[derek west]

got no garage so wondering whats the best way to stop my truckmount freezing in the winter months ahead,
was thinking of putting an oil filled rad in the back and plugging into the house. could do with a thermostat control of some sort so it only kicks in when neccessary.
any help and thoughts would be appreciated.
cheers
derek

[John Kelly]

Thats as good as anything Derek. Most of them have a stat on.

[Gerry Styles]

I use a small electric fan heater from B & Q , cost about £10.00

[kinder clean]

Does anyone use a device that runs off the cig lighter, or even powered by its own batts, as running a cable to the van is not an option for me.

Paul

[rob fryer]

Kinder clean you could use an espacher heater used on motor homes and trucks they run on diesel and heat water or a hot air blower very good but not cheap
Rob

[Roy Edwards]

kinder clean Eberspacher Hydronic Night Heater i s what there known as  plenty on ebay just looked.24v or 12v

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Had one of the cig lighter ones it fused my van electrics absolute nightmare trying to find which fuse had gone.

Shaun

[mark shannon]

Derek put some insulation behind the Ply and on the roof, helps keep frost out,cover tools with blankets and put pipe lagging on triggers ect

[ollie]

I had  a fantastic idea two winters ago, I put a little paraffin burner in the back but didnt think my plan through quite as well as I could have. After cleaning soot off things for the next couple of weeks, I can now see it wasnt as dastardly a plan as I had first imagined    

[derek west]

webasto it is me thinks
derek

[craigp]

eberspatcher is costly! now I use 2x 200watt frost protect heaters set to max, also insulated roof and pannels with rockwall underneath ply lining.

Craig

[derek west]

webasto around 600 quid, a drop in the ocean compared to replacing my trucky. plus if i'm working away then ive no worries. glyn and simon have convinced me, i'll check it all out first thing monday morning, cheers guys for your input.
derek

[murky]

I have  a TM and cant run cable to it, wrapped it last year in a camping 12v electric blanket but kept flattening the battery, cost me valves in the end.

Just been bidding on ebay for eberspachers but they are nearly all over £220/250 mark. Missed one last week on 215.

Rang around van dealers and van breakers to see if they broke BT vans as most of them have them in the back, couldn't find any but found a dealer in Essex who would take 1 out for me, wanted £300, tried £200 dealt at £235, including timer etc, but took me over an hour to get there, now have to find someone to fit it. He said most went to boat owners, if you think about it its a nice little earner for him in quiet times, hadnt sold a van all week he said, and had a yard full of them as well to prove it.

If you know someone with a BT van and a heater in the back, make them an offer for £100 quid or so, you never know they might not know the value of it.


Murky

[derek west]

cheers for that murky.
i'm an ebay lover and regularly buy from there, and i'm also up for a bargain and a barter, but when it comes to costly things, like truckmounts and now, ebaspacher, i buy new. there about £550 plus, but that includes fitting and a guarantee. some times the expensive stuff can work out dearer if you buy second hand and your unlucky,
derek

[kinder clean]

As stated I can't run a cable from my home to the van, just been looking on e-bay, do you think this wrapped around the porty, followed by an old quilt would protect the unit from frost? All wands etc will be taken indoors, just wanted to keep the big lump in the van if possible, to same my poor back!!

Item number: 380073098370 - heated 100% polyester fleece blanket, plugs into cig lighter.

Paul

[Bob Allen]

I some times wrap a thick togged quilt round my boxxer 421, never had any probs especially as i live down south
might also be worth taking 100ft of solution hose off reel every night and into house.....like others i cant run a lead to my van

[Mike Halliday]

50lt containers of hot water placed next the machine with a blanket over, like having a big hot water bottle

[murky]

Kinder,

Thats what I had, cost me £25.00 from camping a catalogue.Rats!!!!!!

I had mine over the TM but it flattened the battery as it wouldnt cut out.

To be honest I just wrapped my TM in a old duvet in the end, but I got away with it, just,.

Where I think I went wrong, I should have put the electric blanket under the duvet and therefore kept the heat in, I think letting the heat out all the time flattened the battery as it kept working.Derrrrrrr

I went out a couple of times to see how warm it was, I wasnt impressed actually.
But as a Buy it now price of £11.00 seems a good punt to me.

Someone on here  when talking about electric sprayers etc said its usually the cig lighter plug thats faulty, so get that checked out.

Murky

[Jim_77]

Cig lighter plug is designed for use in short bursts, run it constantly and it will go, it's not designed for it.

Switch to doing commercial jobs at night, no worries about freezing then, you can have the van parked up in the warm part of the day

[derek west]

webasto
£580 plus vat, fitted,
only trouble is they need the van for a whole day and there up in preston, no doubt my misses wil want to go to the shops all day while we wait. theres another £500 on the bill.
derek