Thanks for the helpful video! It seems that to keep the combustion chamber as clean as possible, you would want to have combustion on the lean side and also maximize your combustion chamber temperature. So, it seems that you want to lower the fuel pump speed (which you have done) to lean-out combustion, but also *lower* the fan speed to increase the temperature of the combustion chamber. Where is the flaw in my logic? I guess the fan controls more than the external (cooling) air, that runs over the exterior of the combustion unit to provide room heat, the fan must also provide the combustion chamber air as well?
Choke the combustion air input when at max fuelling like a regular oil boiler, to get the lowest volume of combustion product. That increases volumetric efficiency, increases heat exchanger temps while still keeping a lean burn👍🏻 Think of it the other way too... throwing in too much air simply blows all the hot gas straight out of the exhaust. You want to reduce exhaust gas temps to near condensing levels, while still maintaing a lean burn.
@@idaveuk any power supply that can provide 12-13 amps at 12v will work. It only pulls 10+ amps while the glow plug is on, after that the consumption drops to around 2 amps.
I followed your advice after buying my Chinese diesel heater. Now, two winters later, I took my heater apart to give it a good clean, only to find nothing but a thin layer of carbon which I could wipe off with my finger. I get great heat output too So guess it’s running at the optimum efficiency. Thank you.
I've been getting endless e-08's and e-10's for 3 months since getting one of these last fall -- all indicators pointed to too much fuel, but all the internet experts suggested too much air in my fuel lines, bad wires etc. Working on these changed nothing. Last night I used your setting as a starting point, 3.8 hz and 5000 rpm for the high setting, and without any other change it just started up instantly! Thank you!
Do you have your pump on an angle 15⁰-35⁰? I just purchased a second hand campervan and suspected that was my issue and found my pump installed perfectly horizontal.
Thats odd because the ecu inside the heater has a pre-programmed start up sequence, it is the same start up sequence for all of them and it is not adjustable so whatever setting you set for running in the special settings menu it will not affect the fan speed on start up whatever you do, just the running speed after start up, so your tinkering must have paid off initially maybe you cleared some air from the fuel lines? or cleaned out the atomiser hole next to the glow plug ?, something you did right, or maybe you just have a tempermental heater, I had one that didnt like starting, so I cut the length of the air intake hose in half straightened it and put an old piece of stocking on the end as a filter medium with an elastic band, it starts first time every time now. when you run one straight out of the box they will start up and run fine without any hoses or exhaust pipes attached and I thinkn thats how they test them in the factory. Then we go and stick a carboard hose on the air intake and restrict the airflow with a plastic silencer, probably slightly crushing the cardboard tube in the process or bending it more than once so that it struggles to get air to the combustion chamber.
@@oojimmyflip when I had it on default settings, it would start up the first time after install, then just smoke and pop like crazy on every subsequent attempt, over and over and over. Took everything apart, cleaned out the build-up (it wasn't burning the diesel fully), reassembled.. same thing. Double-checked literally everything, pump angle etc. was all fine. It was only once I re-did the settings as outlined here, found the sweet spot, haven't had an issue again. Didn't even have to disassemble and clean, just got going once the settings were fixed after many failed ignitions and a few flame outs on the default. Last night was the first time I had it on since May, still using the modded settings from last feb, and it fired up right away. I infer the startup sequence uses the 'low' and 'high' settings as its starting and ending point, gradually moving through the curve between these, if you think of it like a graph. Pretty sure its not just one default startup with static fan/fuel settings. If you think of the stoichiometry of the reaction here, diesel combustion needs diesel, oxygen, and heat. When the reaction isn't working right, its one of these three things that are off, can't be anything else -- in my case it was lacking sufficient oxygen for complete combustion of the given fuel amount. I think the issue is pump capacity. These kits all come with different pumps, ranging between 16-22ml per 1000 pumps. The default setting is maybe correct for one of these pump sizes, not the others. I can't remember which size I have, I think 22ml ie one of the larger ones hence me needing to get more oxygen in there per pump frequency.
@@oojimmyflipThats wrong mate. I install these on boats im a boat builder. Lots of the smaller boats we do fefurbs on the customer wants the cheap chinese ones. The start up sequence will change with the max and min rpm settings because the algorythim reduces the speed in which the fan ramps up just as it turns the plug off. For example the ones sold as 5-8kw are known for if you set the fan speed at 2500 & 5000 they have a habit of blowing out right as the plug turns off and the fan ramps up to max during start. The ramp up is too fast and the chamber usually gets blown out around the 56deg mark then you get a shutdown followed by an automatic second attempt, which sometimes gets it going. By lowering the max fan speed to 4400-4600 regardless of the fueling frequency you will automatically reduce the ramping up speed and the heater will no longer blow out at 55ish deg when the plug goes out. You can clearly hear the difference it makes and if you have anything monitoring your battery then you can see it the figure on the fan rpm ramp up spike is lower on startup. This goes for the black, blue red and newer black controller the one that has the voice speaker and connectivity. This is also the case with both aftermarket controllers ive used and the algorithms in the expensive aftermarket one (you know the one?) its automatic start up sequence is basically 4800 normal temp start up, below 0 deg intake it goes to 4600 max and on second attempt onwards the controller sets the startup speed to 5000 for the 5-8kw copy heaters. I hope you accept this as the truth because ive had to sort a load of them for the same issue especially after plug changes some dont like set to 5000 on startup because of the ramp up being so steep. cheers.
@@micgyou are right sort of. These heaters especially the 5-8kw sold models the start up sequence algorythim will vary based on the max-min fan speed rpm, mostly the high speed setting. During the start up sequence the distinct ramp up in fan speed that coincides with the heater plug going out (around 55deg) is because the heater thinks the chamber is lit enough to run on its own. If you set the top RPM speed to 5000 and your heater runs fine then cool but if you are suffering blow outs on start up then reducing the max fan speed to 4600-4800rpm the rate in which the fan ramps up at slows so the chamber doesnt get blown out. Some of them you cannot get them going on 5000rpm setting after a plug renewal and a clean, they need backed off to 4600 to 4800 for a good 50hr before they can be sped up again. Despite what people think about these they run best with a small amount of carbon built up especially around the inner chamber where the gauze is around the turbulance plate at the bottom of the atomiser. When you clean them fully or use them from new for the first time this is why they dont burn right for about 50hr. They dont like too much carbon build up but nor do they like none. Webasto and Eberspacher know this btw thats why they have a cleaning setting now on the boats and lorries. The cleaning setting purposely gives it a rich wet burn cycle for 8 mins then roasts the thing for 3 mins then roasts it again for one minute then shuts off and restarts then sits exacly half way for 5 mins on the next start up. Hope this helps Edit: I forgot to point out on this reply that when you put the heater in a "cleaning" cycle on the newer models in lorries and boats it automatically runs the high speed fan at a heavily reduced rpm as it takes into account that you might be doing the clean cycle because it has a choppy start up. Interestingly what it does is turn the plug out at the usual temp in the start up cycle but there is a delay from them about 20 seconds before it soft ramps the fan RPM up to max.
Oh My Goodness! I have been hunting for MONTHS about how to stop my one of these, from fouling. I'm no mechanic, but I suspected there was a relationship between the hertz and the fan speed that was causing my issue. This is the first resource that I've found that showed a logical, simple, approach to sort the tuning...that anyone could do with a spare half hour or so. So - THANK YOU VERY MUCH! :D :D :D :D
I have watched your video and followed along for my heater. With the minimum fan from 1,500 to 2.500 and the maximum at 5,000 rpm, I adjusted my low hz to 1.2 and the high hz down from 5,5 to 3.6 when I got the 2 red bars back. All appears to be okay, so I will see how it goes for a while. Many thanks for doing this video.
@@CharredSteak good advice thank you. I have reduced the speed and it’s working better. Too much air meant that the device was putting out cooler air and now it is hotter but still safe for the casing. I have the heater on for about 16 hours each day at 1.3 and I am content with it. Thanks again friend.
Thank you for your explanation. One problem I have is in what I assume are fast forwards and can't work out what you are pressing. I haven't a clue what code 1688 meant and how you got there. There is nothing on the screen with that number. As a teacher of electronics I have learnt to go slow and assume nothing
@@allangoldsmith284 I will go through my notes and hopefully I will have the details. It was a year ago when I placed the text here. I will get back to you if I can recreate the readings
Stumbled across your video as I’ve just bought one but haven’t installed it my small workshop/shed, was gonna buy one 3 years ago for my old camper van but didn’t, so have seen hundreds of vids, was amazed at your quiet unassuming but knowledgeable presentation, blown away actually, instantly subbed and looking forward to your next blast of knowledge 👍😃
Thanks Cliff, I'm glad I could be of help. Properly tuned, these will run for a couple of years before the motor needs replacing when the brushes wear out. When I say a couple of years, I run mine probably 16 hours a day from the end of November to the end of March which is over 3,800 hours. I'll cover the installation in the next video and the servicing in the one after that.
What I’ve noticed with the heater is the intake “filter” is tiny. As a gear head and diesel mechanic I’d imagine that filter may be restricting the air which could cause excessive soot or carbon build up. I modified mine and it appears to run significantly better at its highest temperature setting
That’s pretty good explanation of how to tune it. My 5kw is on a max of 3.3 at the moment as my fan speed is 4600 max I didn’t think they liked 5000 but it sounds like yours has lasted okay so might push it higher. I’ve had terrible carbon in mine but its getting better now the mixture is leaner. Thanks for the video.
They will all go to 5000rpm but different manufacturers have different default values that get them all running in the test room. Different altitudes and air conditions need different air/fuel mixtures so the manufacturer of yours might have been at a different altitude or in a vacuum 😁 My suggestion is, strip it down and clean it. I will be doing a video on it, it's not hard.
@@Vortecks I have just cleaned it. As I said it's getting better as the mixture is leaned out. It did start off as an 8kw with the usual over the top settings so it's taken a while to get it to a decent setup. I wish I'd seen your video a year ago it would have saved a lot of stress 😀
@@julias-shed that's another issue with Chinese knock offs, they lie ! There is not or ever has been an 8 KW 😏 these are copies of the eber 2KW and 5KW heaters, the Chinese fall into the group who think more fuel equals more heat, 8KW is just a 5KW run at a higher pump dose rate and "sometimes" a higher fan speed, this either soots up or the fan bearings go, usually because the brush end bearing gets full of brush dust due to the motor overspending and prematurely wearing out the brushes 👍
@@Dirt-Diggler Some mainboards & LCDs allow a fan speed of 5500 RPM with an increased pump speed. I might be wrong, but I think these are the ones marketed as the 8kW version. Last year, I tested a 5kW which goes to 5500 RPM and it will just about hold combustion at 5500 RPM and 5.3hz. The only trouble is, some of the combustion happens outside the flame tube and goes directly into the exhaust and the exhaust was hitting 280C. It 'might' be the equivalent of 8kW in total but there's probably 3kW which is directly pumped into the exhaust. Very dangerous.
they dont like 5000 none of them do. The 5000 is only for a badly made machine. The startup sequence rpm ramp speed on 5000 runs them to lean full stop. From the 55deg mark when the plug extinguishes and it ramps up the fan speed to max because it thinks its lit, you are merely running lean as the air in the AFR spikes massively. This has been proven by countless people with proper measuring devices. The 5000 setting automatically sets the start up algorythim to ramp the the fan up quicker than it does on any other setting so its not just the max rpm effected. Anyone whos heater can run on 5000 no problem still wants to back it off a bit as it saves the plugs. i can get boats doing 3-5yr on these cheap copies and 5-7yr on the original plug on the genuine ones and i diall the smoke and smell out of them within minutes.
