Chinese diesel heater

Road diesel in the UK after some date in September is treated with an anti waxing agent that should keep the fuel fluid to -12*c. For conventional injection(not common rail) one could add up to 30% petrol to prevent waxing. Routing a COPPER fuel line into the warm(note warm) air flow before going into the filter or pump will help prevent waxing. Old 1905 peugeot/citroen diesels had an electric fuel heater, or a simple heat exchanger in the base of the filter housing. Noel.

My father used the gallon of petrol then fill up with diesel winter dodge otherwise it was a fan heater pointed at the filter for half an hour.

Does anyone else remember the line of lorries with fires under the tanks on the A1? I'm sure it aired on the news one winter.

’63? Or later than that?

I have noticed the recent rash of trashy videos re installing/running these chinese diesel air heaters.  Many contain lies, myths and sometimes dangerous suggestions.  Beware of what you see on youtube!

Edited By not done it yet on 29/12/2022 14:27:49

Hi PatJ. Thanks for that. Yes we often go out Skipton & Hawes way. We always check the weather. If its going to be fine we head over to the east coast (Yorkshire). Need to get the major service done now, but very expensive so saving the Pennies up.

CR 500 mental machine. Very powerful. My mate had the CR 250 & that was quick.

Regards.

Steve.

Dave

I remember the lines of lorries on the A1 with fires under their fuel tanks during the heavy snow and freeze of must have been the winter of 83. I had to drive up the A1 from Newark to Alnwick in Northumberland, the road was only cleared of snow for one carriageway width in each direction because of the heavy snow, going was treacherous. I was in the Air Force and had to travel to RAF Boulmer to carry out a ten minute inspection on a Sea King Chopper, stayed overnight sleeping in a wooden hut with outside temperature as low as minus 18 degrees. It was bitter cold and we had a Sherpa van for the journey which wasn’t the best performer when driving on snow but we made it without crashing into anything. Dave W

Edited By Frances IoM on 29/12/2022 18:13:00

Ive had a Chinese diesel heater in my workshop for 3 years, excellent it is too. One with the burner and tank in one unit . What can go wrong with them are the fuel atomiser thimbles now and again, cheap off ebay. Be careful when the heater plug has to be removed, they are ceramic and are easily broken. (dont ask how I know). Diesel in cold weather , 2 main phases , cloud point and filter clogging point.

Used to work on Finnish Valmet timber forwarders and they all had a male and female connector near the radiators for pumping hot anti freeze round the engine in extreme cold !.

I went to Trago Mills, a shop in Falmouth, to buy some model makers filler. I also bought a new cutting mat, LED worklight, and 4 fibre optic lamps for a project I am working on. A nice trip out, and 15% off the price because it was sale time. Nice To get in the fresh air.

I must be tired or something. My last post about buying stuff at Trago Mills should have gone in the What have you been up to today, or some such name. Time for bed before I mess up even more.

Haha. I did wonder that exact point . But then i remembered i had answered a comment by PatJ & thought it might have been a off topic skit.

Steve.

Hello again guys & gals. May I say a Happy new year to you all. I have posted a finalish video on the heater with some results of my air recirculation system. Have a look. It is definitely cheaper than electricity or gas to run. I would not have bothered posting this video on the forum but NDIY asked me to so he & others could add comments about my video's on youtube. I hope some of you enjoy them & subscribe to help my little channel grow. .NDIY. I promise i will build an engine soon for you to belittle or be amazed at.

Regards all 

Steve.

Edited By Steviegtr on 02/01/2023 04:45:14

stevie, if you want to keep on mentioning me in your posts, lets get things straight. You said :

NDIY asked me to

Not at all true - of course - as usual. Try reading (and actually understanding) my earlier post? I would certainly not be asking you to do anything. I am as careful as I can reasonably be when adding comments

Earlier on in the thread, you wrote:

It seems they are around 5kw flat out down to around 1kw on 1hz pump cycle.

A few rudimentary checks would have easily debunked both those claims. Is your example really ‘flat out”.at 2Hz? So obviously misleading, wrong and rubbish. You ‘seem’ to be far too trusting, of what you see and read on the internet.

The last paragraph of that post similarly relies on everyone guessing/assuming that you are actually talking about the cost of the heater, not the 12V DC source?🙂 A reasonable float battery charger is cheap enough, but a good one might be around seventy quid. The battery cost might depend on type, size and quality.

Have fun with your heater and please desist from mentioning me in your posts.

Steviegtr, That is an absolutly awful installation. In a wooden cupboard containing paint and goodness knows what else. Unisulated exhaust going through the wall and what looks like laminated MDF lining. Then there is the plastic fuel tank and line and the unenclosed mains power supply with no apparent fusing etc.

The installation of oil fired heaters is subject to the Building Regulations, specifically J1/4/5

Practical guidance is available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1108428/ADJ_2022.pdf

As a minimum, assuming a approved outdoor fuel tank, you require:
A steel tray underneath the heater
Metallic fuel pipe with automatic fire shut-off
Fireproof lining where exhaust passes through structure
A fireproof shield or enclosure

I'm not entirely clear, and don't want to spend time checking but there are indications that installation must be perfomed by an OFTEC approved person.

Have you told your insurance company of the installation?

Robert G8RPI.

It appears the marine industry is concerned about these too

https://www.iims.org.uk/surveyors-beware-some-diesel-heater-installations/

Robert.

Robert

I don’t have one of these and don’t plan to get one, but when you say they are subject to building regulations, does this still apply to a free standing structure (ie detached garage in your garden)?

Stuart

Good question and I'm not sure where the line is. There are conditions for "habitable spaces" but these are not clearly defined. If you are heating a space because you are in it I would say that is by default a habitable space. There are also limits on how close to a boundary or other structure you can be.

Good practide would be to comply with the regulations in anycase. Or ask your insurance comany

Robert.

Stuart,

As this is the internet, take my comments with a pinch of salt.

Some years since I last looked into the subject, but a free standing( > 1 metre distant) single story garage , mainly constructed of non flammable material, of less than 30 m sq is not subject to building warrant, though planning consent may be required. , Local rules may differ. Good sense would be to enquire of your insurer if this protects your home policy. Penny wise pound foolish may otherwise be the consequence.

I would be interested if any contributors could share the results of such an enquiry.

Paul

Steviegtr

Haha. Thanks for that.

Steve.