@@johnmck1147 Hi john i agree you are the guru ... I have a problem with my 2kw seems to smoke a lot so over fueling i guess would you happen to know. The factory settings or best setting for 2kw heater ive tried two black controller and they both seem to be doing same hope you can shed some light on matter many thanks Nick
Nick Pritch , Hi Nick, I really need more info to be of some help. Did it smoke from new, or did it start smoking later? Is the smoke black or or is it white? Does it smoke just on start up, or all the time? If it smoked from new, you most likely have an install issue. Eg too long a combustion air inlet, too many bends in inlet hose, or restrictions in exhaust. Issues here cause lack of combustion air for a complete burn. If it started smoking later, it is most likely caused by carbon buildup in the glow plug atomising screen or the burner chamber. If only on start up suspect glow plug screen, if always probably carbon in both glow screen and main burner screen. Smoking can also happen with a dirty fuel filter. I hope this is of some help. JMcK
If you don't have a spare controller to shutdown the unit with, you can cut fuel by disconnecting the fuel pump. This will trigger a low temp error and start a safe shutdown. But like he showed, don't let it lose power. When the fan stops, it won't cool itself anymore. If the controller fails and things keep running, cut the fuel and let it cool itself down. Great video, thanks for the info!
I've just bought one of these heaters and a 30 amp power supply but as you "could" get a mains drop out I'm also going to invest in a UPS for A$40+A$23 delivery on EBAY.......belt and braces is my middle name.
Hey John, Followed you from your beginning. You have become the default source for accurate, detailed information about these heaters! Thanks for your work.
Today I got my heater running thanks to you. Yes I cleaned and cooked the tubular thing that goes around the glow plug, and I also found dirt in the air hole. B\ut I also found another problem you might want to look at. The controller (the fancy blue one) had a short circuit in the wires. Pull off the adhesive front cover, remove 4 screws and inside you will see that they stripped the wire 10mm. Over time this exposed wire crossed and would intermittently short out. I cut some heat shrink and used it. Thanks for your help, much appreciated. And now I am warm and dry.
Very helpful video. I'm installing one of these in my VW Kombi Camper. Unfortunately, it didn't come with any instructions. I love the magpies singing to accompany your lesson.
Hi Jay, thanks for the feedback. I have not done detailed videos on controllers as there are already a number on RUclips. A lot of people comment about the birds in the background. I live in a nice rural area. JMcK
Curious observation with my analogue controller today… Absolutely excellent videos John, best I’ve seen so many thanks. I had a curious observation today with my 5kw which has an analogue controller; last couple of weeks it’s been starting and stopping fine but will not regulate the temperature lower than anything other than flat-out. I’ve had to use it like this out of necessity but it’s not ideal as you can imagine. Today I was armed with some tools to troubleshoot but before I started, I selected a low temp setting and started it up as usual and even after 15 mins the temperature was not going down, the pump ticking like mad as I’ve had lately… so I decided to press and hold the ‘On’ button on the analogue controller. After a few seconds the pump slowed down and all was fine! It starts and runs as normal now, I’ve had it over a year and it’s definitely back to its old self with full control over the temperature. Maybe I have inadvertently done some sort of reset? I’ve powered it up 5 times since with no problems and I’m very happy with it again. I haven’t seen anything on the internet/youtube about heaters that fail to turn the heat down (with no error codes) and neither have I seen anything about holding the ‘On’ button down while it’s running so I hope this helps you and others who may experience this curious fault.
John, I have now encountered two different plug types with two different controllers. The new Black painted all in one (link to it in your All In One heater video) has a round connector with 3 wires. Its around 3/8" in diameter with a screwing locking collar on it. Wished I could post a picture of it. Ok the Second on is on a Red All In One heater that has a controler that has a single knob. To turn on, press in on the knob and turn to the right. After unit is up and running the heat setting is set by turnning the knob to the right for + heat, turn knob to left for - heating. No temp scale in Celsius just pulse rate. To shut down, press and hold and turn knob to the left till 000 is read. Let off knob and it runs the shut down phase. Now on this heater the controller has a Flat 3 wire connector. Now on visual inspection of both of these heater control units (motherboards) with the same and it looks the same in the pictures you have on your videos and pictures that I found on eBay. And John you are The Guru of the Chinese diesel air heaters. God I would have loved to have you as a shop instructor in high school or middle school. Have a G-day from the USA.
Thank you John, had to work a lot of that out myself before I came across your channel. Your presentation and detail is marvelous and now much enjoy watching all your episodes, well done !
That was very important information about how the heater can overheat and how it won't turn off if the controller fails. I will buy a spare controller and ecu!🙏🤠
I just completed wiring my heater in. It works, thanks for the good advice about the run down time when turning off to prevent the circuit board from melting. There is no mention of this in the "instruction" booklet. You saved me some heartache and lost dollars.
Great videos i really enjoy them you do a good job of intelligently testing things many of us would like to know. I will be purchacing one of thease heaters for my 4x4 camping vehicle. Question the espar heaters have an option for high altitude kit is there any such thing or adjustment for thease units to run well at high altitude? Also what parts would you reccamend carrying as spares for thease units atomizer screne, glow plug, gaskets of any kind for dissassembly and reassembly? I saw in one of your other videos an intake air screne you were showing does that come with the units or do i buy that seporate? Curious if installed and used properly how often do they get carboned or need repair? Also a video on how we should be controling the unit what pulse rate how to set a thermostat controled temp. Also a video on how to use the diag function on the controlers Thanks for the great vids and info mike
Hi Michael, at this stage I have not seen a high altitude kit for these Chinese diesel heaters. With no adjustment the heaters run rich at high altitude and hence cause more soot build up than normal. You can lessen this soot formation at altitude by using a kerro/ diesel mix. Somewhere between 80:20 to 50:50 mix seems good. As for spares, I would suggest some glow plug screens as spares, and perhaps a spare glow plug, and removal tool, as the glow plugs are easily broken on removal, unless done careful. If installed correctly and with an end of season kerro/diesel short cleaning run these heaters can go for many years without a pulldown for carbon and soot removal. Sadly most heater kits come with a so called intake silencer. These are not an air filter, and are useless as a silencer. You will need to purchase an intake filter separately. I hope this helps a little. JMcK
Thank you for such a well thought out explanation of the controllers for these heaters. You did a excellent job the explanation of the different ones available. I have at so many different videos of people trying to do what you did I about gave up trying find anyone with any knowledge until I accidentally clicked on yours. I'm so glad I did. Thank you, what a job
I reached out to you last January. I use my heater to heat up my shop and it worked great, which I had mentioned back then to you, if you can recall. Well I have turned it up a notch. I'm using this heater as one of the heat source to heat up a 205L drum full of coolant, that then goes in my floor radiating heat system. I used a 4 inch grinder and made a groove going in a circle around the casing, to be able to insert a 3/8 copper tube tightly wound inside the said groove. Right now, it is running with no pump pushing the coolant inside the 3/8 tube. Instead, I use the science of heat that likes to escape any entrapment and at the same time, it sucks in the cold coolant. It goes in the pipe at around 16c right now but exits at around 48-49c on average. So on top of heating up the ambient air, it also supplies heat for my drum. I also have an used oil burner/wood stove combo, 600watts of solar panels running a 600watt heating element, and also a solar hot water heater on the go. I am assembling everything right now. Your videos were really helpful in how to disassemble these heaters and so on. Thanks for the knowledge you share with us.
Hi Danny, thanks for the feedback. Is it possible for you to send me some photos. I have often been asked to do a video on other applications. If I do so I will give the contributors the credit. My email is - johnmck47@outlook.com Thanks ..JmcK
@@johnmck1147 I promise I will once I'm done and running. It will be winter here as it will be summer for you so I have time against me right now. I saw something else last night that gave me an idea. I have an old defective Cooler Master liquid cooling CPU pump and radiator that I kept in case I'd need it one day. It is almost the same dimensions as the air heater end of it. I will make some king of tin or thin sheet metal and make a shroud for it and circulate the coolant through it. Yet another way of taking heat and sending it in my radiant floor.
Hey John, love the detailed vids, very helpful. Just wondering if you can do a factory reset on the digital display control unit? I keep getting error code E-05, overheating issue. My air intake and exhaust pipes are all clear and with minimal bends, heat duct is fine and cool air in the cabin has adequate air flow. The fan works and blows air out fine, not sure what the issue could be?
The LCD controller users 0.114 ma (+/-) an hour in standby mode. Over 24 hrs that equates to 2.736 amps. This would drain a 100 ah battery down to 50% in just over 18 days in standby mode based on the fact there is no other parasitic draw from the battery. This is a very good point you raised, thank you John.
Yes Enigma. You would be surprised at the number of people who store their caravan or motorhome under a tarp or carport (solar won't work) and do not realise the constant heater current drain will flatten their battery in pretty short order. If left this way all winter the battery is generally a write off. JMcK
I didn't know about the shutdown. I just got the all in one heater to warm my garage. I was going to use an ATX computer power supply to power the unit and shut it off when not in use. I'll now use a battery with a charger and turn off the battery after the heater turns off. Thanks for the information, you saved an ecu!
@@johnmck1147 I watched all the videos and learned a lot about this heater. I fired it up today and it blew out smoke for the first 5 minutes then all is OK. Thanks for the videos, very helpfull when setting these up for the first time. 😊
Thanks again for another very informative video. I have a suggestion/question. For those of us with Webasto heaters, we sure could use another series on them. Granted, the here will be a lot of overlap, but maintenance and controllers will be very informative. Thanks you.
Hey Mate. Thanks for the vid. I am just in the process of fitting a 2kw heater and have fitted an isolating switch on the main 12v feed so it was good to hear about the impromptu shut down overheating. I am also running the diesel fuel line inside some clear plastic tubing for both protections and to insulate it from the van and suppress the noise as I had heard that it was a problem. This was then mounted with rubber coated P clips to further enhance the suppression. It is great to share our experience and knowledge to help others. So many tricks and traps in the install and the instructions, which are in varying degrees of chinglish, are at best downright confusing and at worst, not existent. Perhaps non existent would be better as people would be forced to look around for the proper way to install them. lf I was an absolute beginner I wouldn't have had a clue what to do based on the install instructions or lack thereof.
John thanks for making these videos. You give a lot of well presented material. I was looking to see well much the silencers work.and your video on the silencers gave me more information than I was looking for which was great. You pointed out some things I did not know. Again thanks for these awesome videos
Hi Pat, yes I talked about that method in the description with this video, however in a lot of cases like Caravans and Motorhomes and Trucks, with the fuel lines underneath the vehicles it is not so easy in the mud rain and snow of winter, when these heaters are most used, to get underneath the vehicles and disconnect the fuel. In the rare event this occurred, and there was much mud and rain, I think I would chose the master switch and fan method. Also with this method you do not have to get underneath the vehicle all over again to reconnect the fuel line and do the prime again as well. Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback Pat. JMcK
Cut the power to the pump then? Add a cutoff switch to the wire that runs to the pump? Would that trigger the unit to go thru its shut down routine and cool itself down albeit without fuel input?
