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Date:         Sun, 02 Oct 94 22:04 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Danke <JDANKE@macc.wisc.edu>
Subject:      Gas heater installation?

Howdy, youse all.

I don't know whether to be happy or scared. Just as autumn is starting to get a little nasty, and winter is just around the corner, I've been getting flashbacks from high school. Five days a week I'd drive my rusty trusty Bug to school (NE WI): windows open at all temps to prevent a thick layer of frost inside the windshield. For some reason I didn't think of that when I bought my Bus this spring. I was planning on getting a snowmobile suit, but my dad tells me that he got a gas heater from someone at work.

Now, although I'm happy thinking about a heated vehicle, I've heard stories about how dangerous those heaters can be. Just last week, the guy who drove me to the hospital in my Bus was telling me he was a VW guy from way back - he was driving Busses when they were still being made! Anyway, he said that, sure, VWs were "blowing up all the time" back then. BLOWING UP !? sez I. "yep" he sez.

I've saved the messages about installing an auxiliary oil cooler as a heater core a while back, but wasn't on the list long enough to recall gas heaters being discussed. Oops, I just remembered the FAQ. Shoot. Well, bravely forward...

The identification on the heater reads:

INSTANT HEATER mfg for VWoA, Inc. VW model ZVW256-03 mfg by Stewart Warner South Wind Div., Indianapolis model no. 8345C serial no. 20050

Apparently this is 6V. There is a large fan for blowing heating air and a smaller fan which my dad thinks is for combustion air. There is also a coil, spark plug and a fuel control of some kind.

My specific questions are: 1) it seems easy to get some 12V-6V converter from Radio Shack and wire this directly. Is that wise, or should I trade this for someone's 12V, if possible?

2) Where is a good place to mount this? Inside the passenger chamber or the engine compartment? How should I position it for air flow?

3) Can I get a manual for this thing? I think PartsPlace in MI might sell them for 10 bucks. Is that the best route, or do one of youse have one?

4) Am I nuts for installing this myself? or, Am I just as nuts as the rest of youse? (Judging by the content of this list, If youse all say I'm not nuts, I may be kee-razy by non-VW standards.)

OK, I'm a-gonna check the gopher site thingy now (if I can find it). Thanks in advance, just for being here (& there, & not-all-there).

JDavid jdanke@macc.wisc.edu


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