After running my heater all winter on factory setting, I get great results, make sure the exhaust is in a downward slant, this is where the carbon or soot buildup starts. And the most important thing is "leave it alone so you don't burn your house down"
Thanks Tony, loving mine, will definitely have a play with its settings now. Intrigued with your fuel pump upgrade, I have mine hanging on some string which has dulled down the harsh clicking 100%
built a box around my pump with 6mm plywood with a hole top and bottom for the fuel lines and wiring to go through, then I used 4 cup hooks to hang the box on 6mm bungee chord attached to 4 more cup hooks on the roof of the wall mounting box, cannot hear the pump clicking inside the wall box mounted to my outside wall of my house or indoors. my hearing is so sharp I can hear a pin drop outside at night. I have to sleep with earplugs in and I still wake up if I hear a noise outside through the earplugs. The pump is silent.
I've just installed one of these and will tune as you suggest, thank you. Mine's in a large workshop so space not massive issue so my next step is to try playing with exhaust heat exchanging. I appreciate that whatever I do can't create any more back-pressure than the supplied exhaust tubing, but my thought / hope is that extracting heat from the exhaust will drop pressure if anything (it's effectively a charge intercooler) whilst enabling the harvest of some waste exhaust heat.
Yes, using the exhaust as a heat exchanger is something I want to improve although I think I've got as much as I can out of it. I'm using 32mm (I think) copper tubing which I had to silver solder together. As long as you tune the heater again after you've connected it, you'll be fine. Mine inevitably does produce a small amount of back pressure but it's been running for over 12 months like that and zero build-up.
@@Vortecks Interesting, have you got that on a YT Vid? Would love to see what you've done. I've got a few ideas but annoyingly only thought about doing something after the heater was installed, so although I have options, they're not unlimited.
New subscriber. I ordered a heater, don’t have it yet, and I’ve been watching videos on them and I really liked your video. Straightforward, great knowledge, and a great way of explaining the info. Again thank you!!
Meh - that ticking sound is the sound of warmth and peace :) If i don't hear the ticking i wake up!!! Nice one Tony - keep up the excellent work! Thanks, Ringo
@@ringonotts I like the clicking sound as well. I don't understand trying to muffle it. Actually one heater I bought had an insulating jacket on the fuel pump and I believe it overheated the pump and I had to replace it
At last someone who understands AFR ! Appart from davidmcluckie and john mck 47 your the only YTer who even starts to understand it, soo many 5min experts out there 🙄 The original webasto and ebers didn't allow owners to sod about with pump speed and fan speed, they were set at the factory to give heat with a low ex emissions, something the Chinese dont really care about all that much. 90% of issues i fix are sooting up because owners fiddle with the settings or the base settings are way off, the older blue controller would let you set dose rate up to 8Htz with a max fan speed of 5500 rpm, some would only allow 5.6htz at the same rpm so no wonder they get messed up and sooty 🙄 after a clean out i reset the controller and tell owners to use the temp settings and stop messing with the dose rate 😏 or buy a decent make, webasto and eber obv, mikuni are ok, autotherm/plannar or the lavana pro series 👍 Really enjoyed that vid chap 👍 looking forward to a few more on the subject from ya 😎
Yeah, I noticed that there are a lot of people who just want to jump on the bandwagon to get a video published, it was pissing me off that there's not much info on how to use them properly so I decided to start the series. There are a lot of bad tips on how to use them and very little in the way of safety. I wish I could find the video where someone said to go into the settings, max everything out and it runs much hotter 😒 I've got every controller & mainboard there is out there now, I kept buying them from China. I was considering buying the afterburner buy it seemed like a lot of money for loads of features I wouldn't use so....... I built my own. If you go to 8:14 you can see the TX part of it on the right but I'll cover that in another video 😉
@@Vortecks I've gone the total opposite from the afterburner in that all i have is an on off switch with remote activation and a normal 2 wire stat in the van but my own build is a rather old mikuni i saved and refurbished from a narrow boat who changed it for a cheap Chinese unit cos it was £15 cheaper than servicing the heater he already owned 🙄 his loss my gain 😎 i got paid to change in the new unit and got to keep the old one, i removed a webasto from my van and use that for back up heat in winter at home 👍
So glad to have found this video. I have been wondering about fine tuning these units. I use one to keep my bedroom nice and warm but I have noticed it really goes through a lot of fuel on high and this video has shown me that I can really reduce my consumption and get the same heat and even better air flow in the room.
I'm glad to see that someone was able to make good use of theses heaters and taken the time to tune it as I've seen several of them fail (Julian Illiet had one fail)
It does take some thinking about but they're just an engine that relies on air and fuel. Being an ex car mechanic helped understand where it was going wrong. I've wanted to shout at Julian when I saw the smoke coming from his, I get zero smoke on startup or shutdown.
Great video! if the power is removed/interrupted from the heater will the adjusted settings memory be lost and return to default settings? or does the memory store and the adjusted settings are still present after power is restored. Thanks!
I've found a the low end of these settings I get higher CO readings from the exhaust and fumes start to smell , do you think the rpm of the fan is cooling the flame zone + pushing the unburnt fuel out of the chamber to quickly ?
I love the tinkering and tweaking of this heater. I wonder if you were able to get the dose rate so low because you're closer to sea level. I'm over a 1000' ASL and I can't go any lower than 4.5 Ghz. Of course, the incoming air temperature might have an effect on the heat exchanger, too. Thanks for taking the time to post this. 👍
Yes, there are a lot of factors which mean you have a high pump rate - barometric air pressure, air temperature, the location of your pump in relation to the heater (some people have it 3-4ft below) blocked fuel filter, water/condensation in the fuel or very high humidity. FYI I'm 500' ASL where I am. Obviously, very cold temperatures makes diesel freeze or at least 'gum up' if the tank is outside.
dont go too low AFR as they go through plugs. Regardless of fan speed if you dont run enough fuel through them they burn plugs up and the mesh doesn't last long. If its running ideal AFR wise you will be able to run the heater at a lower normal main menu Hz setting as it will be kicking out more heat for each normal heat Hz setting so you need to undertand that leaning out AFR doeant always equate to less fuel used per heat unit kicked out.
Another way to get less fuel to the heater is get a smaller pump. My 2kw came with 18.5 written on it. My 5 & 8kw came with 22 written on it. This will help those that have a different controller and can't adjust the Hertz or fan speed.
Its great that there is even a function in the controls to adjust the unit for best results. Great info, thanks. Subbed. I live in Australia, and my retail natural gas costs AUD $20 per kw/hr of heat. Diesel is AUD $2.00 per liter and makes 12 kw/hr of heat........there is no comparison.
Might want to look at your math. MJ in Vic is 3.52c and supply charge .83c per day. Diesel is around $2 so .0352 X 38 is $1.33. QLD at .06 is $2.28 but who needs much heating up there.
@@mathewemy I did the math........converted the joules into watts etc. The thing that bumps it up a lot, is the supply charge. For a typical residential user with relatively low volume of gas, the fixed supply charge really ups the overall cost per kw/hr of heat. There are no options to avoid that supply charge other than to have the service disconnected. Furthermore, as natural gas is gobbled up by the expanding number of gas turbines being used to supplement renewables during night time and especially wind droughts.....the price is only going to go up, and up and up. Gas turbines are horribly inefficient at replacing natural gas as a heat source in heating applications........they need to burn 3 times as much to provide the same heat energy............but since they are paying a tiny fraction of the price, they dont care about the waste of energy.
wow, i replaced mine a few weeks ago... just tuned it and it was waaaaayyy off. i guess this explains why the exhaust on my new one was running signicantly hotter than my old one. we'll see if it soots up :P i went from 5.5hz to 2.8hz, and the bottom one stayed at 1.4hz, but i increased the low end fan a bit.
Not long had mine. set at 1.2hz it flicks between 1 red and no red bars. I figured it may be due to the fan speed difference, like a poor A/F mix. upped my min fan speed to 2600 and it struggled to fire up. had to choke the inlet a couple of time to get the flame lit. lowering it back down to 1600 and it fired up. but still not operating at full temperature. Will be running on kerosene soon, so hopefully that burns clean enough to prevent any coking
@@kareljansen3992 after much tweaking I still have to choke it to start. I think a combination of lots of running at 1.2hz and a one off stint with a couple of liters of veggie oil has sooted up the mesh thing, I'll get it apart at some point and see what the insides look like. Before the veggie oil it ran fine, albeit at a lower temperature.
They are cheap if you don't get conned by things like "8kW" which doesn't exist. I'm not using any of the parts that came with the heater now, all I've got it the heater and loom, the rest of it is custom made.
If you want one right now, i just got a complete 5kW kit off AliEx Vevor Bestautos store for 70 dollars, including delivery in 7 days. It came in 2 days. Amazing. Still available at this price right now. Can't go wrong.
Thanks mate I'd never heard of these (not the cheap ones anyway) until I saw this vid. I'm going to pull the one out of my scrap Freelander and see if I can use it cos me garage is Baltic!!!. 5kWh heat for 45p (half litre of 28 sec kerosene @ 90p per litre) instead of 1kW for 38p of leccy.
actually the first p for pump speed is the startup pump speed to heat it up. also it runs better with the fan speed set at 5500 instead of 5000. i set my glowplug to 4 out of 6 and my maximum pump speed to 5 instead of 5.5. my startup pump speed is set at 1.8. with that being said it never smokes on startup and running temperature. ive ran about 40 litres so far and it runs great
I run 5 CDH heaters, and all heaters have run very well, producing lots of heat at all settings. Any setting under 3 will produce sooting, and eventual failure to ignite. Looking at your burn chamber, I would guess it has been run at the lower end of the fuel setting.
Really helpful video. Thank you. I had previously stripped down, cleaned and rebuilt my heater 6 times due to it running too lean and thus being overwhelmed by carbon build up. Not anymore thanks to this information! FYI: 8kw heater set at 5.2Hz (default 5.5Hz) and Min. fan speed now set at 2000RPM and Max. at 5000RPM (1650RPM and 4500RPM were the defaults). Now works a charm and havn't needed to clean it since, even running at low speeds all day. But from reading other's comments on fan speed, it seems that I should be at 4500?? to make it last longer + higher temp? I am at sea level (+1m) if that makes any difference, i don't know.
I run mine on 0.8Hz and 1500RPM. It shows only 1 red bar or no red bar at all when it's below 0*C but never had any issue with carbon buildup. However running at around 3Hz or above without adjusting max Hz did indeed extinguished the heater and made impossible to reignite. Fortunately I was able to make it run again by blowing some air with industrial vacuum cleaner thru exhaust pipe and them pull the air when the heater was trying to ignite.
Thanks for the video. Seems like I'll have to do this on mine. Although I have a different style of controller, so it might take a bit of figuring out...
I have one in a van and just bought one for domestic. I was interested in using a Peristaltic Pump instead of the noisy pump. Although in van with plenty of insulation can barely hear it.
You are in a flat are you not? what have you done exactly in regards of the exhaust? presuming through the wall somehow can you share a pic/video and explanation in another video much appreciated. Good thinking :)
Yes mate, I'm in a flat. I'll cover all the exhaust outlet in another video. I can't just make one long video, people never watch them and it does take hours to make them.
@@Vortecks good stuff interested to see how you have went about it, As i bought one 3 yrs ago with the intention of using it for this but never quite decided on exactly how/where in regards of fitment
@@monkeymagic4555 Just as an indicator - I used aluminium and fire cement to line an air-brick. Then, I put a plate inside with a fan to force the exhaust outside. Because my exhaust is around 6ft long, the exhaust exit point is only 50C maximum. All the heat from the exhaust is radiated into the kitchen.
As i just wrote above, if you want one right now, i just got a complete 5kW kit off AliEx Vevor Bestautos store for 70 dollars, including delivery in 7 days. It came in 2 days. Amazing. Still available at this price right now. Don't forget to get the 5 dollars off coupon, if you get it. Can't go wrong at that price.
I've got to cover everything in sections, people don't like to see everything at once. Next time, I'll be covering the pump. It's just a standard 5kW diesel heater, they're everywhere and they're all the same. Don't be conned by the 8kW version, there is no such thing. It's just a 5kW with an 8kW badge.