Hi John, not sure if its been mentioned but you could also disconnect power to the dosing pump for an effective emergency shutdown if needed in the event of a controller failure. Once unit has cooled, one could then disconnect the primary power. Really enjoy your videos!
A point of information about the first controller that you showed. If you turn the unit on and the knob seems to not work and it seems to change settings on its own... Press and hold ON while the unit is on and the fan blades in the knob will change colors... When they are red it seems that the unit basically runs on high and adjusts a bit here and there as needed on its own... I turned it all the way down and things just kept on trucking. However, if you press and hold ON while the unit is on the fan will change from red to blue. When the fan blades are blue it follows the input that you have asked of it. I've not been able to find any of this mentioned in any of the manuals.
Watched all your heater videos now John. Its clear you have passion and experience in teaching, and you do it extremely well. I'll gleefully use all your tips when i install my system. Any tips on multiple air outlets would be handy ! Cheers Si
Thank You John. It was not obvious they had a room temperature thermostat. I was afraid maybe the temp set could be the device temp, not the room temp. You gave us the information . Thank you so much !
Well, I fact yesterday a guy that actually owns one said : in fact it actually have a problem. Because apparently the thing can go on low heating, according to the room temperature, but it will not regulate using total shut down power on the fire. That means, for a 1000W to 8000W model, if 1000W is too much for the insulated volume you have, you’ll overheat without regulation ! That’s a terrible problem for me. Need to keep one door partly open then ? Do you confirm that ? He has 5kW model with the full electronic controller.
He say this is for battery energy savings. Because the power on/power off would consume too much, hard to recharge later on a camper. Myself I purchased a 1 to 8 kW model, but my caravan would need only 500 W or less... gonna have a problem apparently. I think about using On/Off function with a thermostat to shut it off. And to avoid the important battery consumption, i think about making the starting resistor plug out if service when powering off. I think this could be achieved using a klixon thermostat on the aluminum fins, not allowing the starting plug to be supplied when the body is already hot. Normally this is a carbon clogging issue, but I gonna use my caravan maybe 3 cold nights a year....
rené solaire Hi Rene, I suspect your heater is the common 5 kw model. I do not think you will have an issue with this heater. On a low setting the heater runs very slow, puts out low heat and uses very little power. If it does get too hot, jut turn it off for a while. JMcK
Excellent video. I just installed one with the basic LED controller and was having some trouble figuring out the functionality. I can’t thank you enough.
Hi john I have had these heaters for about 6 years( Airtronic and a Chinese one ). I get about 700 hours before they require service . your videos are great help to get the Chinese one going. I have a red controller and remote and they work fine. I get all my parts from Butlertechnic in England for the Airtronic, but not have a supplier for the Chinese one yet.
Hey john, fun video! But you forgot to talk about the advanced control on the controller with the lcd screen. Going to the settings, the fourth dash, the password is 1688, and then you can adjust the ratio of the rate of pulse and the speed of the fan to improve the quality of the combustible mixture.
John. Thanks for this series of great videos at79 sure help question if controller goes seems like it will keep running. If u disconnect pump will unit keep running to act like cool down then could pull fuse. Than you
Hey John, u do a great job helping with navigation of these diesel heaters. On my second heater, runs great, just curious, have a led controller and when you hit the ok button to see time, hertz, and voltage and scroll to next the alpine symbol comes up with a number from 150 to maybe 300 with a m to the side. Any suggestions what this means. South Carolina here. Love the heater for my RV. Thanks
Hi John, Thank you for all your info and work that goes into making these video's. I was getting a low voltage warning E-01 and the heater would then shut down. It wasn't the batteries for they were at 13.2v . Come to find out it was the fuse and after changing it the unit worked just fine.
Hi there You can go into the menu in the ECB and make changes. There are a number of people online who will give you the password. I no longer do that because I have seen too many users get themselves in a whole lot of problems. There is no reset button back to factory settings. If your set up is correct, and your issues are with a new heater, I suggest you ask for a replacement as you could have controller or ECB issues. JMcK
I've just bought one of these heaters and it is powered by a 12 volt 30 amp power supply......when it switches off the LED readout turns off too.........I also finally turn the power supply off when the heater goes to it's off cycle.
My pump disengages on startup. The heater works great, but it's very hard to get it to start. Sometimes I can trick it by priming the pump. If the pump would stay engaged it would start every time. Do you know why?
If one loses the connection for the controller while the heater is in operation; how about then disconnecting the fuel pump power? Will the heater keep running the fan in this scenario; with no ECU and no fuel flow?
I bought a 5Kw heater and when I tried it the pump ran for about 2 minutes then stopped and never worked again as I get the E4, pump failure come up, even with a new pump. I wondered if this is a control failure in the module as I can hear a click when I try various things but the pump doesn't come on. I tried the pump on another model I have and it works ok with that one, so, now I have a spare. Should I buy another module and see if that solves the problem?
Recently purchased the cheapest 5 kw heater I could find, $84USD. It came with the simple controller you note as decent. I like the simple knob controller, ordered one, tested it and got the 7 error code. I suspected the incompatibility issue so I ordered another motherboard and knob controller. The new motherboard looks substantially different but has the same connections. I tried the original controller and only got 4 red LEDs dashes. Both new knob controllers show the 1 error code, low voltage with 12.6 volts on brand new battery I keep on battery tender. The packaging indicates the replacement motherboard is usable with 12 or 24 volts, though I specifically ordered a 12 V unit. However, very clearly marked on the board where the big red wire is soldered, it says “+24V. (The original board that came with the heater has no marking at the same wire, though the cover is marked 12V.). I think I have a 24 V replacement board, thus low voltage error code. It is going back and I will try to order, yet again, a 12V mboard. Is it really this complicated? Am I on the right track or do I just start over with another complete unit that costs a little more. I am already collecting spare controllers. Thank you, John. I have watched all your vids and find them extremely helpful. I am spreading your fame at our US Albin Owners Group.
Hi Richard, Thanks for the post. When I made these videos, some years ago now, to try and help the DIY installer, the Chinese manufactures all followed the same protocol and it was so easy to mix an match controllers and motherboards, but lately some manufactures have been going proprietary and using their own protocol. This is making it difficult for the average heater owner to make changes. I think you may be on the right path, but first check the voltage at the motherboard. Are you bench testing, or installed testing. It is not uncommon for heater owners to have voltage issues after install, particularly if they do not connect heater direct to the battery, have a cheap fuse, and don't increase wire size. If voltage issue is on a bench test I suggest you ask supplier for replacement controller and motherboard. There is also another issue to consider. Most of the Chinese Copy heaters were exact copies (mechanical parts, not electronics) of the German Eberspacher D2 and D4 heaters. But now there are some Chinese heaters that are copies of the German Webasto heater. These two heaters are very different inside even though they may look similar to the untrained eye. Parts for Eberspacher copy are not compatible with Webasto copy. Because of these issues, I now recommend the normal purchaser buy a heater that comes with the controller they want. Please let me know how you go. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 One of the things that drew me to you besides the sheer volume of info you put out is that you respond to almost all inquiries! You do realize how unconventional you are? And how grateful your public is! I am bench testing since you strongly recommend it and I am glad I am I did. When you say check voltage at the motherboard are you suspecting voltage drop from too small wiring in the boat? (I am a licensed electrician...well I let it lapse a few years back since I retired...) One would need to check voltage drop while it is running which could be tricky without tapping the wires close to the unit. Certainly doable... I did purchase the heater with the controller I thought would allow me to add the knob style. The controller is not the one that you got with the aluminum case heater. Funny thing, the manual that came with my heater has a section that covers the knob style controller. I have sent back the controller that indicates +24V on the motherboard. I have ordered another controller that says 12V in all the advertising info. I have tried contacting these sellers to no avail. Wish me luck! I also have contacted the original supplier requesting whether or not they can provide another controller and motherboard or will allow me to return and upgrade to a more expensive unit. I am still within the 30 day return window. The unit works like a champ with its supplied controller and motherboard. There is no guarantee that a more expensive unit will be any different than the one I have since they all advertise and look identical except for color of plastic. I have also considered what else could be happening here, many posters say simply swap a couple wires around and voila. These are really basic units: a controller with three wires, a pump with two wires, and a two wire power supply. Internally, there is the heat sensor and the two wire connector to the fan. Whether or not the motherboard is made of Swiss cheese or unobtainium, it still has the harness which contains the connectors to pump, batt, and controller and its internal connections to the fan and sensor. And the replacement motherboard should nest into unit without any mods. Now if each factory chooses to use interchangeable harnesses and non-interchangeable components we are all left blowing in the wind. Curious stuff. No need to respond, John. I will update if I have any success or gain any wisdom. The unit I have works fine as supplied. I was simply trying to have parts on hand for field repair, mainly to avoid burning up the motherboard by a hard shutdown. When this unit craps, maybe I'll be old enough to sell the boat. Thank you, good sir!
After two new ECUs and two knob style controllers I could not achieve any interchangeability. I put it all back together using only the parts supplied originally. Works fine, but I have no backup plan short of simply installing another entire unit. If and when I do, I'll spend more than $84 and hope for the best. The second ECU was exactly the same as the first with +24V marked at the big red wire. The supplier assured me it would work on 12V.
Hello John, Thanks for the quick feedback. I have an EXTERNAL temperature device which has functioned on my Webasto heater. An internal switch , wakes up the heater at a set minimum temperature and cut it out at the desired temperature. Could I use this in conection with the simple controller with the rotating knob... ? Maybe am asking too much ? Thank you anyway for your first answer which helped me sorting out the problem.
I cannot find any instructions for using the silver faced LED controller with the blue buttons that came with my heater. You show it in this video but no information came with my heater and I have had no luck in reverse engineering this controller. Help!
Thanks John. You provided the instructions that were needed to get a good install. I have mine installed in my RV but the display will not turn on. It is the one that has all the LEDs and draws the most current. I have search for a way to diagnose the problem be it the wiring or the display but I can't find this information no can I get the display to turn on. Have you heard of this? Could the controller be DOA?
Hi Charles, First check your install and make sure your connection are tight and your battery voltage polarity is correct. If this is good and your heater is a new one ask for a replacement. If the heater is not new, suggest you buy a new controller on eBay. Look for one with same plug as your current plug. Occasionally you can get a dud controller, but double check your wiring first. Easy for me to diagnose, I have a number of spares and can just plug in a spare controller. JMcK
Thanks John. I have checked everything and it appears to be fine. I have ordered another controller. I don't hold out much hope on them honoring the 3 year warranty but if they do I will have a spare. Charlie
do they come with an extended cord? Also my remote stopped working, the light still shows on the remote when I push a button, it just wont sync. It used to work but just stopped.
Does the control unit need to be on the heater? Maybe it can be taken out and setup next to the controller far away from the heater to make it impossible to overheat it.
Hi Dan, Possible but difficult. On the ECU is a fan rotation sensor, that would need to be removed from the circuit board and some sort of fine tolerance bracket made. But why bother. With a good install an overheat is extremely remote. Also, in the unlikely event of an issue, an new ECB is only about $20. Cheers. JMcK
Hi I have the last 5 button controller The LEDs only come on when its running otherwise the screen is dark stopping me setting some functions like pairing Can you help?
