A look inside the diesel heater while running

[@un65tube]

Reminds me to myself when I was a young boy. I had to disasseble everything even though some things rendered unusuable afterwards. But that's the way you learn and understand :-) Nice video - Greetings from Germany!

[@abelowther7531]

I definitely related to that

[@joeypriolo]

That's the way I learned how engines work!

[@TheShamiester]

i took apart all my toys. looking back maybe taking apart my shell toys cars wasnt such a good idea haha

[@howardosborne8647]

That is why my parents stopped buying me toys that were already in one piece. I kept taking everything asunder and making something different from the bits. It was Meccano, Lego Tecnic and Airfix kits from then on. These days its an engineering shop at home with several machines and lots of raw materials to play with.

[@jasperbarlow2582]

Me EXACTLY.. air rifles, pistols, motorbike engines, you name it when i was an adolescent but it ,s put me in good stead as i can service and fix my own engines now saving thousands over the years on garage bills.

[@TheHermitHacker]

Seeing how this operates, I am much more confident about using one of these in my van conversion rebuild. Thank you for sharing this.

[@petethewrist]

Yes this was just what I thought,, I hate to to use somthing not understand how it works,, was good video,, is a good video,, Lol

[@AlejandroUAlvarez]

I just finished installing one in mine and I'm really happy so far, just wish the LCD had a better user interface/experience, but I guess you get what you pay for..

[@petethewrist]

@@AlejandroUAlvarez Great to hear this I am at the moment still waiting for mine to arrive, but i do like to know what I am doing and when possible well in advance,, I think the heat of the exhaulst is waisted so I am going to buy a longer pipe and run t through my boat before going out,, Cheers, Pete

[@White000Crow]

These heaters are great! I put one into my class A and it easily keeps it warm.

[@Armandinho8]

Can you stay "I'm givin it all she's got captain" on the next video?!🖖😉👍

[@hoppo1000]

🤣🤣

[@Lucentlens]

Proper LOL from me! I vote for the same!!

[@tomtucker9426]

Lmfaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bro this comment needs more likes so he can see this

[@freesaxon6835]

The engines are naaa going to take it captain

[@AJ-qn6gd]

Classic 👍🏻😜

[@garyschultz253]

That's exactly what I wanted to see. Thank you for Sacrificing that unit for all to see.

[@harrrytoool1391]

I think the idea of extending the heat exchange chamber is certainly a good idea. More heat expelled means more efficiency less fuel and less expense.

[@glumpy10]

Very interesting to see and work out the flame path and the combustion setup of these burners. Looks like the disk in the middle is used to evaporate the diesel once the glow plug goes out. Might be some methods of operation I can build in to bigger waste oil burners. Trying to get one down to even 10 Kw is a challenge. Great Video David. Didn't waste anything, you imparted some good knowledge into a lot of people. Thank you.

[@1607rosie]

Atomization of fuel could improve efficiency also .like a jet engjne

[@randomoldbloke]

Be interesting with a bit of furnace glass over the end to see how it burns on different fuels. Great video cheers from a grumpy bastard from Australia

[@DavidMcLuckie]

I've got some borosilicate glass ordered. So we can see what it looks like with different fuels.

[@randomoldbloke]

Ahhhh great minds think alike , putting my heaters away for the dry , at last it is staying around 20c at night mid 30s during the day . Need heaters at anything below 20c just to dam cold . Possible that I have lived in the tropics for to long

[@McJunk1]

Heh, I came here to say the same thing! Would be quite interesting to see the difference between Diesel and Vegoil while it is starting. Then you could try heating the VegOil to somewhere around 60-70°C where its viscosity is not too far off of Diesel. Would be quite interesting to know what the failure point is. Burning temperature, viscosity/pressure, etc.

