Heaters in the camper

Here is another Propex heater install. Plate mounts the heater to the Goose Gear bed plate. Exhaust and intake go out the drivers side cubby and go right out inside of fender with exhaust near the bumper and inlet over by spare tire. Only had to use hole saw to drill small hole in plastic cubby. This is on 2nd Gen Access Cab. I use Worthington Horiz. 6 lb propane tank mounted up front in side of bed. Raises the ambient about 20 F inside the GFC.

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My plan once the new rear bumper is here is to use the spare tire area, and build a platform that the spare tire lift can lift up and down, to add a heater and air tank. The main thing I work on after is how to duct from under the truck into the camper cleanly and with little loss of heat. Still working out the details. This is on the Tundra.

I just got the Planar Portable diesel from Advanced Composites- have been saving for a year and when I was in Montana it got down to 15 F in my GFC, so could have really used it. Not getting caught without heat again! GFC was fine, very little condensation even, kept windows open (small ones).

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Very cool. Does it make much noise?

have not needed yet or unboxed, camping in kentucky this weekend and itā€™ll be warm down there so check back in a month! unfortunately ill need it soon

Had an opportunity to test the heater out both in the camper and by the fireā€¦talk about ā€œcheaterā€ campingā€¦ I was warm and toasty the whole time even when it was 35 outside. Long story short, the Planar portable diesel heater from Advanced Composites in BC, Canada worked out great!

It used only 10% of the tank for the whole weekend, is so hot it heats up the gfc in a couple minutes, has a long remote to run through the hole in the GFC floor and another long cable to wire to your 12v power (mine is in a national luna power pack). I permanently wired those in and now to set up camp, I just take the heater suitcase thing out, plug in two wires with quick connects and thats it! This was pricey but I have a feeling itā€™ll last a lifetime, be used on my patio on lake michigan and ice fishing.

Pics arenā€™t liking the forum, trying to uploadā€¦

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Trying to figure out how to pipe this in to the camper

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Wow, great work on this heater build. Iā€™m thinking about the same thing (how to pipe diesel heater into GFC). Iā€™ve got a May build but I want to go out winter camping in the ground tent now. So Iā€™m thinking about heating options that will easily work with both. Plus, once Iā€™ve got the GFC my dogs will be sleeping in the downstairs so ideally I want to heat both the tent and the camper.

Question for @pygmyowl (and anyone else) on your vertical setup of your Propex. This is the way I want to install my unit because it saves some space to run it this way.

Though, it goes against the explicit ā€œmust be installed horizontallyā€ note per the manufacturer. Have you or anyone else had any issues or foresee any with it installed this way?

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My Propex is mounted flat on its long side (not really vertically). I have had no error codes or problems with this configuration.
Hope this helps!

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Just found this on Propex site - mounting on one of its sides is no problem:
Q. Can the heater be mounted vertically?

A. The heater must not be mounted vertically on its nose or end or upside down but on one of its sides is not a problem. Remember when mounting the unit you should ensure you can still maintain access to the electronics cover and gas connections

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Along its side is like you have it is what I was thinking to say. Thanks for the feedback and the Q&A! I plan on trying to fit the unit in the gap that is right where you placed yours and will be covered by my deck/drawer system. Hopefully it tucks in there like I imagine! :crossed_fingers:

I thought about mounting mine vertically but found that the thinking was that bearings will wear out earlier in this configuration. I ended up making it work in the rear cubby space horizontally. I donā€™t want to wear out bearings early on a $1000 unit.

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I agree that a vertical mount would probably ruin the fan. I was thinking of putting on its side which only turns the fan on its axis. I like the idea of putting the propex on the drivers side cubby so that I wouldnā€™t have to drill any holes in the bed and only in the removeable box.

Do you have a Tacoma? Iā€™m planning on modifying one of the little storage boxes in the bed (i.e. cut holes into) and include a quick disconnect for cabin air intake/out lines from my portable diesel heater.

The heater can then be run on the ground next to the truck or on a hitch rack, or sometime down the road, mounted underneath the box.

Yeah I have a Tacoma; that is also where I was planning to connect the heater (although my 2020 only has a bedside cubby on the passenger side). I got a diesel heater last winter and havenā€™t yet used it since getting the GFC. Just had it running into a ground tent so far. I installed mine into a HF knock-off pelican box like @keeganbuilds.

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They are known to leak fuel out of the glow plug if that is not mounted upward facing (only 2 proper ways to mount like that)

Which size jackery? I donā€™t plan to run a fridge or much beyond the electric blanket and am looking at a 500w. Any advice?

It would also depend on the electric blanket you use. The blanket I had would use my jackery 240 in about 6 hours.