Extra installation tips: The air intake pipe and the exhaust pipe/muffler should be mounted at a downward angle to allow water & condensation to drain. If your heater didn't come with a silencer for the air intake, there are upgraded silencers & mufflers you can buy to reduce the noise they make. The exhaust & intake pipes should go in opposing directions so that exhaust fumes don't get sucked into the intake pipe. The exhaust pipe should be pointed toward the closet edge of the undercarriage so that the fumes won't accumulate under the vehicle. If the noise of the heater disturbs you then mount the heater as far away from your sleeping area as practical. They sell quieter fuel pumps as an upgrade but their clicking is still audible. A piece of foam, preferably egg crate foam, can be wrapped around the pump to help muffle the clicking noise. Mounting the pump with a soft mount like on a rubber hanger helps to reduce the vibration when the pump diaphragm starts pumping.

Another tip, a well-seasoned mechanic who has installed many Espar and Webasto units over the years looked at my installation and advised me to, YES, keep the PUMP mounted at a 45-degree angle but the filter should always be mounted horizontally. The reason being is that the filter, when new, will always have a bit of air in it in the top half when mounted horizontally and over time, as it starts to clog up, you can easily tell if you need a new filter when you see that the filter is FULL of fuel. (restricted flow) I have no reason to doubt this man as he has been using these things for decades on his fleet of trucks and has been both a certified automotive and heavy-duty mechanic for more than 45 years.

You are awesome! This was definitely the best pro tip video I've seen for these Chinese heaters. Concise, straight to the point, great video and music and no senseless chatter, which makes your videos very interesting to watch!

Also thank you Hugh for this very informative video, to us rookies who are teaching ourselves, it means the world to have this broken down and explained as simply as possible with the experience behind recommending what to use and what not to use. Greatly appreciated this video

I am considering one of these heaters and have been watching several how to install vids. Another tip is to be able to turn off the display unit when not in use, the read out seems to fade quite soon. Easy to buy and replace but just another cost. Hope this helps out. Thank you for a informative video.

I own a Relay (or Jumper as it is called in rest of Europe) and I can confirm that the hatch for the diesel tank is just the same🙂

Your video is fantastic, Hugh. The diagram made me smile. Thank you for putting in so much work to make the video. It is EXTREMELY HELPFUL.

Excellent information and advice. Very clear. I've been using these heaters for quite a while now. I've had one in my RV for two years and it still runs like new. Your advice about proper fuel line is dead on. It's not so critical for the line running up to the filter and pump, but from pump to heater you must use the 0.2 cm (id) tubing. It's hard for a reason. The soft rubber hose absorbs the pump's metering pulse. It doesn't allow a full pulse with soft hose. Don't know why they send this stuff with many heaters. Kind thanks for taking time to explain these things. You are helping many folks. Instant LIKE and SUBSCIBE! Greetings from Alaska.

Some great tips high for those people installing this heater.

All of your tips are essentials for reliable performance

I have an observation to make concerning the use of a hard fuel line between the pump and the heater. It seems a soft fuel line like automotive fuel line would serve somewhat as a bladder that would reduce the number of times the pump 'clicks' and also take some shock out of the system. A pump 'clicking' into a solid plumbing system is going to see a rapid rate of pressure increase so the pump likely would pump less each 'click'. Another point: It seems drawing some of all of the combustion air for the heater from the living space would be handy for moisture reduction. I doubt that many campers are so air tight that the heater would be starved but if starving were a problem ventilation openings could easily be added. Nice job on the video and install. Thanks.

Thanks for the tips dude! - I was going to fit the tank that came with the kit but I think ill just plumb in the sender on my Ducato!

Hi , great video. Just a tip for priming I used a spray pump from my wife's "Spray & wipe" bottle, the tube is the same size as the fuel line, so its just a matter of sliding it into the outer tube at the filter, it only takes a few seconds and it's done. Just be Shaw you put it back before the wife sees it's missing.

Great tips. Very informative, Thank you!

For the intake tubing, I would recommend SCAT tubing. Comes in all sizes. Used a lot in aviation, boats, and high performance cars. High temp resistant, durable, flexible, and won't collapse.

very very helpful tips! thinking of buying a diesel heater soon.