[@sublicenseable]

Can you also test drinking cheap vodka for one week then let it run on your urin? If it work I will buy this heater for my home

[@sosteve9113]

Interesting

[@randydicotti3975]

David, I'm an avid diesel heater lover. But one year in I have found a serious flaw with some All In One Units. It seems that some of the All In One Units used sub standard fuel tanks inside and several have spontaneously developed cracks, thus leaking a full gallon of diesel fuel on the burner unit and into my garage floor. I thought it was a bad hose connection but found that some of the very thin fuel tanks were developing cracks. As you can imagine, a full gallon of diesel fuel leaking anywhere, but especially onto a running hot burner could be a serious issue. This is one of the problems with low cost Chinese goods. You can sometimes unknowingly get some dangerous products. Thanks

[@postersm7141]

First of all you didn’t waste anything if you’re gaining education. Thank you, very fascinating.

[@billienomates1606]

Every time I watch one of your great vids Billy Connolly on stage always pops into my head and I haven't a clue why!!!!!!!!

[@reubenk7331]

Seeing the glow plug and flame start was really awesome! The mute while cutting was greatly appreciated too!

[@damiantuttle402]

Brilliant mate, really interesting and informative. As a HGV driver of 30 years I've never given it much thought how these auxiliary diesel heaters actually work, until now that is. Thank you for taking the time to make your videos. Kind Regards, Damian.

[@carlhewitt5509]

I've watched a number of your videos, David, and am much, much better educated as a result! Before then, these were just magic boxes working through who knows what supernatural means. Now, you have shown us that they are - at heart - really quite simple machines. I've just stripped and cleaned mine, replaced all the bits that need replacing and fired it up - off it goes. Couldn't have done it without you! One issue that keeps coming back to haunt me is exhaust length and build up of condensates and gunk. Mine's in a boat and needs a 6 metre run. So far, I can do no better than run it until it no longer goes and then clean/blast everything through with gunk so it works again. At least I now have the confidence to do it!

[@rronmar]

Since the water heating variant of these is so expensive, I have thought of tearing into one of these far less expensive units and exploring converting it to heat water. Thanks for the look inside.

[@myrtlepolymenopoulos9036]

My friend I'm from Greece,living now in Australia. Hydronic heating is not a norm hear and I was thinking the same with this little machine.

[@amando96]

Wrap a copper tube around the exhaust!

[@rronmar]

@@amando96 not enough heat transfer area/too much wasted heat...

[@bobjones1131]

@@amando96 ....and wait for the explosion ?

[@amando96]

@@bobjones1131 How would that cause an explosion? What exactly would explode?

[@tjawitz1973]

I've been wondering about the heat exchanger construction. I have been running 2 8Kw units in my bus for over A year now with no issues. Thank you for sharing this! Tim NH Usa

[@1bigslug]

Your donation of a heater answered my questions. Thank you sir!! Great video!!

[@siriustraveler7083]

I have been wanting to see one of these in operation thanks 😊

[@ace1usmc]

You sound exactly like Scotty in the Star Trek movies! I've really enjoyed all your videos on these heaters. I've been using a Little Buddy heater in the back of my truck for truck camping - but after watching all your videos and test results, I'm gonna switch to one of these Diesel heaters since I can just use fuel from my tank instead of lugging around a huge propane bottle all the time. Thank you so much for taking the time to do all these interesting videos!

[@kalleklp7291]

Quite an interesting video. :) Btw..you could punch some threads in there, throw a thin copper gasket on and assemble the whole unit again. It will be easy to disassemble when you want to clean it.

[@rolfe427]

Brilliant video, always wondered how the internals worked, now I know.

[@jareddelfino5839]

"rage building" xD Made the whole video right there.

[@TOMAS-lh4er]

I'm going to slice the burn chamber into thin slices, and use them for Christmas ornaments !!

[@terrydaigle9109]

Great video explaining the inner workings of the diesel heater. Kinda thought it might work like an oil furnace used to heat a home. Just on a smaller scale. Same concept, though.

[@patrickh8602]

Possibly the coolest thing I've seen this week! Must get out more! 😂

[@easymac79]

I really would like to know if these could run on propane or natural gas.

[@adrianjohnlouis1]

Good to see it still works after all them tests you done on the poor wee heater!

[@francois2894]

Every time I think "This is my favourite video!" I watch another and then I think "This is my favourite video!" Nice one Big Dave!!

