[V_Purcell]

What heaters do you guys use in your vans. Any link to them would be appreciated.

[SB Cleaning]

Im sure Daz will be along to tell you soon

[P @ F]

^^^The Grim Reaper cometh 

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Springs to mind

[P @ F]

That was no LPG heater though , that was just a gas bottle that leaked if i remember the story , i guess the bloke returned to van and pressed the central locking and boom .
It must be very rare for a bottle to fail , i use one but must admit that it does get disconected every time the van moves and when in use the back and sides are open , plus it comes out and goes in the back yard at night , but it happens so be as carefull as you can 

[dazmond]

ive used an L5 and an L10 before now.i preferred the L10 TBH but after my little "accident" i took mine out and threw it on the tip.took gas bottle back to the shop and to this day ive never looked back.

loads of window cleaners have had gas leaks with these heaters.their not safe to have in your van.ask any gas safe engineer and they ll tell you to take it out immediately.insurance is a grey area.if your van goes up in flames you probably WONT BE INSURED.

its up to you whether you want to take the risk or not.

[Spruce]

That was no LPG heater though , that was just a gas bottle that leaked if i remember the story , i guess the bloke returned to van and pressed the central locking and boom .
It must be very rare for a bottle to fail , i use one but must admit that it does get disconected every time the van moves and when in use the back and sides are open , plus it comes out and goes in the back yard at night , but it happens so be as carefull as you can

With a fellow windie it was the gas regulator inside that started leaking - the bottle was fine. He got back to his van to pack away, opened the rear doors and found the van full of gas. Thankfully that day he didn't have his dog with him.

[M & C Window Cleaning]

That was no LPG heater though , that was just a gas bottle that leaked if i remember the story , i guess the bloke returned to van and pressed the central locking and boom .
It must be very rare for a bottle to fail , i use one but must admit that it does get disconected every time the van moves and when in use the back and sides are open , plus it comes out and goes in the back yard at night , but it happens so be as carefull as you can

I believe it was a gas bbq and gas bottle that was involved.  But it was gas related. I didn’t post it to say don’t do it. Just to say be careful!

I use an L5 to heat my water as I transfer my barrels before I set out in the morning. I have had one leak incident. But fortunately it’s all set up in a cabin that’s open to the atmosphere in my garden and I could smell it.

[V_Purcell]

It will be fitted by a professional. All the hoses will be swaged I am not going to use Jubilee clips.

[P @ F]

ive used an L5 and an L10 before now.i preferred the L10 TBH but after my little "accident" i took mine out and threw it on the tip.took gas bottle back to the shop and to this day ive never looked back.

loads of window cleaners have had gas leaks with these heaters.their not safe to have in your van.ask any gas safe engineer and they ll tell you to take it out immediately.insurance is a grey area.if your van goes up in flames you probably WONT BE INSURED.

its up to you whether you want to take the risk or not.

What exactly did happen to yours Daz , I never did find out ?

[dazmond]

ive used an L5 and an L10 before now.i preferred the L10 TBH but after my little "accident" i took mine out and threw it on the tip.took gas bottle back to the shop and to this day ive never looked back.

loads of window cleaners have had gas leaks with these heaters.their not safe to have in your van.ask any gas safe engineer and they ll tell you to take it out immediately.insurance is a grey area.if your van goes up in flames you probably WONT BE INSURED.

its up to you whether you want to take the risk or not.

What exactly did happen to yours Daz , I never did find out ?

i was on my last job of the day in my brand new van(only had it A FEW DAYS),turned the heater on and there was a massive bang(like a banger going off right next to you)and a flash of fire.it really shook me up!i took it out after that.

[mufcglen]

It will be fitted by a professional. All the hoses will be swaged I am not going to use Jubilee clips.

if its one of the stainless or white portable lpg heaters your looking at pal, its not the plumbing thats the worry really if you connect the hose up properly and plumb the bottle in, its the fact theyre just really crap'ly made when you strip them down they look like theyre made of mechano lol, ive got one and to be fair this will be my 4th year with and never had any probs but i do worry sometimes but its bloody handy to have to heat the water.

[Plankton]

If possible get a hot water tap fitted out side your house, £50 and saves a fire risk.

[V_Purcell]

If possible get a hot water tap fitted out side your house, £50 and saves a fire risk.

My van is worth less

[alanwilson]

We have immersion heaters in our vans, it's cheaper than gas to install and run for us (night rate meter). Tanks are insulated and water stays hot all day.

We don't heat the water every day, just when the guys want hot for the next day (they usually don't bother)

[zesty]

Diesel heaters might be the way to go for safety...

