Hcalory Diesel Heater Installation, Side by Side

[@jerry18201]

Happy birthday!! How hot does the exhaust get? I got one for my general but worried it will melt the bed. TIA!

[@gtalaskanadventures]

Thank you! The actual exhaust pipe itself gets very hot. But as far as the bottom of the self contained box? I’ve ran it for a couple hours straight and there was nothing noticeable. It’s a plastic box the heater itself is in so. I think you shouldn’t have any problems as long as you keep the exhaust tube itself away from anything that can melt or catch on fire. Thanks for watching!

[@danpatterson1676]

Any worries about the controller getting wet?

[@gtalaskanadventures]

Well the controller you’ll see in the video where I put it inside of the box. And I’ll be posting another video and show how I made a cover for the heater. Thanks for watching

[@bartoutdoors]

What is the main purpose of the battery? Is it for the fan ?

[@gtalaskanadventures]

No actually the heater requires the battery for several things. The glow plugs or ignition part, the fuel pump, control panel or the brain of the unit, and yes the fan. It takes quite a lot of draw on the battery in start up or ignition. One thing that can damage your heater is if you should run too low on battery power. The heater needs to have power during shutdown to keep air flowing through the system to cool itself. Without that it will damage the unit. Thanks for watching and commenting hopefully I explained it clearly and was of help.

[@mohepworth6407]

@@gtalaskanadventures I am wondering why you don't just run the power from the 12v cigarette/ accessory outlet? I understand the diesel heater to prime and heat the plug up draws power, but if you started your SXS first to warm it up first , and then started the diesel heater, wouldn't it have enough power? It should?

[@gtalaskanadventures]

Great question. So for me that would be a no. Here’s my reasons. And I may be incorrect on some. But for starters the bikes are mostly designed for certain amounts of draw on the Stator. And to my knowledge mine doesn’t have an alternator. Having to have had a stator replaced once in my 660 grizzly’s. The repair man commented that often they fail due to people adding aftermarket accessories and creating too much of a draw. Also the batteries in ATV’s are small and low amp output. Not to mention the 12volt port is again probably not rated for a high enough amp hour for the Diesel heater. It requires 15+ Amps for start up and shut down. From what I’ve heard and read you don’t want to not have enough power left at time of shutdown. It requires a fair amount of power again in shutdown mode. Without sufficient power it can cause damage to your heater by not allowing it to cool down properly. Also there will be times when I’ll want to be able to shutdown my wheeler and still have the heater running. Example… Moose hunting and Ice fishing. So I do have a new plan and have ordered a EcoFlow power station. I will be planning on hooking the heater to that and eliminate the deep cycle battery. Excited for that to arrive and test it out. Hopefully I’ll make a little video content showing the new setup. Thank you for watching and commenting. Hope that answers why.

[@mohepworth6407]

@@gtalaskanadventures thanks for the well versed reply! i am unsure what a typical utv/sxs battery can actually handle. i am thinking how it handles the start up when running. i think the trick is to not run a bunch of accessories at the same time. once the heater is running, it appears to use very little power. i will try the accessory, but also contemplate a battery stand alone option.

[@gtalaskanadventures]

@mohepworth6407 No problem! Always happy to share my mad scientist thought process. Best of luck on your installation if that’s what you’re doing. One other tip I might share if you are. My wheeler had a ton of places cold air was able to get it. They’re not very air tight. Lots of foam pipe insulation and weather strip insulation is packed in those places. Good luck!!