[@ovalwingnut]

Thank you for the creative DeStRuCtIoN. It's design is much more clever than I would have guessed. I think it now deserves to be mounted on the back of a bicycle for the conversation value. Cheers.

[@t2stu]

Thanks for that. I've been intrigued as to how the insides work.

[@JG-kv4oi]

I really appreciate your effort, going so far as to cut the end of the burn chamber off. Opens up a whole new realm of uses and modifications. Do you feel that running the heater with the intake and exhaust to the side negatively affects the operation or lifespan of the heater?

[@DavidMcLuckie]

I wouldn't have thought so. The diesel feed is just hitting the hot gauze and being vapourized before mixing with the air stream. Being on it's side shouldn't have any effect on it.

[@mcnihilation7286]

Thanks for doing this.👍👍👍 I've wanted to see inside one of those.

[@MudRFunR]

Interesting to see the inside. Thanks for sharing that!

[@alanmay1945]

A very interesting video indeed, unique too, no one else has done this, and fearless of you to do, I would have the same curiousity but not the guts to attempt doing it. Best wishes from Alan, in England.

[@Lucentlens]

UK, NOV 2021 Thank you for this buddy - fantastic work!

[@davidevans5782]

Excellent video mate, I have just bought one of those heaters for our motorhome and I like to know how they work, thank you for the information. PS, you sound very much like Billy Connelly 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

[@philtowle4683]

Especially with the swearing

[@ebenwaterman5858]

Thanx. I've wanted to know this too. Nice blue flame, low co. Tap between the fins and screw in threaded inserts. Heat resistant gasket or "Ultra Copper" tm. This can be returned to service. Better than new and easier to clean. :)

[@BeezyKing99]

Very interesting to see the actual running... I’ve always wondered how the burn chamber worked... now I know, thanks!

[@2cooco]

Temperature was 370 C ? Or F ?

[@wingerrrrrrrrr]

@@2cooco IR thermometer readings probably not accurate as that needs a specific surface emissivity; a thermocouple reading would be more representative of the flame temperature.

[@hillonwheels8838]

I was going to say to put some high heat glass on the end but it would probably soot the glass to quickly to be any good. Very cool video.

[@DavidMcLuckie]

We'll find out when the glass arrives. :)

[@derektodd4126]

That's what called "taking one for the cause."

[@rjds1800]

Thank you for cutting the sound during the chop saw doing it’s thing.

[@koningbolo4700]

Hello Mr David, I wonder if you have any good suggestions on what muffler alternative are out there that actually are worth the effort? I have a webasto exhaust muffler and an intake muffler and I wonder if there are better exhaust mufflers can be fitted (either a diy or retail version...)

[@paulmaxwell8851]

Very interesting, David. I'm quite impressed by the clean flame; somehow I expected a sooty yellow one. Cheers from British Columbia, Canada!

[@SleepingGaint]

So that 2000 model heats that big RV? I’m trying to decide on which model I need for my truck camper. I didnt think the 2000 would be strong enough for me but I guess it will be?? Where did you find the Y connector?

[@morganmend]

So cool! Just like a mini oil burner! Thanks for the video!!

[@chadp78canada]

I'm watching your videos on a sleepless night. It's 4:49 AM and I'm so happy that you muted the chop saw :)

[@earlhaupenthal2444]

Excellent. Exactly what I wanted to see. All exhaust goes out through exhaust

[@pling501]

What a cool video! I always wondered what was going on inside my lil furnace!

[@patriotcanuck6485]

I always wondered how that worked. Thanks for the video.👍✌

[@JoelHershberger]

I bought an 8" X 8" radiator and hooked the exhaust to it with a fan blowing on the radiator. The exhaust pipe coming out of the radiator is almost cool. I have increased the efficiency this way. I am not blowing any hot air out my window. My question is will the radiator get gummed up with crap that I will have to clean out every so often?

