Planar Air Heater 4DM-12, diesel air heater made in Russia

[boogiethecat]

Has anyone used one of these Russian doodahs to heat your cabin?
Planar Air Heater 4DM-12
They look interesting- I'm thinking of trying one... they're in the $700 range new...

[Iceni John]

How do they work?   Are they like the Eberspacher heaters that burn diesel (or the old VW gasoline-fuelled supplementary heaters)?   Are they UL listed?   Could they introduce CO into the air?   They look interesting.   If they can heat a draughty old GAZ truck in a Siberian winter, they may be overkill for us here!

John

[Jeremy]

Ebay (UK at least, I haven't looked at US) is full of used Webasto Airtops, and in fact the Webasto website specifically offers the Air Top for passenger bus heating (see link below). I've been tempted by the idea of getting an Air Top a number of times as they are much cheaper and simpler to install than a hydronic system - but of course while they will warm the bus they lack the ability to provide hot water.

Whether a new Russian heater is a better buy than a used Webasto for similar (or less) money I couldn't say. I'd want to research the Russian unit to make sure it met the relevant standards, but I probably wouldn't be worried about it too much beyond that. My preconceptions say that the Ruskies probably know how to make effective and reliable heaters, but it might well be quite crudely put together.

Webasto Air Top:



Air Tops for buses:

http://www.webasto.co.uk/general/en/html/8348.html


Jeremy

PS - As it happens I bought a new Webasto Thermo 90 last week - anyone want the unused Webasto Top 'C' that I bought previously but decided probably wasn't powerful enough for the bus?

[Oonrahnjay]

(snip) Whether a new Russian heater is a better buy than a used Webasto for similar (or less) money I couldn't say. 

The Planar says that the unit is "manually operated" and there seems to be a remote operating panel for the Webasto.  Hard to say without more info, isn't is?

[johns4104]

Boogie,
Have you got it installed? How well does it work?
I am also looking at theses!

John

[HB of CJ]

Hello Boogie;  Good questions already given and thank you.  I would like the "manual" function.  Does it mean that there are NO electronics?  You if anyone should know.  Yep; give us lots of pics.  HB of CJ (old coot) (now Crown-less)

[eagle19952]

i HAVE OWNED A DOZEN AIRTOPS they are anything but quiet, great in a Tucker snow cat or a dozer or slope groomer,
but my coach....i don't think so....