Wondering LCD controller has to be mounted inside the room being heated? Planning on mounting to heater outside the room under a cover and just plumb the heating pipe inside. Trying to reduce noise plus carbon monoxide risk. Should I wire the LCD controller into the room so the the thermister can control the heat inside the room? Thanks
Hi John i have the LCD full function controller. How do you turn on the start time function. I have input a time to start but don't see the Alarm clock display when i am done. The chinglish manual talks about 2 timer groups. this implies 2 start and stop times. I am not getting anywhere setting the time in the first time switch and set the stop time in the second setting.
Very helpful info. I am thinking of powering the heater from the 240v mains supply using an appropriate adapter. Power cuts in my area are quite common, though they last less than 10 seconds at a time in most cases. What should you do if the power is shut off unexpectedly? I was thinking of using a 12v relay and a small motorcycle battery I have sitting around as a fail safe. The idea being that when the mains is on, the adapter powers the relay sending power from the adapter to the heater. If the power is cut, then the relay will switch to the battery, giving me time to power it off properly. I would have to make sure to top up the battery every few weeks or after a power cut. My question is will the heater notice the short 20ms interruption in power as the relay switches over? I would assume it would briefly flash up a low power warning as the power switches over and then continue running? Maybe it would simply shutoff and overheat? It must be able to deal with short power drops as battery voltage can sag as other high power devices turn on. I would love to hear your thoughts and would like to say thank you for posting such helpful info on these heaters. I have been pouring though your videos and they have answered many questions.
Hi SF, I do not like to give definite comment on something I have not personally tested, and I have not tested a 20 ms power cut. But I can give you an opinion. If the ECU detects a voltage drop it will go into a shut down cycle to protect the heater, and I suspect it will do the same if it senses a power supply interruption. Whether it can sense a 20ms interruption I do not know, but you can bench test it yourself. Next time I am doing a bench test I will do this for my own knowledge. However, as you are going to use a motorbike battery, have you considered using that to power the heater, and connect the battery to a small multistage smart charger, rather than use a mains power supply and a relay. A 10 second power outage on a very hot heater will likely cause damage to the ECU If you do bench test the relay, I would be most interested to hear the outcome. I am on my sail boat in Greece at the moment and can't do bench tests. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Thank you for the reply! I understand your position on the subject and will have to do some tests. Do you know if the fan motor is a 12v DC motor? If so maybe I could wire the relay to the motor directly so if the power goes out the battery will kick in to keep the fan running. I hope its not some fancy AC 3 phase setup that I will have no hope in powering with ease. I assume the only issue with a power cut is the ECU board getting too hot? Also maybe residual fuel in the chamber? The only reason I came up with the relay and small battery idea was because I already have the items to hand. I normally keep the battery connected to a tiny solar panel that trickle charges it and thought it could easily keep the heater running for a few minutes if the power was interrupted. I don't think it has the grunt to run the heater for long periods. I could maybe try and relocate the ECU board outside of the housing as a last ditch attempt at protecting the heater from unforeseen events. Anyway I will keep you posted on the situation. Enjoy your holiday! all the best.
From logic only, I do not think a 20 ms power cut would cause issues. Worst case heater would go into shut down mode safely as power would be available after switch to run glow plug and fan. But this needs to be tested. It is not practical to move ICU out of heater. Too many issues. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Just a little update. I spent a while tinkering and I got it to work. Though I did have to change my plan a little. When powering the relay from the same 12 volt power supply that the heater is connected to I noticed that the power supply would take a short while to die when the power was removed. The heater would switch off just before the relay switched over to the battery. The relay didn't need much power to stay energized and would switch over to the battery just a little too late. This would cause the display to blink. (tested while the heater wasn't running) I needed to find a way for the relay to switch earlier so I rummaged through my collection of old 12v wall warts and tested them to see which one would make the relay deactivate the quickest when power was removed. I found one that was instantaneous and used that to power the relay separately. So now when power is removed the relay switches instantly before the heaters power supply has even started to die and the heater continues like nothing happened. When power is reinstated again, there is also no issue as the heater power supply thankfully comes on instantly. I plucked up the courage to finally run the heater and test it. Sure enough it didn't flinch. The fact that the heaters power supply would take a second to die and finding a small power supply for the relay that dies instantly made the switch over to the battery happen so quickly that the heater didn't notice a thing. So while my initial theory didn't quite work, I was able to find a simple solution using old junk I had floating about. In conclusion you can make it work but I can't say there is a definitive circuit that will work in all situations. I was lucky that the heaters power supply would stay on for a brief period when the power was disconnected and that I found a power supply for the relay that would deactivate really quickly. I'm pleased I didn't have to spend money on a leisure battery and smart charger to power the heater. My hoard of junk parts and a little experimentation saved a few notes. Hopefully now if we have a power cut the heater won't have a meltdown.
Hi John, great videos your our guru mate, have u any idea how to change the advance setting pin code on the controller please from the default 1688? Kind regards Jay
Great videos well explained with good info I have a heater with a simple rotary control .Ir works perfectly but I'd like to add a remote unit so I can turn on and off from my bed.🤣 Can I just buy a controller and remote from Ebay or do I also need a new ECU board?
Hi AM, In the past this was really easy as all the Chinese Manufactures followed the same protocol, but now some manufactures are doing their own thing and it is not so easy to mix and match controllers. Suggest you try it, it will cost you less than $20. JMcK
Hi good videos, On this video you say that if you have a different connector on the control unit and you wish to change it for a red/blue controller etc, you need to swap the ECU to match them up . you can't as the round or triangular plug on the control unit connects to the wiring loom, not directly into the ECU. the wiring loom needs to be changed.
Hi John Thank you for the Videos and the help you provide. Could I ask if you could do a follow up video on how to fit/replace existing controller . In particular the Forth one the full function one. Many thanks
Oh John, I did these videos some 5 years ago now, and there are now lots of heater videos on RUclips on these matters. When I did these videos, the suppliers followed the same protocol and used the same plugs, so it was very easy to mix and match controllers and mother boards….They all talked to each other. Now many suppliers have gone proprietary and this is not simple anymore. If the plugs match, there is a good chance your new controller will work. You just have to try and see. JMcK
Thanks. Should you control panel fail and it keeps running, best fix is unplug the fuel pump which will stop fuel flow and heater will go out. After about 5 minutes it should be cool enough to pull the fuse.
Mr. John... could you tell me how many 90's you can have in the exjost pipe until it will not flow out properly. 3 or 4 bends ( 90's )????? Thank you !!!
You are the BEST!!! I new that I had seen it somewhere so I went back through your vids there it was on #8. Once again, you ARE the MAN. Thank you for being you...
Hi RanchDude, the short answer is three. It is recommended that the maximum combined bends in an exhaust must not exceed 270 deg. Suggest you look at video no 8. Cheers . JMcK
Morning John, Have you found a more durable/ better alternative to the plastic vent that delivers the hot air into the room. The hose clip holding the hose to the plastic vent loses tension during heating. (ie plastic softens due to heat) consequently the hose dislodged and melted the plastic vent. Thank you Dave
Hi Dave, I have had no issues with mine, but I am aware of some, new to market, heater sellers providing garbage accessories with their heaters. Not just hose, but fuel line, hose clamps, and substandard electrical wire. Some marine and hardware stores sell an insulated aluminum vent hose that may be suitable for you. I am currently away sailing for 3 months, and your question has prompted me to do some research on this when I return home. JMcK
Hi John the video is very good well explain and I need help I got white smoke on started since new pump is 25 Degrees angle battery good condition once it fire up all good it's a 2 Kw heater hope you have any idea what cause this thanks Garry
Hi Garry, it is not uncommon to have smoke on first start up, usually caused by some residue fuel, or excessive prime. If the heater then burns clean after start don't worry about it. Remember you only prime the heater once. That is after you installed it. JMcK
Hi John can i put a switch on the red power wire at the led controller like cut the power wire next to controller and fit a switch to it on my diesel heater, thanks mate you are doing a great job as well , o and can you change the display from herts to temp mate?? or you think it best just to use the herts display
Very good videos John, thank you very much for your effort. I would love to se a video regarding the advanced setting and tweaking the rpm/Hz for optimal performance.
Hi Dessmo, Thanks for your comments and video request, unfortunately I will leave your particular topic request for others to do. My goal with these videos was to try and help the DIY person who would buy a cheap Chinese copy heater on line and install it themselves, without the help or input from a brand name supplier. In fact some brand name suppliers insist on a professional install. I believe the Chinese have done a good job matching fan/rpm settings, and when amateurs start messing here with the password protected control settings they often mess things up. This is an area I will leave for a tinkering enthusiast to play with, and publish a video, should they choose. Sorry. JMcK
Solution to the PCB melting might be to add a mount that insulates it better from the heat of the frame it is attached to. While you are the de facto leader in describing these heaters, you cover more than anyone else and you correct what others have wrong, etc... you regularly mess up the values you express... as the length of time the more advanced controller 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, less than a minute later 2 to 3 weeks... you do that a lot in all your videos and why I bring it up.
Hi Mr D, Thanks for the feedback. Can you give me more info re the time you talk about so I can go back and see what I said. Generally if I talk about time, say the time you should give the heater a high speed run to clean out carbon, it is such a variable, and depends on your heater install, how you operate the heater, the quality of diesel you use etc. I just give rough guidelines. If you use the heater constantly on low power and you have a long bendy exhaust perhaps a high power run every couple of weeks is a good preventive maintenance issue. Every heater and install is different, so is the time for a hot carbon burn. On our boat in the Med, I just give it a high power run once a year (season), but the motorhome about once a month. Re the circuit board, I think you would find effective isolation difficult in the space available. Better to use effort to prevent a sudden shutdown in the first place. Cheers JMcK
My controller looks different to any you have discussed there. It's the black LCD type but has 6 buttons 3 either side of the screen. The extra one on the left is a fuel prime button. Your instructions for entering pairing mode don't work for me. 🙁
How would I interface a home made controller to the heaters? On the Espar, there's a yellow wire to turn on the heat by applying 12VDC to it. Is the wiring that simple, or is there a complex communication ie CANBUS, etc?
Anyone know if there's a controller that will actually turn the unit off once it's well above the set temp? Doesn't make sense to me that they never shut off
Us in the USA, mainly use gasoline. my self, i donot want to carry a 3rd fuel. i want to run the 2 or 5 heater on gasoline. you have all the test equipment. please test one for us USA campers with gasoline,, for about an hour .. please reply. will you run one for me with gasoline.. if it does any damage,, i will pay you or buy it from you. will the pump work well? does it soot up less if it is hotter? will the computer control the heat? will it over heat? make another video for USA Hamish
Great videos, good to see some with an Aussie accent. Sorry if this has been asked but reading all of the comments on my phone is a bit tedious. Q: if the controller failed, how would the unit respond if the fuel supply was removed rather than the power, would the unit complete it's cool down procedure and shutdown gracefully or do those smarts live in the controller?