[@ericdee6802]

Excellent video. Not sure where your at Scotland perhaps, but here in the States there was a TV show called "Deconstructed" and they disassembled various items I e. Tv sets, small engines etc... To show the inner workings and how things were built, it was a very good show, your video is very much like it. Thanks for sharing!!! ✌️

[@DavidMcLuckie]

That sounds like a program I'd like. My favourite thing like that is the 'How it's Made' series.

[@alejandrogarcia-oo8nl]

Hi David, thanks for sharing your work. Can you cook with the combustion chamber open? It would be a good device for truckers

[@MischaGielen]

Can you tell me if the glow plug is also heated when the heater is cooling down? Sounds weird, but somebody told me when I asked about power consumption on a safe power down in case of an electricity surge (on a 12V supply). Edit: question answered in the last part, excellent !! Do you have any information about the time the power down cycle takes and the power consumption during that phase? I want to determine the capacity needed for a backup battery.

[@DavidMcLuckie]

The glow plug does run during cool down. Different ECUs run for different times. The cooling phase requires enough time for the glow plug to run and enough time for the fan to run to cool the body down so it doesn't melt the ECU. In one of the test videos I used a basic UPS type of circuit switch that swapped inputs when one went to zero volts. But the switching time was a few seconds. It would actually be ideal for an emergency heater cooldown. As in the 2 seconds it takes to switch the heater forgets that it was on and doesn't run the glow plug to cool down, but it will then turn on the cooling fan to cool the housing down. It's something I'm going to use in an upcoming build.

[@BarryDuttonSellsHomes]

The greatest single-hotdog cooker on the market. // I found the chopping as satisfying as seeing in the burn chamber. Beauty.

[@igocamping3545]

Awesome work. Thanks mate. Really great video that saved me cutting one open myself!!

[@dr_jaymz]

I was suprised to see bunsen burner blue colour initially when you took the thing out the way, that's pretty ideal burning. Somehow I expected a cooler yellower flame. They burn pretty cleanly and completely when its like that.

[@elliottmanning]

Thanks so much for showing how a DAH works!!! Cheers

[@tjairicciardi9747]

great video, often wondered how these devices worked, thanks !!

[@slavric]

Great video and no, it wasn't a waste, we all learned something from it. These heaters have incredibly clean burning and low sut accumulation. I was seriously thinking to make a water heat exchanger for one of these. It could help to rise the water temperature of a heat pump when it is very cold. I have 2000l water buffer tank and I heat it when there is sun or when the electricity is cheaper. It takes the water from the bottom, runs it thru coaxial heat exchanger where it leaves at 55°C max. I could add some 10°C perhaps and end up at 65°C. Worth a thought.

[@nucleargator1]

Question. So if the burn chamber, and cover we're extended a larger area would be heated? Would this make it more efficient?

[@DavidMcLuckie]

Yes, if you make the burn chamber longer and the heater body longer more heat is dissipated before it exits the exhaust. So you'll end up with more hot air and a cooler exhaust.

[@xvdd1]

Whatever you decide to do with it remember that the more you reduce the exhaust gas temp the closer you will run to the dew point which produces acidic condense which is ok as long as you use material that is acid tolerant and you can drain the liquid.

[@sirukin7849]

Wouldn't adding a catalytic converter reduce the amount of NOx and VOC's present in the exhaust? Then, when you did produce acidic condensate in the exhaust you could filter it through another medium to capture any release carbon. Say, using the same idea as what they're already doing on large ships when using sea water to filtrate bunker fuel and illegally distributing it into sea water. A peristaltic pump setup on the exhaust end to pump the exhaust through a dirty water tank would cause any particulate to become trapped in the water. Like a dirty exhaust bubbler. Which, you could then send that dirty water to a distillation chamber setup on the exhaust itself since it'll be burning above 100 degree's. The water would steam off leaving concentrated toxic distillate or creosote. Which you could presumably use for something else. Like wood preservative.

[@1607rosie]

Very true ,I high efficiency house heaters have to deal with the acid condensates.

