Diesel cab heater

[Farside]

There used to be some catalyst pellets used so you can run a old leaded fuel engine on non leaded fuel . They work well as They align molecules in the fuel which results in a much cleaner burn .

I used tin inserts in my Volvo 240GLT,

That's the trouble with these kinds of things; there's never any hard and fast proof - everything is anecdotal.
If the mere presence of pellets of tin and/or lead in the petrol tank could solve the problems, grow your hair back and make you win the Lottery, don't you think the giant fuel companies and/or the motor car makers would be all over it?
Of course, Dr David Locke, Broquet and all the other proponents of this are lucky they haven't been "disappeared" by the giant petro-chemical companies to protect their profits.
I've found one fuel additive that actually works, but it's not for extra mileage, performance or anything like that, all it does is slowly clean the carbon off the backs of the valves and the piston crown / combustion chamber. It's made by Chevron and already in Texaco petrol. You can buy it in more concentrated form as Techron. There are others available too. Unlike the nebulous claims for other additives, Techron (or PEA) is actually provable.

The other great additive for fuel economy is a vacuum gauge.

 

[DAPPH]

No I don't think the fuel giants would want to hear of something that deprives them of income , same with governments . I suspect the big oil companies have indeed tested Broquet and found it did indeed work, but there is no way they can add it's advantages to their fuel .

I also looked at the actions of the actuaries , they calculate the odds of having to pay a claim . The fact that Mr Locke was able to get such a large amount of product cover means few or zero claims against him & his product .

Remember salt kills cut dandelions , but no one had coughed up the dosh for the tests to prove it as ther is no money in it for them .

Clean plugs & injectors as well as a really clean exhaust pipe is good enough evidence that it worked for me , so was the extra mpg in both our diesels & petrol engined cars .

Re the vacuum gauge ..
I used to have a big brass 15 inch or so dia vacuum gauge off a fire engine of some sorts . The graduations were almost 1/4 of an inch apart . So setting an engine at 17 to 21 inches mercury was very easy to get the optimum timing . Some git nicked it !

 

[Barking Mat]

I'm not going to start a new thread, at work we're trialing a version of the Webasto, Banggood, call it what you will, but the Russian version.

The Banggood heater is a copy of the Webasto, that I am certain of, the Russian one too, I've worked with Webastos for years. In short, they're great, until they don't work, then you strip them down, check the glow plug, flame detector, etc, etc. They can be rebuilt in an hour in the back of a van or side of the canal in an hour and back in service.

I mean they're identical, with the exception of the plastic box they come in.

I've not seen a Banggood one in the flesh, so I've a question for anyone with one, @owas , @doubleboost , and anyone else.

How is the plastic box it's in attached? Screws? This one, has poor quality plastic clips, two of four were broken upon unpacking, no visible damage to the box it came in. Here's some photos.

And how are you getting on with them ?

 

[Seadog]

The grille at the end is holding the two halves together. That needs to be prised off.

 

[fizzy]

Mine is like this - held by the round bit at the front. Not very secure tbh so I put some cable ties around mine.
Been running 50hrs a week for about 16 months now no trouble at all.
Using kero.
They are 4kw though not 8 as promised.

 

[Barking Mat]

The grille at the end is holding the two halves together. That needs to be prised off.

Yep, did a 4 hour video conference training course with the company last week.
I know how to dismantle and rebuild them, I'm asking about the quality of the exterior plastic box / cowling.

Well, I am asking about the quality of the build.

The catchs look inspired by Mickey Mouse.

 

[Barking Mat]

Mine is like this - held by the round bit at the front. Not very secure tbh so I put some cable ties around mine.
Been running 50hrs a week for about 16 months now no trouble at all.
Using kero.
They are 4kw though not 8 as promised.

Thanks @fizzy that's what I wanted to know. How it's held together.

 

[Barking Mat]

Anybody like to comment on the difference between Russian and Chinese quality? Serious question.

This looks very cheap. (Which it is). Probably more than Banggood, but half the price of a Webasto.

 

[Ashley Burton]

@barking mat Can I ask how you know it's from Russia?

 

[Barking Mat]

@barking mat Can I ask how you know it's from Russia?

The company is based in Russia, and it says made in Russia on all the labels.