Top video, very well done. Regarding 1/7 cost of electric heating (@ 9m21s), is this based on a resistive heater or a heat pump/refrigeration heater? Also, what electricity per kw/hr and diesel per litre prices is that based on?
It's based on resistive, I'm electric only. I measured it at 46p which is what I'm paying. I know it doesn't take into account the Energy Price Guarantee but that's a rebate and not guaranteed for ever. I pay around £1.68 / litre. Kerosine is much cleaner and cheaper if you can find it, it's around £1.27
If your buy a refurb 600ltr IBC you can get a 500ltr minimum delivery of home heating oil, kerosene etc for £0.80 at todays prices from Home Fuels Direct UK this will significantly reduce the running cost. An IBC is approx size of a pallet cubed. Hope this helps. 500Ltr should get you from Oct to Mar 12hrs a day running at setting 3 with a lean burn. If my maths is right.
You earned a subscriber here! I just bought my second one of these heaters. I have a bit of an out there idea for a project with one of these.. Thinking of trying to convert one to a waste oil heater. But instead of pumping the oil into the heater itself I’d pump it to a separate external burn chamber and route what would be the heat output side into a pipe to be the combustion air for the waste oil. Wondering if the temperature sensor is the main or only sensor I would need to move or “fool” to achieve this unit essentially regulating a fire that’s not contained in the unit. I know this is crazy talk but I’ve pondered it a while and I’m a bit of a fabricator. Any thoughts on possible error codes or problems I would come across that would shut the unit down. Thanks
if you mix kerosene into your diesel, it will burn cleaner and clean out. also if you do one tank with some heat or high octane additive. that will also help clean out and burn a bit hotter. Also when tuning, other things to keep in mind is elevation and outside temp... I was in -20 the other day and it wont keep up if the fan keeps it too cold.
I appreciate that you have a digital meter. Presumably this is aside from the wall mounted carbon monoxide detector you have on top of your heater controller? I also appreciate that you may well be an expert in ‘tuning’ these heaters, but many people aren’t and really shouldn’t tinker with them because getting it wrong can be fatal not only for yourself but to others living in the same space. No offence intended here, but - Many people think that carbon monoxide is heavier than air and should therefore place a battery carbon monoxide detectors low down like you have. The specific gravity of carbon monoxide is 0.9657 while normal air is 1. Therefore it rises, hence why the recommended place for a detector is a couple of feet below the height of the ceiling. It is also recommended that they are not sited near to windows and at least 15 feet away from the source of a possible carbon monoxide leak. I think it’s worth considering these facts before tinkering with what is already an efficient and cost effective way of heating a living space.
interesting. I wonder, could it be fine tuned with a lamba sensor like they use for car exhausts (of course you should know the afr ratio for this type of fuel)
I would really like to change settings as you have however i found out that my vevor 5kw heater recently purchased uses this new style controller. Same appearance wise. No hz or speed settings available unfortunately. Very limited functions. Hoping it is set to burn proper and clean but unsure. Any suggestions on purchasing the appropriate parts to have the adjustability ? thanks for the video.
Hi mate i apreciate you doing a vid as im looking for one i can send about to show whats going on. However, you make far too many mistakes for anyone to take this as gospel. Firstly i agree if you are running extra exhaust sections and longer ducting then it will especially need the low speed side of things. However coming down from an ideal contoller AFR setting menu from 1.6 to 1.2Hz on the fueling alone is dodgy nevermind running the fans at 2500 to keep the thing in the 130 deg burner temp zone. Thats a junk machine if you can get they settings to run. Other issue is your recommendations for max rpm max HZ and general confusion. As a boat builder thats done hundreads of these now and at least 30 or so chinese copies the basics are this. A 5kw is the same as the 8kw burner, pcb & plug wise. The ones sold as 5kw didnt quite make the grade as the 8kw that would run on the controller set to 5.5 and 4800-5000rpm. The 5kw copy ones were the identical heater only they couldnt get them started or running good at 5.5hz and 4800-5000rpm so they got binned in the 5kw bin. Now the tricky bit is it could just be the quality of the plug installed from new or on a plug change that would mean your heater sold as a 8kw that ran no sweat at 5.5 would barely run at 4.5-5hz just because of a plug change. Now if your plug & atomiser on the refit is lesser quality they will need to be set at the settings you described in the this vid. The very settings that would signify poor quality plug and atomiser mesh. The further you need to deviate from 5.5hz and 4800rpm on the 5&8kw burner models then the poorer the plug and poorer made your machine is. Even with a long exhaust and intake run 2500rpm at even the higher 1.6hz stock setting would signify you have mesh issues and the burner is toast. You should not be able to run anything on these bigger bodied 5&8kw heaters at 2500rpm on the low setting, that should instantly cool and have the burner down at 100deg barely one red bar. Theres something off with your figures or your heater mate so for that reason i dont think this vid is trustworthy at all for a begginer eapecially. These are easy to tune you made it sound hard. If you can get the low hz and rpm to 1.5-1.7hz and have the fan low set to 1500-1700 then you are dialled and expect 120-130deg burner temps. Do that then set the high speed so the burner temp will reach a minimum of 165deg with the Hz set between 4.4 and 5.8max and 4600-5000 rpm. Anything outside these ranges WILL affect plug life and carbon build up and bearings. Cheers.
If you put it directly in the exhaust, it'll be going off constantly. I measure at around 500mm from the exhaust where it has time to mix with air. These are technically a jet engine without the compressor and no jet engine on earth would pass any CO tests like that.
This sounds like a great investment with the current fuel prices and it's a lot quieter than other installs I have seen with your tuning of the system. I'm looking forward to your next video as I'm thinking about getting one of these in the future.
With very careful planning, it's very quiet in comparison. There are 4 sources of noise: The inlet, exhaust, heat outlet and the fan motor. I'll go through all of them when I can get my head around explaining it.
i bought one recently and the ability to tune simply isn't in the controller, apparently there was a shortage of the above type controller, mine has a spanner icon instead of the cog wheel icon... not sure if that is the difference but probably be best to avoid the spanner version... i imagine the ore expensive heaters will still have this ability...
@@timkelly5602 I changed all my ecus and controllers to the Blue controllers with the led remote controls they are easy to use and give you readings of the core temperature and voltage on the remote fobs screen. they have a range of about 30 feet and use less complicated and cheaper tripple A batteries which last about a year. The blue controller has a matching Blue motherboard/ecu for the Heater and it is identifiyable by the silver Bi-metalic strip that crosses the blue coloured circuit board from one side to the other.
they can be made very economical especially running two or muliples at a lower setting like in boats. Im a boat builder ive done hundreads of the genuine ones and maybe 30 to 40 chinese copies. I like the guy in the vid but i dont think his figures are correct and i think his heater has burned its mesh on the inside of the burner out to the point it runs at settings it shouldnt. Absolutely NO way is any fully working 5 or 8kw branded copy heater running at AFR menu 1.2hz and 2500rpm. You will instantly hit sub 110deg on any fully functioning heater even at 1.6hz if you go over about 2000rpm on the slow fan speed setting. You do need to up the stock 1500rpm speed by about 200rpm to get it running good if you extend ducting and exhausts to the limit but to gave a heater run at 2000rpm and 1.2Hz means its mesh is gone and atomiser is cheap junk. Ive no idea how hes got it to stay above 100deg burner temp at 2500 low 1.2.
Why don't you try running it on Paraffin Tony...?..Back in 1962, they were all the rage.. Paraffin is a purified form of Diesel. Way cleaner. Esso Blue anyone?...I can remember Pink Paraffin also....Just a wick and mesh burner. No blowers or fans, just gravity fed paraffin...😳😳😮😮😏😏🇬🇧
Could even be worth trying different fuels anyway to see what's the cleanest and most efficient between waste oil, kerosene, parafin, diesel, JET-A1 and so on... or if a blend of fuels / fuel oils is better....
@@DigBipper188 I can tell you the answer. Kerosine (Paraffin) has the highest calorific value of all of them. This is why it's used in Gas Turbine engines...Jet Petrol or Jet A1is very refined Kerosine with the sodium removed. Plain Paraffin is the obvious fuel for this heater...It may be a bit more expensive than Diesel though...🤔😳😳🇬🇧
@@EnglishTurbines Many years ago we used straight diesel to fuel 8 Rolls Royce Avons running through English Electric power turbines to EE hydrogen cooled alternators with SSS clutches to enable synchronous compensation. We had to modify the aero cans to reduce smoke emissions , otherwise they worked well and were good for 120 MW within about 10 mins from barring speed. All gone now because they were horrendously expensive to run. We could do with them now for peak lopping !
@@calderdale6795 Lol, yes, diesel is very oily and burns dirty...Agreed, our MPs are idiots for ignoring our INDEPENDENT energy needs. I wouldn't pay them in Chocolate buttons TBH....🤔😳😏😏🇬🇧
@@EnglishTurbines Would you believe , 30 years ago we produced a paper advocating the use of high efficiency ( over 40% ) coal burners with stack scrubbers over the use of gas , which could even then be burnt efficiently in domestic use. We also came up with a general plan , with costing , to produce a bunded tidal barrage for the Severn ( very high tidal range ) using Peltham Wheel reversing turbines. The bean counters threw it all out and later built gas fired combined cycle units because it was cheap , and needed less manpower. Back then energy self sufficiency was a must , and the french DC link didn’t work very well. We also had our own very safe AGR (advanced gas cooled ) nuclear plant. Don’t get me going on fracking !
Yes mate, it's one of his pumps from when he first started doing them. He's grown the range now so I really hope his sales rocket when I release his details.
Are you sure you weren't burning old socks in that thing ? It is recommended that you turn them onto highest setting at least once per month or more to help burn that off and that is assuming you are using clean fuel. This looks like it has been constantly run on a low setting for months.
Mine's just a standard 5kW heater mate, they're all the same. Don't be fooled by the 8kW version, there is no such thing. The 8kW and 5kW are identical - it's just a sales con. All I have left of the original heater, is the wiring loom and heater itself. The rest of it is absolute junk and actually makes it more noisy. The inlet and baffle thing howls, the exhaust pipe howls and the hot air tube they give you is way too short. Buy a standard 5kW one - colour and paint job doesn't matter but make sure it has the same controller as mine, I have something extra to show everyone when I get round to it.
I have a 5kw version and I haven't had issues with it sooting up or smoking. The mixture is about right. After last season there was little build up and it wasn't black more grey. My fuel tank is about 4ft below the unit and it makes me wonder if the height you draw the fuel affects fueling. I already know that if your tank is above the pump it does flood through. Or maybe I was just lucky.
Yes, having the pump lower down reduces fuel delivery. If you put the pump any higher, you'll probably find that it starts choking it. I think you were lucky with the placement of everything, so don't change a thing 😁
@@Vortecks I screwed it to the wall so it isn't going anywhere - but I think its the fuel head height that matters. The other thing that can affect it is any changes to the inlet and exhaust circuit. So for example, adding a different silencer or changing the pipe length may reduce the air mass and make it over rich. But also as the combustion chamber soot's up it may also cause it to over fuel and I bet that will be a positive feedback of doom. As they have no mixture control they probably should be set up to be quite lean. I saw someone using a lambda probe to get 15:1 at which point it smokes - I think it should be closer to 20:1, I think that 15:1 only really applies to fixed volume combustion like a cylinder than a flame in a tube where you will have an excess of oxygen.
Also 5kw heater, Ive read before 3.6-3.8 hz is most efficient in other videos, i also tested it out it saves fuel and theres a very slight black smoke i see out of chimney when u got it at 5-5.5hz. I just almost got mad now from fuel pump noises. Theres also a very good method of tuning when u buy some cheap chinese co meter and if you put it at high you see like 10k ppm and at low 1000 ppm and when its arround 3.6 hz you get 400 ppm...