Nate3094 Hi Nate, yes you could cut off the fuel supply, a good option and one I would choose, and the heater should go into shut down mode. I say should, as it would be dependent on the actual controller fault. All professional marine installs I have seen have a fuel shut off tap in the system. Cheers, JMcK
I have a black 5 button screen that goes into a standby with a pad lock on the screen runs perfect in p1 and p2 when I crank it up to p10 it runs for 30 mins and throws a e6 error it has a temp of the burner at 230degres then shuts down
Thank you! this topic is very frustrating to me, it seems like the simplest dial controller is the best because it can act as a basic thermostat with no hassle. I have the type with the LEDs and blue circle on the front and it's annoying and won't work as a thermostat for me. Plus I had to bash it open and solder the 7 segment displays to get it to work in the first place! I wish the dial type could read error codes to you...
Hi Chris, Thanks for the feedback. The simple dial controller DOES SHOW ERROR CODES. The little LED's that indicate the temp setting flash an error code. Eg, three lights flashing means error 03. Cheers. JMcK
I have one of these heaters with the newer LCD control panel (all digits in blue - no red) but I can't find anything about them on RUclips. Could anyone point me in the right direction please?
I don't know if you are still out there. If you are,,,how do I safely open the second controller you showed.the one that also uses a remote. It seems I might need to resodder red blue or black wire connections inside
Hi John, great series of videos. I have just finished part 12 and was wondering if in the event of a controller failure, would removing the power from the pump and allowing the unit to run for a period of time, allow a more controlled shutdown? Thanks Craig
Hi Craig, Yes, if you unplugged the fuel pump or even turned off the fuel, the heater ECB would notice a fuel delivery issue and shut down safely. JMcK
Hey John, I do like your videos. Thank you for sharing all of thin in such a details. Actually you have inspired me buying one of those heaters. I got one 5Kw and it works just fine. I've decided to buy one more controller to replace the grey one on you table. And here comes the issue. As soon as I press a button the controller is on is not reacting. I can start the heater and there is one icon flashing red X. As well doesn't show the voltage. Do you know what could be failure. Than you in advance. Best Regards Asen N.
Hi Asen, Is the fault with the new controller? Sadly, some heater manufacturers are not using standard wiring configuration and some controllers will now not work with some heaters. If the fault is in your original controller it is likely showing an error code. E01 standard fault is low voltage. Suggest you check the battery voltage, the wire harness, and voltage at the controller itself for low voltage. I can't be much more help without more knowledge. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Hi John, Thank you for the quick reply! The failure is on the new controller. With the old is working. I have connected the heater directly to the battery less then 2m and I have 12,0V. The connector between the controller and heater match the cables colour. When I go to settings I can see reading of 0.00 volt. Wondering if there is any settings I can try. Some people saying that E07 is miss connection on the blue wire. Wondering what's going to happen if I swoop those two wires blue and black....I guess in worst case I won't get power to the controller or?
Asen Naydenov Hi Asen, your choice. It could be worth a try. In the past you could easily mix and match controllers, but as I stated previously some manufactures now use their own wiring system. Luckily you can buy replacement ECB quite cheaply now. JMcK
HI John, So enjoying your videos, my background comes from Power Generation but still unclear how an Electro Magnet works on DC ? Thinking some form of oscillator in the ECU Looking fwd to your next subject. Cheers
Hi Neville, It is just simple power switching. DC power on the magnet coils energise, and piston flies up. Power off - no magnetic field and spring pushes piston back down. I have made a lead with a simple micro switch which I turn on and off for when I want to send fuel down a long delivery line in initial start up. If I remember right you can see it in motorhome video. (Made Six years ago now). JMcK
Hi mate how can we change the fuel pump pulse rate and slow it down and speed fan rpm up this heater keeps blowing flame out of muffler, air cleaner is free brand new unit
Hi John - Thanks for your quick response. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope one of your subscribers will come up with some answers. In the meantime I’ll try to locate a Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion table. Hope you’re enjoying the sail.
Hi All, a friend of mine is currently installing a diesel heater in a caravan. He has run into a problem with the controller. Its displaying an error unlike anything I have seen before. Its an E402 error. I have only ever seen two digit codes not three digit. Any ideas?? Thank You
How do I determine a 2.5-5 kw to a 5kw to an 8kw. I ordered a (what I thought) was a 5 kw and the unit has a 3" opening for heat supply. Can you explain what the difference is between units?
My heater has a single button controller, shaped like a circular, flat-topped, tapered, "dome". I wanted to upgrade it to the graphical version controller, but the controller wiring had a circular barrel connector, not the triangular one on the new controller. No problem, I thought, I'll just splice the circular connector off the old controller onto the new, Red to Red, Black to Black, and Blue to Blue. A bit of heat-shrink sleeving and we're good to go, or so I thought... Display didn't even light up, nothing. Any ideas why ?
Hi Dave, In the past the Chinese producers of these heaters followed the same protocol and it was very easy to mix and match parts. The controllers had the same plug, and would talk to other makers ECU. Then some manufactures came out with different controller plugs, but you could do what you did and install your own plug. Then some changed the wire polarity. Then not happy with that, some changed the whole protocol, so another controller could not “talk” to their ECU. Suggest you first check the wire polarity. You could also try buying an ECU and controller from the same on line supplier, as I have found them to match in the past. But now some manufactures now change the fan speed sensor, so that creates more issues. Sadly, these days you need to live with your current controller, or I suggest you buy a new heater that has the controller you want. The Chinese heaters are very affordable. As a side note, I personally prefer the simple rotary controller as it is easy for the grandkids, and I try to avoid buying a heater off a supplier that does not follow standard protocol. JMcK
Thank you for the Amazing series, all the ins and outs on these heaters. Alas controller problems... I bought a 5kw all in one and it has a controller similar in looks to the last lcd type one, but the lettering is different with this one. The older has red lettering, the new one is blue lettering and also high altitude icon when holding the settings and ok button together. Simply pushing the settings button does nothing, only holding it will let me change between fan or temperature. I am trying to get into the advanced settings to play with the pulse rate, but for the life of me can't figure out how to. 🥴 Is it possible with these newer controllers to get into the advanced settings ? Thanks in advance.
Hi, had the same problem, I have noticed there is at least three different kinds of these controllers that look virtually identical but function very differently. The one I have I enter advanced settings by compleatly cutting the power to the heater. Then holding the up and down button simultaneously when connecting the power again. Good luck
Hi John just watched your controller episode you point out the problem of controller fail and not being able to safely shut down the heater with out frying the the ECU . Could I suggest putting an isolator switch to kill fuel supply let heater run on for say 15 minutes to cool down before switching power off completely while waiting for replacement controller just a thought regards David
Hi David, thanks for the feedback. Yes, turn off the fuel supply. However it takes some time to run out of diesel. Thankfully this is a very rare occurrence. JMcK
Hello, I do not see arrow symbols, only Fuel, a red flashing arrow is visible. Heating runs approx. 3 min. Then, Error-05 turns off. Thank you for answer. Mrky Read more
If the ECU is prone to damage from heat due to an incorrect shutdown would it be an idea to relocate it outside of the chamber casing? Why are they mounted inside? Excellent vids BTW.
Hi K, with a correct install it is very rare to have a sudden shutdown and ECU damage. It would be difficult to remote mount the ECU on these already manufactured heaters as things like the fan speed sensor are part of the ECU circuit board. This could be changed by a redesign and different manufacturing, but would not be worth the effort. JMcK
Thanks for your reply. I had the issue of the broken wire in my controller that was soldered . I had the problem with it smoking I experimented with pulsating air pressure into the air intake which did get it ignited. I suspect the broken wire sending sporadic current caused it to damage my ECU. I have a 2 kilowatt heater. it is a little bit smaller in physical size than the 5 to eight kw heater. Will it have different ecu. Just to note those two kilowatt heaters are now much more expensive than the five to eight kilowatt heaters. Probably about double the price. Thanks again for your previous reply.
Hi Lionel, In the past, both the 2kw and 4 kw heatersChinese had the same ECU and controllers, but set at different parameters. Lately there are a number of new manufactures making these heaters and they do not follow the old (unofficial) protocol, so it is not so easy now to mix and match components with these heaters. I was not aware the price of the 2 Kw heaters had gone up, (I must check) In the past they were the same price. Cheers. JMcK
John I buy Heather with out the remote so I buy a spare part controller with remote on it... I can’t get it work. I notice all the icons are lit up... a little help here mate. Thanks ahead.
Hi Vinz, In the past most Chinese heater manufacturers used same wiring, same plugs, same everything, so it was easy to mix and match products between heaters. But in the last year or so this is not the case with different plugs and sometimes same plugs but wires reversed. First check if the three wires in the two remotes have the same plug and the colours on the same pins. There will be two power wires and a sense wire. If not you can sometimes get a new remote to work by butting the right wires on the same pins. Next check it the new controller will work manually. If it works manually then it is possible you have not "pared" the remote to the controller. The controller should have instructions how to do this. Also make sure there is a battery in the remote. Some come without batteries, and not all controllers have the same batteries. Good luck. JMcK
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
I don't know if you realise it, but you are now the official cheap Chinese heater guru! Thank you
I hope I can live up to that statement Martin. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Hi john i agree you are the guru ... I have a problem with my 2kw seems to smoke a lot so over fueling i guess would you happen to know. The factory settings or best setting for 2kw heater ive tried two black controller and they both seem to be doing same hope you can shed some light on matter many thanks Nick
Nick Pritch ,
Hi Nick, I really need more info to be of some help.
Did it smoke from new, or did it start smoking later? Is the smoke black or or is it white? Does it smoke just on start up, or all the time?
If it smoked from new, you most likely have an install issue. Eg too long a combustion air inlet, too many bends in inlet hose, or restrictions in exhaust. Issues here cause lack of combustion air for a complete burn.
If it started smoking later, it is most likely caused by carbon buildup in the glow plug atomising screen or the burner chamber. If only on start up suspect glow plug screen, if always probably carbon in both glow screen and main burner screen.
Smoking can also happen with a dirty fuel filter.
I hope this is of some help. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 you already have done.
Those creatures in the background?
We enjoy your bird serenading us. My mate of 18 years is a small macaw named Sam.
Hi Frederick, just letting you know all the birds you hear are wild birds. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 i know, I'm envious!!!!
If you don't have a spare controller to shutdown the unit with, you can cut fuel by disconnecting the fuel pump. This will trigger a low temp error and start a safe shutdown. But like he showed, don't let it lose power. When the fan stops, it won't cool itself anymore. If the controller fails and things keep running, cut the fuel and let it cool itself down. Great video, thanks for the info!
I've just bought one of these heaters and a 30 amp power supply but as you "could" get a mains drop out I'm also going to invest in a UPS for A$40+A$23 delivery on EBAY.......belt and braces is my middle name.
Who needs instructions, we have John!!! A true blessing to the Chinese diesel world.
Hey John, Followed you from your beginning. You have become the default source for accurate, detailed information about these heaters! Thanks for your work.
Thanks for the positive feedback Robert.
I feel like I have earned college credit watching these videos! Great information.
