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Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: somewhereinusa on January 23, 2012, 06:04:40 AM

Title: Electric defroster
Post by: somewhereinusa on January 23, 2012, 06:04:40 AM
While looking for an alternative to the hot water heat/defrost I came across this.

http://dcthermal.com/catalog/sd12-4000-volt-ducted-heater-copy (http://dcthermal.com/catalog/sd12-4000-volt-ducted-heater-copy)

Does anyone have any knowledge, or have one of these?
Any thoughts about them other than the need to run a really large cable from the batteries in the back to the front?
Other than the no water thing, another plus is it's really small.

Thanks,
Dick
Title: Re: Electric defroster
Post by: bevans6 on January 23, 2012, 06:17:45 AM
I wonder how they get 10K BTU's out of 600 watts when the maximum anyone else can get is 2047 BTU's from 600 watts.  That's the first question.  Then you do have the issue of wiring for 50 amps of supply.  If you have an inverter in your coach and really want to get rid of the drivers heat setup, I would put a 120 VAC 1500 watt heater up there and duct that to the windows.  It might work, I have no idea how to calculate the effective BTU's of the drivers heater core.

$29 for the heater, use the inverter you already have, use the dash ducting you already have, done!  You would have to make sure the inverter was set up to run off the bus alternator while driving, I designed my system for that from the get-go.

Brian
Title: Re: Electric defroster
Post by: buswarrior on January 23, 2012, 06:42:13 AM
I can't remember the BTU numbers for the driver's defroster... upwards from 20K?

But I can assure you, that weak electric unit will make you very sad after all the work is done.

To mimic it, a cheap $20 electric heater from the box store, set on half power, will make the same heat.

Running down the road with the air incursion will wipe out any and all effects unless you aim it closely at yourself.

Use the same labour to get the hot water working? I forgot your original problem too...

happy coaching!
buswarrior