Thanks for posting, possibly the neatest home install I've seen so far. I've looked at the comments and can't see any more info on the fuel pump, are they available to buy? I plan on using mine to heat a large kitchen, I would be interested to see how you heat more than one room with a single unit :)
It's embarrassing but I might show it. I've used the splitter tube and hung 2 lengths of insulated 80mm tubing across the ceiling because I can't gain access above it. Come the spring, I'll simply take it down, compress the tubing back into the box..... job done. We have to make sacrifices to affordably keep warm.
I’ve made a plywood box for the heater, located it on the patio, plan to run the flexi pipe through the wall and vent from under the kitchen unit kick boards. Desperately seeking a quiet fuel pump.
Hi, did you ask about production of the quiet pump? I have ordered my heater and it will arrive in a few days. Your system looks great, so I will see about tuning my 5-8kw when it up and running. Thank you.
I'm waiting to hear back from him. He has various models available and also, a marine version for fitting in boats now. As soon as I get the green light, I'll make another video.
Great video. Excellent advice about the settings. Give or take a few factors, those are good presents. I find that mine requires a little adjusting throughout the heating season. Cow tipping high winds and barometric pressure and every now and again the fuel isn't what it should be. Mine is running 24/7 until spring. Every 30 hrs I'll turn it all the way up for 20-30 minutes and then back to whatever setting is comfortable. Make it a habit to continually remind the sheeple about safety and good old fashion common sense. Otherwise, we all know what happened to other great products that got into the hands of the clueless. Thank you for sharing .
Yes, barometric pressure is the possible cause of 90% of the sooting. The manufacturers set a default value which makes them run in their location but that setting doesn't work for most people. Unfortunately, Curtis...... common sense no longer exists but I will keep reminding people of the dangers 😉
@@ElectronicMusicUnderground could be the winter diesel additives 🤔 winter diesel has antiwaxing additives compared to summer diesel 🤞 hopefully they haven't had red in the tank , try explaining to DVSA it was the fuel stations fault when they dip your tank 🙄 👍😁👍
wie ist denn bitte der Hersteller der leisen Pumpe bei 8:15, gibt es da bitte einen Link dazu? Grüße ... what is the manufacturer of the silent pump at 8:15 please, is there a link to it please? Regards
have you calculated that your max settings actually gives 5kw ? because the factory tune are setup to work whatever environment. like vehicles. doesn't matter what altitude you do, it should work. only it does not work as efficient as it could. I've never seen any of mine smoke or gum up. And it always works. whatever the altitude and weather. But there are ppl that already has calculated the tune to result of effect. It is always, always when you start fiddling with the settings that your break the heater. So I hope you've done your calculations.
For a honda civic would you recommend the 2KW or 5KW heater? Or they basically the same? Perhaps more fuel usage on a 5KW? I'm in Canada, so it gets cold, -15 celcius, want to do some winter camping. The heater will also be outside, so it will be drying in cold air. Would want the heater to run on low and keep inside the car at about 18 deg. Celsius. Would it be automatically turn on/off according to thermostat temps?
It doesn't turn off in thermostat mode. It drops to lowest heat setting which is supposedly 900w. I don't know how the thermostat would work if its drawing in outside air.
Mine had been running great for quite awhile. Then we got some extreme temperatures and I think the gummed up diesel clogged some things. I cleaned everything out the best way I knew how. Finally got it to start again. It ran for a few days. Woke up this morning to a chilly home. Noticed the diesel heater had stopped working again. I pulled it all apart, cleaned it up and it fired up immediately. Thought all was well, but then I noticed the combustion chamber temperature was steadily dropping 2 Celsius (from 176 ish) every 10 minutes. I finally turned it off at 138 C and took it apart again. It has just as much soot as it did over the few days that it has been running since I cleaned it last. Prior to that one temperature drop, it had been running near mint. No carbon buildup to be seen.... I'm currently lost as to what is wrong. I have no idea why it's suddenly plaguing me with issues now...
Check the fuel lines for air leaks especially the rubber connections if you have the upgraded fuel lines the nylon tube. Try fitting a non return valve as fuel syphons back into the tank when switched off pulling air into the fuel line.
Easy peezy lemon squeeze just be gentle with the glow plug only screw it back in hand tight and get a gasket kit before you strip it down on fle bay or amazon currently about 11 quid with a, new glow plug and fuelling screen.
Great video,very helpful just cleaned mine out full of carbon just like yours. Do you know what the PF 1-6 is? I have this on my controller when I scroll through the settings SN 1 or 2 (is magnets) then the PF comes up and I dont know what it is for. I am ready to reset following your suggestions.
I think PF is something to do with plateau mode where it automatically slows down or speeds up to get the temperature right. Don't touch it if everything works.
I've got a 5kw in my motorhome that to be honest is still not great (had a 2kw at first but upgraded it). I've followed your video but it doesn't seem to make any difference. No matter hiw low I turn the hz down on either max or min it doesn't put any of the red bars out. Also if I adjust the settings, then go out and back into them again, they go back to default as if they haven't saved. Am I doing something wrong?
Isn't alpine setting an automatic barometric adjustment? If so, no I haven't. Although the barometric pressure does change, I find that the fixed tuning runs perfectly.
@@Vortecks I have only just got one of these and haven't installed it yet. I did some looking around RUclips for hints and tips and found a couple of vids showing a two button shortcut to the alpine setting which apparently sets parameters for a leaner fuel to air ratio which these guys have tested for economy and got good results. I agree tuning is really important on first setup and your guide is invaluable.
Trying to figure out and get my head around what your doing hear in regards to having to knock it down in hz on that pump to only put it back up again? Are you basically saying to lower the pump speed while increasing the over all fan speed? And thanks for the video its very informative. Just trying to get my head around this.
It's hard to explain unless you know what AFR is (Air Fuel Ratio) When you're changing the min/max pump speed, if you turn the pump speed down, the fan speed reduces in proportion and it may go below the setting of the minimum fan speed. Setting the fan speed at 2500 is just a base point, this will ensure that the fan speed won't reduce too much as to cause a flame-out when you reduce the pump speed. The minimum and maximum fan speeds (2500 - 5000 in my case) are really 0% to 100% fan speed and the pump speed (1.2 - 3.8 in my case) are really 0% to 100% pump speed. You can do it without changing the minimum fan speed but I found that it dropped the speed so low, it was useless and it caused combustion problems. I'll update the description with basic instructions on how to tune it with default fan speeds.
Hi,why my fan does not increase the speed when i rise de hz frequency pump. My pump start ticking accordint to the hz for example 4 hz but my fan still have the speed for 2.5hz and i have black smoke on exhaust because no air.Can you help me with an advice?thanks in advance.
Thank you for the video, I have the same unit buy the display has an extra button for priming the pump, the problem is that I cannot go into any settings. When pressing that settings button only changes from temperature to manual.... I have tried all combinations of pressing the buttons and no luck... can't even set a time on this thing. And the worse thing is that only runs for 3 hrs before it gets blocked by soot.... if anyone has a solution for this please leave a comment or reach out. Thanks!
Thanks for your great video, I have ordered one of these for my garage, I will use your advice to dial it in. I would like to ask about the consumption, you mention that it uses 1/7 of the price of electric heating. Is that compared to regular electric radiators or a heat pump? Cheers.
It's based on resistive heating (electric fire). If you have a look further down the comments, I did a breakdown where someone else asked the same question.
I recently got a 2kW that would flame out after 10 minutes and never got out of the yellow heat bars. The fan upper setting was 4500 and the pump 4.6Hz. It wouldn't stay burning until I had upped the pump to 6.4Hz which seems quite high for the kW rating. But anything less and it won't keep at 2 red bars. I haven't yet upped the bottom end settings but it appears that the chamber temperature should stay in the red bars? or is it normal to reduce speed and drop down to the yellow? I suppose there must be a minimum temperature to sustain the flame. Before I sorted it out the vendor sent a replacement which wouldn't ignite at all and was factory set at 3.4 Hz and 4250 upper pump and fan speeds. Maybe the 2 kW is a less efficient burner that actually needs more fuel? Anyway, thanks very much for posting this it was very helpful in getting one of the units to run.
I got 2kw (with 60mm ducting) too and cannot tune with these instructions. At least when temperature is close to 0 c degrees: High is ok with two red bars (takes a hour to get there), but low is only four bars (0 red) even after 12 hours. Have been running it 100-200 nights with zero soot buildup - took it apart few days ago. Have been using so far: 1.0-3.0hz, 1500-4300 rpm. I think I have 0.18ml fuel pump where some have 0.22ml.
hey any info where we can get that quiet pump, looking at buyin a 2kw or 5kw unit for a honda civic. Dont; know whats' best, I'm in canada and it gets cold -15 celcius, but read 5kw units are quireter.
Ah this great, bought 5~8kw unit for my garage a couple of weeks ago, it's brilliant but the instructions are terrible. Ordered the monoxide detector with it 🙂
The instructions are bloody useless. Hopefully, I'll be able to fill in the massive gaps on how to use them, clean them and set them up for perfection 😉
oh dear.... the fan speed increases quite Sharpley when you adjust the fuel up while the heater is running for a set pre programmed period of time then reverts back to what it was set at and you must then adjust the fan speed to the new fuel setting..... its a safety thing not a proportional thing....
Thanks for the helpful video!
It seems that to keep the combustion chamber as clean as possible, you would want to have combustion on the lean side and also maximize your combustion chamber temperature.
So, it seems that you want to lower the fuel pump speed (which you have done) to lean-out combustion, but also *lower* the fan speed to increase the temperature of the combustion chamber.
Where is the flaw in my logic? I guess the fan controls more than the external (cooling) air, that runs over the exterior of the combustion unit to provide room heat, the fan must also provide the combustion chamber air as well?
if I recall, these are NA, but feel free to correct me anyone that has one of these
Choke the combustion air input when at max fuelling like a regular oil boiler, to get the lowest volume of combustion product. That increases volumetric efficiency, increases heat exchanger temps while still keeping a lean burn👍🏻 Think of it the other way too... throwing in too much air simply blows all the hot gas straight out of the exhaust. You want to reduce exhaust gas temps to near condensing levels, while still maintaing a lean burn.
@Mobius X You are 100% correct! I'm pinning your comment, it explains the video in words 😉
I was going to use a server power supply wot you think tony ???
@@idaveuk any power supply that can provide 12-13 amps at 12v will work. It only pulls 10+ amps while the glow plug is on, after that the consumption drops to around 2 amps.
I followed your advice after buying my Chinese diesel heater.
Now, two winters later, I took my heater apart to give it a good clean, only to find nothing but a thin layer of carbon which I could wipe off with my finger. I get great heat output too So guess it’s running at the optimum efficiency. Thank you.
I've been getting endless e-08's and e-10's for 3 months since getting one of these last fall -- all indicators pointed to too much fuel, but all the internet experts suggested too much air in my fuel lines, bad wires etc. Working on these changed nothing. Last night I used your setting as a starting point, 3.8 hz and 5000 rpm for the high setting, and without any other change it just started up instantly! Thank you!
Do you have your pump on an angle 15⁰-35⁰?
I just purchased a second hand campervan and suspected that was my issue and found my pump installed perfectly horizontal.
Thats odd because the ecu inside the heater has a pre-programmed start up sequence, it is the same start up sequence for all of them and it is not adjustable so whatever setting you set for running in the special settings menu it will not affect the fan speed on start up whatever you do, just the running speed after start up, so your tinkering must have paid off initially maybe you cleared some air from the fuel lines? or cleaned out the atomiser hole next to the glow plug ?, something you did right, or maybe you just have a tempermental heater, I had one that didnt like starting, so I cut the length of the air intake hose in half straightened it and put an old piece of stocking on the end as a filter medium with an elastic band, it starts first time every time now. when you run one straight out of the box they will start up and run fine without any hoses or exhaust pipes attached and I thinkn thats how they test them in the factory. Then we go and stick a carboard hose on the air intake and restrict the airflow with a plastic silencer, probably slightly crushing the cardboard tube in the process or bending it more than once so that it struggles to get air to the combustion chamber.
