Hi All

Next year I'll be driving a 4x4 (Toyota Hilux Surf, petrol engined) from Magadan in the Far East of Russia, along the Road of Bones and onto the Lena River. I plan to encounter temperatures as low as -50º C, and be travelling in temperatures below -20º C for 6 or 7 weeks.

I will need to sleep in the car much of the time, and therefore really need a cabin heater, as the car's own heater will not be sufficient.

Has anyone got any experience of Eberspacher heaters? I am looking for a good cabin air heater (I don't plan to plumb it into the engine coolant as I will just keep the engine running below -35º C).

Are Eberspacher heaters reliable? Anyone bought one second hand?

I plan to have a separate leisure battery (charged from the cigarette lighter when the engine is running) inside the car to run the heater, and a separate plastic can of diesel fuel to burn (as the car runs on petrol).

I'd appreciate any advice from Eberspacher owners, or anyone who has kitted out and operated a vehicle in these temperatures.

Incidentally, I'll be sleeping inside the car in a -40 sleeping bag and have full, high altitude down-filled clothing (this is not my first time in low temperatures), so it will not be a life-or-death piece of kit.

Cheers

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

I used to tramp around Europe in a lorry so have spent many a night being woken up by the click-click-click-click-roar of an Eberspacher firing up. Very rarely failed so I don't think reliability is an issue.

I have a Propex heater in my Transit van and that has been super reliable but of course, you'd need to carry propane. I think it's quieter than an Eberspacher and fires up pretty instantly.

Might be worth checking what temperatures both systems will cope with.

Not sure about the Eber, but the Webasto equivalent does have a gasoline option. Lots of Australian motorhomers use Eber or Webasto and even with Australias mild weather, there are many reports of diesel gelling if they happen to get the seasons wrong. Petrol would avoid that problem and you could suck out of your main fuel tank provided you were careful to keep it as full as possible.

I would suggest installing a decent split charger rather than going via the cigar lighter socket. These heaters do not do well unless batteries are fully charged and voltage drops are kept to a minimum otherwise the glow plugs do not get hot enough to get the burn started. They may not draw much current when actually running, but if they cycle often (which is why you shouldn't get a model that is way oversize) the ignition sequence does draw a lot of current and goes on for a couple of minutes so it adds up.

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Tony
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Avoid the later Webasto, way too complicated and we have had no end of issues with them at work.

The early Eber units were all 12v and had a large resistor in line next to the glow plug to drop them for use in 24v trucks. If you can find one, they're bulletproof. Used to be fitted in Mercedes trucks in the late 80's and 90's. Very probably a lot of other makes too, I took the resistor out and used one in a Land Rover.


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Never had an Eber in a vehicle, but did have one in my boat some years back. Never went wrong, was very efficient, but the fan could have been quieter. The only issue I found with it was condensation when in much colder areas, like the East Coast of Scotland and the North Sea. No big deal though.

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-''It is better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction''. ( Herman Siu)
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Yes it is good. You should install permanently and carefully because it has a very hot exhaust out and fresh air in. You should also install electric connection with auxillary battery via 20 amp fuse.

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They are good. Excellent advice about current draw on start up. They are very mean on diesel. Second hand ones are quite common: look on ebay. Often taken out of old ambulances etc. But be warned, they have a lot of internal diagnostics, 62 different fault codes and some lock out faults. If buying second hand check that it works and consider the 24 hour time unit which reads the codes and can reset it.

One thing hasn't been mentioned is that some models- and especially older units - struggle to work at much over 3000 metres. There are add-ons to extend the altitude to maybe 4500mtres at a push. Needed for South America

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Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

I've stripped and installed a couple of Ebers, the last one was a D2 Airtronic in my dads boat. Very simple to install, but yes you will need another battery. If you get one, spend the extra on the optional digital thermostat/timer. They're just over a hhndred quid, but have a diagnostic function. Should anything fail you can pull up a fault code.
Keep it serviced, and run on fresh diesel. Take a spare glow plug, gasket set, and gauze and you'll be fine.
They are a doddle to fit, just take your time!

I have a friend who is an official fitter for Webasto in the UK, I do not want to advertise on here but if you want his number I can forward it to you. I am not sure what help it will be as you are in The Netherlands but if you wanted to give him a call for advice then I am sure that would be ok.

Regards Graeme

Hi!

I must apologise that I lost track of this thread, thanks very much for the replies.

I'm frantically building my truck for the trip, shipping out this September and then driving back next Feb in the deep freeze!

The build has taken way more time (and money) on account of finding the engine to be knackered and the suspension to need completely replacing. I'm getting close to finishing that though, but I don't have much time left.

Interested in the Propex heater, will have to contact them and see how propane vapourises in those temperatures. I would prefer a propane cylinder to the need to have an internal diesel tank, the smell would be horrid for one thing...

Thanks again,

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Propane has a boiling point of -42 C. At -50 C anything powered by propane won't work.
Charlie

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Unimog U500 w/Unicat

I'm planning on keeping the tank in the car, where hopefully it will stay a fair bit above -42ºC.

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Hello,
One thing is your personal Comfort which you cover with your sleeping bag and the Heather. Yes Eberspacher is good and Webasto too, as before mentioned above 2500m you need a "Hoehenkit" ... they have good Webpages i think only Ebers. does the Hoehenkit. I think they both do diesel and petrol heaters so why change to diesel? check the Webpages!
The other thing is your car/truck, you talk about letting your car run below 35 how often can you do that before refueling? whats about your grease points -50 and the grease is as hard as concrete, will you replace the grease. Are your tyres up for it? -50 and the rubber turns into hard plastic, are they new. Why do you need a spare battery if your engine is running anyway? .... think about.
Hope you got it sorted, -50 is serious!!!
cheers
Globi

ups just saw you are going into propane, good luck with it.

Unicat supplied me with an easily installed high-altitude kit for my Webasto Thermo Top C. It is a line going from before the fuel pump two after the fuel pump with a needle valve . One opens it one turn for every 1 thousand meters above 2000 m. It essentially decreases fuel delivery by "shorting" or partially bypassing the pump. It is a low tech non-electronic solution. I can also adjust it electronically.
Charlie

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Unimog U500 w/Unicat