[@paulmaxwell8851]

@@1607rosie Ultra-high efficiency gas furnaces and instantaneous ('tankless') water heaters deal with condensate, which must be piped or pumped to a drain. Not a big deal; the units are built with corrosion-resistant stainless alloys. I have a Rinnai tankless heater which is built in this fashion.

[@dncook1955]

That was very educational, thanks for doing this and sharing.

[@kenzaleski5198]

Very cool video! I'm thinking of getting one of these to take the chill out of my basement workshop. Funny you should have mentioned an intercooler. I'm thinking of running my exhaust out through a length of hot water baseboard element. It's thin copper wall pipe with fins to let out the heat. Why let all that great exhaust btu heat just get wasted. Maybe you could try this and see if it works? I was thinking about a 1" dia x 4' length.

[@TheAllSeeingAye]

Hi David, I'm having an issue with my Expensive Espar heater after just two weeks of running it. Within 3 days of of notices an increasing exhaust smell from the vent, it is now unbearable. The exhaust host is tight and the heater plate is mounted correctly and sealed, even if there was a small crack, there is no way that much can be blowing in. Have you ever had this issues with one of your heaters?

[@Dy3rMak3r]

Hello! Thank for the videos! Did someone noticed a strong burning plastic smell the first times of using the heater? Because mine is new and the smell feels quite unhealthy...

[@DavidMcLuckie]

Not from the heater no. None of it's plastics are the melting and smelling type. But we did get that smell from some cheap ebay vent covers.

[@sterillium]

Not sure why I'm obsessed with that bit you cut off... It's just SO pretty! You could use it as a quirky giveaway.

[@DavidMcLuckie]

I thought it looked like a Christmas decoration.

[@ifell3]

Respect to you!!! To be honest you could put some gasket sealant and tap the fins and bolt it back together just like a head. Great to see how they work, wonder if you could oil burn or kerosene feed.

[@DavidMcLuckie]

The cut isn't totally smooth so would need a little sanding to flatten it out, but yes you could do that. Kerosene will burn.

[@welshnutterz]

Very interesting, looked like an efficient flame burning when you first took the heatsink away.

[@cerealtiller]

Yes...the Core Flame was Bright Blue....pretty good for Diesel Fuel that was being Vapourised...

[@morepower3242]

I love this guy!!!!! In a straight way

[@datguy2730]

Thanks for taking the time and effort to create this video!

[@johnwyman6126]

Do it again! Do it again! But this time with different fuels. Especially waste motor oil, or other waste oils. Thanks, love your videos!

[@craigdennison8280]

Is the diesel sprayed into the burn chamber under great pressure through injectors or just a low pressure spray?

[@DavidMcLuckie]

Low, low pressure. But not a spray really. More a trickle onto a hot mesh that vapourises it. You can gravity feed them without a pump if you really wanted to.

[@andy1446100]

love this what you done you have made a small space heather in which i be using but did you do a video or not on taking the fan Assembly apart i cant find it

[@antonkoenr]

Really cool Dave, thanks for the insight.

[@wingerrrrrrrrr]

Why do they taper off the fuel in shut down mode instead of cutting it off abruptly during the process? On mine it starts to smell as it starts the shutdown from incomplete combustion. Seems like it'd be better to just cut the fuel and power up the glow plug to burn off residues during the cool off period.

[@loz11968]

Great video you could extend the burn chamber with some tube wrap copper pipe around it and use it to heat water as well

[@AussieSteveBoyle]

Or run the pipe between the cooling fins. Or wrap the whole thing in a jacket and pump the water into the jacket So many awesome possibilities for water/air heating

[@battonfive]

Thanks for the share, makes me wonder if a piston for a sterling engine could work in there nice and what rpm it would produce for an alternator.

[@vitaliy1376]

Add intercooler to the exhaust system that can heat water, so you will have a sort of water heater.

[@Dr.Muthenna]

Thanks a lot for the great video (like)... My question is...can I use kerosene or LPG for it?

[@DavidMcLuckie]

Kerosene yes, I'm not brave enough to try LPG.