@@oojimmyflip when I had it on default settings, it would start up the first time after install, then just smoke and pop like crazy on every subsequent attempt, over and over and over. Took everything apart, cleaned out the build-up (it wasn't burning the diesel fully), reassembled.. same thing. Double-checked literally everything, pump angle etc. was all fine.
It was only once I re-did the settings as outlined here, found the sweet spot, haven't had an issue again. Didn't even have to disassemble and clean, just got going once the settings were fixed after many failed ignitions and a few flame outs on the default. Last night was the first time I had it on since May, still using the modded settings from last feb, and it fired up right away. I infer the startup sequence uses the 'low' and 'high' settings as its starting and ending point, gradually moving through the curve between these, if you think of it like a graph. Pretty sure its not just one default startup with static fan/fuel settings. If you think of the stoichiometry of the reaction here, diesel combustion needs diesel, oxygen, and heat. When the reaction isn't working right, its one of these three things that are off, can't be anything else -- in my case it was lacking sufficient oxygen for complete combustion of the given fuel amount.
I think the issue is pump capacity. These kits all come with different pumps, ranging between 16-22ml per 1000 pumps. The default setting is maybe correct for one of these pump sizes, not the others. I can't remember which size I have, I think 22ml ie one of the larger ones hence me needing to get more oxygen in there per pump frequency.
@@oojimmyflipThats wrong mate. I install these on boats im a boat builder. Lots of the smaller boats we do fefurbs on the customer wants the cheap chinese ones. The start up sequence will change with the max and min rpm settings because the algorythim reduces the speed in which the fan ramps up just as it turns the plug off. For example the ones sold as 5-8kw are known for if you set the fan speed at 2500 & 5000 they have a habit of blowing out right as the plug turns off and the fan ramps up to max during start. The ramp up is too fast and the chamber usually gets blown out around the 56deg mark then you get a shutdown followed by an automatic second attempt, which sometimes gets it going. By lowering the max fan speed to 4400-4600 regardless of the fueling frequency you will automatically reduce the ramping up speed and the heater will no longer blow out at 55ish deg when the plug goes out. You can clearly hear the difference it makes and if you have anything monitoring your battery then you can see it the figure on the fan rpm ramp up spike is lower on startup. This goes for the black, blue red and newer black controller the one that has the voice speaker and connectivity. This is also the case with both aftermarket controllers ive used and the algorithms in the expensive aftermarket one (you know the one?) its automatic start up sequence is basically 4800 normal temp start up, below 0 deg intake it goes to 4600 max and on second attempt onwards the controller sets the startup speed to 5000 for the 5-8kw copy heaters. I hope you accept this as the truth because ive had to sort a load of them for the same issue especially after plug changes some dont like set to 5000 on startup because of the ramp up being so steep. cheers.
@@micgyou are right sort of. These heaters especially the 5-8kw sold models the start up sequence algorythim will vary based on the max-min fan speed rpm, mostly the high speed setting. During the start up sequence the distinct ramp up in fan speed that coincides with the heater plug going out (around 55deg) is because the heater thinks the chamber is lit enough to run on its own. If you set the top RPM speed to 5000 and your heater runs fine then cool but if you are suffering blow outs on start up then reducing the max fan speed to 4600-4800rpm the rate in which the fan ramps up at slows so the chamber doesnt get blown out. Some of them you cannot get them going on 5000rpm setting after a plug renewal and a clean, they need backed off to 4600 to 4800 for a good 50hr before they can be sped up again. Despite what people think about these they run best with a small amount of carbon built up especially around the inner chamber where the gauze is around the turbulance plate at the bottom of the atomiser. When you clean them fully or use them from new for the first time this is why they dont burn right for about 50hr. They dont like too much carbon build up but nor do they like none. Webasto and Eberspacher know this btw thats why they have a cleaning setting now on the boats and lorries. The cleaning setting purposely gives it a rich wet burn cycle for 8 mins then roasts the thing for 3 mins then roasts it again for one minute then shuts off and restarts then sits exacly half way for 5 mins on the next start up. Hope this helps
Edit: I forgot to point out on this reply that when you put the heater in a "cleaning" cycle on the newer models in lorries and boats it automatically runs the high speed fan at a heavily reduced rpm as it takes into account that you might be doing the clean cycle because it has a choppy start up. Interestingly what it does is turn the plug out at the usual temp in the start up cycle but there is a delay from them about 20 seconds before it soft ramps the fan RPM up to max.
Oh My Goodness! I have been hunting for MONTHS about how to stop my one of these, from fouling. I'm no mechanic, but I suspected there was a relationship between the hertz and the fan speed that was causing my issue. This is the first resource that I've found that showed a logical, simple, approach to sort the tuning...that anyone could do with a spare half hour or so. So - THANK YOU VERY MUCH! :D :D :D :D
You're very welcome, Sir 👍👍
I have watched your video and followed along for my heater. With the minimum fan from 1,500 to 2.500 and the maximum at 5,000 rpm, I adjusted my low hz to 1.2 and the high hz down from 5,5 to 3.6 when I got the 2 red bars back. All appears to be okay, so I will see how it goes for a while. Many thanks for doing this video.
From what I've read, I'd be careful running the fan at 5k. 4500 is as high as I have mine set
@@CharredSteak good advice thank you. I have reduced the speed and it’s working better. Too much air meant that the device was putting out cooler air and now it is hotter but still safe for the casing. I have the heater on for about 16 hours each day at 1.3 and I am content with it. Thanks again friend.
@@gordonmitchell729 Absolutely man, hopefully it'll have the motor lasting longer too
Thank you for your explanation.
One problem I have is in what I assume are fast forwards and can't work out what you are pressing. I haven't a clue what code 1688 meant and how you got there. There is nothing on the screen with that number. As a teacher of electronics I have learnt to go slow and assume nothing
@@allangoldsmith284 I will go through my notes and hopefully I will have the details. It was a year ago when I placed the text here. I will get back to you if I can recreate the readings
Stumbled across your video as I’ve just bought one but haven’t installed it my small workshop/shed, was gonna buy one 3 years ago for my old camper van but didn’t, so have seen hundreds of vids, was amazed at your quiet unassuming but knowledgeable presentation, blown away actually, instantly subbed and looking forward to your next blast of knowledge 👍😃
Thanks Cliff, I'm glad I could be of help. Properly tuned, these will run for a couple of years before the motor needs replacing when the brushes wear out. When I say a couple of years, I run mine probably 16 hours a day from the end of November to the end of March which is over 3,800 hours. I'll cover the installation in the next video and the servicing in the one after that.
Shed shop haha me too
What I’ve noticed with the heater is the intake “filter” is tiny. As a gear head and diesel mechanic I’d imagine that filter may be restricting the air which could cause excessive soot or carbon build up. I modified mine and it appears to run significantly better at its highest temperature setting
That’s pretty good explanation of how to tune it. My 5kw is on a max of 3.3 at the moment as my fan speed is 4600 max I didn’t think they liked 5000 but it sounds like yours has lasted okay so might push it higher. I’ve had terrible carbon in mine but its getting better now the mixture is leaner. Thanks for the video.
They will all go to 5000rpm but different manufacturers have different default values that get them all running in the test room. Different altitudes and air conditions need different air/fuel mixtures so the manufacturer of yours might have been at a different altitude or in a vacuum 😁
My suggestion is, strip it down and clean it. I will be doing a video on it, it's not hard.
@@Vortecks I have just cleaned it. As I said it's getting better as the mixture is leaned out. It did start off as an 8kw with the usual over the top settings so it's taken a while to get it to a decent setup. I wish I'd seen your video a year ago it would have saved a lot of stress 😀
@@julias-shed that's another issue with Chinese knock offs, they lie ! There is not or ever has been an 8 KW 😏 these are copies of the eber 2KW and 5KW heaters, the Chinese fall into the group who think more fuel equals more heat, 8KW is just a 5KW run at a higher pump dose rate and "sometimes" a higher fan speed, this either soots up or the fan bearings go, usually because the brush end bearing gets full of brush dust due to the motor overspending and prematurely wearing out the brushes 👍
@@Dirt-Diggler Some mainboards & LCDs allow a fan speed of 5500 RPM with an increased pump speed. I might be wrong, but I think these are the ones marketed as the 8kW version. Last year, I tested a 5kW which goes to 5500 RPM and it will just about hold combustion at 5500 RPM and 5.3hz. The only trouble is, some of the combustion happens outside the flame tube and goes directly into the exhaust and the exhaust was hitting 280C. It 'might' be the equivalent of 8kW in total but there's probably 3kW which is directly pumped into the exhaust. Very dangerous.
they dont like 5000 none of them do. The 5000 is only for a badly made machine. The startup sequence rpm ramp speed on 5000 runs them to lean full stop. From the 55deg mark when the plug extinguishes and it ramps up the fan speed to max because it thinks its lit, you are merely running lean as the air in the AFR spikes massively. This has been proven by countless people with proper measuring devices. The 5000 setting automatically sets the start up algorythim to ramp the the fan up quicker than it does on any other setting so its not just the max rpm effected. Anyone whos heater can run on 5000 no problem still wants to back it off a bit as it saves the plugs. i can get boats doing 3-5yr on these cheap copies and 5-7yr on the original plug on the genuine ones and i diall the smoke and smell out of them within minutes.
After running my heater all winter on factory setting, I get great results, make sure the exhaust is in a downward slant, this is where the carbon or soot buildup starts. And the most important thing is "leave it alone so you don't burn your house down"
Thanks Tony, loving mine, will definitely have a play with its settings now.
Intrigued with your fuel pump upgrade, I have mine hanging on some string which has dulled down the harsh clicking 100%
built a box around my pump with 6mm plywood with a hole top and bottom for the fuel lines and wiring to go through, then I used 4 cup hooks to hang the box on 6mm bungee chord attached to 4 more cup hooks on the roof of the wall mounting box, cannot hear the pump clicking inside the wall box mounted to my outside wall of my house or indoors. my hearing is so sharp I can hear a pin drop outside at night. I have to sleep with earplugs in and I still wake up if I hear a noise outside through the earplugs. The pump is silent.
Try 6mm bungee chord instead of string
I've just installed one of these and will tune as you suggest, thank you. Mine's in a large workshop so space not massive issue so my next step is to try playing with exhaust heat exchanging. I appreciate that whatever I do can't create any more back-pressure than the supplied exhaust tubing, but my thought / hope is that extracting heat from the exhaust will drop pressure if anything (it's effectively a charge intercooler) whilst enabling the harvest of some waste exhaust heat.
Yes, using the exhaust as a heat exchanger is something I want to improve although I think I've got as much as I can out of it.
I'm using 32mm (I think) copper tubing which I had to silver solder together. As long as you tune the heater again after you've connected it, you'll be fine. Mine inevitably does produce a small amount of back pressure but it's been running for over 12 months like that and zero build-up.
@@Vortecks Interesting, have you got that on a YT Vid? Would love to see what you've done. I've got a few ideas but annoyingly only thought about doing something after the heater was installed, so although I have options, they're not unlimited.
New subscriber. I ordered a heater, don’t have it yet, and I’ve been watching videos on them and I really liked your video. Straightforward, great knowledge, and a great way of explaining the info. Again thank you!!
WOW, I didn't think it made any sense (as per usual). I'm glad you understood it 😁😁
Brilliant video, I have 2 of these , one in my van and just about to install one in my house. I will be using your video to tune them now. Many thanks
That was the best advice out there on the Chinese diesel heaters can't wait for your next video on the pump 👍👍
Meh - that ticking sound is the sound of warmth and peace :) If i don't hear the ticking i wake up!!! Nice one Tony - keep up the excellent work! Thanks, Ringo
@@ringonotts I like the clicking sound as well. I don't understand trying to muffle it. Actually one heater I bought had an insulating jacket on the fuel pump and I believe it overheated the pump and I had to replace it
At last someone who understands AFR !
