[CincyBearcats]

First, thanks to you and to @nealcallan for the excellent documentation and descriptions of this system. Your installations look professional. I really appreciate it and hope to make use of this some day... if we ever get a van.

Eventually I will fully drop the tank and install a smaller pipe as others have documented

Is this really necessary? Have you had issues with the factory fuel pickup line? I know some people here have encountered problems, but I don't have a good feeling for just how widespread this issue really is. I helped a friend install an Espar Airtronic gasoline heater on his Transit using the factory fuel pickup, and it has worked flawlessly for two winters now at elevations above 10,000 ft.

The ComfortHot tank and heat exchanger get blazing hot. No problem when heat is desired, but counterproductive when you need cooling.

Summer use is a concern that I have. Did you consider mounting the tank outside the vehicle in a well-insulated box? Losing heat in the winter seems to be the lesser evil compared to gaining heat in the summer.

For now, no duct work attached to air handler; plan is to box out a duct along floor from side-to-side with thin linear register.

Did you consider using radiant floor heating? If so, what made you decide against it?

Last question... Have you been satisfied with the control module provided by Rixen? In my mind, this is the main reason to get the Rixen system despite the additional cost compared to building a similar system by hand.

Thanks again!

 

[CincyBearcats]

In any event, best wishes with the future!

Thanks SO MUCH for the detailed responses. This is all very useful information. Your reasons all make sense to me, so thanks for sharing.

Yeah, the PSD has been our issue. My wife is tiny and cannot safely open/close the sliding door when parked on an incline, so it's a must-have option for us. We just need to be patient. This is certainly a first-world problem, after all.

 

[CincyBearcats]

Cincy, I really do hope you get your van! I recall seeing your name/posts here when I first joined, so it's hard to believe you don't have one yet. I guess back in 2020 you got caught up in the PSD fiasco; can't recall for sure. In any event, best wishes with the future!

We FINALLY have a van and are working on the installation of our Rixen's system. Once again, huge thanks to both of you (@NealCarney and @nealcallan) for all of the great information that you have provided here on the forum.

it was many iterations and waaay to much time lying under the van in staring mode trying to make all the pieces work

This is so true now that we actually have a van in the driveway. Our neighbor recently commented to me that our driveway looked like the scene of a van landing on the Wicked Witch of the West. Ha!

I'm looking to copy the locations that both of you used for the furnace and glycol hose routing.

1. furnace bracket - I'm thinking about using Send Cut Send to fabricate a bracket to interface between the Espar bracket and the van metal. Do either of you have additional photos of your interface bracket? I assume that you used rivet nuts in the van metal to attach the bracket to the van, but how did you attach the Espar bracket to the interface bracket without interference of fasteners?
2. glycol hose routing - The hose routing that you used through the floor of the wall cavities is ingenious. On the interior of the van, it looks like there is plenty of room for a drill and a hole saw. Underneath the van, however, I'm struggling to see how you managed to drill holes there. The forward mount for the leaf spring seems to interfere with any chance of accessing that location with a hole saw on a drill. How did you manage to drill both of those holes? What size hole did you drill? Did you align the internal and external holes vertically with each other (i.e. vertical hole in wall cavity is directly above the horizontal hole under the van)?

Thanks again for all of your help!!!

 

[CincyBearcats]

Thank you SO much, Neal and Neal!!! I just ordered a 90º drill and some 5/8" and 3/4" silicone hose. I hope to get started on this in the next week or so. Your photos and insights are EXTREMELY helpful!!!

 

[CincyBearcats]

Not sure if it helps, but I have a few photos of my mount - on the driver's side, next bay forward from the one ahead of the leaf spring:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8mFeteo5cAr3nKmw7

Thanks for the photos! It's really useful to see others' solutions. I need to work on my creativity skills. Ha! I hadn't considered that particular bay. I'll take a look.

 

[CincyBearcats]

We have the extended length T-350 and mounted the furnace behind the rear wheel and then routed the glycol lines through an opening near the rear bumper that has a rectangular rubber plug from the factory so that we didn't have to drill any holes. It makes the glycol loop a little longer but that has not caused any issues with heat loss.

I looked at that location but initially ruled it out because I was worried about the furnace getting blasted by road salt and sand during the winter. Also, it seems to be a bit more exposed to rock strikes because the underbody is not as deep behind the wheel as it is in front of the wheel. Have you had any issues with this? Would you care to share some photos? Thanks!!!

 

[CincyBearcats]

The system has been installed for about three months and no leaks yet; I monitor regularly since things can change. I did exclusively use constant tension clamps (no worm drive clamps) including on the air handler; no issues. By the way, I forgot to mention in my post that having one of the flexible hose clamp pliers shown in the pic below is really a must for the constant tension clamps. Makes your life much easier since you are working in confined spaces.

Hi @NealCarney - If I was to redo the project I'd go with constant tension clamp. I was unfamiliar with these types of system and just went with hose clamps out of convenience. Overall only just the one small leak and I do a check after each trip. Those hose clamp pliers are very cool, have not seen those before.

As I (slowly) plod along with this project, I really appreciate all the advice that you two (and others) have offered here. I plan to heed your warnings about hose clamps and use only the constant tension ones. I ordered the tool that you recommended above, so thanks for that! The few constant tension clamps that came with our Rixen's system are very stout but only fit 3/4" hoses. I have now ordered three different types of constant tension clamps from Amazon to fit the 5/8" hoses, and all three variants have been very weak compared to the Rixen's ones. Would you happen to have a link to the source for your constant tension hose clamps that fit the 5/8" hoses? Thanks!!!

 

[CincyBearcats]

using bulkhead fittings to go through the floor

Thanks! I really like that solution. Would you happen to have links to the bulkhead fittings and spring clamps that you used?