I have been plugging away at a 2019 350 HR Build this year and just installed a Webasto Gasoline space heater. After a review all of the popular installs and locations I found the ideal location for the heater in my particular build.
I wanted to ensure that the exhaust routing was a short path and I also wanted to insulate for sound while retaining ventilation fr the heater itself. The images show the location in front of the wheel well on the passenger side of the cargo area.
This space lends itself to a Webasto style heater as it is flat and in a location that allows the exhaust to exit in front of the passenger side rear wheel wheel.
I will be installing a cabinet over the heater with an air intake and output via 75mm tubing and diffusers located in the cabinet. A vented access panel will be located next to the heater.
Just wanted to share this install due to its unusual location versus the standard passenger seat install.
We installed a Webasto gasser in a similar spot in our PM—seems much more logical to us than mounting under the front seat as many do. You may be interested in how I routed the cabin air intake. it works well.
The Interior Ducting The heater itself is deep within the storage area under the bed with the exhaust grill emerging near the floor at the front of the bed. Drawing inlet air from near the unit wou…
Looks great. One note, I believe the exhaust pipe is supposed to be a right angle down at the very end. This might not matter, but my heater has been very finicky. I had to install the correct elbow from the ford aux fuel line all my issues went away.
I was leaning toward Espar instead of Webasto, but lost enthusiasm when I heard it would cycle hi-to-lo-to-off-repeat ... throughout the night...potentially waking me up repeatedly...unless it was s cold outside that it had to run continuously. I’m sure i would use this while awake, but my main purpose was to keep everything above freezing while I slept.
Does the Webasto do this as well? In other words, once it gets room temp to desired temp, does it shut off, then as room temp declines, does it fire back up on high...lowering speed as room temp approaches setpoint again? I’m not 1000% sure the Espar does this either, but from what I have read, that is exactly what it does. It would be much better if it ran constantly on low, or if it did shut off that it would fire back up on low speed.
For propane alternatives, Propex would be on-off-on-off too, but there is only the one speed (unfortunately). Truma might be able to be set to low-speed-only, but not sure.
Regarding location of the heater, I agree with mounting midship, but in “my perfect world,” it would be on the drivers side, so the exhaust isn’t so close to the slider door...with possible fume issues when you open the slider. I have no windows on the drivers side either, so that’s the perfect place for the exhaust.
We installed a Webasto gasser in a similar spot in our PM—seems much more logical to us than mounting under the front seat as many do. You may be interested in how I routed the cabin air intake. it works well.
The Interior Ducting The heater itself is deep within the storage area under the bed with the exhaust grill emerging near the floor at the front of the bed. Drawing inlet air from near the unit wou…
I was leaning toward Espar instead of Webasto, but lost enthusiasm when I heard it would cycle hi-to-lo-to-off-repeat ... throughout the night...potentially waking me up repeatedly...unless it was s cold outside that it had to run continuously. I’m sure i would use this while awake, but my main purpose was to keep everything above freezing while I slept.
Does the Webasto do this as well? In other words, once it gets room temp to desired temp, does it shut off, then as room temp declines, does it fire back up on high...lowering speed as room temp approaches setpoint again? I’m not 1000% sure the Espar does this either, but from what I have read, that is exactly what it does. It would be much better if it ran constantly on low, or if it did shut off that it would fire back up on low speed.
For propane alternatives, Propex would be on-off-on-off too, but there is only the one speed (unfortunately). Truma might be able to be set to low-speed-only, but not sure.
Regarding location of the heater, I agree with mounting midship, but in “my perfect world,” it would be on the drivers side, so the exhaust isn’t so close to the slider door...with possible fume issues when you open the slider. I have no windows on the drivers side either, so that’s the perfect place for the exhaust.
The cycling is how all of the heaters work. The high low action is due to voltage requirements as the unit requires both pump and fan to start up. Noise wise I would say that it is as quiet as our Isotherm fridge and whoosh of air out of the diffusers is the main sound.
I have owned several propex heaters and again a similar noise level and cycling for sure.
We chose passenger side aft of door for similar reasons. On drivers side we are installing a window in the galley so that was a no go. If the unit is in good operating condition exhaust fumes should be low and the location aft of the door and before wheel wheel allows for a very shot run of exhaust tube.
Looks great. One note, I believe the exhaust pipe is supposed to be a right angle down at the very end. This might not matter, but my heater has been very finicky. I had to install the correct elbow from the ford aux fuel line all my issues went away.
