were orphaned long long ago so I collected 14 complete spare engines. Guess how many parts I ever used in 1000+ hours of flying? Zip, ZERO, Nada. Guess how many parts I sold? I set of oil pump gears. It's taken you this long to find a bad one? WOW they must be GREAT!

[tx2sturgis]

I was directing my latest post and update to the OP...no more coaching this other owner..I'm still dizzy from the previous circular arguments.

Just too tedious and un-productive.

[TWIH]

I was directing my latest post and update to the OP...no more coaching this other owner..I'm still dizzy from the previous circular arguments.

Just too tedious and un-productive.

This thread is getting un-civil and too close to the old forum that most of us gladly left.

If it’s mechanical, it will break at sometime. A simple (unvented) propane heater backup would suffice or like one poster said, carry some spares. If you want to carry anything extra it’s your choice.

Vans/rv’s aren't the space shuttle with multiple redundant systems. Most can’t afford it or have the room to carry it.

Let’s get back to civil discourse, allowing each other's opinions without being offended/offensive.

[rvpopeye]

Diesel heaters:
I know nothing about them but just reviewed all posts.
The subject seems to be pretty well covered.

I thought we were over this discussion point , counterpoint .

The fair maiden has decided to go with something else so guess it IS time for the knights to stop jousting and move on to the next daunting task....

I'm not closing the thread though.
Somebody may want to post a question or new developments in tech.
__________________
Stay Tuned
popeye