We have had lots of questions about the modifications we made to our Chinese Diesel Heater when we installed it, so this blog will explain about what mods we made and why we made them.
The first mod we made to our install was upgrading the ducting from standard APK (Aluminium, Paper, 'Kunststoff' - plastic) ducting which arrived with the heater, to something a bit sturdier for an underslung install. We went with T7 Design's Neoprene ducting as it is weatherproof, holds its shape in angles and heat proof up to 150°C.
60mm Neoprene Ducting - https://www.t7design.co.uk/neoprene-heater-ducting-60mm-2-36-id-x1m-f02-53e-5b1.html
We also upgraded the ducting jubilee clips to stainless steel to prolong their life.
50-70mm Stainless Steel Jubilee Clip - https://amzn.to/369nxHy
Next we decided to mod elements of the fuel delivery system. The kit that came with the heater felt very cheap and basic (which you can't complain about when the whole kit cost less than £100!)
We upgraded the fuel pipe to a cotton braided fuel-grade hose to make it last longer, but make sure you match the internal diameter with the original pipe to keep the same amount of pressure and flow from your pump.
We used a professional fuel filter to stop any nasties from entering the pump, the original also did this but was also letting some air into the fuel lines.
The fuel pump that came with the kit worked well however we upgraded to a new housing for it to help protect it from road dirt and spray and also take out some of the 'ticking' vibrations that the pump creates.
Fuel Pump Protective Case - https://amzn.to/3sTjn0b
The next mod's we made were with the exhaust system where we upgraded to exhaust pipe to a Webasto/Eberspacher branded exhausts. We did this because the chinese exhaust pipe is a corrugated pipe with flared ends (which are the only section of the pipe which will fit to the heater or the silencer), however we needed to shorten the pipe (within the manual's guidelines) and the branded pipe is the same diameter throughout.
Exhaust - https://amzn.to/39e3qdn
We also upgraded the cheap jubilee clip provided to hold on the exhaust to a Mikalor exhaust clamp which we knew would create a proper seal and hold on the exhaust tightly.
Exhaust Clamp - https://amzn.to/3c3ncu1
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