Chinese Diesel heaters.. Persistent rubber or plastic smell..

I've watched many a video on the subject of various smells coming from Chinese diesel heaters... Here's just one more video pointing out the caveats regarding the materials being used in these things.
I hope this empowers you, if you buy one of these things, to go ahead and crack it open... take a whiff... get to know your device, and make it better.
I wish these things were perfect out of the box, but they are not... they meet a price point, but require due diligence on the part of the buyer.

[@williambennon9607]

I’ve only had my diesel heater for a year and I don’t use it very often. I also seem to have a faint smell in the heated air stream (not a diesel fuel smell). I checked the air with a handheld CO monitor and a combustible gas monitor as a safety precaution and both gave no indication of a problem. I scoured the internet and most say the smell will go away after extended use (mine hasn’t). I’m glad to hear that someone else has the same problem. When i disassemble mine for cleaning, I will check the seal you refer to. Thanks for posting.

[@1992jamo]

Yeah mine smells of hot plastic. Shame because it's otherwise great. I'll take it apart next weekend before it gets too cold in my workshop/garage.

[@hammerc]

What would be the harm in covering that piece of rubber with jb weld? They make several different types, epoxy may be a good application there but not sure. Hope you get it figured out.

[@kentvarner6117]

I had that smell also. My fix was to cut a piece of tubing the same size as the intake ~3 inches round and 1 3/4 inches in lenth. Install this between the intake and the cabinet. The air will be sucked only from the outside of the cabinet and not the inside where the rubber gaskets are. It was an easy and cheap fix. It worked for both of mine.

[@rolfdungren6511]

Hi Kent, sounds like a good fix! I have to same issue. Just to check, you mean the interior intake, not the external fresh air intake? The place that has the plastic screw on vent cover?

[@kentvarner6117]

@@rolfdungren6511 yes, my measurements might be off a fraction but, remove the cover and place that piece between the surrounding metal case and the plastic case of the heater so that the intake air has to come from only the outside. I've also used a dc power supply in conjunction with a cheap programmable solar controller to keep a battery charged continuously in case of a power failure. Set up like an UPS unit.