Well thank you SK55, for your positive comments. JMcK
Today I got my heater running thanks to you. Yes I cleaned and cooked the tubular thing that goes around the glow plug, and I also found dirt in the air hole. B\ut I also found another problem you might want to look at. The controller (the fancy blue one) had a short circuit in the wires. Pull off the adhesive front cover, remove 4 screws and inside you will see that they stripped the wire 10mm. Over time this exposed wire crossed and would intermittently short out. I cut some heat shrink and used it. Thanks for your help, much appreciated. And now I am warm and dry.
Hi John,
Thanks for that information. JMcK
Hi John,
Thanks for that information. JMcK
Very helpful video. I'm installing one of these in my VW Kombi Camper. Unfortunately, it didn't come with any instructions. I love the magpies singing to accompany your lesson.
Hi Jay, thanks for the feedback. I have not done detailed videos on controllers as there are already a number on RUclips. A lot of people comment about the birds in the background. I live in a nice rural area. JMcK
Curious observation with my analogue controller today…
Absolutely excellent videos John, best I’ve seen so many thanks.
I had a curious observation today with my 5kw which has an analogue controller; last couple of weeks it’s been starting and stopping fine but will not regulate the temperature lower than anything other than flat-out. I’ve had to use it like this out of necessity but it’s not ideal as you can imagine.
Today I was armed with some tools to troubleshoot but before I started, I selected a low temp setting and started it up as usual and even after 15 mins the temperature was not going down, the pump ticking like mad as I’ve had lately… so I decided to press and hold the ‘On’ button on the analogue controller. After a few seconds the pump slowed down and all was fine! It starts and runs as normal now, I’ve had it over a year and it’s definitely back to its old self with full control over the temperature.
Maybe I have inadvertently done some sort of reset? I’ve powered it up 5 times since with no problems and I’m very happy with it again. I haven’t seen anything on the internet/youtube about heaters that fail to turn the heat down (with no error codes) and neither have I seen anything about holding the ‘On’ button down while it’s running so I hope this helps you and others who may experience this curious fault.
Thanks for that feedback Mags. Much appreciated. JMcK
He thank us for watching ... The community should be thanking you for such thorough explainstions. Respect.
John, I have now encountered two different plug types with two different controllers. The new Black painted all in one (link to it in your All In One heater video) has a round connector with 3 wires. Its around 3/8" in diameter with a screwing locking collar on it. Wished I could post a picture of it. Ok the Second on is on a Red All In One heater that has a controler that has a single knob. To turn on, press in on the knob and turn to the right. After unit is up and running the heat setting is set by turnning the knob to the right for + heat, turn knob to left for - heating. No temp scale in Celsius just pulse rate. To shut down, press and hold and turn knob to the left till 000 is read. Let off knob and it runs the shut down phase. Now on this heater the controller has a Flat 3 wire connector. Now on visual inspection of both of these heater control units (motherboards) with the same and it looks the same in the pictures you have on your videos and pictures that I found on eBay. And John you are The Guru of the Chinese diesel air heaters. God I would have loved to have you as a shop instructor in high school or middle school. Have a G-day from the USA.
Hi KLH, thanks for the kind words and detailed feedback. JMcK
Thank you John, had to work a lot of that out myself before I came across your channel. Your presentation and detail is marvelous and now much enjoy watching all your episodes, well done !
Hi Neville, pleased you found the videos helpful. JMcK
That was very important information about how the heater can overheat and how it won't turn off if the controller fails. I will buy a spare controller and ecu!🙏🤠
I just completed wiring my heater in. It works, thanks for the good advice about the run down time when turning off to prevent the circuit board from melting. There is no mention of this in the "instruction" booklet. You saved me some heartache and lost dollars.
Great videos i really enjoy them you do a good job of intelligently testing things many of us would like to know. I will be purchacing one of thease heaters for my 4x4 camping vehicle. Question the espar heaters have an option for high altitude kit is there any such thing or adjustment for thease units to run well at high altitude?
Also what parts would you reccamend carrying as spares for thease units atomizer screne, glow plug, gaskets of any kind for dissassembly and reassembly?
I saw in one of your other videos an intake air screne you were showing does that come with the units or do i buy that seporate? Curious if installed and used properly how often do they get carboned or need repair? Also a video on how we should be controling the unit what pulse rate how to set a thermostat controled temp. Also a video on how to use the diag function on the controlers Thanks for the great vids and info mike
Hi Michael, at this stage I have not seen a high altitude kit for these Chinese diesel heaters. With no adjustment the heaters run rich at high altitude and hence cause more soot build up than normal. You can lessen this soot formation at altitude by using a kerro/ diesel mix. Somewhere between 80:20 to 50:50 mix seems good.
As for spares, I would suggest some glow plug screens as spares, and perhaps a spare glow plug, and removal tool, as the glow plugs are easily broken on removal, unless done careful.
If installed correctly and with an end of season kerro/diesel short cleaning run these heaters can go for many years without a pulldown for carbon and soot removal.
Sadly most heater kits come with a so called intake silencer. These are not an air filter, and are useless as a silencer. You will need to purchase an intake filter separately.
I hope this helps a little. JMcK
Thank you for such a well thought out explanation of the controllers for these heaters. You did a excellent job the explanation of the different ones available. I have at so many different videos of people trying to do what you did I about gave up trying find anyone with any knowledge until I accidentally clicked on yours. I'm so glad I did. Thank you, what a job
I have a controller I can’t find instructions for. Can you recommend a forum for Diesel heater questions?
I reached out to you last January. I use my heater to heat up my shop and it worked great, which I had mentioned back then to you, if you can recall.
Well I have turned it up a notch. I'm using this heater as one of the heat source to heat up a 205L drum full of coolant, that then goes in my floor radiating heat system. I used a 4 inch grinder and made a groove going in a circle around the casing, to be able to insert a 3/8 copper tube tightly wound inside the said groove.
Right now, it is running with no pump pushing the coolant inside the 3/8 tube. Instead, I use the science of heat that likes to escape any entrapment and at the same time, it sucks in the cold coolant. It goes in the pipe at around 16c right now but exits at around 48-49c on average. So on top of heating up the ambient air, it also supplies heat for my drum. I also have an used oil burner/wood stove combo, 600watts of solar panels running a 600watt heating element, and also a solar hot water heater on the go. I am assembling everything right now.
Your videos were really helpful in how to disassemble these heaters and so on. Thanks for the knowledge you share with us.
Hi Danny, thanks for the feedback.
Is it possible for you to send me some photos. I have often been asked to do a video on other applications. If I do so I will give the contributors the credit.
My email is - johnmck47@outlook.com
Thanks ..JmcK
@@johnmck1147 I promise I will once I'm done and running. It will be winter here as it will be summer for you so I have time against me right now. I saw something else last night that gave me an idea.
I have an old defective Cooler Master liquid cooling CPU pump and radiator that I kept in case I'd need it one day. It is almost the same dimensions as the air heater end of it. I will make some king of tin or thin sheet metal and make a shroud for it and circulate the coolant through it. Yet another way of taking heat and sending it in my radiant floor.
Dany F
👍
Hey John, love the detailed vids, very helpful. Just wondering if you can do a factory reset on the digital display control unit? I keep getting error code E-05, overheating issue. My air intake and exhaust pipes are all clear and with minimal bends, heat duct is fine and cool air in the cabin has adequate air flow. The fan works and blows air out fine, not sure what the issue could be?
carbon build up from not running the heater on high for a good 30-60mins periodically to burn it off.
The LCD controller users 0.114 ma (+/-) an hour in standby mode. Over 24 hrs that equates to 2.736 amps. This would drain a 100 ah battery down to 50% in just over 18 days in standby mode based on the fact there is no other parasitic draw from the battery. This is a very good point you raised, thank you John.
Yes Enigma. You would be surprised at the number of people who store their caravan or motorhome under a tarp or carport (solar won't work) and do not realise the constant heater current drain will flatten their battery in pretty short order. If left this way all winter the battery is generally a write off. JMcK
I didn't know about the shutdown. I just got the all in one heater to warm my garage. I was going to use an ATX computer power supply to power the unit and shut it off when not in use. I'll now use a battery with a charger and turn off the battery after the heater turns off.
Thanks for the information, you saved an ecu!
Hi CW, pleased the videos were of some benefit. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 I watched all the videos and learned a lot about this heater.
I fired it up today and it blew out smoke for the first 5 minutes then all is OK.
Thanks for the videos, very helpfull when setting these up for the first time. 😊
Thanks again for another very informative video.
I have a suggestion/question. For those of us with Webasto heaters, we sure could use another series on them. Granted, the here will be a lot of overlap, but maintenance and controllers will be very informative.
Thanks you.
You never mention voltage issues or error codes, I’m always having issues lol. Thanks for your videos!!!!
Wonderful explanation of pros and cons of these controllers!
Hey Mate. Thanks for the vid. I am just in the process of fitting a 2kw heater and have fitted an isolating switch on the main 12v feed so it was good to hear about the impromptu shut down overheating. I am also running the diesel fuel line inside some clear plastic tubing for both protections and to insulate it from the van and suppress the noise as I had heard that it was a problem. This was then mounted with rubber coated P clips to further enhance the suppression. It is great to share our experience and knowledge to help others. So many tricks and traps in the install and the instructions, which are in varying degrees of chinglish, are at best downright confusing and at worst, not existent. Perhaps non existent would be better as people would be forced to look around for the proper way to install them. lf I was an absolute beginner I wouldn't have had a clue what to do based on the install instructions or lack thereof.
John thanks for making these videos. You give a lot of well presented material. I was looking to see well much the silencers work.and your video on the silencers gave me more information than I was looking for which was great. You pointed out some things I did not know.
Again thanks for these awesome videos
Thanks for the feedback Michael. JMcK
If the controller fails just shut the fuel off I enjoy this series of videos on these heaters you are doing keep up the great work!!!
Hi Pat, yes I talked about that method in the description with this video, however in a lot of cases like Caravans and Motorhomes and Trucks, with the fuel lines underneath the vehicles it is not so easy in the mud rain and snow of winter, when these heaters are most used, to get underneath the vehicles and disconnect the fuel.
In the rare event this occurred, and there was much mud and rain, I think I would chose the master switch and fan method. Also with this method you do not have to get underneath the vehicle all over again to reconnect the fuel line and do the prime again as well.
Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback Pat. JMcK
Cut the power to the pump then? Add a cutoff switch to the wire that runs to the pump? Would that trigger the unit to go thru its shut down routine and cool itself down albeit without fuel input?
Hi John, not sure if its been mentioned but you could also disconnect power to the dosing pump for an effective emergency shutdown if needed in the event of a controller failure. Once unit has cooled, one could then disconnect the primary power. Really enjoy your videos!
Yes, in theory it should work, but I have not actually done this.
However next time I am bench testing a heater I will test it out.
Thanks. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 If that works by disconnecting the power to the pump as an emergency shut down probably a kill switch in the pump line will work better.
👍
I am so thankful for the work you put in on these videos.!
A point of information about the first controller that you showed. If you turn the unit on and the knob seems to not work and it seems to change settings on its own... Press and hold ON while the unit is on and the fan blades in the knob will change colors... When they are red it seems that the unit basically runs on high and adjusts a bit here and there as needed on its own... I turned it all the way down and things just kept on trucking. However, if you press and hold ON while the unit is on the fan will change from red to blue. When the fan blades are blue it follows the input that you have asked of it. I've not been able to find any of this mentioned in any of the manuals.
