I actually never reprogrammed mine and use it most weekend at that altitude range.
be careful it will start building up carbon running too rich 
Ok, I’ll have to take a look at the manual and see. Sunday I ran it at 3.2 while we were cooking breakfast and the ski slopes.
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I love the sounds of your setup. Would you mind sharing some pics?
No luck with the larger gauge wire. I think the 10 amp limit on the Anker just isn’t going to cut it.
Any DIY power source options? A dedicated battery box for running the heater that can easily be recharged?
Thought: Dakota Lithium battery in a box with a noco battery tender attached that I could plug into the Tacoma bed outlet to recharge while driving? And positive and negative leads to a 2 pin quick connect to attach to the heater? Am I oversimplifying things? Suggestions or safety precautions?
Link to an earlier post I made with pictures. I’ve got a platform in the bed now that makes it kinda hard to get to for new pictures, but when it stops raining I can try to get some more.
Initially my plan was pretty much what you describe. I had a deep cycle RV battery in battery box and was going to run a battery tender from the Tacoma bed outlet. I ended up taking the plunge with a 100ah LifePo and a DC to DC charger so now I have a house battery with lots of juice for my needs.
I don’t see why the battery tender option won’t work though.
That sucks… I actually have a 85ah agm battery behind the back seat that runs all of my electronics. 8bgauge wire from there to the back cubbies to provide all of my power in the bed. A cheap mppt to charge when parked and a solenoid charging setup for charging when driving (people now run DC to DC chargers and they are better).
A 18ah agm would give you about 4 hours of runtime at a 8amp draw… in reality that would last you a night.
You could also go full redneck and just put the agm online with your current system and it would handle any excess load being drawn on startup, you just wouldn’t want to leave it connected to the power pack if no draw was being placed on it…
I am planning on ordering the following for my heater setup:
Dakota Lithium 12v 23Ah Battery
NOCO GEN5X1 Battery Charger
This will be a dedicated heater battery, but I think it gives me a little room to grow if I want to add on another small draw load or use the battery for something else during the warmer weather months.
I will have a 5 foot run of 12AWG wire from the battery to the heater. There is already a fuse on the positive wire connected to the heater’s wire harness. Are there any foreseeable problems I will have with this setup?
Since it’s for a heater, does the BMS or charger have cold temp protection? There are even self-heating batteries for cold conditions.
Yes, the Dakota Lithium has a BMS built in for overcharge protection, overcurrent protection, regulating operating, and charging temperatures.
The NOCO charger also says that it has thermal compensation for not overcharging in hot temps or undercharging in cold temps.
I like the idea of having a smaller dedicated battery for a portable heater.
The BMS only mentions high temps which I don’t think are usually a problem with lithium, it has to be pretty damn warm.
The charger does mention something about cold temps but it’s kind of vague, I checked the manual but it doesn’t go into specifics. The “undercharging in cold temps” is kind of strange, you don’t want to charge at all below freezing.
Right, looking again here is what Dakota Lithium says about their batteries:
“Ideal for rugged & harsh environments. Much better than SLA or other lithium’s. -20°F min, +120°F max optimal operating temps (battery performs well down to -20°F). Avoid charging below 32°F.”
My plan is to have the battery in the bed of the truck and the diesel heater sitting outside with a dryer vent going into the tent. I’ll have to be strategic about when and where I am charging the battery.
Where did you end up mounting your heater fuel tank?
I haven’t received the Dakota Lithium battery yet, but I was able to test the system using an old AGM car battery. Diesel heater is running great! I was able to melt the snow off of my snowblower auger and my snowmachine undercarriage before putting them into the garage. After a few 3 to 4 hour sessions I think all the bad smells have burned off!
@the_philxx - I was asking you so this is perfect. Thanks for the details. I was wondering if you had come up with a clever external fuel tank mount. I really like the 2kw tucking all the way in the cubby, that is clean.
Can you smell the diesel at all with the Rotopax tank? The tank in my all-in-one heater seems pretty cheap and you can definitely pick up some diesel scent.
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Very nice!
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Your entire heater setup looks crazy cool! Looking forward to the full write up. I imagine there will be more than a few ideas I can steal. I appreciate you making the effort to always share your knowledge and ideas.
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Damn dude. That is some beautiful work. Props!
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