Appart from davidmcluckie and john mck 47 your the only YTer who even starts to understand it, soo many 5min experts out there 🙄
The original webasto and ebers didn't allow owners to sod about with pump speed and fan speed, they were set at the factory to give heat with a low ex emissions, something the Chinese dont really care about all that much.
90% of issues i fix are sooting up because owners fiddle with the settings or the base settings are way off, the older blue controller would let you set dose rate up to 8Htz with a max fan speed of 5500 rpm, some would only allow 5.6htz at the same rpm so no wonder they get messed up and sooty 🙄 after a clean out i reset the controller and tell owners to use the temp settings and stop messing with the dose rate 😏 or buy a decent make, webasto and eber obv, mikuni are ok, autotherm/plannar or the lavana pro series 👍
Really enjoyed that vid chap 👍 looking forward to a few more on the subject from ya 😎
Yeah, I noticed that there are a lot of people who just want to jump on the bandwagon to get a video published, it was pissing me off that there's not much info on how to use them properly so I decided to start the series. There are a lot of bad tips on how to use them and very little in the way of safety. I wish I could find the video where someone said to go into the settings, max everything out and it runs much hotter 😒
I've got every controller & mainboard there is out there now, I kept buying them from China. I was considering buying the afterburner buy it seemed like a lot of money for loads of features I wouldn't use so....... I built my own. If you go to 8:14 you can see the TX part of it on the right but I'll cover that in another video 😉
@@Vortecks I've gone the total opposite from the afterburner in that all i have is an on off switch with remote activation and a normal 2 wire stat in the van but my own build is a rather old mikuni i saved and refurbished from a narrow boat who changed it for a cheap Chinese unit cos it was £15 cheaper than servicing the heater he already owned 🙄 his loss my gain 😎 i got paid to change in the new unit and got to keep the old one, i removed a webasto from my van and use that for back up heat in winter at home 👍
So glad to have found this video. I have been wondering about fine tuning these units. I use one to keep my bedroom nice and warm but I have noticed it really goes through a lot of fuel on high and this video has shown me that I can really reduce my consumption and get the same heat and even better air flow in the room.
I'm glad to see that someone was able to make good use of theses heaters and taken the time to tune it as I've seen several of them fail (Julian Illiet had one fail)
It does take some thinking about but they're just an engine that relies on air and fuel. Being an ex car mechanic helped understand where it was going wrong. I've wanted to shout at Julian when I saw the smoke coming from his, I get zero smoke on startup or shutdown.
Great video! if the power is removed/interrupted from the heater will the adjusted settings memory be lost and return to default settings? or does the memory store and the adjusted settings are still present after power is restored. Thanks!
I've found a the low end of these settings I get higher CO readings from the exhaust and fumes start to smell , do you think the rpm of the fan is cooling the flame zone + pushing the unburnt fuel out of the chamber to quickly ?
I love the tinkering and tweaking of this heater. I wonder if you were able to get the dose rate so low because you're closer to sea level. I'm over a 1000' ASL and I can't go any lower than 4.5 Ghz. Of course, the incoming air temperature might have an effect on the heat exchanger, too. Thanks for taking the time to post this. 👍
Yes, there are a lot of factors which mean you have a high pump rate - barometric air pressure, air temperature, the location of your pump in relation to the heater (some people have it 3-4ft below) blocked fuel filter, water/condensation in the fuel or very high humidity. FYI I'm 500' ASL where I am.
Obviously, very cold temperatures makes diesel freeze or at least 'gum up' if the tank is outside.
dont go too low AFR as they go through plugs. Regardless of fan speed if you dont run enough fuel through them they burn plugs up and the mesh doesn't last long. If its running ideal AFR wise you will be able to run the heater at a lower normal main menu Hz setting as it will be kicking out more heat for each normal heat Hz setting so you need to undertand that leaning out AFR doeant always equate to less fuel used per heat unit kicked out.
Another way to get less fuel to the heater is get a smaller pump. My 2kw came with 18.5 written on it. My 5 & 8kw came with 22 written on it. This will help those that have a different controller and can't adjust the Hertz or fan speed.
I appreciate the video. I absolutely do. I just want to say thank you
Its great that there is even a function in the controls to adjust the unit for best results. Great info, thanks. Subbed. I live in Australia, and my retail natural gas costs AUD $20 per kw/hr of heat. Diesel is AUD $2.00 per liter and makes 12 kw/hr of heat........there is no comparison.
Might want to look at your math. MJ in Vic is 3.52c and supply charge .83c per day. Diesel is around $2 so .0352 X 38 is $1.33.
QLD at .06 is $2.28 but who needs much heating up there.
@@mathewemy I did the math........converted the joules into watts etc. The thing that bumps it up a lot, is the supply charge. For a typical residential user with relatively low volume of gas, the fixed supply charge really ups the overall cost per kw/hr of heat. There are no options to avoid that supply charge other than to have the service disconnected. Furthermore, as natural gas is gobbled up by the expanding number of gas turbines being used to supplement renewables during night time and especially wind droughts.....the price is only going to go up, and up and up. Gas turbines are horribly inefficient at replacing natural gas as a heat source in heating applications........they need to burn 3 times as much to provide the same heat energy............but since they are paying a tiny fraction of the price, they dont care about the waste of energy.
wow, i replaced mine a few weeks ago... just tuned it and it was waaaaayyy off.
i guess this explains why the exhaust on my new one was running signicantly hotter than my old one.
we'll see if it soots up :P
i went from 5.5hz to 2.8hz, and the bottom one stayed at 1.4hz, but i increased the low end fan a bit.
Not long had mine. set at 1.2hz it flicks between 1 red and no red bars. I figured it may be due to the fan speed difference, like a poor A/F mix. upped my min fan speed to 2600 and it struggled to fire up. had to choke the inlet a couple of time to get the flame lit. lowering it back down to 1600 and it fired up. but still not operating at full temperature. Will be running on kerosene soon, so hopefully that burns clean enough to prevent any coking
I have the same problem, I guess ours doenst like to get to low in temperature, my stats are 1.1 at 1500 rpm and 3.5 at 4000 rpm works alright!
@@kareljansen3992 after much tweaking I still have to choke it to start. I think a combination of lots of running at 1.2hz and a one off stint with a couple of liters of veggie oil has sooted up the mesh thing, I'll get it apart at some point and see what the insides look like. Before the veggie oil it ran fine, albeit at a lower temperature.
Often check the prices of these China heaters view to purchase. Some very interesting data you found there Tony. 👍👍👍👍👍
They are cheap if you don't get conned by things like "8kW" which doesn't exist. I'm not using any of the parts that came with the heater now, all I've got it the heater and loom, the rest of it is custom made.
If you want one right now, i just got a complete 5kW kit off AliEx Vevor Bestautos store for 70 dollars, including delivery in 7 days. It came in 2 days. Amazing. Still available at this price right now. Can't go wrong.
Will the settings save or so I have to do it every time I use it? It will not be plugged into a power source all the time…
Thanks mate
I'd never heard of these (not the cheap ones anyway) until I saw this vid. I'm going to pull the one out of my scrap Freelander and see if I can use it cos me garage is Baltic!!!.
5kWh heat for 45p (half litre of 28 sec kerosene @ 90p per litre) instead of 1kW for 38p of leccy.
Should be a way better heater than the chinese ones, i believe the land rover ones are webasto.
actually the first p for pump speed is the startup pump speed to heat it up. also it runs better with the fan speed set at 5500 instead of 5000. i set my glowplug to 4 out of 6 and my maximum pump speed to 5 instead of 5.5. my startup pump speed is set at 1.8. with that being said it never smokes on startup and running temperature. ive ran about 40 litres so far and it runs great
5500 is wild mate for any of them. You will burn pluga out per 3 month
Thank you!
I've been looking at one of these for a van build since I found out about them.
You R the "Chinese Heater Whisperer". Thank you. Cheers from So.Calif.USA 3rd House on the Right.
You set it up according to your elevation. There are charts online that suggest which settings to use depending on your location
I run 5 CDH heaters, and all heaters have run very well, producing lots of heat at all settings. Any setting under 3 will produce sooting, and eventual failure to ignite. Looking at your burn chamber, I would guess it has been run at the lower end of the fuel setting.
Really helpful video. Thank you. I had previously stripped down, cleaned and rebuilt my heater 6 times due to it running too lean and thus being overwhelmed by carbon build up. Not anymore thanks to this information! FYI: 8kw heater set at 5.2Hz (default 5.5Hz) and Min. fan speed now set at 2000RPM and Max. at 5000RPM (1650RPM and 4500RPM were the defaults). Now works a charm and havn't needed to clean it since, even running at low speeds all day. But from reading other's comments on fan speed, it seems that I should be at 4500?? to make it last longer + higher temp? I am at sea level (+1m) if that makes any difference, i don't know.
I run mine on 0.8Hz and 1500RPM. It shows only 1 red bar or no red bar at all when it's below 0*C but never had any issue with carbon buildup. However running at around 3Hz or above without adjusting max Hz did indeed extinguished the heater and made impossible to reignite. Fortunately I was able to make it run again by blowing some air with industrial vacuum cleaner thru exhaust pipe and them pull the air when the heater was trying to ignite.
Thanks for the video. Seems like I'll have to do this on mine. Although I have a different style of controller, so it might take a bit of figuring out...
I have one in a van and just bought one for domestic. I was interested in using a Peristaltic Pump instead of the noisy pump. Although in van with plenty of insulation can barely hear it.
Thanks for the info👍
Will try this tomorrow.
Is urs a 5kw?
You are in a flat are you not? what have you done exactly in regards of the exhaust? presuming through the wall somehow can you share a pic/video and explanation in another video much appreciated. Good thinking :)
Yes mate, I'm in a flat. I'll cover all the exhaust outlet in another video. I can't just make one long video, people never watch them and it does take hours to make them.
@@Vortecks good stuff interested to see how you have went about it, As i bought one 3 yrs ago with the intention of using it for this but never quite decided on exactly how/where in regards of fitment
@@monkeymagic4555 Just as an indicator - I used aluminium and fire cement to line an air-brick. Then, I put a plate inside with a fan to force the exhaust outside. Because my exhaust is around 6ft long, the exhaust exit point is only 50C maximum. All the heat from the exhaust is radiated into the kitchen.
Could you use diesel Redex in your fuel to keep it cleaner?
1/3rd more efficiency is not to be sniffed at, even if you had the sniffles, Looking forward to the next vid on these cos I'm thinking of getting one.
Absolutely not. Mine is costing me £2 per day to heat 2 rooms now 😁
As i just wrote above, if you want one right now, i just got a complete 5kW kit off AliEx Vevor Bestautos store for 70 dollars, including delivery in 7 days. It came in 2 days. Amazing. Still available at this price right now. Don't forget to get the 5 dollars off coupon, if you get it. Can't go wrong at that price.
In your next video, could you please show your installation invluding which heater you are using. Thanks alot.
I've got to cover everything in sections, people don't like to see everything at once. Next time, I'll be covering the pump.
It's just a standard 5kW diesel heater, they're everywhere and they're all the same. Don't be conned by the 8kW version, there is no such thing. It's just a 5kW with an 8kW badge.
Top video, very well done. Regarding 1/7 cost of electric heating (@ 9m21s), is this based on a resistive heater or a heat pump/refrigeration heater? Also, what electricity per kw/hr and diesel per litre prices is that based on?
It's based on resistive, I'm electric only. I measured it at 46p which is what I'm paying. I know it doesn't take into account the Energy Price Guarantee but that's a rebate and not guaranteed for ever. I pay around £1.68 / litre. Kerosine is much cleaner and cheaper if you can find it, it's around £1.27
@@Vortecks Is that 0.46 GBP per kilowatt-hour?
@@jimmybrad156 Yes, sadly.
If your buy a refurb 600ltr IBC you can get a 500ltr minimum delivery of home heating oil, kerosene etc for £0.80 at todays prices from Home Fuels Direct UK this will significantly reduce the running cost. An IBC is approx size of a pallet cubed. Hope this helps. 500Ltr should get you from Oct to Mar 12hrs a day running at setting 3 with a lean burn. If my maths is right.