Thanks for that feedback Brett. JMcK
Thanks for the prompt reply confirming my thought. Now I just have to find a suitable tap to fit the system.
Motorbike shop, hardware store selling air tools. Those air stopcocks work well and are what I mostly use. JMcK
Watched all your heater videos now John. Its clear you have passion and experience in teaching, and you do it extremely well. I'll gleefully use all your tips when i install my system. Any tips on multiple air outlets would be handy !
Cheers Si
Thank You John. It was not obvious they had a room temperature thermostat. I was afraid maybe the temp set could be the device temp, not the room temp. You gave us the information . Thank you so much !
👍
Well, I fact yesterday a guy that actually owns one said : in fact it actually have a problem. Because apparently the thing can go on low heating, according to the room temperature, but it will not regulate using total shut down power on the fire. That means, for a 1000W to 8000W model, if 1000W is too much for the insulated volume you have, you’ll overheat without regulation ! That’s a terrible problem for me. Need to keep one door partly open then ? Do you confirm that ? He has 5kW model with the full electronic controller.
He say this is for battery energy savings. Because the power on/power off would consume too much, hard to recharge later on a camper. Myself I purchased a 1 to 8 kW model, but my caravan would need only 500 W or less... gonna have a problem apparently. I think about using On/Off function with a thermostat to shut it off. And to avoid the important battery consumption, i think about making the starting resistor plug out if service when powering off. I think this could be achieved using a klixon thermostat on the aluminum fins, not allowing the starting plug to be supplied when the body is already hot. Normally this is a carbon clogging issue, but I gonna use my caravan maybe 3 cold nights a year....
rené solaire
Hi Rene, I suspect your heater is the common 5 kw model. I do not think you will have an issue with this heater.
On a low setting the heater runs very slow, puts out low heat and uses very little power. If it does get too hot, jut turn it off for a while. JMcK
Excellent video. I just installed one with the basic LED controller and was having some trouble figuring out the functionality. I can’t thank you enough.
Hi john I have had these heaters for about 6 years( Airtronic and a Chinese one ). I get about 700 hours before they require service . your videos are great help to get the Chinese one going. I have a red controller and remote and they work fine. I get all my parts from Butlertechnic in England for the Airtronic, but not have a supplier for the Chinese one yet.
Hi Peter, thank you for the info and feedback. I get parts for the Chinese heaters mainly from eBay. Cheers. JMcK
Hey john, fun video!
But you forgot to talk about the advanced control on the controller with the lcd screen.
Going to the settings, the fourth dash, the password is 1688, and then you can adjust the ratio of the rate of pulse and the speed of the fan to improve the quality of the combustible mixture.
John. Thanks for this series of great videos at79 sure help question if controller goes seems like it will keep running. If u disconnect pump will unit keep running to act like cool down then could pull fuse. Than you
Hi Richard,
If you turn off the fuel or disconnect power to the fuel pump the heater will go into safe shutdown mode. JMcK
Thank you John
Pleased you found the videos helpful. JMcK
Hey John, u do a great job helping with navigation of these diesel heaters. On my second heater, runs great, just curious, have a led controller and when you hit the ok button to see time, hertz, and voltage and scroll to next the alpine symbol comes up with a number from 150 to maybe 300 with a m to the side. Any suggestions what this means. South Carolina here. Love the heater for my RV.
Thanks
Hi John, Thank you for all your info and work that goes into making these video's. I was getting a low voltage warning E-01 and the heater would then shut down. It wasn't the batteries for they were at 13.2v . Come to find out it was the fuse and after changing it the unit worked just fine.
👍
Hi there
You can go into the menu in the ECB and make changes. There are a number of people online who will give you the password.
I no longer do that because I have seen too many users get themselves in a whole lot of problems. There is no reset button back to factory settings.
If your set up is correct, and your issues are with a new heater, I suggest you ask for a replacement as you could have controller or ECB issues. JMcK
Hi ?? everyone has said, great video and well presented. I'm assuming all controllers are interchangeable except for the dodgy wired one
That is correct. JMcK
I've just bought one of these heaters and it is powered by a 12 volt 30 amp power supply......when it switches off the LED readout turns off too.........I also finally turn the power supply off when the heater goes to it's off cycle.
My pump disengages on startup. The heater works great, but it's very hard to get it to start. Sometimes I can trick it by priming the pump. If the pump would stay engaged it would start every time. Do you know why?
I'm having an electrical issue. Got a new controller but it turned on and then went of and won't turn on again.
If one loses the connection for the controller while the heater is in operation; how about then disconnecting the fuel pump power? Will the heater keep running the fan in this scenario; with no ECU and no fuel flow?
I bought a 5Kw heater and when I tried it the pump ran for about 2 minutes then stopped and never worked again as I get the E4, pump failure come up, even with a new pump. I wondered if this is a control failure in the module as I can hear a click when I try various things but the pump doesn't come on. I tried the pump on another model I have and it works ok with that one, so, now I have a spare. Should I buy another module and see if that solves the problem?
Hi. I've got a Chinese snugger which only runs flat out even if the dial is turned back. Any ideas and can someone help with diagnosis?
Recently purchased the cheapest 5 kw heater I could find, $84USD. It came with the simple controller you note as decent. I like the simple knob controller, ordered one, tested it and got the 7 error code. I suspected the incompatibility issue so I ordered another motherboard and knob controller.
The new motherboard looks substantially different but has the same connections. I tried the original controller and only got 4 red LEDs dashes. Both new knob controllers show the 1 error code, low voltage with 12.6 volts on brand new battery I keep on battery tender.
The packaging indicates the replacement motherboard is usable with 12 or 24 volts, though I specifically ordered a 12 V unit. However, very clearly marked on the board where the big red wire is soldered, it says “+24V. (The original board that came with the heater has no marking at the same wire, though the cover is marked 12V.). I think I have a 24 V replacement board, thus low voltage error code. It is going back and I will try to order, yet again, a 12V mboard. Is it really this complicated? Am I on the right track or do I just start over with another complete unit that costs a little more. I am already collecting spare controllers.
Thank you, John. I have watched all your vids and find them extremely helpful. I am spreading your fame at our US Albin Owners Group.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the post.
When I made these videos, some years ago now, to try and help the DIY installer, the Chinese manufactures all followed the same protocol and it was so easy to mix an match controllers and motherboards, but lately some manufactures have been going proprietary and using their own protocol. This is making it difficult for the average heater owner to make changes.
I think you may be on the right path, but first check the voltage at the motherboard.
Are you bench testing, or installed testing. It is not uncommon for heater owners to have voltage issues after install, particularly if they do not connect heater direct to the battery, have a cheap fuse, and don't increase wire size.
If voltage issue is on a bench test I suggest you ask supplier for replacement controller and motherboard.
There is also another issue to consider. Most of the Chinese Copy heaters were exact copies (mechanical parts, not electronics) of the German Eberspacher D2 and D4 heaters. But now there are some Chinese heaters that are copies of the German Webasto heater. These two heaters are very different inside even though they may look similar to the untrained eye. Parts for Eberspacher copy are not compatible with Webasto copy.
Because of these issues, I now recommend the normal purchaser buy a heater that comes with the controller they want.
Please let me know how you go. JMcK
@@johnmck1147
One of the things that drew me to you besides the sheer volume of info you put out is that you respond to almost all inquiries! You do realize how unconventional you are?
And how grateful your public is!
I am bench testing since you strongly recommend it and I am glad I am I did. When you say check voltage at the motherboard are you suspecting voltage drop from too small wiring in the boat? (I am a licensed electrician...well I let it lapse a few years back since I retired...) One would need to check voltage drop while it is running which could be tricky without tapping the wires close to the unit. Certainly doable...
I did purchase the heater with the controller I thought would allow me to add the knob style. The controller is not the one that you got with the aluminum case heater. Funny thing, the manual that came with my heater has a section that covers the knob style controller.
I have sent back the controller that indicates +24V on the motherboard. I have ordered another controller that says 12V in all the advertising info. I have tried contacting these sellers to no avail. Wish me luck! I also have contacted the original supplier requesting whether or not they can provide another controller and motherboard or will allow me to return and upgrade to a more expensive unit. I am still within the 30 day return window. The unit works like a champ with its supplied controller and motherboard. There is no guarantee that a more expensive unit will be any different than the one I have since they all advertise and look identical except for color of plastic.
I have also considered what else could be happening here, many posters say simply swap a couple wires around and voila. These are really basic units: a controller with three wires, a pump with two wires, and a two wire power supply. Internally, there is the heat sensor and the two wire connector to the fan. Whether or not the motherboard is made of Swiss cheese or unobtainium, it still has the harness which contains the connectors to pump, batt, and controller and its internal connections to the fan and sensor. And the replacement motherboard should nest into unit without any mods. Now if each factory chooses to use interchangeable harnesses and non-interchangeable components we are all left blowing in the wind.
Curious stuff.
No need to respond, John. I will update if I have any success or gain any wisdom. The unit I have works fine as supplied. I was simply trying to have parts on hand for field repair, mainly to avoid burning up the motherboard by a hard shutdown. When this unit craps, maybe I'll be old enough to sell the boat.
Thank you, good sir!
(I neglected to mention the glow plug. Yes, I did connect it. Oops!)
After two new ECUs and two knob style controllers I could not achieve any interchangeability. I put it all back together using only the parts supplied originally. Works fine, but I have no backup plan short of simply installing another entire unit. If and when I do, I'll spend more than $84 and hope for the best. The second ECU was exactly the same as the first with +24V marked at the big red wire. The supplier assured me it would work on 12V.
Hello John, Thanks for the quick feedback. I have an EXTERNAL temperature device which has functioned on my Webasto heater. An internal switch , wakes up the heater at a set minimum temperature and cut it out at the desired temperature. Could I use this in conection with the simple controller with the rotating knob... ? Maybe am asking too much ? Thank you anyway for your first answer which helped me sorting out the problem.
The control unit needs a battery backup, like a PC...that way, it should remem ber the time and settings. 👍
By the way, your video was great!
I cannot find any instructions for using the silver faced LED controller with the blue buttons that came with my heater. You show it in this video but no information came with my heater and I have had no luck in reverse engineering this controller. Help!
Hi I'm having a problems with screen think it's been sent to me with wrong screen I think would be great to hear from you thanks
Thanks John. You provided the instructions that were needed to get a good install. I have mine installed in my RV but the display will not turn on. It is the one that has all the LEDs and draws the most current. I have search for a way to diagnose the problem be it the wiring or the display but I can't find this information no can I get the display to turn on. Have you heard of this? Could the controller be DOA?
Hi Charles,
First check your install and make sure your connection are tight and your battery voltage polarity is correct. If this is good and your heater is a new one ask for a replacement.
If the heater is not new, suggest you buy a new controller on eBay. Look for one with same plug as your current plug.