_Nice vlog with tips; I'm keeping this one to pass along to others who want to install their own. When it comes to these fuel tanks that come in the kits. There two main things that people miss. First is the tank itself. That little square foot is to give the tank a slight tilt for either way. Not to place the fuel nipple into. Although you can, as many do. Now, secondly, the lid, if you look under it pull these apart, you can put the fuel line through the top and into the next piece, pull the rubber from the clear piece. For installment into any camper, van, or trailer inside, you really want your fuel to feed your heater from the top, NOT under the fuel tank. Here the kicker, then you can use anything that holds diesel fuel for your needs. I just got done using 2 stainless steel jug for a fuel tank for a customer. Or you can use regular fuel can. If it ever goes bad, you just lift the whole line out and drop into a new tank in 10 sec. Those tanks for the kits can and will split right at the seams; I've changed out like five of them already for people and have always replaced with some type of top-down fuel line system with a replacement tank of some sort for the customers. When it comes to the pump, you can take all the air bubbles out caused by the piston's cavitation. You have to use a hand-operated vacuum pump. Once you prime to the pump with a hand-operated vacuum; connect the fuel line to the pump; a pump for a minute, add a foot foot-long, and a hand pump to add a strong vacuum and draw out the air. Once that done, you can run your line to the heater and prime until you get to the heater, pump out the fuel for a sec, then make the final connection to the heater. At that point, you can have the pump at 0° through 90° as long as you don't run it out of fuel from the tank. My own fuel line from the tank to pump is 2'; from the pump is 15' to the heater. A total of 17' with no air bubbles. My own build is the longest fuel line run to this day. Have also started to use 4mm air/ oil push-to-connector within the fuel systems, too, with no issues._

Great video, thanks. I know someone who had the air intake pipe squashed and killed the heater so definitely try to mount that pipe somewhere as protected as possible.

OK so I am waiting for mine to arrive (went for an all in one unit). I thought id get it early on so I can dry out my convoy properly before doing all the prelim work and insulating. Had always though I would go with a woodburner but an experienced mate extolled the virtues of the diesel heater. Slightly beginning to wish I hadn't as I am now going down the KZfaq rabbit hole with this stuff! However, thanks for this video Hugh, and thanks to all those giving great insights in the comments! S.

Great video! I literally just bought a diesel Ducato (Dodge Promaster here in the US) and am looking to install this exact unit! And wondering how to tap the fuel tank as well! Thanks a bunch, saved me a sh*t load of time

Great video and useful safety points too. I’ve heard a number of installers also upgrade the filter as they are often fragile or brittle. Cheap enough from Halfords. Like the idea of something more substantial for the air supply to the heater too. ✅👍

Very interesting, l hope we get to see you install it 😊

I've got three of these. I swapped out virtually all the fittings including fuel tanks. I used a hydroponics 15ltr top fill and top outlet tank, they are fully chemical and solvent resistant. so no fear of leaking from bottom fittings. I agree that the hose clips supplied are not very good quality. And I use proper diesel fuel line with the braided outer covering. I love them super heat output. Cheap spares as well. PS good video for beginners.

Thanks so much for the tips!

Im a Newby about to select and buy a unit. You video is first class and helpful. You ention things I don't even know about, so couldn't consider? Great work!

Great video. I’ve got both relay and a boxer and can confirm that he Relay is the same set up with easy access to the top of the tank

On my heater I used a reinforced silicone pipe with a engine oil breather filter on the end and that helps a little in reducing the intake noise. The exhaust I used the fiberglass heat tape on it just as a precaution. The only other thing I did with mine is to reduce the top speed of the fans by a small amount to reduce vibration noise and it's now lovely and quite (for a diesel heater) and the van is toasty warm.

Just installed in my 92 Defender 110. Used 7/8” inner diameter rubber drain hose to extend the air intake 8 feet to a high location in the engine compartment away from water. I’ve got it tied back and away from the hot parts of the engine. It may not last forever but so far so good!

I was thinking about fitting a wood burning stove in my shed/workshop but now I'm considering one of these diesel heaters. 👍 😎

Excellent! Awesome detailed video amen. Just subscribed! Thanks...

Good video it is good to have these points given verbally, but one point a good inline switch is great and needed if you leave fire not used for long time. But switch must be safe and never used to turn fire off.

