Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 11:05:02 +0000
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Christopher P. Gibbs L.B.I.P.P." <cpgibbs@ptialaska.net>
Subject: Heaters for VW's!
Greetings from rainy Ketchikan,
Firstly, let me thank you all for the advice about a replacement P/S
Rack for my 88 Westy, I already have half a dozen good sources after
only two days (it takes longer than that to get through to VW Parts
alone)!
PROPANE HEATERS FOR VOLKSWAGENıS:
I picked up my heater about 3 years ago from PROPEX (UK) Ltd. after
seeing them fitted in just about EVERY VW Camper conversion in Europe.
First please let me apologize, like a DIVVY I cannot find the original
information so I cannot answer such questions as BTU output exactly,
sorry!
THE HEATER:
The heater is a ³PROPEX COMPACT 1600² it measures a mere 14² long, 6²
wide and 4.5² deep. It fits beautifully underneath the rear bench seat
in a Westy and is a snap to install. The heater itself costs around
$500 and comes complete with all you need (other than the copper pipe to
link up with the propane bottle), ONE WORD OF WARNING before I forget,
make sure when you order the heater to ask for an 8mm down to quarter
inch adaptor! It seems that the standard European pipe size to and from
the propane tank is 8mm and I couldnıt find it anywhere in the US, (itıs
all quarter inch only here it seems). The heater comes complete with a
thermostat (real snazzy) that sits on the wardrobe of a Westy at around
head height (supplied plenty of cable to go elsewhere if you so desire),
it is just like a household unit but smaller and in a high tech black
case. On the thermostat itself there is also a small rocker type switch
that switches the heater on/off manually, or switches on the fan only
for cooling or leaves the unit on controlled by the thermostat. The
heater also has a control box that sits under the seat that monitors the
vehicle battery condition as well as the actual burner unit in the
heater. The control box will switch off the heater when either the
flame goes out (or the battery becomes sufficiently discharged) shutting
off the propane supply and putting the heater in standby mode! Output
of the heater is about equivalent to a good fan heater and is plenty
warm enough to heat a Westy (even with the top up in Alaska). The real
beauty of the unit is it is ³incredibly miserly on propane² I wish the
fridge was half as good. Donıt waste your time with extra propane
bottles for the heater you will not need them, ³a better investment is a
twin battery conversion so you can leave the heater on all the time when
its really cold². The fan in the unit is quite powerful and will
circulate the heat around the van real well, I opted for a second
battery conversion and put all my camping gear directly to it and it
works out great for the heater.
FITTING THE HEATER:
As I said the heater is 14 inches long, 6 inches wide and four and a
half inches deep. If you look at it from the top on one end you have
the propane inlet connection (0.25² copper pipe - via 8mm adaptor) and
at the other end of the heater you have two large (2.75²) air inlet and
hot air outlets. On the bottom of the unit you have two (1²) exhaust
inlet and outlet pipes. My heater is fitted so that when viewed from
above it is sitting length ways under the rear seat of the Westy (with
the hot air outlet to the center of the vehicle). The heater comes with
a length of (2.75²) black plastic heater pipe and two black plastic
circular ³rotating² grills that you can mount in the wood under the rear
seat.
The two exhaust outlets require you to drill through the floor of the
vehicle, the outlets are of sufficient length as to pass through both
the wooden base of the seat as well as the floor of the vehicle. Once
you have drilled the floor of the vehicle and placed the heater in the
seat well the heater exhausts will pertrude though the underside of the
vehicle at least an inch, this makes the job of sealing the holes and
connecting the flexible exhaust pipes a snap! There are two exhaust
pipes to fit to the underside, one outlet and one inlet, and CAUTION is
advised here. Once you identify the EXHAUST OUTLET you must route it to
the outside of the vehicle (many do not!), there are plenty of places to
anchor it near the jacking points at the rear of the van. The air
intake is OK mounted anywhere away from the exhaust .
NOTE:
When you order the unit see if you can get a little ³Mushroom² cover for
the exhaust outlet, it saves the exhaust outlet getting full of snow and
mud etc.
Well, that's basically it, feel free to give me a call with any
questions at (907) 225- 5057 if I can help I will!
Hereıs the address for PROPEX (UK):
PROPEX (UK) LTD
CAMPION HOUSE
LINCOLN ROAD
LEADENHAM
LINCOLN, LN5 OPE
ENGLAND
Tel. 011-44 (0400) 72100
Fax. 011-44 (0400) 73416
I know the phone codes have changed in the past year, the address is
still good!
Regards,
Chris Gibbs,