[NWH]

I have just replaced everything in my diesel heater fuel pump heat exchanger main computer the lot you can get them in kits,forget paying nearly 4 grand these days I paid around 1200 for the lot and swapped it all out myself. So for 1200 quid I now have a brand new heater well worth the expense average DIY skills you can do it yourself. When you look at it these days they are charging 2500 for the cabinet lol 😂

[davids3511]

I have just replaced everything in my diesel heater fuel pump heat exchanger main computer the lot you can get them in kits,forget paying nearly 4 grand these days I paid around 1200 for the lot and swapped it all out myself. So for 1200 quid I now have a brand new heater well worth the expense average DIY skills you can do it yourself. When you look at it these days they are charging 2500 for the cabinet lol 😂

What make and model did you go? Was having a nightmare with my webasto but it seems to have settled down now.

[LBWCS]

I have just replaced everything in my diesel heater fuel pump heat exchanger main computer the lot you can get them in kits,forget paying nearly 4 grand these days I paid around 1200 for the lot and swapped it all out myself. So for 1200 quid I now have a brand new heater well worth the expense average DIY skills you can do it yourself. When you look at it these days they are charging 2500 for the cabinet lol 😂

Would be interested to see some pics of this

[NWH]

It was turning itself off not heating up requiring to much battery to stay on,I researched it and I have stripped it all out and replaced it with the computer and burner that operate at a much lower voltage. The other one you’ll get as standard will turn everything off at around the 11-5v mark when you get a big drain at power down power up mode,this new one will run at around 10ish volts I don’t mains charge hardly at all and it doesn’t turn off now.
To be fair it’ll run hotter if I’ve done a few miles between jobs but if I run the water through very slowly at about 10 on the controller it’ll heat the water back to full temp between jobs. I think ionic do this with a return to tank setup from the heater automatically now.

[NWH]

They are a lot lot easier to maintain yourself when you’ve taken bits in and out and seen what’s going on in there,I wouldn’t waste any money having a service if the burner is coked it’s cheaper to just take it out and replace it yourself. They are like all Waterfed pole setups they are self serviceable tbh I was quoted 1200 quid for a computer plug in to tell me what was wrong and new ECU lol

[davids3511]

They are a lot lot easier to maintain yourself when you’ve taken bits in and out and seen what’s going on in there,I wouldn’t waste any money having a service if the burner is coked it’s cheaper to just take it out and replace it yourself. They are like all Waterfed pole setups they are self serviceable tbh I was quoted 1200 quid for a computer plug in to tell me what was wrong and new ECU lol

Thats the thing with these heaters though, anything you need to replace is hundreds of pounds. What model is yours?

[NWH]

Thermo top C

[Spruce]

Thermo top C

Here's a servicing guide I copied a number of years ago off the internet.

[NWH]

Thanks I don’t need it now I stripped everything down and took pics as I went.

[NWH]

The most awkward thing to change is the burner on them everything else isa lot more straight forward.

[davids3511]

Thermo top C

Did you have to do any programming on it to set it up?

[NWH]

There’s 4 male pins which the leads plug into from the power lead that go into the controller or flow controller you just take pictures and make sure you plug them back in the same places,there’s 1 which has a lead that is attached to the new burner so there’s 3 and 1 from that. It’s easy enough to do the hardest part is getting out the old burner.

[NWH]

I just swapped them over and turned it on and away it went I think you can change the wiring so it will be permanently in winter-summer mode but I just plugged all back in as it was before,I made sure I got the low voltage setup though this time but it is still a 300 series as is the normal thermo top C but the other one puts far more drain through the battery’s.

[NWH]

I changed the whole thing by that I mean the unit which houses the ECU etc the main gubbins that control it,I looked at it inside and that wasn’t as coked as I thought it would be but it was still slightly black and tarred,anyone servicing it will say you just need to change the burner but mine was 10 years old and just black not blocked or coked up. The part the burner heats is under the control unit that’s what gets blocked up with rubbish,when you’ve done a job if you have no return valve to tank re circulate water into your tank on 10 on the flow controller it keeps the temp a lot higher before you plug back into your pole to start work,it’ll be at 60-70 degrees and climb down to 45-50 by then most houses are cleaned and then do the same again this keeps water in the heater hotter than it would do if it powered down again.

[p1w1]

how are these fitted to the van..did you do it yourself or bought from a wfp company ? And what do you need to consider, like  where to run exhaust fitting it to the vans fuel line etc?

[NWH]

If you fit it without a cabinet you need two 1”1/2 holes through the floor for the exhaust take you about 10 minutes to do,I’m talking about upgrading from existing cabinet which houses the header tank with water and plate exchanger,it’s easier for me as I’ve already got the cabinet I just swapped everything for new.

[NWH]

If you are good at DIY you could buy the whole kit for around 1200 if you look at what company’s are charging the cabinet comes in at around 2500 lol p take.

[p1w1]

Yeah ive just been looking at them  I'm pretty good at diy but not 100% confident of fitting one of these.