Chinese (5kw )air heater

[skyflyer]

So there I was poised to click to buy and then i thought " where do i get spares and service parts from?". Anyone found a solution to this or are things like glow-plugs and screens a straight copy (ie generic) of Eber/WEb/Mik?

 

[chewi]

i totally agree but trying to get everything up and tested ( thirty days to iron out problems )

To test it you could drop the fuel pipe into a milk-bottle of diesel.
You might need to weight keep the end to keep it immersed.
The pump should prime, draw it up and out.

If you test it with a bottom feed you're not really testing the pump.

 

[benchmark]

Frankly, it's pure stupidity to be blindly fitting these heaters to boats. I have previously posted about one that caught fire during bench testing, but the greed of people meant that they just ignored that. I hope that when their boat does catch fire it's in an anchorage away from other boats, no-one gets hurt and their insurance refuses to pay out.

You saw the video before or after you placed the order ?

I saw the video of the faulty one on youtube before I ordered it, just beside all the other videos on YouTube about people posting faults with their webastos too . Do a YouTube search yourself using ‘ webasto problems’

My boat came with an Eber D4+ , the Chinese model I am ordering is going to be used on a test setup to warm my shed, if it proves it’s worth the rest of the winter then I won’t have any doubts to ever replace my Eberspächer if it ever craps out on me.
My only worry about the Chinese model is spare part availability, then again , considering the huge price difference compared to my Eberspächer ,I can actually buy 7 or 8 Chinese models for the price of one Eberspächer. That is a lot of spare parts !

Are you a webasto or Eberspächer salesman by any chance?

 

[superheat6k]

Some interesting comments on here both for and against these heaters, of course they are replacing the absolutely fantastic Eberspachers (mostly) !

Anyway I have asked my Insurers what their view of having one of these aboard is, after all if one failed it would be to them one would expect to turn for re-compense. I will revert further when I have their answer.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I saw the video of the faulty one on youtube before I ordered it, just beside all the other videos on YouTube about people posting faults with their webastos too . Do a YouTube search yourself using ‘ webasto problems’

My boat came with an Eber D4+ , the Chinese model I am ordering is going to be used on a test setup to warm my shed, if it proves it’s worth the rest of the winter then I won’t have any doubts to ever replace my Eberspächer if it ever craps out on me.
My only worry about the Chinese model is spare part availability, then again , considering the huge price difference compared to my Eberspächer ,I can actually buy 7 or 8 Chinese models for the price of one Eberspächer. That is a lot of spare parts !

Are you a webasto or Eberspächer salesman by any chance?

Nope :encouragement:

I have an old D3L fitted that is on it's last legs, i'd be pleased to have a reliable and safe new heater for less than £200, i'm up for a bargain as much as the next person. I'd be less pleased if it set fire to my boat though, even less pleased if the insurance company refused to pay out because i had a non-approved dodgy import heater onboard.

Testing something like this requires a little bit more than seeing if it gets hot, a bucket of burning oily rags will do that What happens if you restrict the combustion air intake ? How about restricting the the air intake, which could easily happen with a heater fitted in a boat locker ? Your Eber will shut down in a breath and throw a fault code up, what will the Chinese one do ?

 

[pcatterall]

So far I have tested 3 of these heaters and they have all worked as they should.
I do worry that although the main heat exchanger looks robust the bits are flimsy.
Wiring for instance looks thinner than on Ebers and the switches and connectors are a bit Micky mouse.
Spares are available but only from the manufacturers. Dealers like the guy on eBay cant supply spares.

 

[Heckler]

No, you're correct, the fuel should be supplied via a dip tube mounted on the top of the tank. Most of the eBay ads for these cheap heaters show the dip tube in the pic of the kit.

Not arguing or dissing, the technical term is stack pipe.
Stu

 

[pvb]

Not arguing or dissing, the technical term is stack pipe.
Stu

Well, if you want to be pedantic, the technical term used by Webasto and others is "stand pipe", which is perhaps what you had in mind. A stack pipe is usually found in soil pipe plumbing installations.

 

[GrahamM376]

My Eber D3LC has gone on strike with fault code 033 - fan problem so, considering whether to repair or replace.

I'm getting confused with Planar heaters. According to Planar Heaters UK, they are made in Russia but, everything on ebay with the same name seems to be coming from Hong Kong or China so, which is it?