I watched a 20 minute video of how they make them, it's definitely not Chinese. Those workers were russian, the chap doing the video conference was Serbian... Etc.

 

[garethp]

Is it branded Planar?

My Chinese one also has a broken clip and it works fine, however I might have tripped over something while installing it in the garage and dropped it...

 

[qwakers]

i assume by russian you mean the planair/autoterm ones?


they're a little better built than the chinese ones, and generally accepted to be the best quality heater that isn't Webasto and eberspacher.

having said that i have a webasto and 2 chinese heaters. one "8kw"(not really, they're all 5kw, whether they say they're 3,5 or 8) chinese all in one. it heats my garage and is 100% reliable over 2 winters now. fuel tank could be a bit bigger though. second is a 5kw in my lorry, does a good job, not had much use but seems to work well. i found it needs a non return valve near the tank to stop it draining back when not used for months, and the fuel tank cap seal swelled so the tank got vacuum locked. both easy fixes. the webasto is in dads horsebox, does the job, only issue was with the pump failing as it would mounted outside with no protection, and the doggy 24v supply that caused it to go into fault every time it tried to start. fixed with a decent fuse box not the low quality crappy one that was already there.

my point is, i don't have any issues with the chinese ones, in fact I've had more issues with the webasto, although to be fair, its older....

 

[Ashley Burton]

@barking mat I believe you

Webasto & Eberspacher have definitely lost a massive market share to the chinese. I nearly bought one the other day for £85 brand new

They're that cheap you can afford them to be disposable

 

[duncans]

my brother as got one in his conservatory with exhaust going outside he says its brilliant keeps it nice and warm in the winter months he says it costs him peanuts to keep it nice and warm

 

[Barking Mat]

i assume by russian you mean the planair/autoterm ones?


they're a little better built than the chinese ones, and generally accepted to be the best quality heater that isn't Webasto and eberspacher.

having said that i have a webasto and 2 chinese heaters. one "8kw"(not really, they're all 5kw, whether they say they're 3,5 or 8) chinese all in one. it heats my garage and is 100% reliable over 2 winters now. fuel tank could be a bit bigger though. second is a 5kw in my lorry, does a good job, not had much use but seems to work well. i found it needs a non return valve near the tank to stop it draining back when not used for months, and the fuel tank cap seal swelled so the tank got vacuum locked. both easy fixes. the webasto is in dads horsebox, does the job, only issue was with the pump failing as it would mounted outside with no protection, and the doggy 24v supply that caused it to go into fault every time it tried to start. fixed with a decent fuse box not the low quality crappy one that was already there.

my point is, i don't have any issues with the chinese ones, in fact I've had more issues with the webasto, although to be fair, its older....

Yep, that's the company, the name was escaping me, never heard of them before last week.

Interesting what you've written above, exactly what I wanted to know.

Companies idea, is for the price of one Webasto, you have two, should one fail, you've a spare to replace it, off the shelf.

Just my initial look at it was 'cheap', hence the post. Thanks @qwakers .

 

[Barking Mat]

Is it branded Planar?

My Chinese one also has a broken clip and it works fine, however I might have tripped over something while installing it in the garage and dropped it...

Yep certainly is.

 

[Barking Mat]

@barking mat I believe you

Webasto & Eberspacher have definitely lost a massive market share to the chinese. I nearly bought one the other day for £85 brand new

They're that cheap you can afford them to be disposable

£85 quid !!!!

Id like a link to that please.

That's unbelievably cheap. Second time I've typed that in two days.

 

[qwakers]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DieselHeaterSafety/?multi_permalinks=358315088764122
https://www.facebook.com/groups/265862240781579/?multi_permalinks=676042029763596
https://www.facebook.com/groups/146837062640024/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/358361758340771/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/388958075385659/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/283466485963713/

all these groups are your friends.

 

[qwakers]

£85 quid !!!!

Id like a link to that please.

That's unbelievably cheap. Second time I've typed that in two days.

i can do better than that...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-5KW-...740465?hash=item340fc30cf1:g:~UgAAOSw-DRdPb3v

 

[duncans]

think you have to buy a thingymibob so it runs off 12volt I think 15.00 off eBay only cheap