The serious danger of the wrong diesel heater exhaust fitted.

limecc said:
Poor moderation then. Should have locked the thread and stated the reason why rather than censorship.
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Possibly, but my assumption was purely that as I dont moderate on such forums. That said, I do understand that many that do, do it to assist others for free so I try not to overly judge.
 
SP2 said:
Ben did my survey last summer and warned me in no uncertain terms not to fit a Chinese heater so I follow with interest the threads here saying either they are great or that they are disaster waiting to happen.
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Having one and reporting that it is good is helpful but advocating them is a different thing altogether.
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That’s why I don’t have a silencer. It’s not too noisy without it to be fair. Once it’s up to temp
 
SP2 said:
Ben did my survey last summer and warned me in no uncertain terms not to fit a Chinese heater so I follow with interest the threads here saying either they are great or that they are disaster waiting to happen.
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Did the Ben say why not to fit them? Was it based on his experience of poor installation of something specific about the heater.

I read with interest the various threads covering these type of heaters, as at some point I would like to fit a diesel heater. From what I have read, the main heater unit is fine but not the external fittings supplied with it, has anyone opened up a Chinese heater and compared the components with "branded" heater in terms of quality, fittings and safety of connections etc (e.g. Bigplumbs all in one unit where the fuel hose was too close to the exhaust outlet which can be mitigated) etc.
 
petem said:
The lack of regulation in this area has killed people (and ruined a few more lives no doubt) already and will kill a few more I expect.
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It's not lack of regulation that killed them.

It's failure to observe the most basic of precautions, all widely publicised.

One of those who died was a gas fitter, for goodness, sake. Another was a power station engineer.
 
We had to replace our inherited and ancient Eberspacher, D4 IIRC, 3 years ago when it went tits up and was filling the engine room where it was fitted with smoke. The brand new D5 genuine Eberspacher that was fitted by main dealer failed to start 4 weeks later, fortunately under warranty of course (pump failure) Eberspacher UK said 'never happened before, probably just stuck, give it a thump and it will probably be OK' NOWAY SAYS I and local dealer/ installer. Anyhow it shows German engineering isn't necessary the best although it has worked flawlessly ever since. BTW we do have a (tested) CO monitor, in our owners cabin above our bedhead and it did not react to the failed unit the other side of the engine room door. Oh and when the new one was installed the local and excellent Eberspacher dealer/installers had to upgrade the existing exhaust skin fittings too. I was very tempted to go the Chinese route but chickened out as we are live aboards and paranoid.
 
LittleSister said:
It's not lack of regulation that killed them.

It's failure to observe the most basic of precautions, all widely publicised.

One of those who died was a gas fitter, for goodness, sake. Another was a power station engineer.
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Don't you "for goodness sake" me!

It's not a matter of skills, it's a matter of process. If you have a new boiler or electrical work done on your house the engineer or electrician has to follow a checklist, test and certify, in writing, that the installation meets the regulations and is safe.
 
Bigplumbs said:
i would go so far as to say that everyone who has one on this forum has only good things to say about them. Have you got one yourself or had any real hands experience of one
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No, I was toying with the idea but seeing all of the problems I didn't pursue it based on my observations ?
 
Scubadoo said:
Did the Ben say why not to fit them? Was it based on his experience of poor installation of something specific about the heater.

I read with interest the various threads covering these type of heaters, as at some point I would like to fit a diesel heater. From what I have read, the main heater unit is fine but not the external fittings supplied with it, has anyone opened up a Chinese heater and compared the components with "branded" heater in terms of quality, fittings and safety of connections etc (e.g. Bigplumbs all in one unit where the fuel hose was too close to the exhaust outlet which can be mitigated) etc.
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He said that a main part of his work recently was for insurance companies, reporting to them after fires, and that these heaters had been involved in several such cases. I didn't see any point in exploring the issue further, and I am not sure why he raised it particularly other than he was running through the various systems on the boat and what we had/didn't have.
 
Bran said:
I was on the FB Chinese heater group, I posted a link to one of the MAIB reports on a fatality due to heater exhaust leaks. The post was taken down even though some members were grateful for the reminder as they were not aware of the dangers! I left the group after that.
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I think thats because the guy who runs the group sells them!
 
lynallbel said:
I think thats because the guy who runs the group sells them!
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I think you are right, but as stated earlier, a lot of people were blaming the heater when there is little if any evidence of these heaters causing issues other than controllers or poor installing.
 
petem said:
Don't you "for goodness sake" me!

It's not a matter of skills, it's a matter of process. If you have a new boiler or electrical work done on your house the engineer or electrician has to follow a checklist, test and certify, in writing, that the installation meets the regulations and is safe.
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I dont think the man was goodness sakeing you, more he was pointing out the gas fitter should have known better as that was his line of work, ie knew the risks of any combustion heater and done a proper install.
 
SP2 said:
He said that a main part of his work recently was for insurance companies, reporting to them after fires, and that these heaters had been involved in several such cases. I didn't see any point in exploring the issue further, and I am not sure why he raised it particularly other than he was running through the various systems on the boat and what we had/didn't have.
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That is interesting as I haven't found any reports of any causing fires.
 
mrangry said:
That is interesting as I haven't found any reports of any causing fires.
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Me neither.....

Perhaps Eberspacher and Webasto prices are "reassuringly expensive" - gives a false sense of security sometimes...

Mind you, Eberspacher need the funds to pay for the price fixing cartel fine they received when they colluded with Webasto who dobbed them in!

Noting wrong with my Chinese heater, correctly installed with decent exhaust, sealed and with a proper exhaust...
 
Scubadoo said:
I read with interest the various threads covering these type of heaters, as at some point I would like to fit a diesel heater. From what I have read, the main heater unit is fine but not the external fittings supplied with it, has anyone opened up a Chinese heater and compared the components with "branded" heater in terms of quality, fittings and safety of connections etc (e.g. Bigplumbs all in one unit where the fuel hose was too close to the exhaust outlet which can be mitigated) etc.
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They are so cheap to buy £90. Why not buy one set it up in a shed or similar and Judge for yourself. If nowt esle it is £90 spent for a bit of fun and experience
 
petem said:
It's not a matter of skills, it's a matter of process. If you have a new boiler or electrical work done on your house the engineer or electrician has to follow a checklist, test and certify, in writing, that the installation meets the regulations and is safe.
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Yup you certainly get a piece of paper to put in your file. I have watched many installers sign those in my time :rolleyes:
 
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