Relocating Wabesto

[Jcparmley]

What type of thermostat were these hooked up to?  That I think is the route to go as each room and bay can have independent control. 

All it takes when using a diesel fired heating system are the small heat exchangers less work and takes less space than ducts.I had those in each bay of my Eagle and the fans have very little draw plus mine had a thermostat for each bay,this is what I use they come in all kinds of configuration's 1 to 3 fans .I have a dozen or more of these I going dispose of when I clean the shop out this winter   

[richard5933]

What type of thermostat were these hooked up to?  That I think is the route to go as each room and bay can have independent control.

Ours had 12v fans, and the thermostats were simple low-voltage RV style thermostats. I believe that the thermostat actually controlled a small relay located next to the fan, to keep from having the full current of the motors running through the thermostat.

[buswarrior]

The auxiliary heating unit that came stock in the coach is there for a reason...

Northern operating busnuts will be cold inside the coach, and the engine will be running cold...

Nothing worse than deadheading an empty coach with one of the pre-emission 4 strokes...if the aux heater wasn't firing, you couldn't get to operating temp, and it was cold inside...

Fool around all you want, but make sure it remains capable of supplementing the coach HVAC, and the engine, when it's winter outside.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[Jcparmley]

My plan was to get the Wabesto working again so I have the engine preheat and bringing it the engine up to temp.  I was also thinking of using the Webasto to heat the coach while driving.  The PO unhooked the Webasto so it isn't working at all now.  That I know is not good.  Getting the engine preheat/heat back to the way it was designed is my goal.  My debate is how I want to do the cabin heat.  Either small heat exchanger or the large OTR heater core through ducts. 

Jared

The auxiliary heating unit that came stock in the coach is there for a reason...

Northern operating busnuts will be cold inside the coach, and the engine will be running cold...

Nothing worse than deadheading an empty coach with one of the pre-emission 4 strokes...if the aux heater wasn't firing, you couldn't get to operating temp, and it was cold inside...

Fool around all you want, but make sure it remains capable of supplementing the coach HVAC, and the engine, when it's winter outside.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[buswarrior]

Unwittingly, busnuts turn the camper into a dank tube, with poor air circulation potential.

The stock HVAC handily takes care of air exchange, provided it is functioning as designed.

The stock HVAC is already there, nothing else to do?

Most busnut "aftermarket" solutions don't do the job in winter conditions, insufficient BTU, hot spots, cold spots, poor distribution...

Is my bias showing?

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[luvrbus]

Stock HVAC is fine when on the road but would be like a bandage on a elephants @$# from a mosquito bite  when camping,

[Jim Blackwood]

That's my bias also. If it ain't broke... If it is broke fix it of course, but it'd be lots of hours and dollars to set up something that will work as well. Not to dis the individual radiators, that's actually fairly cool if you're building from scratch AND electrical power draw is always a concern. You could even go in for a set of the old passive cast iron room radiators if that was your thing. I'm sure there would be something modern that would work better.

But we've learned from central heating that that airflow is generally a good thing, just have to find a way to balance that against current demands. Plenty of ways to skin this cat though. Presently my thoughts lean towards a fairly inexpensive Variable Frequency Drive or VFD. You can get those on ebay for around a hundred bucks for about a 1-2hp drive but it can run the blower motor at any speed you want. Might have to swap out the motor for a 3 phase one... well this gets a little more involved. That'd work fine for shore power and you could cut your airflow down and even regulate it based on your thermostat, but then it wouldn't run on DC. The VFD converts input power to DC and then uses that to generate a 3 phase output but I'm sure the DC section is much more than 28v so tapping into the DC section wouldn't work either. That'd mean driving it off your inverter OTR, maybe not the best solution.

OK, maybe look at retaining the DC motor and using a solid state speed controller on that. I know they make such things but I haven't really worked with them so that would take some research. I expect I will look into it but not this week. It should be a viable solution though.

Jim

[windtrader]

All it takes when using a diesel fired heating system are the small heat exchangers less work and takes less space than ducts.I had those in each bay of my Eagle and the fans have very little draw plus mine had a thermostat for each bay,this is what I use they come in all kinds of configuration's 1 to 3 fans .I have a dozen or more of these I going dispose of when I clean the shop out this winter   

Humm.. I used the term "duct" inaccurately. There are no true "ducts", heat exchangers with integrated fans are what pushes the heat into the space. There are water lines running from the Webasto to each "duct" or heated air outlet.

[sledhead]

I have and like these heat ex changers . They come in one fan 2 fan and 3 fan units and the fan is a muffin 12 volt that is quiet and uses very little power . all you need is 5/8" or 3/4" heater line to and from each heater so you can put them almost anywhere on separate thermostats

 https://www.parts.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com/Heat-Exchanger-Cozy-III-EXE-103-0EX-EXE-103-0EX.htm


dave

[Jcparmley]

Thanks for the link.  Where do you have these located in your coach?  Do you have any trouble with air flow or cold spots? 

I have and like these heat ex changers . They come in one fan 2 fan and 3 fan units and the fan is a muffin 12 volt that is quiet and uses very little power . all you need is 5/8" or 3/4" heater line to and from each heater so you can put them almost anywhere on separate thermostats

 https://www.parts.rvhydronicheaterrepair.com/Heat-Exchanger-Cozy-III-EXE-103-0EX-EXE-103-0EX.htm


dave

[Jcparmley]

Luvrbus

If you are thinking about getting rid of those old exchangers could I have them?  I sent you a PM but then I read on the forum that you don't check those often.  Thanks

Jared

All it takes when using a diesel fired heating system are the small heat exchangers less work and takes less space than ducts.I had those in each bay of my Eagle and the fans have very little draw plus mine had a thermostat for each bay,this is what I use they come in all kinds of configuration's 1 to 3 fans .I have a dozen or more of these I going dispose of when I clean the shop out this winter   

[luvrbus]

Luvrbus

If you are thinking about getting rid of those old exchangers could I have them?  I sent you a PM but then I read on the forum that you don't check those often.  Thanks

Jared

I am going to rid myself of the exchangers but it will be later while I dispose of stuff when the cleaning starts,you can build exchangers yourself like a friend did he use automotive heater cores from a wrecking yard with muffin fans and told me he only spent 20 bucks each.Must work good for him he lives in Canada 
 

[Jcparmley]

Clifford, if you don't mind, just let me know when you are getting rid of them.  It may be a while until I am at that stage.  If you don't need them I could really use them.  I appreciate it. 

Jared

I am going to rid myself of the exchangers but it will be later while I dispose of stuff when the cleaning starts,you can build exchangers yourself like a friend did he use automotive heater cores from a wrecking yard with muffin fans and told me he only spent 20 bucks each.Must work good for him he lives in Canada

[chessie4905]

Red dot makes individual heater units also.

[sledhead]

heat exchange heating units

1 in bed room 1 fan unit

1 in crapper room 1 fan unit

1 in bath room 2 fan unit

1 in kit 3 fan unit

1 in living room up front 2 fan unit

1 in each bay in basement

all are on separate thermostats

when any thermostat turn on it turns on muffin fan,zone pump and boiler that cycles on and off as needed 

If you look in the pic you can see the heating vents near the floor 1 is a cold air return and 1 is the heat vent with the exchange right behind the vent . When the heat is on it heats up the floor in front nice on the feet as well

very easy to control heat anywhere and no cold spots   

dave