Prices also vary wildly, Planar UK being more than double so, can anyone enlighten me? Also interested whether ducting, exhaust& skin fitting will fit Eber fittings already in place. Looking for 3 or 4 kw, 5 too large.

 

[PaulRainbow]

My Eber D3LC has gone on strike with fault code 033 - fan problem so, considering whether to repair or replace.

I'm getting confused with Planar heaters. According to Planar Heaters UK, they are made in Russia but, everything on ebay with the same name seems to be coming from Hong Kong or China so, which is it?

Prices also vary wildly, Planar UK being more than double so, can anyone enlighten me? Also interested whether ducting, exhaust& skin fitting will fit Eber fittings already in place. Looking for 3 or 4 kw, 5 too large.

Planar heaters are Russian. The Chinese ones on Ebay claiming to be Planar heaters are fake, they don't even look like a Planar. I would not personally fit one of the Chinese ones, to my boat or anyone elses, i would seriously look at a Planar though.

 

[pvb]

My Eber D3LC has gone on strike with fault code 033 - fan problem so, considering whether to repair or replace.

I'm getting confused with Planar heaters. According to Planar Heaters UK, they are made in Russia but, everything on ebay with the same name seems to be coming from Hong Kong or China so, which is it?

Prices also vary wildly, Planar UK being more than double so, can anyone enlighten me? Also interested whether ducting, exhaust& skin fitting will fit Eber fittings already in place. Looking for 3 or 4 kw, 5 too large.

It's a fairly easy DIY job to take your Eber apart and check the fan. It may just need some bearing lubrication. I had a problem once on an old Eber when the fan started rubbing on the housing and slowed it down.

There are lots of cheap alternatives to the well-proven Eberspacher/Webasto offerings, they may or may not be worth buying, depending on how much risk you want to take. What is fairly certain is that the Eberspacher/Webasto heaters will be supported by their manufacturers for many years in to the future. With cheap heaters, exhaust diameter may be similar, if ducting is different there are adaptors available.

 

[NormanS]

It looks to me that IF something goes wrong with your cheap heater, you simply buy another (probably for less than the spare parts would cost to repair an Eberbasto with a similar problem).

 

[Steve_N]

Looking for 3 or 4 kw, 5 too large.

I presume that the advertised 5000w output of the Chinese heaters is just a made-up figure, much as they make up lumens figures for their torches, bike lights etc.
If you want a smaller one they will also sell you a 2000w model which costs the same and looks identical in every way.
I'm sure that if you told a seller exactly what output you want he'd put up an Ebay listing to your exact output specification, using the same 2000-5000w unit..

 

[pcatterall]

I presume that the advertised 5000w output of the Chinese heaters is just a made-up figure, much as they make up lumens figures for their torches, bike lights etc.
If you want a smaller one they will also sell you a 2000w model which costs the same and looks identical in every way.
I'm sure that if you told a seller exactly what output you want he'd put up an Ebay listing to your exact output specification, using the same 2000-5000w unit..

I found after testing that the Chinaspacher 5kw heater heated my workshop from 2 to 22 degrees in about the same time as an Eber D4 but it did go on to heat it to 32 degrees at which time I reduced the output and got it to run at a steady 21 degrees. The eber seemed to run out of steam at 22 degrees. The Chinaspacher did not seem to have the boost stage that the ebers have.

I have ( by accident!) now got 2 x 3kw heaters from a manufacturer. I had hoped, by the info they gave me, that the ancillary bits were more robust than those of the 5 kw model I tested.
In fact they are of a similar flimsy nature. Their literature showed a picture of the 'innards' and they looked like an identical eber clone, they suggested that the ecu could be used in an eber....lies...lies!!
Anyway, they work and have been on test several hours, the manufacturer does offer spares and these are about 25% of eber prices.

 

[BlueChip]

Well, the 5KW one I bought certainly pumps out the heat, far more than the 2x2KW oil filled rads I used before. The hand test in front of the outlet shows its as hot and pumps as much air as my 5Kw Weaste, hardly scientific but good enough.

 

[TSB240]

I would be interested to have some feed back on your testing other than it turns on and gives out heat? I naturally epect heat from a heater.

What happens if you block the outlet as if a sleeping bag had slipped over it ?
Does it shut down?

What happens if you simulate a blocked or partially blocked inlet?

Does it shut down and start up ok on a short cycle?

Does it have a reasonable thermostatic control? Can you modulate the control down to a low setting once you have established a warm shed?

