Diesel Heater Installs

S

superduty

Advanced Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
49
I have seen a few of the diesel heater installs on WTW and on Youtube, etc. Most of the installs do not follow the most important rule of diesel heater installs which is the exhaust and intake combustion air intake connections are supposed to be outside the cabin. This is easily accomplished on van installs where the floor is fairly thin sheet metal.

It seems on the FWC accomplishing this is a bit more of a challenge. 1. I believe the plywood is double thick in some of the typical spots where the install might go. 2. The exhaust will enter into the truck bed in most install spots.

I have seen some installs where the heater is mounted to the outside of the camper and it fits between the camper and truck bed. I am not sure I have clearance for such an install. I would also like the heater to accessible in case there is a problem with it.

For those of you who have done the install "correctly" can you post up how you have done it. I am calling it "correct," because that is the industry standard, not my opinion.
 
superduty,
Sorry I can’t give you any “first hand” experience yet. It’s in the works. I have watched a ton of you tube videos and in one of the videos saw it done this way: While it might be a little more work my plan Is to buy or build a step that hangs over the tire. I’ll use the outer rear tire of my Dually and drill two holes in the base of the step for the intake and exhaust to be plumbed after mounting the diesel heater.

Then route the forced air tube into a hole in a plate where my sliding window / screen is on my Leer mid-rise topper. With topper camping I simply don’t have the room to have it inside with the intake / exhaust routed through the floor, don’t want to drill holes in my truck bed, and I like the idea of having the unit sitting outside better from a safety standpoint. As the ones I have seen have a remote control it’s no big deal adjusting the heat with the unit outside. Even with that, I plan to have a smoke alarm / carbon monoxide detector on the inside roof of the topper.

Good Luck with your install - Glenn

(2002 F350 CC 4WD DRW 7.3 PSD)
 
Last edited:
Carbon monoxide is insidious stuff, last night I read a news report about a 5 helicopter medivac of 21 people from Lake Powell. My suspicion is faulty ventilation of a generator running the AC, or possibly an engine exhaust issue.
 
A few exterior shots of install.
 

Attachments

  • 20240719_091544.jpg
    20240719_091544.jpg
    119.1 KB · Views: 69
  • 20240108_095249.jpg
    20240108_095249.jpg
    73 KB · Views: 71
  • 20240108_095243.jpg
    20240108_095243.jpg
    59 KB · Views: 73
  • 20240108_095229.jpg
    20240108_095229.jpg
    49.1 KB · Views: 74
nikonron said:
I fabricated an aluminum sleeve for heat protection for the exhaust to pass thru.
Click to expand...

Do you have some additional photos the aluminum sleeve? Maybe photos of it before install.

What path does the exhaust pipe take after it exits the camper?
 
The sleeve is a piece of 2" aluminum pipe tack welded to 3/16" aluminum plate and drilled out for the exhaust to pass through. Tried to get you some pictures, hope this helps. You can also see that I made a bulkhead style pass through for the fuel line.
 

Attachments

  • 20240808_071835.jpg
    20240808_071835.jpg
    124.4 KB · Views: 26
  • 20240808_071721.jpg
    20240808_071721.jpg
    100.1 KB · Views: 25
  • 20240808_071701.jpg
    20240808_071701.jpg
    90.6 KB · Views: 26
It does not, it is right at the back edge of the bed. Exhaust also has a magnetic mounted hanger for ease of removal if I were to take camper off, even though I have my camper bolted down.
 
@nikonron ahhh, I think I just figured out the picture, the exhaust is routed under the edge of the bed and along the hitch.
 
Correct. Enough length so that I could get the muffler in it. I ran it without the muffler to see if the muffler made much difference and it does so I put it back on.
 
Glenn said:
superduty,
Sorry I can’t give you any “first hand” experience yet. It’s in the works. I have watched a ton of you tube videos and in one of the videos saw it done this way: While it might be a little more work my plan Is to buy or build a step that hangs over the tire. I’ll use the outer rear tire of my Dually and drill two holes in the base of the step for the intake and exhaust to be plumbed after mounting the diesel heater.

Then route the forced air tube into a hole in a plate where my sliding window / screen is on my Leer mid-rise topper. With topper camping I simply don’t have the room to have it inside with the intake / exhaust routed through the floor, don’t want to drill holes in my truck bed, and I like the idea of having the unit sitting outside better from a safety standpoint. As the ones I have seen have a remote control it’s no big deal adjusting the heat with the unit outside. Even with that, I plan to have a smoke alarm / carbon monoxide detector on the inside roof of the topper.

Good Luck with your install - Glenn

(2002 F350 CC 4WD DRW 7.3 PSD)
Click to expand...
I believe this is a correct install. Not a 4 wheel camper, but roughly same floor pack. 3 years and no problems.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0136.jpeg
    IMG_0136.jpeg
    248 KB · Views: 28
  • IMG_0135.jpeg
    IMG_0135.jpeg
    173.3 KB · Views: 22
  • IMG_0134.jpeg
    IMG_0134.jpeg
    156.2 KB · Views: 23
  • IMG_0133.jpeg
    IMG_0133.jpeg
    129.4 KB · Views: 22
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads - WTW

D
Dometic furnace combustion air
Defulmmt
D
W
Q for this still running their old Atwood heaters
Saturn949
S
J
From propane to diesel, a heater installation
2
Vic Harder
Vic Harder
P
Custom backup camera mount
parrotcam
P
R
Furnace - What am I Missing?
ski3pin
ski3pin

New posts - WTW

Back
Top Bottom