Occasionally you can get a dud controller, but double check your wiring first. Easy for me to diagnose, I have a number of spares and can just plug in a spare controller. JMcK
Thanks John. I have checked everything and it appears to be fine. I have ordered another controller. I don't hold out much hope on them honoring the 3 year warranty but if they do I will have a spare.
Charlie
👍
do they come with an extended cord? Also my remote stopped working, the light still shows on the remote when I push a button, it just wont sync. It used to work but just stopped.
Does the control unit need to be on the heater? Maybe it can be taken out and setup next to the controller far away from the heater to make it impossible to overheat it.
Hi Dan,
Possible but difficult. On the ECU is a fan rotation sensor, that would need to be removed from the circuit board and some sort of fine tolerance bracket made.
But why bother. With a good install an overheat is extremely remote. Also, in the unlikely event of an issue, an new ECB is only about $20.
Cheers. JMcK
Hi I have the last 5 button controller
The LEDs only come on when its running otherwise the screen is dark stopping me setting some functions like pairing
Can you help?
Wondering LCD controller has to be mounted inside the room being heated?
Planning on mounting to heater outside the room under a cover and just plumb the heating pipe inside. Trying to reduce noise plus carbon monoxide risk.
Should I wire the LCD controller into the room so the the thermister can control the heat inside the room? Thanks
emergency disconnect switch on the fuel pump would work great, could be on a thermostat as well.
👍. Correct. JMcK
Hi John i have the LCD full function controller. How do you turn on the start time function. I have input a time to start but don't see the Alarm clock display when i am done. The chinglish manual talks about 2 timer groups. this implies 2 start and stop times. I am not getting anywhere setting the time in the first time switch and set the stop time in the second setting.
Very helpful info. I am thinking of powering the heater from the 240v mains supply using an appropriate adapter. Power cuts in my area are quite common, though they last less than 10 seconds at a time in most cases. What should you do if the power is shut off unexpectedly?
I was thinking of using a 12v relay and a small motorcycle battery I have sitting around as a fail safe.
The idea being that when the mains is on, the adapter powers the relay sending power from the adapter to the heater. If the power is cut, then the relay will switch to the battery, giving me time to power it off properly. I would have to make sure to top up the battery every few weeks or after a power cut.
My question is will the heater notice the short 20ms interruption in power as the relay switches over? I would assume it would briefly flash up a low power warning as the power switches over and then continue running? Maybe it would simply shutoff and overheat? It must be able to deal with short power drops as battery voltage can sag as other high power devices turn on.
I would love to hear your thoughts and would like to say thank you for posting such helpful info on these heaters. I have been pouring though your videos and they have answered many questions.
Hi SF,
I do not like to give definite comment on something I have not personally tested, and I have not tested a 20 ms power cut. But I can give you an opinion.
If the ECU detects a voltage drop it will go into a shut down cycle to protect the heater, and I suspect it will do the same if it senses a power supply interruption. Whether it can sense a 20ms interruption I do not know, but you can bench test it yourself. Next time I am doing a bench test I will do this for my own knowledge.
However, as you are going to use a motorbike battery, have you considered using that to power the heater, and connect the battery to a small multistage smart charger, rather than use a mains power supply and a relay.
A 10 second power outage on a very hot heater will likely cause damage to the ECU
If you do bench test the relay, I would be most interested to hear the outcome. I am on my sail boat in Greece at the moment and can't do bench tests. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Thank you for the reply! I understand your position on the subject and will have to do some tests.
Do you know if the fan motor is a 12v DC motor? If so maybe I could wire the relay to the motor directly so if the power goes out the battery will kick in to keep the fan running. I hope its not some fancy AC 3 phase setup that I will have no hope in powering with ease.
I assume the only issue with a power cut is the ECU board getting too hot? Also maybe residual fuel in the chamber?
The only reason I came up with the relay and small battery idea was because I already have the items to hand. I normally keep the battery connected to a tiny solar panel that trickle charges it and thought it could easily keep the heater running for a few minutes if the power was interrupted. I don't think it has the grunt to run the heater for long periods.
I could maybe try and relocate the ECU board outside of the housing as a last ditch attempt at protecting the heater from unforeseen events.
Anyway I will keep you posted on the situation.
Enjoy your holiday! all the best.
From logic only, I do not think a 20 ms power cut would cause issues.
Worst case heater would go into shut down mode safely as power would be available after switch to run glow plug and fan. But this needs to be tested.
It is not practical to move ICU out of heater. Too many issues. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Just a little update. I spent a while tinkering and I got it to work. Though I did have to change my plan a little.
When powering the relay from the same 12 volt power supply that the heater is connected to I noticed that the power supply would take a short while to die when the power was removed. The heater would switch off just before the relay switched over to the battery. The relay didn't need much power to stay energized and would switch over to the battery just a little too late. This would cause the display to blink. (tested while the heater wasn't running)
I needed to find a way for the relay to switch earlier so I rummaged through my collection of old 12v wall warts and tested them to see which one would make the relay deactivate the quickest when power was removed. I found one that was instantaneous and used that to power the relay separately.
So now when power is removed the relay switches instantly before the heaters power supply has even started to die and the heater continues like nothing happened. When power is reinstated again, there is also no issue as the heater power supply thankfully comes on instantly.
I plucked up the courage to finally run the heater and test it. Sure enough it didn't flinch. The fact that the heaters power supply would take a second to die and finding a small power supply for the relay that dies instantly made the switch over to the battery happen so quickly that the heater didn't notice a thing.
So while my initial theory didn't quite work, I was able to find a simple solution using old junk I had floating about.
In conclusion you can make it work but I can't say there is a definitive circuit that will work in all situations. I was lucky that the heaters power supply would stay on for a brief period when the power was disconnected and that I found a power supply for the relay that would deactivate really quickly.
I'm pleased I didn't have to spend money on a leisure battery and smart charger to power the heater. My hoard of junk parts and a little experimentation saved a few notes. Hopefully now if we have a power cut the heater won't have a meltdown.
Hi SF, thanks for that info and feedback. I hope all goes well for you. JMcK
Hi John, great videos your our guru mate, have u any idea how to change the advance setting pin code on the controller please from the default 1688?
Kind regards Jay
Great videos well explained with good info
I have a heater with a simple rotary control .Ir works perfectly but I'd like to add a remote unit so I can turn on and off from my bed.🤣
Can I just buy a controller and remote from Ebay or do I also need a new ECU board?
Hi AM,
In the past this was really easy as all the Chinese Manufactures followed the same protocol, but now some manufactures are doing their own thing and it is not so easy to mix and match controllers. Suggest you try it, it will cost you less than $20. JMcK
You are a treasure good sir. Thank you for the master class on diesel heaters!!
Why not depin the connector on a lcd controller and repin to suit?
Hi good videos,
On this video you say that if you have a different connector on the control unit and you wish to change it for a red/blue controller etc, you need to swap the ECU to match them up . you can't as the round or triangular plug on the control unit connects to the wiring loom, not directly into the ECU. the wiring loom needs to be changed.
Hi John
Thank you for the Videos and the help you provide. Could I ask if you could do a follow up video on how to fit/replace existing controller . In particular the Forth one the full function one. Many thanks
Oh John,
I did these videos some 5 years ago now, and there are now lots of heater videos on RUclips on these matters. When I did these videos, the suppliers followed the same protocol and used the same plugs, so it was very easy to mix and match controllers and mother boards….They all talked to each other.
Now many suppliers have gone proprietary and this is not simple anymore.
If the plugs match, there is a good chance your new controller will work. You just have to try and see. JMcK
Thanks. Should you control panel fail and it keeps running, best fix is unplug the fuel pump which will stop fuel flow and heater will go out. After about 5 minutes it should be cool enough to pull the fuse.
Mr. John... could you tell me how many 90's you can have in the exjost pipe until it will not flow out properly. 3 or 4 bends ( 90's )????? Thank you !!!
You are the BEST!!! I new that I had seen it somewhere so I went back through your vids there it was on #8. Once again, you ARE the MAN. Thank you for being you...
Hi RanchDude, the short answer is three. It is recommended that the maximum combined bends in an exhaust must not exceed 270 deg. Suggest you look at video no 8.
Cheers . JMcK
Morning John, Have you found a more durable/ better alternative to the plastic vent that delivers the hot air into the room.
The hose clip holding the hose to the plastic vent loses tension during heating. (ie plastic softens due to heat) consequently the hose dislodged and melted the plastic vent. Thank you Dave
Hi Dave,
I have had no issues with mine, but I am aware of some, new to market, heater sellers providing garbage accessories with their heaters. Not just hose, but fuel line, hose clamps, and substandard electrical wire.
Some marine and hardware stores sell an insulated aluminum vent hose that may be suitable for you.
I am currently away sailing for 3 months, and your question has prompted me to do some research on this when I return home. JMcK
Hi John the video is very good well explain and I need help I got white smoke on started since new pump is 25 Degrees angle battery good condition once it fire up all good it's a 2 Kw heater hope you have any idea what cause this thanks Garry
Hi Garry, it is not uncommon to have smoke on first start up, usually caused by some residue fuel, or excessive prime. If the heater then burns clean after start don't worry about it.
Remember you only prime the heater once. That is after you installed it. JMcK
Hi John can i put a switch on the red power wire at the led controller like cut the power wire next to controller and fit a switch to it on my diesel heater, thanks mate you are doing a great job as well , o and can you change the display from herts to temp mate?? or you think it best just to use the herts display
Very good videos John, thank you very much for your effort. I would love to se a video regarding the advanced setting and tweaking the rpm/Hz for optimal performance.
Hi Dessmo,
Thanks for your comments and video request, unfortunately I will leave your particular topic request for others to do. My goal with these videos was to try and help the DIY person who would buy a cheap Chinese copy heater on line and install it themselves, without the help or input from a brand name supplier. In fact some brand name suppliers insist on a professional install.
I believe the Chinese have done a good job matching fan/rpm settings, and when amateurs start messing here with the password protected control settings they often mess things up.
This is an area I will leave for a tinkering enthusiast to play with, and publish a video, should they choose. Sorry. JMcK
Solution to the PCB melting might be to add a mount that insulates it better from the heat of the frame it is attached to.
While you are the de facto leader in describing these heaters, you cover more than anyone else and you correct what others have wrong, etc... you regularly mess up the values you express... as the length of time the more advanced controller 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, less than a minute later 2 to 3 weeks... you do that a lot in all your videos and why I bring it up.
Hi Mr D,
Thanks for the feedback. Can you give me more info re the time you talk about so I can go back and see what I said.
Generally if I talk about time, say the time you should give the heater a high speed run to clean out carbon, it is such a variable, and depends on your heater install, how you operate the heater, the quality of diesel you use etc. I just give rough guidelines. If you use the heater constantly on low power and you have a long bendy exhaust perhaps a high power run every couple of weeks is a good preventive maintenance issue. Every heater and install is different, so is the time for a hot carbon burn. On our boat in the Med, I just give it a high power run once a year (season), but the motorhome about once a month.
Re the circuit board, I think you would find effective isolation difficult in the space available. Better to use effort to prevent a sudden shutdown in the first place.
