Stinking Heater

[Paxtonend]

We just took delivery of our beautiful new T6.1 4 motion Ocean. I spent some time at the weekend pushing buttons and fiddling to try everything out. We have had normal motor homes for years but they only ever had gas/lec heating so this is the first time for us having a diesel heater. I tried it out and it worked beautifully, and it was impressively efficient but.....it absolutely stank! It was more of a plasticy smell and I am 90% sure it was because it is brand new and never been run before. I only ran it for 15 mins but I dont think I could have shut all doors and windows and gone to bed. Can someone shed some light on how they use these heaters? Are you happy to set it to low and leave it on when you sleep or do you always turn it off at bed time? For those of you who have had new vans did your heater smell initially? Thanks all.

 

[Doorbundle]

Ours takes 5 -10 minutes to warm up fully, there is an initial burnt diesel smell. The heater exhaust appears to emits below the sliding door. Some inevitably enters the interior and also it appears, through the interior heater outlet. The more you use it, the better it gets. When on EHU we use a Kampa Cube (From the club shop) which is adequate to warm the interior.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

We just took delivery of our beautiful new T6.1 4 motion Ocean. I spent some time at the weekend pushing buttons and fiddling to try everything out. We have had normal motor homes for years but they only ever had gas/lec heating so this is the first time for us having a diesel heater. I tried it out and it worked beautifully, and it was impressively efficient but.....it absolutely stank! It was more of a plasticy smell and I am 90% sure it was because it is brand new and never been run before. I only ran it for 15 mins but I dont think I could have shut all doors and windows and gone to bed. Can someone shed some light on how they use these heaters? Are you happy to set it to low and leave it on when you sleep or do you always turn it off at bed time? For those of you who have had new vans did your heater smell initially? Thanks all.

The plastic smell wont last for very long, its the same when you have a new exhaust fitted. Just residue oil from manufacturing process burning off.

 

[WelshGas]

We just took delivery of our beautiful new T6.1 4 motion Ocean. I spent some time at the weekend pushing buttons and fiddling to try everything out. We have had normal motor homes for years but they only ever had gas/lec heating so this is the first time for us having a diesel heater. I tried it out and it worked beautifully, and it was impressively efficient but.....it absolutely stank! It was more of a plasticy smell and I am 90% sure it was because it is brand new and never been run before. I only ran it for 15 mins but I dont think I could have shut all doors and windows and gone to bed. Can someone shed some light on how they use these heaters? Are you happy to set it to low and leave it on when you sleep or do you always turn it off at bed time? For those of you who have had new vans did your heater smell initially? Thanks all.

The longest I've run it for was 5 days, just varying the Heater level as required. The warm air into the vehicle is just recirculating from the air intake in the drivers stepwell.
Once it is run in all will be well. According to the Heater manufacture it should be run for an hour monthly if not used otherwise.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

As far as letting it run when you’re asleep, I think people advise you to have a carbon monoxide alarm. These are cheap on amazon and quite small. We used to leave ours in the netting below the glovebox on our T5.
I actually don’t have one but haven’t used the heater since the kids got older.

 

[WelshGas]

As far as letting it run when you’re asleep, I think people advise you to have a carbon monoxide alarm. These are cheap on amazon and quite small. We used to leave ours in the netting below the glovebox on our T5.
I actually don’t have one but haven’t used the heater since the kids got older.

A CO alarm is of more use if you cook inside the vehicle using the gas burners, without adequate ventilation.
The Parking Heater burns diesel outside the vehicle and the amount of CO produced is barely measurable and would be external to the vehicle.

 

[Elly Swanson]

I’m really sensitive to the diesel fumes. It can give me a bad headache, clogged sinuses, sore throat, itchy eyes and ears and if I get It bad, flu like symptons without a temperature . Doesn’t affect my hubby at all.

 

[Paxtonend]

Ours takes 5 -10 minutes to warm up fully, there is an initial burnt diesel smell. The heater exhaust appears to emits below the sliding door. Some inevitably enters the interior and also it appears, through the interior heater outlet. The more you use it, the better it gets. When on EHU we use a Kampa Cube (From the club shop) which is adequate to warm the interior.

I’m really sensitive to the diesel fumes. It can give me a bad headache, clogged sinuses, sore throat, itchy eyes and ears and if I get It bad, flu like symptons without a temperature . Doesn’t affect my hubby at all.

Blimey, I don’t like the sound of that!

 

[Chris Hardern]

Ours always smells, but as far as I am aware, nobody has been overcome by fumes yet and it does keep you warm. They are apparently safe so we keep using it. It is one of those things you get used to after a while. The only other issue is that it seems to vent on the off side which is where the awning is so not sure if the fumes can disperse as well when attached. I guess VW would have faced some very expensive litigation claims if it was not safe and would therefore have stopped installing the diesel heater.

 

[Keith Smith]

On mine, and I assume everyone else’s, the exhaust is right in the middle of the vehicle. The heating unit has a tiny exhaust pipe that just comes out of the unit and stops! We have tried, unsuccessfully, to get Eberspacher to take responsibility for the smell as they advertised that it was completely odour free. However they do make a catalytic converter for it which, pre Covid, I was thinking of trying, as I too have a severe sensitivity to the smell.

If anyone is interested in fitting a catalytic converter the part number is; 22.1000.40.1700. This is the email I got from Eberspacher.

 

[kurienp]

On mine, and I assume everyone else’s, the exhaust is right in the middle of the vehicle. The heating unit has a tiny exhaust pipe that just comes out of the unit and stops! We have tried, unsuccessfully, to get Eberspacher to take responsibility for the smell as they advertised that it was completely odour free. However they do make a catalytic converter for it which, pre Covid, I was thinking of trying, as I too have a severe sensitivity to the smell.

If anyone is interested in fitting a catalytic converter the part number is; 22.1000.40.1700. This is the email I got from Eberspacher.

View attachment 68300

Thanks for the info Keith. May just try it. But at 250 delivered, it is an expensive proposition. It should be a fairly easy DIY.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[rod_vw]

All diesel blown air heaters smell to some degree, as others have said the smell reduces significantly when they have been used at full power for a while. Also when they have not been used for a period.

A correct installation has the combustion portion completely isolated from the vehicle heating air thus there can be no cross contamination between them and so no ingress of harmful gasses into the habitation area.

The smell that you get into the vehicle from the exhaust either comes in through open doors, windows or vents. I assume that a California has gas 'drop-out' vents in the floor below any portion of the body that has gas connections within it so these are one source of smell from below the vehicle that cannot be avoided. If you find these vents DO NOT block them they are for gas safety.

As for continuous use day and night, there should be absolutely no reason not to do this except for fuel and power usage limitations. Think of the average long distance HGV driver who lives in his (or her) cab day in day out in much colder climates than we camp in. He (or she) will be using an Eberspacher as permanent central heating whenever the truck is parked or on the move if necessary.

We use ours set at our comfort temperature in cold weather just like a household central heating system, it comes on whenever the thermostat calls for heat for shopping trips, camping or just general driving out and about in the colder weeks of the year. We have used an Eberspacher heater in this way for at least ten years in various campers. Our biggest failing is forgetting to switch it off when we get home!

So don't worry about it, just live with it and enjoy it. Why be cold when you have spent well over a grand on having warmth available?