You say that it "burns clean" and has no emissions/smoke after your modifications - where do you have the exhaust venting to?
Is that a 8266 or esp32? If so what sketch you running on it
This is a very helpful video. Thanks for making it!
Great stuff - very useful. Thanks so much for uploading. 🙂
You earned a subscriber here! I just bought my second one of these heaters. I have a bit of an out there idea for a project with one of these..
Thinking of trying to convert one to a waste oil heater. But instead of pumping the oil into the heater itself I’d pump it to a separate external burn chamber and route what would be the heat output side into a pipe to be the combustion air for the waste oil.
Wondering if the temperature sensor is the main or only sensor I would need to move or “fool” to achieve this unit essentially regulating a fire that’s not contained in the unit.
I know this is crazy talk but I’ve pondered it a while and I’m a bit of a fabricator.
Any thoughts on possible error codes or problems I would come across that would shut the unit down.
Thanks
Love the video I have same controller but I don't know how to get into the meetings to enter pin number etc .
if you mix kerosene into your diesel, it will burn cleaner and clean out. also if you do one tank with some heat or high octane additive. that will also help clean out and burn a bit hotter. Also when tuning, other things to keep in mind is elevation and outside temp... I was in -20 the other day and it wont keep up if the fan keeps it too cold.
I appreciate that you have a digital meter. Presumably this is aside from the wall mounted carbon monoxide detector you have on top of your heater controller?
I also appreciate that you may well be an expert in ‘tuning’ these heaters, but many people aren’t and really shouldn’t tinker with them because getting it wrong can be fatal not only for yourself but to others living in the same space. No offence intended here, but -
Many people think that carbon monoxide is heavier than air and should therefore place a battery carbon monoxide detectors low down like you have. The specific gravity of carbon monoxide is 0.9657 while normal air is 1. Therefore it rises, hence why the recommended place for a detector is a couple of feet below the height of the ceiling.
It is also recommended that they are not sited near to windows and at least 15 feet away from the source of a possible carbon monoxide leak.
I think it’s worth considering these facts before tinkering with what is already an efficient and cost effective way of heating a living space.
interesting. I wonder, could it be fine tuned with a lamba sensor like they use for car exhausts (of course you should know the afr ratio for this type of fuel)
I would really like to change settings as you have however i found out that my vevor 5kw heater recently purchased uses this new style controller. Same appearance wise. No hz or speed settings available unfortunately. Very limited functions. Hoping it is set to burn proper and clean but unsure. Any suggestions on purchasing the appropriate parts to have the adjustability ? thanks for the video.
Just to make sure: Drop the Hz until you loose a bar, then bump 1 up until you get the last bar back, and THEN you bump it up another 0.2Hz?
Hi mate i apreciate you doing a vid as im looking for one i can send about to show whats going on. However, you make far too many mistakes for anyone to take this as gospel.
Firstly i agree if you are running extra exhaust sections and longer ducting then it will especially need the low speed side of things. However coming down from an ideal contoller AFR setting menu from 1.6 to 1.2Hz on the fueling alone is dodgy nevermind running the fans at 2500 to keep the thing in the 130 deg burner temp zone. Thats a junk machine if you can get they settings to run.
Other issue is your recommendations for max rpm max HZ and general confusion.
As a boat builder thats done hundreads of these now and at least 30 or so chinese copies the basics are this. A 5kw is the same as the 8kw burner, pcb & plug wise. The ones sold as 5kw didnt quite make the grade as the 8kw that would run on the controller set to 5.5 and 4800-5000rpm. The 5kw copy ones were the identical heater only they couldnt get them started or running good at 5.5hz and 4800-5000rpm so they got binned in the 5kw bin. Now the tricky bit is it could just be the quality of the plug installed from new or on a plug change that would mean your heater sold as a 8kw that ran no sweat at 5.5 would barely run at 4.5-5hz just because of a plug change. Now if your plug & atomiser on the refit is lesser quality they will need to be set at the settings you described in the this vid. The very settings that would signify poor quality plug and atomiser mesh. The further you need to deviate from 5.5hz and 4800rpm on the 5&8kw burner models then the poorer the plug and poorer made your machine is. Even with a long exhaust and intake run 2500rpm at even the higher 1.6hz stock setting would signify you have mesh issues and the burner is toast. You should not be able to run anything on these bigger bodied 5&8kw heaters at 2500rpm on the low setting, that should instantly cool and have the burner down at 100deg barely one red bar. Theres something off with your figures or your heater mate so for that reason i dont think this vid is trustworthy at all for a begginer eapecially. These are easy to tune you made it sound hard. If you can get the low hz and rpm to 1.5-1.7hz and have the fan low set to 1500-1700 then you are dialled and expect 120-130deg burner temps. Do that then set the high speed so the burner temp will reach a minimum of 165deg with the Hz set between 4.4 and 5.8max and 4600-5000 rpm. Anything outside these ranges WILL affect plug life and carbon build up and bearings. Cheers.
run on kerrosean ,no deposites or soot absolutely as clean as new in the chamber after 15 mts of running ,burns hotter too
This thing don't damage the heater?
First! Awesome! Also I have one of these, & have often wondered. CO detector directly in the exhaust? Nada.
If you put it directly in the exhaust, it'll be going off constantly. I measure at around 500mm from the exhaust where it has time to mix with air. These are technically a jet engine without the compressor and no jet engine on earth would pass any CO tests like that.
This sounds like a great investment with the current fuel prices and it's a lot quieter than other installs I have seen with your tuning of the system. I'm looking forward to your next video as I'm thinking about getting one of these in the future.
With very careful planning, it's very quiet in comparison. There are 4 sources of noise: The inlet, exhaust, heat outlet and the fan motor. I'll go through all of them when I can get my head around explaining it.
i bought one recently and the ability to tune simply isn't in the controller, apparently there was a shortage of the above type controller, mine has a spanner icon instead of the cog wheel icon... not sure if that is the difference but probably be best to avoid the spanner version... i imagine the ore expensive heaters will still have this ability...
Dont leave it until winter they will double in price by then.
@@timkelly5602 I changed all my ecus and controllers to the Blue controllers with the led remote controls they are easy to use and give you readings of the core temperature and voltage on the remote fobs screen. they have a range of about 30 feet and use less complicated and cheaper tripple A batteries which last about a year. The blue controller has a matching Blue motherboard/ecu for the Heater and it is identifiyable by the silver Bi-metalic strip that crosses the blue coloured circuit board from one side to the other.
they can be made very economical especially running two or muliples at a lower setting like in boats. Im a boat builder ive done hundreads of the genuine ones and maybe 30 to 40 chinese copies. I like the guy in the vid but i dont think his figures are correct and i think his heater has burned its mesh on the inside of the burner out to the point it runs at settings it shouldnt. Absolutely NO way is any fully working 5 or 8kw branded copy heater running at AFR menu 1.2hz and 2500rpm. You will instantly hit sub 110deg on any fully functioning heater even at 1.6hz if you go over about 2000rpm on the slow fan speed setting. You do need to up the stock 1500rpm speed by about 200rpm to get it running good if you extend ducting and exhausts to the limit but to gave a heater run at 2000rpm and 1.2Hz means its mesh is gone and atomiser is cheap junk. Ive no idea how hes got it to stay above 100deg burner temp at 2500 low 1.2.
I use a small bit of diesel additive that has cetane boost. I've never had issues with smoke.
Why don't you try running it on Paraffin Tony...?..Back in 1962, they were all the rage.. Paraffin is a purified form of Diesel. Way cleaner.
Esso Blue anyone?...I can remember Pink Paraffin also....Just a wick and mesh burner. No blowers or fans, just gravity fed paraffin...😳😳😮😮😏😏🇬🇧
Could even be worth trying different fuels anyway to see what's the cleanest and most efficient between waste oil, kerosene, parafin, diesel, JET-A1 and so on... or if a blend of fuels / fuel oils is better....
@@DigBipper188 I can tell you the answer. Kerosine (Paraffin) has the highest calorific value of all of them. This is why it's used in Gas Turbine engines...Jet Petrol or Jet A1is very refined Kerosine with the sodium removed. Plain Paraffin is the obvious fuel for this heater...It may be a bit more expensive than Diesel though...🤔😳😳🇬🇧
@@EnglishTurbines Many years ago we used straight diesel to fuel 8 Rolls Royce Avons running through English Electric power turbines to EE hydrogen cooled alternators with SSS clutches to enable synchronous compensation. We had to modify the aero cans to reduce smoke emissions , otherwise they worked well and were good for 120 MW within about 10 mins from barring speed. All gone now because they were horrendously expensive to run. We could do with them now for peak lopping !
@@calderdale6795 Lol, yes, diesel is very oily and burns dirty...Agreed, our MPs are idiots for ignoring our INDEPENDENT energy needs. I wouldn't pay them in Chocolate buttons TBH....🤔😳😏😏🇬🇧
@@EnglishTurbines Would you believe , 30 years ago we produced a paper advocating the use of high efficiency ( over 40% ) coal burners with stack scrubbers over the use of gas , which could even then be burnt efficiently in domestic use. We also came up with a general plan , with costing , to produce a bunded tidal barrage for the Severn ( very high tidal range ) using Peltham Wheel reversing turbines. The bean counters threw it all out and later built gas fired combined cycle units because it was cheap , and needed less manpower. Back then energy self sufficiency was a must , and the french DC link didn’t work very well. We also had our own very safe AGR (advanced gas cooled ) nuclear plant.
Don’t get me going on fracking !
Can these adjustments be used to tune the heater for high altitude?
Absolutely. The principle is exactly the same but, at higher altitude, you'll need more air to make a clean combustion.
Bloody brilliant. 🥳 Got one in my van. Thank you for setting your mind to these heaters 😁
Is that one of James's fuel pumps 🤔
Yes mate, it's one of his pumps from when he first started doing them. He's grown the range now so I really hope his sales rocket when I release his details.
Any links to the fuel pump please.....if the guy can handle the orders 😉
Are you sure you weren't burning old socks in that thing ? It is recommended that you turn them onto highest setting at least once per month or more to help burn that off and that is assuming you are using clean fuel. This looks like it has been constantly run on a low setting for months.
Great video, Got my interest in buying one. What make and model do you have Tony ? Thanks
Mine's just a standard 5kW heater mate, they're all the same. Don't be fooled by the 8kW version, there is no such thing. The 8kW and 5kW are identical - it's just a sales con.
All I have left of the original heater, is the wiring loom and heater itself. The rest of it is absolute junk and actually makes it more noisy. The inlet and baffle thing howls, the exhaust pipe howls and the hot air tube they give you is way too short. Buy a standard 5kW one - colour and paint job doesn't matter but make sure it has the same controller as mine, I have something extra to show everyone when I get round to it.
I have a 5kw version and I haven't had issues with it sooting up or smoking. The mixture is about right. After last season there was little build up and it wasn't black more grey. My fuel tank is about 4ft below the unit and it makes me wonder if the height you draw the fuel affects fueling. I already know that if your tank is above the pump it does flood through. Or maybe I was just lucky.
Yes, having the pump lower down reduces fuel delivery. If you put the pump any higher, you'll probably find that it starts choking it.
I think you were lucky with the placement of everything, so don't change a thing 😁
@@Vortecks I screwed it to the wall so it isn't going anywhere - but I think its the fuel head height that matters. The other thing that can affect it is any changes to the inlet and exhaust circuit. So for example, adding a different silencer or changing the pipe length may reduce the air mass and make it over rich. But also as the combustion chamber soot's up it may also cause it to over fuel and I bet that will be a positive feedback of doom. As they have no mixture control they probably should be set up to be quite lean. I saw someone using a lambda probe to get 15:1 at which point it smokes - I think it should be closer to 20:1, I think that 15:1 only really applies to fixed volume combustion like a cylinder than a flame in a tube where you will have an excess of oxygen.
