Beach after market night heater experience

[BeachyBird]

Has any one had a “Webasto Air Top 2000 STC” fitted to their Beach and could briefly tell me how well it works as in does it keep an ambient temperature, how accurate are the temperature settings re kicking in and kicking out etc and Things you find good and things you find not so good with it.

 

[Perfectos]

Some reading for you

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/search/271480/?q=Heater+retro&o=relevance

 

[jimmywease]

I had the Webasto 2000STC fitted by Slidepods. It’s my first experience of a diesel parking heater, so I can’t really compare it to the factory fitted option, or any alternative. I’m happy enough with it though. I had a temperature sensor fitted just above the control unit, on the passenger B-pillar. It takes a while for the thermostat to settle down, if returning to a cold van in the evening. I think this is because the thermometer is affected by the cold frame of the van. It’s fine after the van has warmed up, however.

The heater would be quite noisy to a light sleeper (or neighbouring tent!) which we’re fortunately not. It sounds a bit like a turbofan jet engine spooling up. I’ve reduced the default fan speed to 1/3 to reduce the noise. Given that the heater is very powerful, I wish it had an even lower/quieter setting.

It’s great at warming up and drying the van though. I reduce the thermostat at lights-out, so it rarely kicks in at night. The dogs aren’t keen on the noise/dry air/smell but welcome it when they’re wet & cold.

Another slight negative is the exhaust smell outside the van, but if it’s cold enough to have the heater on, then it’s unlikely that anyone is sitting around / sleeping under the stars nearby!

 

[jimmywease]

My heater installed by Slidepods:

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/retro-fitting-a-webasto-parking-heater.14967/post-388203

 

[BeachyBird]

I had the Webasto 2000STC fitted by Slidepods. It’s my first experience of a diesel parking heater, so I can’t really compare it to the factory fitted option, or any alternative. I’m happy enough with it though. I had a temperature sensor fitted just above the control unit, on the passenger B-pillar. It takes a while for the thermostat to settle down, if returning to a cold van in the evening. I think this is because the thermometer is affected by the cold frame of the van. It’s fine after the van has warmed up, however.

The heater would be quite noisy to a light sleeper (or neighbouring tent!) which we’re fortunately not. It sounds a bit like a turbofan jet engine spooling up. I’ve reduced the default fan speed to 1/3 to reduce the noise. Given that the heater is very powerful, I wish it had an even lower/quieter setting.

It’s great at warming up and drying the van though. I reduce the thermostat at lights-out, so it rarely kicks in at night. The dogs aren’t keen on the noise/dry air/smell but welcome it when they’re wet & cold.

Another slight negative is the exhaust smell outside the van, but if it’s cold enough to have the heater on, then it’s unlikely that anyone is sitting around / sleeping under the stars nearby!

Thankyou so much for you informative reply can you explain how accurate your temperature/ thermostat is like if you set it to 20degree obviously it kicks in once temp drops below but at what temp does it then kick out and then does it keep a pretty much level temp by kicking in and out while you have it on. Sorry for strange questions only I’m finding ours keeps going to about 6-8 degrees above setting then kicks out and has to drop about 9-10 degrees before it comes back on and I’m not sure if this is normal.

 

[jimmywease]

Thankyou so much for you informative reply can you explain how accurate your temperature/ thermostat is like if you set it to 20degree obviously it kicks in once temp drops below but at what temp does it then kick out and then does it keep a pretty much level temp by kicking in and out while you have it on. Sorry for strange questions only I’m finding ours keeps going to about 6-8 degrees above setting then kicks out and has to drop about 9-10 degrees before it comes back on and I’m not sure if this is normal.

I certainly don’t think it allows such huge variation. As I said, if the van frame is very cold, then it might cause the b-pillar temperature to remain lower than the actual air temperature until the fabric of the van warms up a bit. The controller doesn’t appear to have a setting option (unlike Screwfix electric underfloor heating controller) for adjusting the temperature ‘gap’. Did you have a separate sensor fitted? I remember asking for this specifically. I think I was concerned that the standard sensor, reading the intake air temperature, might not reflect the van air temperature very well. Is this what might be happening?

 

[BeachyBird]

Yes we

I certainly don’t think it allows such huge variation. As I said, if the van frame is very cold, then it might cause the b-pillar temperature to remain lower than the actual air temperature until the fabric of the van warms up a bit. The controller doesn’t appear to have a setting option (unlike Screwfix electric underfloor heating controller) for adjusting the temperature ‘gap’. Did you have a separate sensor fitted? I remember asking for this specifically. I think I was concerned that the standard sensor, reading the intake air temperature, might not reflect the van air temperature very well. Is this what might be happening?

Yes we also had the separate sensor, our is operated via an App or a single button in the bus so it is easy to watch the temperature variations. Thank you for replying I think I will take it up with the fitter and see what they say. I just wondered what others have found as I’m sure they will turn round and say it is normal.

 

[jimmywease]

Yes we

Yes we also had the separate sensor, our is operated via an App or a single button in the bus so it is easy to watch the temperature variations. Thank you for replying I think I will take it up with the fitter and see what they say. I just wondered what others have found as I’m sure they will turn round and say it is normal.