Yes you can tap into the vehicle tank. In the instance of a Transit most have an Aux fuel port that is capped off on the top of the tank. The fuel port fitting should be ordered in advance of your install day.
I should have posted this earlier, but here is the correct elbow. I don't want people to have the same headache. You can try using an adapter from an auto parts store, but unless it has the appropriate taper I think you will have problems. Mine ran before, but I got a lot of false starts for fuel and it did not like to run on low all the time. With the appropriate adapter it works like a charm! This slips right onto the ford tap and then the fuel line is inserted in the other end.
I should have posted this earlier, but here is the correct elbow. I don't want people to have the same headache. You can try using an adapter from an auto parts store, but unless it has the appropriate taper I think you will have problems. Mine ran before, but I got a lot of false starts for fuel and it did not like to run on low all the time. With the appropriate adapter it works like a charm! This slips right onto the ford tap and then the fuel line is inserted in the other end.
Thanks for posting the links!
I just received an additional order from Butler Technik that included the elbow and an additional fuel pump harness connector. Quick shipping! I also ordered the fuel tap from Tasca as well as one from a dealer so that I could finish up the project a little quicker. With that said only one dealer in the entire PNW had this in stock, so if you are going to install make sure you get these parts in advance.
Great helpful post regarding location and installation of the heater. Thank you.
You might consider a filter on both combustion intake and return air. On the D2 install in our Sprinter, we used a small engine air filter on combustion air intake and a cone type air filter on the return air. A lot of dust can get sucked into these type of cabin heaters. Not sure that it does any harm but does not seem like a bad idea regardless.
Hein's suggestion is great, but just keep in mind that the gas version of these heaters are very different and much more temperamental than the diesel heaters. If you extend the intake or exhaust in anyway make sure it meets the specifications of the manufacturer. They cannot be longer in my experience.
Here is my thought for Webasto gas heater users.
The Ford Transit aux fuel pickup design is causing issues. What seems like a good idea, goes wrong when using a Webasto heater.
The Ford aux fuel pickup was designed to prevent the aux fuel use from draining the fuel tank completely. This raised pickup point unports around 1/4 tank maybe a bit more. When this happens, the webasto connected fuel line partially drains. When you refuel the van, the aux fuel line traps an air bubble in the fuel line leading to the webasto. So, after this, the heater starts and then shuts down with the F02 flame failure when the air bubble hits the heater. After the shutdown and restart the heater works fine, until the next time you unport the aux fuel pickup.
I don't know if the main fuel line could be used for the webasto, or if the pressure is too high there.
There is the possibility of extending the aux fuel pickup lower in the tank, but I don't have that figured out either.
Pulled out the fuel pump. It looks like there are no baffles in the tank, maybe I'll do something about that. The orange tube is what connects to the auxiliary port. I ordered a PTFE tube that I'm going to try to slip over the end to extend it.
Great helpful post regarding location and installation of the heater. Thank you.
You might consider a filter on both combustion intake and return air. On the D2 install in our Sprinter, we used a small engine air filter on combustion air intake and a cone type air filter on the return air. A lot of dust can get sucked into these type of cabin heaters. Not sure that it does any harm but does not seem like a bad idea regardless.
Here is my thought for Webasto gas heater users.
The Ford Transit aux fuel pickup design is causing issues. What seems like a good idea, goes wrong when using a Webasto heater.
The Ford aux fuel pickup was designed to prevent the aux fuel use from draining the fuel tank completely. This raised pickup point unports around 1/4 tank maybe a bit more. When this happens, the webasto connected fuel line partially drains. When you refuel the van, the aux fuel line traps an air bubble in the fuel line leading to the webasto. So, after this, the heater starts and then shuts down with the F02 flame failure when the air bubble hits the heater. After the shutdown and restart the heater works fine, until the next time you unport the aux fuel pickup.
I don't know if the main fuel line could be used for the webasto, or if the pressure is too high there.
There is the possibility of extending the aux fuel pickup lower in the tank, but I don't have that figured out either.
I have noted this as a concern for many that use the Ford Aux port. I travel in remote areas and have major low fuel anxiety when I drop below a half tank so chances are that I will never see the decoupling. I travel with two 5 gallon fuel cans on my Tacoma and I suspect that the van will get the same treatment. I think pulling fuel from the engine line will cause a electronics fault but not totally sure.
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