Some real life testing other than in a barn or shed would be good. How does it react to a force 10 gale blowing in the ehaust? Have you tried the fender test over the ehaust yet?

What happens if you cut all electrical power when it is at full blast ? any sign of heat soak and localised overheating or distortion to the metal casing?

What happens if you cut its fuel supply will it shut down and lock out? What procedure is required to bring it back into operation?

How noisy is it?

 

[PaulRainbow]

I would be interested to have some feed back on your testing other than it turns on and gives out heat? I naturally epect heat from a heater.

What happens if you block the outlet as if a sleeping bag had slipped over it ?
Does it shut down?

What happens if you simulate a blocked or partially blocked inlet?

Does it shut down and start up ok on a short cycle?

Does it have a reasonable thermostatic control? Can you modulate the control down to a low setting once you have established a warm shed?

Some real life testing other than in a barn or shed would be good. How does it react to a force 10 gale blowing in the ehaust? Have you tried the fender test over the ehaust yet?

What happens if you cut all electrical power when it is at full blast ? any sign of heat soak and localised overheating or distortion to the metal casing?

What happens if you cut its fuel supply will it shut down and lock out? What procedure is required to bring it back into operation?

How noisy is it?

I've asked some of those before, but didn't get a response of any sort.

Seems no one who claims to be happy with these heaters is brave enough to actually do any of the tests.

Oh, wait, i do know one person that did some proper testing............. the heater caught fire

 

[NormanS]

I would be interested to have some feed back on your testing other than it turns on and gives out heat? I naturally epect heat from a heater.

What happens if you block the outlet as if a sleeping bag had slipped over it ?
Does it shut down?

What happens if you simulate a blocked or partially blocked inlet?

Does it shut down and start up ok on a short cycle?

Does it have a reasonable thermostatic control? Can you modulate the control down to a low setting once you have established a warm shed?

Some real life testing other than in a barn or shed would be good. How does it react to a force 10 gale blowing in the ehaust? Have you tried the fender test over the ehaust yet?

What happens if you cut all electrical power when it is at full blast ? any sign of heat soak and localised overheating or distortion to the metal casing?

What happens if you cut its fuel supply will it shut down and lock out? What procedure is required to bring it back into operation?

How noisy is it?

How do Eberbastos fare in all these tests?

 

[pcatterall]

I would be interested to have some feed back on your testing other than it turns on and gives out heat? I naturally epect heat from a heater.

What happens if you block the outlet as if a sleeping bag had slipped over it ?
Does it shut down?

What happens if you simulate a blocked or partially blocked inlet?

Does it shut down and start up ok on a short cycle?

Does it have a reasonable thermostatic control? Can you modulate the control down to a low setting once you have established a warm shed?

Some real life testing other than in a barn or shed would be good. How does it react to a force 10 gale blowing in the ehaust? Have you tried the fender test over the ehaust yet?

What happens if you cut all electrical power when it is at full blast ? any sign of heat soak and localised overheating or distortion to the metal casing?

What happens if you cut its fuel supply will it shut down and lock out? What procedure is required to bring it back into operation?


The heater does have a combined heat flame sensor with similar values to an eber. but I have not simulated overheating with sleeping bags or fenders.
The thermostat control was at least as good as on my 7 day timer, going down in stages and settling at room temp.
When I accidently ran out of fuel it just shut down as you would expect from an eber it did not lock out and neither should an eber
No I have not 'pulled the plug' while at full blast but the heat exchanger looks like it could cope with that as well as an eber.

I have passed on my experiences for the interest of readers who may have an interest not simply for you to scoff at.

How noisy is it?

 

[guardian]

Well my heater arrived today, no additional charges to pay, 12 days from order to delivery!
First impressions are good, it is very well packed and seems to have everything required for installation down to the last screw, nut and bolt required.
They have even supplied a plastic fuel tank which will be handy for the shed.
As others have said the manual is in Chinese, but I don't think that's a problem as there are plenty of schematics and its pretty self explanatory. If I run into problems I'll ask Mr Woo down the local takeaway to translate.
I'll report back later in the week when I've got it running.

Got mine delivered last week, have set it up on the bench, all good - runs fine just got to build the cabinet it'll sit in in the van, was orginally gonna install under the passenger bench seat but thought if it needs any servicing i'll need to pull the bench seat out so will cut and extend the controller cable and have it in the back, even tempted to run it off the supplied fuel tank so i dont have to dick about dropping the main tank out to install the feed.

Will post when in bolted into van.