Getting cold - need heat

[richard5933]

What are those options. I have had heat pumps, propane furnaces, electric heaters etc. but hands down Webasto is the most efficient, can heat the engine also, and over the last 13 years has been reliable.

Hard to beat so I am curious as to what you think might be a better choice.

The propane furnace in our current coach is one option, but I'd hesitate to call it a better choice. I'd exchange it for the Webasto in a heartbeat. Webasto used a fuel already on board, was more powerful, and it had the ability to preheat the bus engine and generator. With our current setup I've got to figure out how to plug in the engine block heater before taking off for the day. This means running the generator, but of course it will be just as cold and difficult to start as the bus engine. The Webasto was plumbed to both the bus engine and the generator, so if the inside of the coach was being heated by the Webasto a flip of a switch and the generator and bus engine could be warmed up. Nothing about the propane furnace even comes close to that.

As a side note, yesterday I did verify that the generator will start with an outside temp of just 25F. The glow plugs work, but it did take more than a couple of attempts to get the Perkins to fire up. Our old coach with the Webasto was much easier.

I stand by my suggestion to contact Lloyd De Gerald. Your unit appears to be mounted in a way that makes access very easy, so you should be able to break it open and do some simple troubleshooting with him on the phone.

[luvrbus]

I had the Primus (propane fired) system in a Eagle I liked it much better than the diesel fired  Webasto (Aqua/Hot) had all the functions like demand hot water and engine warming.Used less propane than the Aqua Hot used in diesel.The Primus was so quite,didn't smoke or stink either and very little maintenance in the 10 years I owned it.LOL Webasto's sound like helicopters at 3 am   

[sledhead]

Bruce my Webasto does it all ,pre heat engine and yes the heat from the engine will keep you warm when driving saving you 2 heat sources but when it's really cold out I have found that if you use both systems ( engine , Webasto )  there is lots of heat and as of yet no large repair bills
because I store the coach in the garage I have a magnetic cat electric heater to pre heat the engine when its cold rather then run the diesel boiler inside the garage

I had a pro heat diesel system on the M C I and it did the same thing

dave 

[sledhead]

I solved the stink problem and quieted some of the sound  by putting a stack on the exhaust . now the stink goes up above the roof but yes it makes noise out side when running but nice and warm inside

dave

[Geoff]

I installed A Webasto in my RTS .15 years ago.  Does it all like above.  I.got to quit trying to type, road is too bumpy.  No, I'm not driving.  Oh.mine is in an enclosed sound. Box

[windtrader]

Thanks for the tips. Lloyd has a webpage http://lloyddegerald.com/

NorCal wimp here - today 60 but too windy. Heading to the bus tomorrow and will give it a go. I think the posted diagrams are not accurate as built, so I'll validate them too.

If it acts odd or cranky, I'll give Lloyd a call on Monday to walk me through it.

Was not aware it is good to turn it on regularly to keep things working well.

Thanks
Don

[luvrbus]

 

Was not aware it is good to turn it on regularly to keep things working well.

Thanks
Don
[/quote]

That is what I like about my on demand hot water it fires every time you turn the hot water on,it was getting a little annoying though so I install a electric heater for storage where it doesn't come on if plugged in or I can make hot water from the engine will driving.Caution watch the exhaust it gets very hot like 500+ degrees
   
   

[eagle19952]

What are those options. I have had heat pumps, propane furnaces, electric heaters etc. but hands down Webasto is the most efficient, can heat the engine also, and over the last 13 years has been reliable.

Hard to beat so I am curious as to what you think might be a better choice.

it wouldn't matter what i thought.

[richard5933]

Was not aware it is good to turn it on regularly to keep things working well.

Thanks
Don

Actually, the Webasto not having been run in many years also took out our generator on that coach for a while. Happened when I pulled the Webasto to send it for repairs. There was a lot of bad/stale diesel in the lines to the Webasto. The generator apparently drank through the same straw as the Webasto, and removing the Webasto from the loop allowed the bad fuel to find its way to the generator. There was enough of it to clog up the generator's fuel filter and cause it to not run.

Lesson learned - don't let equipment sit idle without either periodically running it or properly preparing it for storage.

