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 Spring is here but let's talk heaters! 
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Joined: August 31st, 2016, 12:12 pm
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Location: Hawkins County, TN. USA
Post Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
I realize spring will be here today or tomorrow, although it doesn't quite feel like it at the moment.

The one thing I absolutely do not like about my 2CV is it's piss poor heater. The heater on my Trabant 601 is about as bad but not as bad. So bad I won't drive either of these cars in the winter unless it's in the middle of the day on a sunny day. The sun's radiation produces more heat than the heaters do on either of these two cars.

I believe it's not so much the heat itself but the air flow. The problem with both of these cars is the ducting has to be lined with a muffling material because heat passes over the exhaust system. This material restricts the air flow quite a bit.

A few years ago I rigged up a 4" blower in place of the heater muffler on my Trabant. It dramatically improved the air flow and the temperature inside the cabin. But the problem was it sounded like all the engine noise was being dumped into the cabin. Totally unbearable!

The outside temperature at the time was 40F/4C and the temperature coming out of the floor vent was 140F/60C. That should be adequate on it's own to warm the interior.

I measured the heat come out of the vents on my Fiat 124 Spider and it's about the same. Yet I can stay toasty warm in that car with it even being a convertible.

I tried one of those 3" brake cooler fans but it didn't do much.

I have looked into electric heaters. One that will fit discreetly under the seat.

Here is one but the wattage seems over-inflated. Especially considering the size of it. And if it did actually pull 1000 watts, wouldn't you need an alternator capable of producing 70 amps just to run the heater.

In the US the maximum wattage heater you can run on 120 volt household current is 1500 watts. Anything bigger than that, requires a 220 volt (Two 120 volt mains) circuit. Like a clothes dryer, oven or hot water heater.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Car-SUV-He ... 2749079451

Here is one that produces 300 watts that sounds more reasonable:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Ceram ... Sw02FcbBDB

And last we have one of these diesel heaters. There's people on YouTube who have installed these into RVs and small workshops that say that work pretty good. But something like this would take up allot of space.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/5KW-Air-Diesel ... SwWrxcOj3Y

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March 20th, 2019, 5:09 pm
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Joined: March 21st, 2013, 12:04 am
Posts: 1577
Location: Exeter, Devon
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
Make sure your heating is adjusted correctly under the bonnet

I disconnected the cables and cable tied the heating on full. Big improvement. :) Then discarded the nylon liners in the cables and greased them. Once reassembled and adjusted, it was ok. :D

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March 20th, 2019, 6:22 pm
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Joined: December 21st, 2014, 7:33 pm
Posts: 866
Location: Rhayader Mid Wales
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
Totally agree Roger, making sure that the heater cables are properly lubricated and that the clamps are not over tightened means that operating the lever is a joy! the Muff is fitted when appropriate ;) Turbo :?:
Also making sure that the tubes are in good condition and correctly fitted helps a flaming lot :). Even the van gets too warm for me :lol: .


March 20th, 2019, 7:10 pm
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Joined: August 8th, 2012, 11:00 am
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Location: Korpilahti, Finland
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
Image
That's celsius, only -29'C. Only one heat exchanger...

Yes, it is cold. But still it is warmer inside than outside...

And, Eberspächer BN-4 makes it warm, only T-shirt needed with that heater...


March 20th, 2019, 9:13 pm
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Joined: October 22nd, 2014, 10:59 pm
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Location: South-Limburg
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
You could make felt tubes like the old 2cvs. They damp sound but the air flows easier.


March 20th, 2019, 10:22 pm
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Joined: August 31st, 2016, 12:12 pm
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Location: Hawkins County, TN. USA
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
I do know that the tubes going from the heat exchangers are not as tight as I would like for them to be. The defrost tube seems OK. I have new rubber boots that dumps the heat into the wheel-wells. I know that doesn't matter.

I spent about an hour adjusting/syncronizing those cables one day trying to err on the side of fully open toward the floor vents. The trade-off in this position seems to be air leaking into the cabin in the summer. Either from the flappers are not 100% closed off or maybe the seals around the flappers in the heat exchangers are worn? While adjusting the cables, I had the tubes removed and would stick my hand inside the heat exchanger every time I made an adjustment to figure out what position they were in.

At 7C or below, I can't even tell that the heater is on! I can feel heat but only if I stick my hand up next to the floor vents. Just not much air flow.

At 18C, I do get a bit toasty while running the heater but above that I normally don't even use the heater.

I did order one of those grill blankets but accidentally ordered one for the wrong year so it doesn't fit my 87 model. It was going to cost more to ship it back than what I paid for it.

Another issue is that blanket. At what temperature do you risk damage to the engine if you use it?
Where I live the temperature was -1 in this morning but it's now 16C. I tend to think running a blanket at 16C might cause the engine to overheat.

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March 20th, 2019, 10:51 pm
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Joined: August 8th, 2012, 11:00 am
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Location: Korpilahti, Finland
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
turbofiat124 wrote:
Another issue is that blanket. At what temperature do you risk damage to the engine if you use it?
Where I live the temperature was -1 in this morning but it's now 16C. I tend to think running a blanket at 16C might cause the engine to overheat.

No way to overheat the engine on that temperature. With our "normal" summer (max +25'C, usually 15-20'C), I did realise here is no need to oil cooler, so I have removed it. And metal sheet under engine bay and also front of the engine. No any issues about overheat, problem is to get engine oil warm enough...

Get a oil temperature gauge, so you can see when is right time to remove the blanket. Without gauge, it is guessing, some hint you may find with your fingers, when you can't hold fingers more than some seconds on heated air, then the engine is yet reaching the right temperature...


Oh, forgot to mention, at -42'C it is quite freezing to travel 50km when the Eberspächer doesn't work...


March 20th, 2019, 11:05 pm
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Joined: November 8th, 2009, 5:42 pm
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Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
Were is the global warming when you need it.....

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March 20th, 2019, 11:30 pm
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Joined: March 21st, 2013, 12:04 am
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Location: Exeter, Devon
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
Try locking them hard closed and see if it makes a suitable difference. Then decide what to do. :)

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If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's probably electrical (or, an electric fuel pump!) ....


March 20th, 2019, 11:44 pm
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Joined: December 21st, 2014, 7:33 pm
Posts: 866
Location: Rhayader Mid Wales
Post Re: Spring is here but let's talk heaters!
ImageP1020459 by Robndaisy, on Flickr

ImageP1020460 by Robndaisy, on Flickr

This one came with the car, some kind of plastic, would be easy to make something similar :) .


March 20th, 2019, 11:54 pm
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