[@hunterslaptop7024]

Put a screen to act as a catalytic to burn off any residue keeping the intercooler cleaner. For sure you'd bump up the efficiency. Id even run the exhaust though water or sand as a heat battery. I just got one delivered and looking for detailed operation like how many watts the fan and glow plug use. This will be for heating just my room during power outs. Bought a Jackery and a 100ah Lifpo4 to keep warm and the darn internet. Have to have the darn internet during black outs right?

[@gabrielrus5325]

Awesome video! Can you use this heater to heat up a 25sq meter room and run the exhaust trough the wall outside?

[@darrylmcginty1296]

Absolutely you can! All you will need is diesel supply (tank) and 12 volt power supply (car battery). Just make sure it draws its fresh air from outside as well.

[@kimmer6]

Great job! I wondered what the insides of the little monster looked like. Not only did he show us the bardun chamber, he had some large pustins from other onjuns lying around. I had a Scot friend from Preston Pans who I worked with for 2 years. Nobody could understand him. He called me Squirrel Meat. I didn't know why. Another new worker asked him why he called me that. It was then that I found out with his twusted Scot accent that he was actually calling me Scrotum Head. He would tell a joke in the lunch room. Nobody laughed. I would retell it in American English and everyone laughed. His answer to that...fookya, Barney!

[@savinhohan398]

Foarte bine este asistată flacăra/arderea ; la albastru . Devine interesant ca soluție încălzire de siguranță , poate și de scurtă durată ori chiar înmagazinând căldura sau captând-o pe cea din fum cu radiatoare tip burlan . Siguranța exploatării mai contează !

[@unlockeduk]

im interested to see if any extra heat can be pulled out using a catalic converter would that work?

[@mmmhhh.]

when he said, "hellooo" i literally thought he would say, "im a mario"

[@patriotcanuck6485]

Where did you get that power supply thing. The white box to the upper right of the screen? Thanks. 9:00

[@DavidMcLuckie]

amzn.to/2E5qRoY

[@basketballperson1350]

What do you think about gating an oxygen tank and injecting some o2 into the air intake? Would it burn cleaner? Maybe even some NO2

[@romeo8249]

Fantastic video very interesting and informative

[@tonypet1518]

A man after my own heart, let's cut the end off! Yea. Good video. Cheers 😁

[@DonnieDarko1]

😀

[@dhenschel4]

Thanks for doing this - it would be interesting to see the intercooler setup, but must deal with the condensation somehow. Could just point the whole set-up down and let the condensate flow out the end, but rust may be the devil here.

[@keithandrew3079]

Great stuff well done I'm going to install one of these in our sleep out do you think it will be ok in a wooden building with the exhaust system taken out safely underneath ?? The weather here is freezing and I want to cut down our excessive power Bill's

[@DavidMcLuckie]

I'd just make sure the exhaust is far enough away from the wood, perhaps use a steel plate with a hole to space it.

[@DavidBeckenholdt-vu2lu]

Super cool view! Thanks

[@dellawrence4323]

It seems like the glowplug is the only thing that may fail after a while, I wonder if you can buy and replace them?

[@DavidMcLuckie]

You can. Actually you can get spares for just about every part.

[@graymatters6155]

I just got one of these and the one feature I wish it had was during the rundown process. When you shut it off I wish there was a mode that could keep that high-efficiency lowest heat, optional and quiet exhaust. I hope they create some sort of firmware update, or new controller that includes that run down in to off mode as a standard speed option

[@mikeschafer4446]

Brilliant. I wanted to know how it worked. Thank you

[@NeillWylie]

Cool video. Enjoyed watching this.

[@malcytull]

Brilliant, thank you for posting.

[@frederick6008]

04:55 Very impressed. Nice blue flame, complete combustion.

[@TheOriginalAndysGarage]

Such a cute little flame that puts out a lot of heat I have an 8K always wondered what was going on in there

[@chrisneville7310]

Hi David, you should look at converting one to run off of methane, now that would come in handy for sure. Love your videos 👍

[@cambridgemart2075]

Were your weights Subaru pistons and a viscous centre diff by any chance?

[@DavidMcLuckie]

They were. :)