Cheers JMcK
My controller looks different to any you have discussed there. It's the black LCD type but has 6 buttons 3 either side of the screen. The extra one on the left is a fuel prime button. Your instructions for entering pairing mode don't work for me. 🙁
How would I interface a home made controller to the heaters? On the Espar, there's a yellow wire to turn on the heat by applying 12VDC to it. Is the wiring that simple, or is there a complex communication ie CANBUS, etc?
Anyone know if there's a controller that will actually turn the unit off once it's well above the set temp? Doesn't make sense to me that they never shut off
Us in the USA, mainly use gasoline. my self, i donot want to carry a 3rd fuel. i want to run the 2 or 5 heater on gasoline.
you have all the test equipment. please test one for us USA campers with gasoline,, for about an hour .. please reply.
will you run one for me with gasoline.. if it does any damage,, i will pay you or buy it from you.
will the pump work well? does it soot up less if it is hotter? will the computer control the heat? will it over heat? make another video for USA
Hamish
Great videos, good to see some with an Aussie accent. Sorry if this has been asked but reading all of the comments on my phone is a bit tedious.
Q: if the controller failed, how would the unit respond if the fuel supply was removed rather than the power, would the unit complete it's cool down procedure and shutdown gracefully or do those smarts live in the controller?
Nate3094
Hi Nate, yes you could cut off the fuel supply, a good option and one I would choose, and the heater should go into shut down mode. I say should, as it would be dependent on the actual controller fault. All professional marine installs I have seen have a fuel shut off tap in the system.
Cheers, JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Thanks, may install a switch in the pump wiring loom.
I have a black 5 button screen that goes into a standby with a pad lock on the screen runs perfect in p1 and p2 when I crank it up to p10 it runs for 30 mins and throws a e6 error it has a temp of the burner at 230degres then shuts down
Thank you! this topic is very frustrating to me, it seems like the simplest dial controller is the best because it can act as a basic thermostat with no hassle. I have the type with the LEDs and blue circle on the front and it's annoying and won't work as a thermostat for me. Plus I had to bash it open and solder the 7 segment displays to get it to work in the first place! I wish the dial type could read error codes to you...
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the feedback.
The simple dial controller DOES SHOW ERROR CODES. The little LED's that indicate the temp setting flash an error code. Eg, three lights flashing means error 03.
Cheers. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 wow thanks John, I'll have to pick one up. I appreciate this series very much, thank you for making it!
Great videos John, what size of solar panel would you suggest for a 5kw heater?
I have one of these heaters with the newer LCD control panel (all digits in blue - no red) but I can't find anything about them on RUclips. Could anyone point me in the right direction please?
I don't know if you are still out there. If you are,,,how do I safely open the second controller you showed.the one that also uses a remote. It seems I might need to resodder red blue or black wire connections inside
Hi John, great series of videos. I have just finished part 12 and was wondering if in the event of a controller failure, would removing the power from the pump and allowing the unit to run for a period of time, allow a more controlled shutdown?
Thanks Craig
Hi Craig,
Yes, if you unplugged the fuel pump or even turned off the fuel, the heater ECB would notice a fuel delivery issue and shut down safely. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Hi John, finally getting to install my heater. Just wondering which is the + / trigger terminal on the pump? Craig
@@craigallen5353
Hi Craig, the pump is activated by an electro magnet. The polarity does not matter. JMcK
Hey John,
I do like your videos. Thank you for sharing all of thin in such a details. Actually you have inspired me buying one of those heaters. I got one 5Kw and it works just fine. I've decided to buy one more controller to replace the grey one on you table. And here comes the issue. As soon as I press a button the controller is on is not reacting. I can start the heater and there is one icon flashing red X. As well doesn't show the voltage. Do you know what could be failure.
Than you in advance.
Best Regards
Asen N.
Hi Asen,
Is the fault with the new controller? Sadly, some heater manufacturers are not using standard wiring configuration and some controllers will now not work with some heaters.
If the fault is in your original controller it is likely showing an error code. E01 standard fault is low voltage. Suggest you check the battery voltage, the wire harness, and voltage at the controller itself for low voltage.
I can't be much more help without more knowledge. JMcK
@@johnmck1147 Hi John,
Thank you for the quick reply! The failure is on the new controller. With the old is working. I have connected the heater directly to the battery less then 2m and I have 12,0V. The connector between the controller and heater match the cables colour. When I go to settings I can see reading of 0.00 volt. Wondering if there is any settings I can try. Some people saying that E07 is miss connection on the blue wire. Wondering what's going to happen if I swoop those two wires blue and black....I guess in worst case I won't get power to the controller or?
Asen Naydenov
Hi Asen, your choice. It could be worth a try. In the past you could easily mix and match controllers, but as I stated previously some manufactures now use their own wiring system. Luckily you can buy replacement ECB quite cheaply now. JMcK
HI John,
So enjoying your videos, my background comes from Power Generation but still unclear how an Electro Magnet works on DC ?
Thinking some form of oscillator in the ECU
Looking fwd to your next subject.
Cheers
Hi Neville,
It is just simple power switching. DC power on the magnet coils energise, and piston flies up. Power off - no magnetic field and spring pushes piston back down.
I have made a lead with a simple micro switch which I turn on and off for when I want to send fuel down a long delivery line in initial start up. If I remember right you can see it in motorhome video. (Made Six years ago now). JMcK
With the 5 button full function controller, can you change from Celsius to Fahrenheit?
Hi mate how can we change the fuel pump pulse rate and slow it down and speed fan rpm up this heater keeps blowing flame out of muffler, air cleaner is free brand new unit
Hi John - Thanks for your quick response. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope one of your subscribers will come up with some answers. In the meantime I’ll try to locate a Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion table. Hope you’re enjoying the sail.
Hi Michael, 22°C to 25°C is a comfortable temperature. 30°C is warm.
I'm from Alaska, and I believe 17°c to 20°c is comfortable!
Hi All, a friend of mine is currently installing a diesel heater in a caravan. He has run into a problem with the controller. Its displaying an error unlike anything I have seen before. Its an E402 error. I have only ever seen two digit codes not three digit. Any ideas?? Thank You
How do I determine a 2.5-5 kw to a 5kw to an 8kw. I ordered a (what I thought) was a 5 kw and the unit has a 3" opening for heat supply. Can you explain what the difference is between units?
My heater has a single button controller, shaped like a circular, flat-topped, tapered, "dome". I wanted to upgrade it to the graphical version controller, but the controller wiring had a circular barrel connector, not the triangular one on the new controller. No problem, I thought, I'll just splice the circular connector off the old controller onto the new, Red to Red, Black to Black, and Blue to Blue. A bit of heat-shrink sleeving and we're good to go, or so I thought... Display didn't even light up, nothing. Any ideas why ?
Hi Dave,
In the past the Chinese producers of these heaters followed the same protocol and it was very easy to mix and match parts. The controllers had the same plug, and would talk to other makers ECU. Then some manufactures came out with different controller plugs, but you could do what you did and install your own plug. Then some changed the wire polarity. Then not happy with that, some changed the whole protocol, so another controller could not “talk” to their ECU.
Suggest you first check the wire polarity.
You could also try buying an ECU and controller from the same on line supplier, as I have found them to match in the past.
But now some manufactures now change the fan speed sensor, so that creates more issues.
Sadly, these days you need to live with your current controller, or I suggest you buy a new heater that has the controller you want. The Chinese heaters are very affordable.
As a side note, I personally prefer the simple rotary controller as it is easy for the grandkids, and I try to avoid buying a heater off a supplier that does not follow standard protocol. JMcK
Thank you for the Amazing series, all the ins and outs on these heaters.
Alas controller problems... I bought a 5kw all in one and it has a controller similar in looks to the last lcd type one, but the lettering is different with this one. The older has red lettering, the new one is blue lettering and also high altitude icon when holding the settings and ok button together. Simply pushing the settings button does nothing, only holding it will let me change between fan or temperature. I am trying to get into the advanced settings to play with the pulse rate, but for the life of me can't figure out how to. 🥴 Is it possible with these newer controllers to get into the advanced settings ? Thanks in advance.
Hi, had the same problem, I have noticed there is at least three different kinds of these controllers that look virtually identical but function very differently.
The one I have I enter advanced settings by compleatly cutting the power to the heater. Then holding the up and down button simultaneously when connecting the power again.
Good luck
@@robertnyren6153 Thanks for the suggestion, but alas, no joy.
Hi John just watched your controller episode you point out the problem of controller fail and not being able to safely shut down the heater with out frying the the ECU . Could I suggest putting an isolator switch to kill fuel supply let heater run on for say 15 minutes to cool down before switching power off completely while waiting for replacement controller just a thought regards David
Hi David, thanks for the feedback. Yes, turn off the fuel supply. However it takes some time to run out of diesel. Thankfully this is a very rare occurrence. JMcK
Hello, I do not see arrow symbols, only Fuel, a red flashing arrow is visible. Heating runs approx. 3 min. Then, Error-05 turns off.
Thank you for answer.
Mrky
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Does my heater have a master switch and if so where is it?
Prijesse 12V 5KW
If the ECU is prone to damage from heat due to an incorrect shutdown would it be an idea to relocate it outside of the chamber casing? Why are they mounted inside?
Excellent vids BTW.
Hi K, with a correct install it is very rare to have a sudden shutdown and ECU damage.
It would be difficult to remote mount the ECU on these already manufactured heaters as things like the fan speed sensor are part of the ECU circuit board. This could be changed by a redesign and different manufacturing, but would not be worth the effort. JMcK
Thanks for your reply. I had the issue of the broken wire in my controller that was soldered . I had the problem with it smoking I experimented with pulsating air pressure into the air intake which did get it ignited.
I suspect the broken wire sending sporadic current caused it to damage my ECU. I have a 2 kilowatt heater. it is a little bit smaller in physical size than the 5 to eight kw heater. Will it have different ecu. Just to note those two kilowatt heaters are now much more expensive than the five to eight kilowatt heaters. Probably about double the price. Thanks again for your previous reply.
Hi Lionel,
In the past, both the 2kw and 4 kw heatersChinese had the same ECU and controllers, but set at different parameters. Lately there are a number of new manufactures making these heaters and they do not follow the old (unofficial) protocol, so it is not so easy now to mix and match components with these heaters.
I was not aware the price of the 2 Kw heaters had gone up, (I must check) In the past they were the same price.
Cheers. JMcK
John I buy Heather with out the remote so I buy a spare part controller with remote on it... I can’t get it work. I notice all the icons are lit up... a little help here mate. Thanks ahead.
Hi Vinz,
In the past most Chinese heater manufacturers used same wiring, same plugs, same everything, so it was easy to mix and match products between heaters. But in the last year or so this is not the case with different plugs and sometimes same plugs but wires reversed.
First check if the three wires in the two remotes have the same plug and the colours on the same pins. There will be two power wires and a sense wire. If not you can sometimes get a new remote to work by butting the right wires on the same pins.
Next check it the new controller will work manually. If it works manually then it is possible you have not "pared" the remote to the controller. The controller should have instructions how to do this.
Also make sure there is a battery in the remote. Some come without batteries, and not all controllers have the same batteries.
Good luck. JMcK