Yes I always pre prime the lines going to the pump your right about the dry wear too

Bought one of these for our Boxer and that tip about the inspection hatch above the fuel tank will be invaluable 👍🏽 Thanks Mate 🚐💨

Very helpful. Thank you

For the inlet pipe I made a mandrel from a broomstick which I screwed in a threaded rod into. The mandrel can be used to make a coil out of (what I use) 1,6mm thick mig welding wire. One can also use the thicker gardening wire or simply fencing wire. The coil can be fed over the flimsy pipe which keeps it from kinking or deforming very easily. In general one has to be careful how such pipes are mounted and routed...

yes relay tank accessable on my 2016 model through hatch under passenger seat.

Tx bro for all your good advice 🙏 God bless you. 🙌 Much love from South Africa 🇿🇦

I'm surprised that you have not made a video showing how to tap into the fuel tank of the Relay/Boxer/Ducato. This would be super useful for many as I can't find a good how to.

Great video as always 👍

ive been using the intake and exhaist tubes for years that came with my heater.. no problems with the intake getting clogged or the pipe squished.. you just have to protect it whern you install it that you have the exhaust pointing toward the back of thre van / bus / RV so that you dont oush dirt, bugs, water, etc into the exhaist while you are driving.

the return fuel line is a perfect picup.alot of companies give u an exorst thats 2-3 mm to big & use exorst paste .

EXCELLENT advice! Thank you for the video.

I bought one of these heaters so this is a great video for me. The only thing I think you need change if using the t5s own tank is the pick up pipe. The one that comes in the kit,the nut is to big and doesn't fit on the sender. I got the proper one for about £12 I think.

I use the soft Fuel pipe have done for 6 years i have 3 heaters , The hard pipe makes click click noise , the soft pipe nice and quiet , the fuel pulse has no dramas with the soft pipe at all Rob NSW Australia

I just got my heater installed at the garage I use who also convert camper vans. My fuel comes directly from the van tank, but that pick up pipe in the kit is not required. Instead the fuel line is spliced using a "T" piece. I also purchased a mounting plate with 65mm turret so only one 125mm diameter hole needs cut on the floor, my heater is mounted under the drivers seat and I have a 2kw heater which is adequite. You are correct about that green tubing, the minute he saw that he said you will need some descent fuel grade tubing. I wired mine into my fuse box even though it has a 15A inline fuse. I don't want the display runing constantly and when my van is parked up and not in use I use the power isolation switch mounted beside my leisure battery to power off. I found it strange that 5kw heaters are cheaper than 2kw.

what a great to the point video ! i didnt have to watch you eat a burger and pet your dog for 20 minutes :-) Thank you :-)

Excellent advice regarding the nylon pipe instead of thr green soft pipe and pushing it home fully so it touched the end of the pump pipe also good 👍 info of the crap jubilee chinese clips

Nicely explained. Thank you very much 👍🏽

Thank you for this vide, I've learned a lot from watching this. (And this is the 2nd time I've watched it).

My tip is to not use the rubber gasket that goes next to the exhaust outlet. Mine was heating up and burning, giving off burnt rubber fumes. I took it off and used fire resistant sealant instead.

fuel may cause stripping of certain types of hose, gradually perforating the fuel hose Make sure to use the rated hose for Diesel And prevent a cause of fire

I agree complete with you - thank you for your video, instructions, presentation etc. I fix and customize vehicles since many years. So I use good parts, to get run without problems. ie a cheap clamp can become terrible. But no One wants to get this. So I have a box with good clamps in different sizes. This shown green tube roll is ie in use for the water system by the windscreen wipers. Or at fish tanks. But not for fuel. There are bigger rubber tubes with textile reinforced - mounted in vehicles. With a small pump like these diesel pumps, you need small tubes. Made of material, who stays solid, while the pump is soaking. = you said it right. Here in germany I use light oil for heating. Even to fill a diesel heater tank. Because it costs the half price = cheaper as diesel fuel. And I have 4.500 litres light oil at home. But it is illegal, to drive a diesel car with light oil. Starting year 2021, the diesel price climbs up to seven Euro-cents more per litre. Here in germany. You can say, a running diesel heater needs not much diesel. ie a 5 kw heater, who makes 2 kw heating, needs less diesel and less noise, as a 2 kw heater. But if you let run the diesel heater several hours per day, it will need his fuel. And this costs his price.

