Im planning on making that. I have a similar setup to you, which im reworking currently. Plan is to make a removable box for the heater, and run a power cord to the battery when i need it
Iāve got a 100AH lithium battery that I built. I could easily run it on high for several nights without drawing the battery down too much.
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Thats what im planning on for my battery. How cold have you camped in?
Around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The heater ran on half power and it stayed comfortable in the camper. Maybe 50 ish.
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It was actually pretty simple. 4 of these Allvent 4" Duct Connector Flange,ā¦ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M9NBLWN?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Some clear epoxy and some e6000 glue. I put the holes away from the zippers so if I needed I could still remove the pad easily. I just used a box cutter to cut all of the holes as my hole saw is ā¦ well I donāt know where it is to be honest. I kept the hole really tight. Cut one of the flanges so it would go halfway through the honeycomb so that I could epoxy both flanges butted against each other and to the honeycomb. I used e6000 glue on the flange area to the fabric. Clamped everything together for 24 hours and done.
Couple weekends ago I ran my diesel heater for 35 hours straightā¦ off for a few hours then again for 9 hours on high. Less than a gallon of fuel and my 80ah battery that was also charging camera equipment, my fridge and my water tank heater barely got down to 75%. Temps were in the low teens.
I donāt usually run it that much as my 12v blankets are more than enough to make me toasty when I get into bed but the spouse enjoys warmth and so do the kidsā¦ so cheap, fun to play with and keeps the people coming with me
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I plan on running off either my dual battery set up or I also have a power bank battery I could use. These heaters only pull alot of power during start up to heat up the glow plug then the amperage it draws is very minimal.
I just need to buckle down and wire in my dcdc charger/new setup. Then ill order a 100ah battery and get that situated too.
My 62ah group 24 deep cycle is good for about 2-3 days of just keeping my fridge going with solar, but Id like to have my main battery as a charge source too. I have all the parts, just need to trim down my aluminum mounting panel, and route some wires. I want a super clean install too, and with this piece of aluminum I really only have 1 shot of it being clean
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This works great for me. I didnāt want anything mounted permanently inside. I first ran the piping through the tent but it lost to much heat. Now it will get me up to 60Ā° when its in the single digits. Game changer.
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@bipNdip as Phil mentioned Iāve tried a few solutions. What I would say is donāt waste your money on lithium heated battery. I heard back from Renogy and the operating temperature doesnāt go down below -20c.
So really, Iāve found I get the same performance out of a Gel and lithium. Iām going to end up having to re-design my electrical with a āquickā connect method. This way I can remove the battery and store it at room temperature when itās not in use. Which is 5 days a week, the rig usually goes out every weekend.
So I would recommend something like that unless youāre able to park your rig in a heated garage. Batteries donāt like the cold, period.
Since my battery powers more than just the heater having a contained battery heater unit wouldnāt work for me. But my heater is external in a case as I use it in my work truck as well with a portable deep cycle.
Hope that helps.
They actually also turn on the glow plugs when itās turned off. This is to burn off any carbon and is usually around 9amps. People should also note, that the heater draws more amperage based on temp setting. So if you have it cranked itās going to draw way more current.
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On mine (cheap knock off) the difference from low to high is minimal. It seems to range from around .5 AH on low to 2 AH on high.
I have noticed the same. its really about fuel consumption on highā¦the power is just to run the fan and fuel pump and those really donāt need much.
Also if you are at higher elevations donāt forget to change your fuel consumption rate or they flood out - that seems to be the biggest issue people have that causes failures.
Very true. Like a Diesel engine on a vehicle.
I use a Planar suitcase heater with an AGM battery housed in a Home Depot homer tool box and keep it in the tent so it stays warm. We did a a couple days in Lake Curicanti with sub zero temps and we were toasty.
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What mount did you use to protect the bed composite from the exhaust pipe? And did you attach the exhaust silencer or does it just dangle down? Iām interested in doing something similar
I used one of these for the passthrough VTurboWay Stainless Steel 316ā¦ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09H2RY6BT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
And one of these with a short bit of metal pipe to create a pressure fit connection between the heater and the port SUPERFASTRACING Exhaust Pipeā¦ Amazon.com havenāt had any issues I would suggest putting 2 of these sets in so you have fresh air coming in through one.
I added this to pull fresh air from outside as an afterthought SHENGHUISS 2"(50mm) Boat Gas Deckā¦ Amazon.com wish I had done 2 of the exhaust at the same time.
I did route the exhaust and attach it with the silencer there is a pic up above of what I did
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Thanks, appreciate the information. Any regrets placing the holes in the bed vs teh wheel well as I have see on some other installs?
Nope not at all, Sometimes wish I had mounted things the other direction parallel with the end of the bed but really thatās the only thing
Ok, bumping this up as itās almost that time of year (I hope! Smoky as hell out there now).
Running a GFC on a Tundra and have a chinese diesel heater I started using last year. Currently built into a big rubbermade box with the hot air being ducted into a partially opened GFC side panel. It works but itās not a real clean setup. I want to be able to use this for hunting season and powder chasing in the winter.
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Are there any type of molle boards that can attached to the side of a GFC using the T-slots or otherwise? Several posts above is a mantis type camper with the heater mounted outside. I think that would be an ideal setup for me. Keep it neat and tidy. I could run power and heat into the truck bed area and remove one panel so heat flows up into the tent. I have done it this way in the past and kept it 60*+ all night during single digits outside. Heating the truck bed area allows for drying clothes etc.
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What size pelican style boxes are you guys using for this heater?
- Crazy to cut a 3" hole in one of the GFC panels with a blast gate installed to close off when not using the heater?