Webasto Scholastic model

opus · October 15, 2010, 07:13:44 AM

Greetings all,

I have a Blue Bird All American. It has 5 Hurri-Hot heaters in it, which is perfect for this climate. My question is that if I wanted to park on the side of the road over night, without the big engine running, would I want to use the Webasto to keep the cabin heated?

Vague question I know. My goal is keeping the inside of the bus heated, should we park over night. I like the idea of the Webasto but I am not sure it is cut out to do what I want. I know it has brushed motors which are very expensive to replace, on and on.....

Looking for input at this time.

tomhamrick · October 15, 2010, 10:14:42 AM

I have the Webasto Scholastic as my primary heat source. I use it when in a campground and several times the temps have been in the teens. The main thing is the unit and the radiators will use a lot of battery power so you will need to run your generator when not on the grid to keep from draining your batteries.

opus · October 15, 2010, 10:19:29 AM

Exactly. How do you have your generator hooked up to the unit, etc? Or do you just have your generator charging your batteries the whole while? I know the fans on the heaters draw about 5A. Plus there is a circulator pump as well.

tomhamrick · October 15, 2010, 11:51:38 AM

My generator charges the batteries through the Heart invertor/ charger

white-eagle · October 15, 2010, 04:58:21 PM

Quote from: tomhamrick on October 15, 2010, 10:14:42 AM
I have the Webasto Scholastic as my primary heat source. I use it when in a campground and several times the temps have been in the teens. The main thing is the unit and the radiators will use a lot of battery power so you will need to run your generator when not on the grid to keep from draining your batteries.

how long do the batteries last? we don't have a webasto now, but we've been thinking about it. if i have to run the genset every couple hours, then i'm not that much better off.

opus · October 15, 2010, 05:07:23 PM

The only problem I have with using the Webasto is the fact that it is a brushed motor and its $600 to replace. Other parts are just as expensive.

Paso One · October 15, 2010, 05:11:51 PM

What I did was eliminate the webasto circulation pump and used a 12 volt circulation pump from an old fish bowl.

I wasn't going to pay that for that tiny little circ pump webasto uses.

Webasto tech support told me how to bypass the controller so it would fire etc.... ( which I forget )

desi arnaz · October 15, 2010, 06:56:05 PM

you can get the same motor from buhler motor for $64 or so..

opus · October 15, 2010, 07:35:30 PM

Quote from: desi arnaz on October 15, 2010, 06:56:05 PM
you can get the same motor from buhler motor for $64 or so..

You're kidding me....dont that take the cake. Thats good to know, thanks.

robertglines1 · October 15, 2010, 07:47:20 PM

Welcome to the board..I learn something new here every day..Bob

buswarrior · October 15, 2010, 08:31:27 PM

Easy enough to do a little math, total the electric load and see how much battery you need to have 50% left in 8 hours of sleeping at that load.

Then you can decide if that fits your design plans?

Hard to beat a Webasto for block heater use!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

luvrbus · October 15, 2010, 08:42:47 PM

I've had Webasto heat in a couple of buses they do have their drawbacks besides the outrageous parts prices they cost big bucks to run and never mount one where you sleep been there done that with the generator run time to charge the batteries they will use 5 to 7 gals of fuel a day on a cold day and at 3 bucks a gal it gets`pretty expensive over a months time.
If you need to verify the numbers check the Aqua/Hot site 5 gals a day on average without generator time not my choice for heating but YMMD

good luck

belfert · October 16, 2010, 05:19:26 AM

Clifford, what is a better way to heat than a Webasto, Proheat, or Aquahot if you're so down on them? A propane furnace isn't exactly light on propane use and is quite heavy on battery usage.

A BTU is a BTU. The only heat that is 100% efficient is electric heat. All other heating methods that burn fuel let some (or a lot!) of heat out the exhaust.

I have a Mr Heater that is I think 18,000 BTU on the highest setting, It will suck dry a 20 lb propane cylinder in around 18 hours. Now, it has to be fairly cold to need to use the high setting for hours on end.

JD33 · October 16, 2010, 09:50:40 AM

I have Primus hydronic heat in my WL and am looking to change it out to a Webasto 2010 (scholastic?) has anyone done this? (Primus parts are getting hard to come by and the Primus is hard on propane. This can be an issue when you carry 45 gal LPG and 200 gal diesel.)

luvrbus · October 16, 2010, 11:32:15 AM

Jim, if your Primus is using a lot of propane something is wrong.
I had the double boiler for years they don't use that much fuel mine used 1.5 gal tops every 24 hrs in 20 degree weather.
If you need parts I know of 4 places that sell the parts.
Mine had the electric on it also if plugged in to a current tree in a park it used no propane fwiw I never liked the way BB installed the units those are good units if you do change I'll buy it for the right price

good luck