[Oonrahnjay]

Bruce my Webasto does it all ,pre heat engine and yes the heat from the engine will keep you warm when driving saving you 2 heat sources but when it's really cold out I have found that if you use both systems ( engine , Webasto )  there is lots of heat and as of yet no large repair bills because I store the coach in the garage I have a magnetic cat electric heater to pre heat the engine when its cold rather then run the diesel boiler inside the garage

I had a pro heat diesel system on the M C I and it did the same thing

dave 

      Thanks, Dave.  We used Webasto systems in super-cold spec Land Rovers from our Special Vehicles operations and also also military vehicles and found them reliable and useful.  I appreciate your info, it sounds like you've got a great system going for you.

[thomasinnv]

I too have a webasto for cabin heat and engine preheat. We also have heat pumps for electric, and propane brick  heaters. Since installing the webasto system I haven't even fired up the propane. Webasto is just so much nicer, and warms the floor too. I have a loop that runs the full length of the bus down the center. Takes the chill off the floor on those brisk mornings.

To the op, for the first time you fire it up, have someone stay next to the webasto to monitor it until it completes it's first cycle and shuts off. You are listening for signs that the coolant is beginning to boil. If you miss a valve somewhere or the stir pump isn't working it will start overheating. If you shut it down quickly enough you won't have to replace the overheat thermostat. (Newer ones are resettible, older ones not)

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[luvrbus]

Did your DL have the factory unit installed already back on drivers side rear corner, mine had 1 there that I removed lol I didn't need 2 of those sucking fuel.I think John and Steve rigged it up to boon dock in the Arctic I removed 6 heat ex-changers and still have 6 left in a 5 zone system plus the drivers heater is tied in to the system   

[bobofthenorth]

I would have to disagree. Like any other device a Webasto needs maintenance. From the experience of hundreds if not thousands of conversions with a Webasto or Espar or Hurricane system these diesel powered heat exchangers are reliable and fuel efficient. All of them however require exercising on a regular basis because the most likely trouble spot is the nozzle that gets plugged from the waxy substances in fuel if not used routinely.

There are other items that may occasionally need attention such as cleaning the electronic "eye" or making sure the points for the igniter are set correctly but generally speaking Webasto and other similar heaters are pretty reliable.

What Jon said.  FWIW my favourite truck shop told me he could fix Webastos in his sleep but, although he owned some, he didn't have any idea of how to work on my Proheat.  They're mechanical devices so they don't tolerate neglect.  I'll echo the advice to be aware of where your exhaust is pointed.  Mine would burn a 10 inch hole in the grass.  The Proheat was never quiet but once I got it sorted out it was dead reliable and its a pretty simple machine - change the filter once in a while and clean the combustion chamber was pretty well all it asked of me.  Anyone who says they are unreliable hasn't taken the time to understand them.

[thomasinnv]

Did your DL have the factory unit installed already back on drivers side rear corner, mine had 1 there that I removed lol I didn't need 2 of those sucking fuel.I think John and Steve rigged it up to boon dock in the Arctic I removed 6 heat ex-changers and still have 6 left in a 5 zone system plus the drivers heater is tied in to the system 

Mine has the factory 2020 in the engine compartment. I replumbed the system into heat and preheat zones so as not to dump heat outside when just warming the inside. I have 4 heat exchangers and the floor loop. You can make it as warm as you want inside.

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[windtrader]

Went to the coach today.

Opened the heater bay, made sure all the valves were open, then went inside, turned up all the thermostats, flipped the switch to burner, noticed the green light, then went back to the bay. Heard the pump going and in just a few more seconds, hear the woosh of the Webasto firing up and the exhaust belching out hot air.

After a minute, the supply side pipes were warming up nicely, went back in the coach and felt nice warm air coming out of all the registers. Wohoo!

After some time, the coach seemed nice and toasty and the burner turned off. Was not certain what triggered it to stop but assuming a thermostat was triggered. I did not check all the radiators in the bays so not sure what was going on there this time around. Two of the bay heaters are thin finned pipes running underneath the fresh water, gray and black tanks. Going to be hard to figure out how warm they are getting. The one in the open bay is easy to check.

Spent time following pipes around and updated the heater system schematic. None of the ones I had was accurate but one was close and with some updates it is really close. Did not look for the expansion tank mounted in the coach so could not verify the routing of the piping.

Also, did not chase the piping into the engine bay to confirm how that is working. The diagrams show a pump on that circuit but what I see seems really small for a pump but maybe it doesn't need much volume to the engine block.  Check out second link. The "pump" is the black vertical round barrel shaped thing in the upper left of the image.

All in all, a very happy busnut today. Seems to be working super.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k0yzg3lrvaz147t/Coach%20heating%20schematic%20as%20built.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q23ebqur3pk6mxe/Coach%20heating%20bay2.jpg?dl=0