@@Vortecks What I could do is get one of those pumps and pump the fuel 1ft uphill and then 6ft uphill and measure the fuel delivered in 10 mins say.
Also 5kw heater, Ive read before 3.6-3.8 hz is most efficient in other videos, i also tested it out it saves fuel and theres a very slight black smoke i see out of chimney when u got it at 5-5.5hz. I just almost got mad now from fuel pump noises. Theres also a very good method of tuning when u buy some cheap chinese co meter and if you put it at high you see like 10k ppm and at low 1000 ppm and when its arround 3.6 hz you get 400 ppm...
Works good on kerosene but I mix with a bit oil to lubricate the pump
I wish I could get kerosene 😒
Thanks for posting, possibly the neatest home install I've seen so far. I've looked at the comments and can't see any more info on the fuel pump, are they available to buy?
I plan on using mine to heat a large kitchen, I would be interested to see how you heat more than one room with a single unit :)
It's embarrassing but I might show it. I've used the splitter tube and hung 2 lengths of insulated 80mm tubing across the ceiling because I can't gain access above it. Come the spring, I'll simply take it down, compress the tubing back into the box..... job done. We have to make sacrifices to affordably keep warm.
I’ve made a plywood box for the heater, located it on the patio, plan to run the flexi pipe through the wall and vent from under the kitchen unit kick boards.
Desperately seeking a quiet fuel pump.
that's simply practical and brilliant. Sure you're not a Kiwi? *chuckle
@@Vortecks
I'm going to have to watch this a few times to get me head round it but thanks a lot liked and subbed I will check out any other vids now
Did u do a video on the pump gadget
Fantastic, But a little to fast for us simple folk. Well me anyway. Will be in touch when i get mine up and running .
Hi, did you ask about production of the quiet pump? I have ordered my heater and it will arrive in a few days. Your system looks great, so I will see about tuning my 5-8kw when it up and running. Thank you.
I'm waiting to hear back from him. He has various models available and also, a marine version for fitting in boats now. As soon as I get the green light, I'll make another video.
@@Vortecks Excellent; I'll be watching lol. Thank you.
How long should you wait for a bar change before lowering the max hrz setting each time?
I waited a couple of minutes which seems like an eternity!
Great video. Excellent advice about the settings. Give or take a few factors, those are good presents. I find that mine requires a little adjusting throughout the heating season.
Cow tipping high winds and barometric pressure and every now and again the fuel isn't what it should be.
Mine is running 24/7 until spring.
Every 30 hrs I'll turn it all the way up for 20-30 minutes and then back to whatever setting is comfortable.
Make it a habit to continually remind the sheeple about safety and good old fashion common sense.
Otherwise, we all know what happened to other great products that got into the hands of the clueless.
Thank you for sharing .
Yes, barometric pressure is the possible cause of 90% of the sooting. The manufacturers set a default value which makes them run in their location but that setting doesn't work for most people.
Unfortunately, Curtis...... common sense no longer exists but I will keep reminding people of the dangers 😉
If it's orange, it's probably biodiesel or red diesel that's had the dye removed.
@@ElectronicMusicUnderground could be the winter diesel additives 🤔 winter diesel has antiwaxing additives compared to summer diesel 🤞 hopefully they haven't had red in the tank , try explaining to DVSA it was the fuel stations fault when they dip your tank 🙄
👍😁👍
sheeple? This is a video about diesel heaters not the new world order!
wie ist denn bitte der Hersteller der leisen Pumpe bei 8:15, gibt es da bitte einen Link dazu?
Grüße
...
what is the manufacturer of the silent pump at 8:15 please, is there a link to it please?
Regards
have you calculated that your max settings actually gives 5kw ? because the factory tune are setup to work whatever environment. like vehicles. doesn't matter what altitude you do, it should work. only it does not work as efficient as it could. I've never seen any of mine smoke or gum up. And it always works. whatever the altitude and weather. But there are ppl that already has calculated the tune to result of effect. It is always, always when you start fiddling with the settings that your break the heater. So I hope you've done your calculations.
The newe vevors come with bluetooth capability, do the blutooth ones tune themselves? Bluetooth show elevation on it.
For a honda civic would you recommend the 2KW or 5KW heater? Or they basically the same? Perhaps more fuel usage on a 5KW? I'm in Canada, so it gets cold, -15 celcius, want to do some winter camping. The heater will also be outside, so it will be drying in cold air. Would want the heater to run on low and keep inside the car at about 18 deg. Celsius. Would it be automatically turn on/off according to thermostat temps?
It doesn't turn off in thermostat mode. It drops to lowest heat setting which is supposedly 900w. I don't know how the thermostat would work if its drawing in outside air.
They run them rich....to avoid a lean condition and avoid higher temps in the combustion area
Mine had been running great for quite awhile. Then we got some extreme temperatures and I think the gummed up diesel clogged some things. I cleaned everything out the best way I knew how. Finally got it to start again. It ran for a few days. Woke up this morning to a chilly home. Noticed the diesel heater had stopped working again. I pulled it all apart, cleaned it up and it fired up immediately. Thought all was well, but then I noticed the combustion chamber temperature was steadily dropping 2 Celsius (from 176 ish) every 10 minutes. I finally turned it off at 138 C and took it apart again. It has just as much soot as it did over the few days that it has been running since I cleaned it last. Prior to that one temperature drop, it had been running near mint. No carbon buildup to be seen....
I'm currently lost as to what is wrong. I have no idea why it's suddenly plaguing me with issues now...
Check the fuel lines for air leaks especially the rubber connections if you have the upgraded fuel lines the nylon tube. Try fitting a non return valve as fuel syphons back into the tank when switched off pulling air into the fuel line.
@@oojimmyflip I ended up upgrading to a Lavaner Pro and I haven't had any issues since.
Thank you for the video. I picked up a used one. Is it hard to take it apart to check and Clean out the soot if need be?
Easy peezy lemon squeeze just be gentle with the glow plug only screw it back in hand tight and get a gasket kit before you strip it down on fle bay or amazon currently about 11 quid with a, new glow plug and fuelling screen.
Does anyone else's control unit display the pulse rate in numbers 1 - 10 instead of actual Hz?? Is there any way to change this?
Great video,very helpful just cleaned mine out full of carbon just like yours.
Do you know what the PF 1-6 is? I have this on my controller when I scroll through the settings SN 1 or 2 (is magnets) then the PF comes up and I dont know what it is for.
I am ready to reset following your suggestions.
I think PF is something to do with plateau mode where it automatically slows down or speeds up to get the temperature right. Don't touch it if everything works.
What’s the best tune it plays ? Any bagpipe tunes ? Thanks
I've got a 5kw in my motorhome that to be honest is still not great (had a 2kw at first but upgraded it). I've followed your video but it doesn't seem to make any difference. No matter hiw low I turn the hz down on either max or min it doesn't put any of the red bars out. Also if I adjust the settings, then go out and back into them again, they go back to default as if they haven't saved. Am I doing something wrong?
Have you explored running it on the 'alpine' setting?
Isn't alpine setting an automatic barometric adjustment? If so, no I haven't. Although the barometric pressure does change, I find that the fixed tuning runs perfectly.
@@Vortecks I have only just got one of these and haven't installed it yet. I did some looking around RUclips for hints and tips and found a couple of vids showing a two button shortcut to the alpine setting which apparently sets parameters for a leaner fuel to air ratio which these guys have tested for economy and got good results. I agree tuning is really important on first setup and your guide is invaluable.
It is automatic on the blue screens with the red or black led remote control.
what is the nodemcu for?
That's a nice lcd screen..so how youtube works is to actually see how its done
Trying to figure out and get my head around what your doing hear in regards to having to knock it down in hz on that pump to only put it back up again? Are you basically saying to lower the pump speed while increasing the over all fan speed? And thanks for the video its very informative. Just trying to get my head around this.
It's hard to explain unless you know what AFR is (Air Fuel Ratio)
When you're changing the min/max pump speed, if you turn the pump speed down, the fan speed reduces in proportion and it may go below the setting of the minimum fan speed.
Setting the fan speed at 2500 is just a base point, this will ensure that the fan speed won't reduce too much as to cause a flame-out when you reduce the pump speed.
The minimum and maximum fan speeds (2500 - 5000 in my case) are really 0% to 100% fan speed and the pump speed (1.2 - 3.8 in my case) are really 0% to 100% pump speed.
You can do it without changing the minimum fan speed but I found that it dropped the speed so low, it was useless and it caused combustion problems.
I'll update the description with basic instructions on how to tune it with default fan speeds.
@@Vortecks thank you for replying. I will have a play around with this over the weekend.
Hi,why my fan does not increase the speed when i rise de hz frequency pump. My pump start ticking accordint to the hz for example 4 hz but my fan still have the speed for 2.5hz and i have black smoke on exhaust because no air.Can you help me with an advice?thanks in advance.
Thank you for the video, I have the same unit buy the display has an extra button for priming the pump, the problem is that I cannot go into any settings. When pressing that settings button only changes from temperature to manual.... I have tried all combinations of pressing the buttons and no luck... can't even set a time on this thing. And the worse thing is that only runs for 3 hrs before it gets blocked by soot.... if anyone has a solution for this please leave a comment or reach out. Thanks!
Thanks for your great video, I have ordered one of these for my garage, I will use your advice to dial it in.
I would like to ask about the consumption, you mention that it uses 1/7 of the price of electric heating.
Is that compared to regular electric radiators or a heat pump?
Cheers.
It's based on resistive heating (electric fire). If you have a look further down the comments, I did a breakdown where someone else asked the same question.
@@Vortecks Great, thanks!
Fan low 2200 and high ibhave 4200. Get out more heated air. But the same same. Saves some watt only. And it burns litle hotter
I recently got a 2kW that would flame out after 10 minutes and never got out of the yellow heat bars. The fan upper setting was 4500 and the pump 4.6Hz. It wouldn't stay burning until I had upped the pump to 6.4Hz which seems quite high for the kW rating. But anything less and it won't keep at 2 red bars. I haven't yet upped the bottom end settings but it appears that the chamber temperature should stay in the red bars? or is it normal to reduce speed and drop down to the yellow? I suppose there must be a minimum temperature to sustain the flame.
Before I sorted it out the vendor sent a replacement which wouldn't ignite at all and was factory set at 3.4 Hz and 4250 upper pump and fan speeds. Maybe the 2 kW is a less efficient burner that actually needs more fuel?
Anyway, thanks very much for posting this it was very helpful in getting one of the units to run.
I got 2kw (with 60mm ducting) too and cannot tune with these instructions. At least when temperature is close to 0 c degrees: High is ok with two red bars (takes a hour to get there), but low is only four bars (0 red) even after 12 hours.
Have been running it 100-200 nights with zero soot buildup - took it apart few days ago.
Have been using so far: 1.0-3.0hz, 1500-4300 rpm. I think I have 0.18ml fuel pump where some have 0.22ml.
2kw default settings are 0.8 hz low and 3.2hz high.
hey any info where we can get that quiet pump, looking at buyin a 2kw or 5kw unit for a honda civic. Dont; know whats' best, I'm in canada and it gets cold -15 celcius, but read 5kw units are quireter.
Looking forward to the silent oil pump
Ah this great, bought 5~8kw unit for my garage a couple of weeks ago, it's brilliant but the instructions are terrible. Ordered the monoxide detector with it 🙂
The instructions are bloody useless. Hopefully, I'll be able to fill in the massive gaps on how to use them, clean them and set them up for perfection 😉
@@Vortecks i quite enjoy a "chinglish" set of instructions 👍 usually they are funny as fook 🤣 👍
Sensible
Hey Tony, where did you route the exhaust?
Lost me. Is there a written copy I can buy with all these steps
oh dear....
the fan speed increases quite Sharpley when you adjust the fuel up while the heater is running for a set pre programmed period of time then reverts back to what it was set at and you must then adjust the fan speed to the new fuel setting.....
its a safety thing not a proportional thing....