So I used the soft line that you said not to use... And I noticed today that the line had micro cracks all the way up it after some moderate use... I installed it about 5 months ago. So yeah time to get the nylon one and change them over

wow i have had issues with mine blowing exhaust fumes back into the van so i have had to cut it off, didnt realise the importance of letting it run down. very helpful thanks

Super helpful! Thanks!!

I installed one of these in my travel trailer (caravan). It came out of a wrecked semi truck (transport). Nearly all truck manufacture's here in the States use the same heaters in the sleeper berths. Very quiet. My next project is to install the APU (Aux. Power Unit) from the same wreck to supply house hold electric power and air conditioning. It is also diesel powered and circulates engine coolant thru the vehicle engine block when parked.

Sprinters and Masters have an aux feed fitted on the sender, it's capped off and is really simple to use. My Ducato had a hatch like your Boxer but bizarrely it did not line up with the sender! External tank to the rescue.

Ducato also has cabin access to the fuel tank.

I've used stock fuel tubing between pump & heater and exactly as long as manual suggests. Now thinking it more clearly it makes sense to use hard line there. My filter is just after tank and has short stock tubing, rest of suction tubing to pump is braided rubber fuel line, some 6 meters. My only issue is when running out of fuel... getting it running takes some time and likely wear of the pump.

Perfect timing, been looking into diesel heaters for my build

Awesome informative video, thanks. When you mention about priming the fuel pump, how do you do this? Many thanks.

The vw t4 has a round metal panel under the passenger seats unscrew that and you have access to the top of the fuel tank/sender it means unbolting the seats but easier than dropping the fuel tank 😉

good vid man !!!!!!! very helpful

Thanks for making an excellent video

good stuff here

An in-line fuel filter is a good idea also

Good few tips, there, Hugh.. 👍 I've fitted mine, but not wired it yet. Firstly I discarded the plate and bought a turret plate for £19 with sufficient depth to protect the plywood and insulation layers and protrude through the bodywork..then I had some of the nylon pipe from a previous van. The jubilee clips, are all stainless ones from online. I didn't use any of the ones that came with the unit. When I wire it up, I'll be cutting the battery wires as short as possible, to avoid voltage errors, or maybe changing them to thicker wires.. 🤔 Oh and lastly, I bought some aluminium ducting from Amazon, as the ducting supplied is minimal, considering it came with a T junction and two vents...lol Great vid..thankya.. 👍

Very informative well done 👍 I got a tip get a wood burner 😂

Great vid thanks. I want to fit my heater under my van for the following reasons . My bongo isn’t that big and it would save space ,also I think it would be quieter. . It would be mounted on its side with the glow plug also on its side . I know weather proofing could be an issue but I think I can rig up some protection .i have seen this done on KZfaq . What do you think ?

Yes I have 07 fiat ducato campervan and it's the same

I found the pump very noisy on first installation. Now mounted in a diecast box with filter. The box is on vibration mounts on the caravan chassis rear. I can just hear the pump faintly when in side, if I want to and that is loud enough. Mine is through its own switch at the battery. On at the start of a trip and off on return home. I kept hot air hose to one length and one vent for a 21 ft heavily insulated van in Australian climate. All good.

All the cutaway vans I have had in the U.S. already have the dip tube installed in the fuel tank from the factory. You only need to pull the rubber cap off and hook up.

So use direct fused positive to battery Allowing to cool down and save your PCB electronic printed circuit board .👍

Yeah the relay's do!

nice one fella

Useful video I’ve installed one recently in 16plate boxer wanted to tap into sender unit but forums are saying removing sender unit can be awkward also read something about having limited time to refit sender unit as possible immobiliser issues for some reason , I opted for a tank like Mel uses for now also put the pump underneath on the chassis cross section much quieter , if you manage to tap into sender can you make a video be awesome 👍

Another great tip if the unit is the 230v type get a UPC

Thank you very good advices

Great video, thanks a lot!

Thank you Hugh for the great video. Can you please tell... if I mount the fuelpump to same level with the heater, is it gonna work properly? Otherwise I must mount the heater higher and theres gonna be a gap between the heater and the camper floor...

