Heating your bay..........(prob the most common question!)

[donallanwalker]

Along with servicing the original heat exchanger system, which I'm currently doing, are there any other heating systems out there worth using? My van is seriously cold, are there any 12v heaters out there that would help heat up the cab on the move?? Im looking into getting propex fitted for when parked up.

 

[monkeyvanwestybike]

I think you can use a Propex on the move also.

 

[slow-lane-Matt]

I feel lucky that enough heat gets to the front to demist the windscreen, as for being warm, never occurred to me !

Is there any logic that warm air would encourage condensation/rust. (That may just be a Beetle thing with their heater channels)

 

[rickyrooo1]

if your original heating is working but not great have you checked for leaks? are the exchangers original or repro? repro aren't good, insulate the centre pipe with lagging or a sleeve etc, are your door seals good>? you could also put a curtain between cab and rear to just heat the cab whilst driving, i have original heating and it gets boiling. propex can be used on the move - i have it but don't need it.

 

[gas1man]

I have the bus heating , tapped into the central heating tube and run a propex through the bus system.
Toasty and can run the propex whilst on the move. You should find it on my thread.

J & P

 

[Haveacamper]

As others have mentioned before, the original system - when complete and in good order - will throw a tremendous amount of heat out when driving.

Check for heating leaks - jack the bus up so you can get underneath it and with engine running try and feel for leaks underneath the van. I'd say work from the engine forward as (point of highest pressure forward).
Check for drafts - as others said, check your cab area for any places where heat/air can escape. poorly fitting door seals, missing pedal grommets in the floor, missing grommet through the air box to the cold air vent, mising confluted drainage pipe connecting airbox to the hole in floor behind "angel of the north" heat riser etc

If you're only concerned with heating up the cab area and dont have anyone in the back, close of the rear seat kick panel vents and the walkthough vent that blows rearwards.

 

[donallanwalker]

great info guys, can't wait to get under the bus and get stuck in!!!! Think the heat exchangers are quite new, they have the stickers still on them!!! But not sure if they are original or cheepies, ill have to find out!!

 

[DuncanF]

Propex and an electrically heated front screen make a toasty, if a bit pricey, combination.

 

[Haveacamper]

you will know straight away if they are repro or original by taking a look inside at the heat exchanger fin profile. if the stickers are still on them, chances are they are reproduction.

pic borrowed from ssvc: http://www.ssvc.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=102914" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

seriously reduced surface area = seriously reduced heat exchange!

on a different note, i would presume that if you are getting (at 2-3000rpm)

good hot air flowing - you have original HE's and no leaks
colder air flowing (in you hot air circuit) - you have repro HE's and no leak
no air - you have air leak/s and/or repro/OG HE's

 

[weeboll]

my repro heat exchangers kick out perfectly good heat, maybe the newer repros have got worse over recent years since I got mine in 07 but I doubt it!

one thing worth checking that's not been stated is to check that the cables are actually opening the heat exchangers fully!

 

[donallanwalker]

Ok, so when my hot air controls are fully on, after about half an hour you can feel the hot air there, but it's not blowing out, you can basically just feel ghost it's there, I'm going under it this wknd to investigate the problem, post some pics if I can

 

[Supertramp]

I have the original heating setup and can drive in a t-shirt in winter. Just got propex for when we're parked up though.

 

[Stueyd1975]

Dare i say it.. but mine gets a bit too warm. Original heat exchangers for me too.

 

[dubdubz]

I converted bug heat exch's [genuine ones] to work on the van several years ago - kick out an enormous amount of heat and thats without much attention to leaks.

My westy doesn;t have rear heater vents - did wonder if it would make a difference for the back folks or just sap the heating all round?

 

[marco]

If it's a u.k. bus it's worth checking that the main pipe is still there, we had a crossover Danbury years ago and the 'jacket' had nothing inside except a fine rust

 

[our bus 68]

I'm running mine with the original heating system. Repro heat exchangers but the heat still kicks out. The windscreen has always demisted very quickly.

I was asked today if I was nice and cold in my bus by an aircooled T25 owner who was on about how cold his bus is in the winter. Couldn't believe I was warm in there! :lol:

As everyone else says, check for leaks and the system works well 8)

 

[ozziedog]

I`m just about to go down a slightly different route (as usual) I agree with everyone that you can usually improve the heating by just getting it back to a decent working condition.
What I`m looking into now for other things like work and in the bus, is electrically heated jackets, I`ve just ordered a cheapo version of a gillet (body warmer) with a rechargeable battery to wear under my coat. The much better ones seem to be Makita heated work jackets and the best ones look to be the Milwaukee heated jackets, but you`re looking at about three hundred squids for a good un with a charger and a couple of batteries. Be nice to hear if anyone has any personal experience of them?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,, Too old to be cold :lol:

 

[Shoddy]

Having had our first bus for about a month now I have also noticed a lack of any air circulation (apart from via the dried up panel seals!). So read this thread with interest. Seems I have the flexi pipes coming from my fan housing but on looking under the engine they stop short by a few inches from what I assume to be the heat exchangers. Can someone confirm for me that they should actually fit onto the exchangers then at least I can fix and cross another thing off the list[WINKING FACE]

Cheers
Craig

 

[monkeyvanwestybike]

Having had our first bus for about a month now I have also noticed a lack of any air circulation (apart from via the dried up panel seals!). So read this thread with interest. Seems I have the flexi pipes coming from my fan housing but on looking under the engine they stop short by a few inches from what I assume to be the heat exchangers. Can someone confirm for me that they should actually fit onto the exchangers then at least I can fix and cross another thing off the list[WINKING FACE]

Cheers
Craig

I think they should be attached to the heat exchangers with a fat jubilee sort of clip thingy
there is a joiner tube thing also that may be missing

 

[rickyrooo1]

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