I’ll try to remember to measure the temperature and use the heater before Monday's School run. During the ‘put your shoes on put your shoes on put your shoes on’ phase.

 

[jimmywease]

Yes we

Yes we also had the separate sensor, our is operated via an App or a single button in the bus so it is easy to watch the temperature variations. Thank you for replying I think I will take it up with the fitter and see what they say. I just wondered what others have found as I’m sure they will turn round and say it is normal.

I placed a separate digital thermometer at armrest height between the front seats.
At 0800hrs the temperature read 10deg.
At 0805hrs, the parking heater was set to 18deg; heating mode; 1/3 fan speed (lowest).
At 0830hrs, thermometer was reading 15deg and we drove the school run (6min drive; 3min parked; 6min drive). During the drive, we left the parking heater on but the van climate control off.
The thermometer reached its peak of 21.6deg at 1030hrs and the parking heater was observed to have shut off.
At this point, I switched off the heater.

I was surprised at how long it took to heat the van, albeit in ‘low’ fan speed mode. I suppose this is partly because the fabric of the van was so cold after sitting on the drive all night.

I would imagine that using a higher fan speed would cause a higher peak temperature (before cut-off occurred) because of the over-run during shut-down. Have you set your default fan speed to minimum?

 

[BeachyBird]

Jimmywease thank you for that info that is exactly the details I needed.
our is only operated through the App and I don’t think you can adjust the fan speed unfortunately as that would be a great asset but I will certainly check it out and may consider having the control similar to yours fitted if possible instead of the app control.

 

[rod_vw]

I appreciate that you are all speaking of a Webasto however I have fitted Eberspachers (Latest version here) in my conversions. I install them under floor and take the heating air into the heater in a front door step with the outlet below a front seat so all very similar to the VW system.

The operation of these heaters may be of interest to some of you.

I have used the Eberspacher 801 modulator with its internal thermostat sensor activated instead of the inbuilt one (that is an option at the point of installation).
When envisage needing the heater overnight I switch it on during the day or before we set off and set the thermostat at 16 degrees. Initially, on switch on regardless of the ambient temperature the heater comes on and runs up to full output then shuts down completely if the ambient is above the set temperature.
At any time that the inside temperature of the van becomes below the set temperature the heater automatically comes on and raises the temperature to about 4 degrees above the setting then shuts down. This process continues all day and night if necessary without any intervention from us, the temperature setting is of course a personal one and can be altered up or down at any time.
I have always assumed that the 4 degree overshoot is to ensure that the heater has ignited and run up to full working temperature before turning off thus ensuring that the burn chamber is fully heated and purged.
There is an added advantage of this modulator and heater combination in that it can be used as an air circulator i.e. it can be run without the heating function simply at the press of a button.

 

[BeachyBird]

Thank you for that information. I feel 4 degrees is a fair variation, ours runs over 6-8 degrees and I’m finding it difficult to believe that is how the heater should function as it then drops 8-9 degrees before it fires up again.

 

[rod_vw]

Thank you for that information. I feel 4 degrees is a fair variation, ours runs over 6-8 degrees and I’m finding it difficult to believe that is how the heater should function as it then drops 8-9 degrees before it fires up again.

The Eberspacher with the 801 modulator fires up again as soon as the temperature drops below the set temp. However your Webasto may still be relying on an internal sensor monitoring the ingoing air in the heating air duct. That is the basic system with the Eberspacher but optional with the 801 by installing an extra wire in the basic loom to the modulator which is what I have.
Monitoring within the unit does have a slower response and also means that the heater fan is always turning to keep an air flow over the sensor.

 

[BeachyBird]

The Eberspacher with the 801 modulator fires up again as soon as the temperature drops below the set temp. However your Webasto may still be relying on an internal sensor monitoring the ingoing air in the heating air duct. That is the basic system with the Eberspacher but optional with the 801 by installing an extra wire in the basic loom to the modulator which is what I have.
Monitoring within the unit does have a slower response and also means that the heater fan is always turning to keep an air flow over the sensor.

Thank you for taking the time to reply and I certainly have a better understanding of the system now.

 

[BeachyBird]

I placed a separate digital thermometer at armrest height between the front seats.
At 0800hrs the temperature read 10deg.
At 0805hrs, the parking heater was set to 18deg; heating mode; 1/3 fan speed (lowest).
At 0830hrs, thermometer was reading 15deg and we drove the school run (6min drive; 3min parked; 6min drive). During the drive, we left the parking heater on but the van climate control off.
The thermometer reached its peak of 21.6deg at 1030hrs and the parking heater was observed to have shut off.
At this point, I switched off the heater.

I was surprised at how long it took to heat the van, albeit in ‘low’ fan speed mode. I suppose this is partly because the fabric of the van was so cold after sitting on the drive all night.

I would imagine that using a higher fan speed would cause a higher peak temperature (before cut-off occurred) because of the over-run during shut-down. Have you set your default fan speed to minimum?

Thank you for doing that test the information and numbers are a great help to my understanding of how it should work much appreciated.