Hi Hugh, thank you for the tips in relation to the heater. I am in the process of fitting a 5kw one to my garden pub shed 5.5m x 3.5m, Im sure it will be warm enough. The only issue I have is that i do not want to install anything other than heater pipe and controls to the inside of the shed, therefore plan to build an outside construction to house everything else. Would I be better going for brick or wooden box to house these. Not sure of what heat the unit itself creates. I am aware that the exhaust gets pretty hot but I plan to insulate it. Hope you cna give me some pointers as to size and makeup of the container as there are very few online ideas cheers Colin

I fitted mine like Mels Van World does his installs. Buy a more suitable custom sized tank online that fits your location, I only had space for a small 5 litre (ask for a lid with one way valve) Buy a fuel outlet tube that fits at the top of the tank. In my case this has two benefits - the tank can't leak fuel at a low point like the standard tanks and you don't need the fuel filter as any impurities sit in the bottom of the tank. Especially because my filter when it was fitted being a cheap part leaked diesel.

It's funny what you say about the air intake because I ordered yesterday an exhaust pipe to replace it.

The last tip about overheating the PCB board is why I don't put the heater on a switch. While the controller draws a bit of power even on off, after the heater fully shuts down and cooled, and only when I don't plan to use the heater for the night (say, when I'm done camping in the cold), will I disconnect the controller to prevent a parasitic draw to the house/aux battery.

Excellent thanks

Garden fish pond hose is great for air intake plus a cold air filter from a cheap moped is brill

Hi Hugh, I've been researching old install videos lately with a view of trying to squeeze one into my connect micro camper. So I was glad this popped up in my subs. A few questions you might be able to help me with, does the outer casing of the unit get hot? Could the fuel tank be mounted near main unit? Is there a possibility of mounting the unit vertically? Also is the 2kw smaller in size? Thanks. 🔥🔥

Love my fuel tank cap at the top. I hear about too many spills when it is on the side. I guess it all depends on your build.design.

Hi Hugh, been using that green fuel line for 2 plus years now without problems infact I did buy the harder nylon fuel line to replace it. I checked it around a month ago (before winter) just to check the green line was holding up and it still looks brand new after 2 years, but I have the other nylon type with the rubber ends as a back up. I also made a aluminium heat sheild that fits between the fuel line and the exhaust that fixed by the 2 main unit bolts that come through the floor.

For fresh air intake. Try some flexible conduit . It's can withstand heat but won't crush and is flexible . Also if your heater loses power. You can supplement air flow . So u don't ruin it .

The rubber pipe is better than nylon hose and is a necessity in a boat. Get a better exhaust and use the the existing aluminium one for air intake. Use the simplest on off control unit as less to go wrong. Mount where easily accessible and they're so cheap you can just get a spare if you have problems. Run on maximum power regularly to clean the carbon build up.

Thanks for the video Hugh. Is there anyway I can just connect a stand alone battery and just remove and charge it opposed to fitting it to my leisure battery. I want to keep my power source away from everything else.

fuel pump tip, spray a little shot of wd40 into the pump before you start priming, that way it has a drop of lube to work with before it gets diesel boom!

Hi , rubber tubing for the air inlet pipe. Coolant pipe from any motor factors. Also the air tube has to be the same length as the exhaust pipe.

Ahhh, the fuel supply line MYTH ! The hard line and rubber hose are legend for weeping diesel fuel. The green line is a upgrade that is more flexible for installation, and providing minimal joints. It does however require clamping more than the plastic. Zip ties with srcrew eyes work well. There have been heaters run with both types of lines, with NO noted differance in performance. The old original webasto heaters came hard line, 3mm inside and 6mm outside dimensions . This used rubber type hose for connection to tank, pump and heater. There should be no air in the system if bleeding was done properly.

ducato has same fueltank acces location. when u cutoff power there will be unburned fuel tha will mix with the sutt and slowly form a weird gunk in the chamber and on the glowspark besides melting electonic pcb and the casing . u can let the air inlet without tubing just put a wiremash not to frie any radants.

May be able to use flexible electrical conduit fery strong

Mazda bongo as easy access to top of tank also

Sound advice ;-)

great advice, much thanks! can the fuel tank and filter+pump be placed outside, or does the cold affect it? (i am guessing the fuel would be fine, considering the many diesel cars and trucks on the roads in cold climates.)