Fuel supply for diesel heater.

[graham]

I am gathering information prior to fitting a chinese clone diesel heater in our Centaur.

I dont really want to use the supplied tank.

I can either fit a new connection to the main engine tank or I could tee off the supply pipe between tank and primary filter.

Has anyone here tried the option of teeing off the main supply pipe? Im sure the pipe would have enough capacity as most of the fuel sucked into the engine fuel pump goes back to to the tank anyway.

 

[Momac]

Usually a separate pick up pipe is provided for the heater .
The heater pick up pipe not extending as deep in the fuel tank as the engine pick up pipe.
This way the heater may run out of fuel but you will still have some fuel left for the engine.

 

[Rappey]

Has anyone here tried the option of teeing off the main supply pipe?

The small risk there is if the heater plumbing fails in some way and allows air back into the main engine supply pipe.

 

[graham]

Rappey /Martyn G I think thats 2 good reasons not to tee into the engine feed pipe. So a seperate feed it is.

Quite easy to achieve on my fuel tank as a plate can be unbolted which has all the connections through it.

Good idea to make it shorter than the engine feed pipe so the heater stops before the engine runs dry though I am quite diligent about fuel anyway.

Cheers

 

[billyfish]

I took the feed from the second outlet on the engine filter

 

[PetiteFleur]

I fitted the connection to the fuel tank as I also didn't use the supplied fuel tank. Sold the tank on ebay. I also used copper fuel pipe as recommended for inland waterways. Good idea to take the feed from the second engine filter fitting - why didn't I think of that? - it would have made it a lot easier to fit.

 

[oldharry]

Chinese Heaters are said to be quite touchy about fuel supplies, and according to the makers and people who fit them as a living, using anything bigger than the 2mm bore pipe supplied can cause pick up problems. The little click pumps are very poor at sucking, and if there is too much diesel in the line it may not work properly. Petit Fleur and others evidently got away with it in their installations. Likewise it is strongly recommended to use the supplied hard wall pipe, as a more flexible pipe can be sucked in enough to prevent the pump picking up properly on each stroke. If this is true, then copper should not be a problem, and may be why Petit Fleur's installation worked anyway! I had no problems with my installation so no first hand experience of these issues, but just passing on what I read when I did mine, FWIW. Changing bore and material is not recommended, but obviously can work if you are lucky!

 

[QBhoy]

Hi. If I had a Diesel engine, I’d likely have it fitted on the main tank on its own supply. But having a petrol engine, I just have a small 12l outboard fuel tank as it’s supply. Very handy. Lasts forever, easy to fill and locate near the heater. Also good to know it’s getting very clean fuel too. These wee things can be temperamental and sensitive to anything other than good clean fuel perhaps.

 

[Andibs]

I fitted a pick pipe into my main tank. No problems so far

 

[Windy_Stu]

I used the tank that came with the heater.... 10lts lasts a long time... got to say very happy with mine. Im no expert but seems to me most problems are caused by changing setting in controller... left mine with standard settings and it works fine

 

[mrangry]

I also just used the tank supplied with the heater, that way I can monitor fuel usage and no danger of allowing air into the engine supply.

 

[alan_d]

My Eberspacher, professionally installed 15 years ago, is connected to a spare outlet on the primary fuel filter and there have been no problems as a result.

 

[Frayed Knot]

Here‘s another option nobody else seems to have considered - as spotted by the surveyor when inspecting our intended purchase. The hose it goes into is the tank breather! ???