Here is a decent review I watched that is comprehensive enough to draw your own conclusions on this thing
Has anyone put a marine deck plate access on their side panel? Was thinking thatād be an easy way to get the heater hose into the truck bed.
Iāve been brainstorming something similar with @Buhlockaye that would be a hose connect that either snaps on or slide on and then you run a splitter or hose internally so youāre not trying to cut a hole large enough to pass a hose through and then dealing with that.
My Diesel heater experience. Made a last-minute decision join the family elk hunt in AZ where it was cold. I know cold is relative, but being from San Diego 15F is very cold for me. I had been considering a heater for a while, looked at the Propex and considered building my own diesel heater in a box. Took a quick look on Amazon and found the āHCALORY 12V Portable Diesel Air Heater, 5KW All-in-One Diesel Parking Heater, Parking Bunk Heater with Bluetooth APP Control and LCD Monitorā for $200 (now $170), way cheaper than any other options I had looked at or could build myself, and I was leaving in 4 days.
Received it and there was some assembly required, instructions were basically useless but a fellow on YouTube saved the day. Put it together and tested ran it for 1+ hrs., ran good and puts out plenty of heat.
I wanted to run it outside so needed to order an extension for the power and also ordered 3" ducting. Had it shipped to AZ for pickup there as there was no time for delivery. Arrived in AZ day before scouting starts so had 1 the night to get everything set. Extended the power cord, no problem, added the vent hose (16ā) and turned it on, ran for 3 minutes and shuts down with E-9 Error. Do some research and learn that is overheat error. Let it cool down, set it back to stock and it runs OK, reinstall the vent hose and quickly back to alarm mode. My assumption is the vent hose is restricting air flow causing the overheating and I need to cut it down. Now itās 11pm and CAF outside so I pack everything up and go for my last night of indoor sleeping.
Next day stop at Home Depot and buy materials to build the mounting shelf, arrive at location and slap together the shelf.
Mount the heater and cut down the vent hose, turn on the heater and still the alarm, cut hose down a couple more times and finally get it to stay running. Note the vent hose I was using when compressed it folded to the inside so restricting the flow. I ended up with about 5-6ā of hose and that seemed to work. Thankfully I bought the Bluetooth version so I was able to connect it to my phone.
I did not run it all night, only used when preparing for bed and then waking up.
Waking up at 4am there was condensation on the roof and tent walls, turning on the heater dried this out pretty well.
Only used it 5 days, worked great, the phone app was great because I did not find the special battery for the remote.
Absolutely worth the money and effort spent.
For traveling I bought a large plastic bin that the assembled unit will drop into as I was concerned about fuel leaked and smell. Drove several days off road, had a slight dampness outside the fill cap (due to vent) and no smell inside the bin or camper.
And for those wondering, we filled 2 of 3 tags.
Yup, works great!
What kind of LiFeP04 battery are you running? And the AH? Iāve got a Planar too and was trying to figure out how much AH Iāll need to run the heater a few nights in a row without charging the battery - Iām thinking 200AH is overkill but Iād rather have too much than not enough.
Tested my new heater last weekend, holy cow what have i been waiting on?! Donāt want to sound cliche but damn its a game changer. Im now installing a second cubby in my bed on the driver side in order to mount a blast gate in, then piping my heat from outside into the campers lower floor this way. Y splitter to get hot air to the upper floor.
I love this idea.
What kind of battery are you running there in the back?
This set up is awesome I would probably redirect the exhaust though on the muffler so itās not heading into your tent. Otherwise I love this.
Is this the SS2? Iām looking to do the same. By the time you add up all the parts for a homemade one this one is still less. And assuming ready to go?
I can send some better pictures in two weeks; out of town right now and just took some screenshots from a video I had of it. Basic concept is that I have two hose sections that clip together. Unscrew the access port, slide one hose section (the narrower one) down and clip it to the other hose section (slightly wider one) that comes off the heater. The narrower section has a vent attached to the end of it which is larger than the hole so it prevents it from falling through. Setup is fast and Iāve had no leak issues into the bed. Itās been a game changer with the heat coming from down below instead of direct into the tent, temperature is way more equalized and comfortable.
My bed doesnāt have any cubbies but I appreciate the insight. Iām sitting my heater on a small table next to the truck. The plan is to run the hose through a deck plate in the driver side panel into the truck bed. Iāve already fitted a directional vent end to an abs plate for the inside of the gfc panel. Was just curious if anyone had cut a 4-14ā hole in a panel before to mount one.
Yea mine doesnāt have cubbies either, I cut a hole into the sidewall behind the wheel well. Then held the access port against the hole as a template to drill holes for stainless bolts. Layer of caulk on each side and bolted it into place.
Goodness. Great work!
Yea, itās the all in one. So far i love it. Run power off my goal zero 1000x in the bed, with a 12 ft extension cord going thru the little hole in the tailgate and camper when itās all closed up. Heater outlet tube is run to the side window on the tent with a 16 ft dryer hose clamped to the heater outside the truck. Runs so Quietly! Even in a crowded state camp ground, i was a little nervous turning it on in the middle of the night but you can barely hear the ticking itās so quiet. I honestly hear the air blowing thru the vent tube more than anything. Dry warm air, what a luxury! All from the comfort of my bed, didnt even have to get up to turn it on at 3a, just used my phone and the app to do it from under my quilt lol.
If youāre thinking of doing it, youll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.
As far as omsumption-
Diesel it used up approx 1 pint over the course of 6-7 hours of run time.
Electric draw, at start up it used 150w or there about for a few minute till the glow plug was warm then it was drawing maybe 10-15w for the fan. Over the course of 6-7 hours i think I might have used up 150ah or there about.
After 6-7 hours what was the battery draw on your goal zero 1000x?
that must be a typo. 15 ah maybe? Even that sounds like a lot for 6 - 7 hours unless you had it on full blast the whole time. At max mine draws 2 - 2.5 ah from what I recall.