Webasto marine heaters

[oldmanofthehills]

It does seem odd that a mere heater would be so fussy. Diesel engines for instance were originally designed to run on vegetable oil, and indeed my old van was more than happy to run on peanut oil, sunflower oil or whatever (common rail overpressure prevents use in current van)

Provided the glow plug can evaporate it at start up, clean dry fuel should work a heater, though extreme varnish contamination might build up unburnt residues in the combustion chamber or clog the pump.

The OP however has been robbed by the mendacious. An old story

 

[Fire99]

My cheap Chinese sits with its own tank of diesel , separate from the propulsion and when it stops getting used in perhaps March it sits there , no additives , with a crappy £0.50p in line fuel filter that's not been changed in 6 years and come October or November (this year was about 10 days ago when it dropped to 4 degrees overnight ) fires up and starts first time , uses the months old diesel with no problems and never has had an issue in 6 years of continuous use over winter and not getting touched for 8 months in between.

I had no end of issues with my Webasto on the previous boat , though that was a wet heater but the core principle is the same.

I would strongly complain to Webasto

Welcome to my world. I have China-fantastics myself. They're fed out of their own tanks of kerosene which even on visual inspection, the fuel doesn't look A-grade. One has been running about 3 years and the other 1 1/2. I mostly completely ignore them and they work just fine.. The fuel pump technology is fundamentally the same in all of them (cheap and expensive), I would be fighting it tooth and nail with Webasto.

 

[Fire99]

The OP however has been robbed by the mendacious. An old story

Considering what Webasto and Eberspacher were fined for not too many years ago, I would trust neither with anything.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Contact Resolver. It's free and effective (in my experience).
My last Chinaspascher cost £76 with an impressive kit of extras,
Why are Eber and Webasto still in business?

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The chinaspackers are often not using stainless steel on exhausts etc

A leak of CO could kill you. Less of an issue in trucks but corrosion of plain steel in a salty atmosphere is significant

I dont like ebi prices but once issues sorted they are reliable and safe. Pumps wear out (diaphram usually) but my last one on 10year old one was a mere £80

 

[Alicatt]

I have a Webasto diseasel heater on the boat, it had one fitted from new (1978) and the one now is a replacement, the tank the Webasto draws fuel off of is 45litres and is fed from the excess fuel from the injectors of the two main engines and then recycled back into the main tank from the heater tank.
There are deck fillers for all three diseasel tanks 454. 454, and 45 litres each..
First time I fired it up there was lots of smoke and dust for the first few minutes, I don't think it had been used in a long while, the heating ducts run to the cabins and the saloon which has multiple outlets.
There are CO detectors and a gas detector on the boat, the gas detector alerted me to the fact that the 4 year old house batteries were U/S

 

[Fire99]

The chinaspackers are often not using stainless steel on exhausts etc

A leak of CO could kill you. Less of an issue in trucks but corrosion of plain steel in a salty atmosphere is significant

I dont like ebi prices but once issues sorted they are reliable and safe. Pumps wear out (diaphram usually) but my last one on 10year old one was a mere £80

Just buy a different exhaust. To be honest the one that comes with the Chinese ones was never intended for boats..
You pays your money, takes your choice but when a 4Kw Eberspacher is 2 grand for the marine kit!!!!!! a 75 quid Chinese one + the price of a stainless exhaust and perhaps a bit of fuel pipe and jubilee clips is the equivalent of postage money...

My 2 chinese ones have both been reliable, and clearly safe since I'm not a ghost. And the only diesel heater I've had issues with is my Eberspacher D5 which liked to lock its ECU.

Each to their own but I've seen the insides of both a current Eberspacher and Webasto and the price for what they are is astonishing!!

 

[Seastoke]

To the op , if you had it fitted by the guy who said the diesel is off , did he replace the diesel in the tank or run it on the original diesel.