Cheap Chinese diesel heater.

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I had a chat with these guys a few weeks ago. I think these are a Russian design and used in their lorry cabs. 2kW version is what they recommended to me. Can supply only or fit. I'm not ready to fit yet so can't vouch for them - but if it is Russian it's likely to be robust given their winters. They recommend not fitting to the exterior, especially underneath so isn't vulnerable to knocks (lets face it we go off-road), although I've seen photo's of a German fit underneath with a steel guard. They tend to fit them in the seat box under the drivers seat.

https://planarheaters.co.uk/shop?olsPage=products/planar-diesel-heater-2kw-12-volt-kit
£500 is a massive mark up for a heater that can be bought for less than £130 with full fitting kit and is a very easy diy job. Several videos on youtube showing how easy they are to fit.
 
I read a comment from a wagon driver somewhere who said that they always start these heaters while the engine is running to get over the high current draw on heater start up and once heater running turn engine off. (If using it while parked up)
 
I read a comment from a wagon driver somewhere who said that they always start these heaters while the engine is running to get over the high current draw on heater start up and once heater running turn engine off. (If using it while parked up)
I’m not sure I’d describe the load as heavy on start up. My voltmeter drops about two volts with the engine off. A single glow plug and motor won’t be using much umph.
They also use the glow plug on the shut down sequence. Something to do with burning off residual fuel and carbon deposits.
I can’t be bothered looking for my mojo to charge the battery at the moment so I’ve pulled the fuses from the secondary leisure battery until it’s had a few runs. Hopefully I ain’t cabbaged it by letting it run completely flat.
 
****! I just read this post, that was one of the selling points for me that I could set it to come on in the morning. Back to scraping the inside of the windscreen again
There is a programmable box that uses next to no juice at all that you can programme to receive the signal from a spare button on your key fob. This box simply opens or closes a circuit.
I had one on the old heater and for a few quid meant I could switch it on or off from the house. I may rig this up to the new system but it will mean pressing a button to open the circuit then another to fire up the heater.
Luckily I have two spare buttons on the central locking fob that will do the job.
It’s only a case of pressing a button in the switch box and pressing the button on the fob. The box then remembers the signal and switches on or off when the signal is detected.
I believe, looking at the utube vids the LED heater controller can do the same so all signals can be sent from the same key fob.
 
It does seem like mine is draining the battery, I could leave it for weeks and it would start right up,

Dead after a few days of not using it with the heater on standby.

Could just be my battery is bad, was new 2 years ago though.
 
It does seem like mine is draining the battery, I could leave it for weeks and it would start right up,

Dead after a few days of not using it with the heater on standby.

Could just be my battery is bad, was new 2 years ago though.
Same with me. Without knowing how the battery was before fitting it’s hard to know.

Looks like you’ll have to get our Chinese friends to send you a ‘single channel, 12volt, learning, remote, switch’ via ebay.
Should be about 4 quid. Simply install between battery and heater. The instructions will tell you how to pair it with any key fob so that one button press switches it on and the same button press switches it off again.
Once the circuit is open you can fire up the heater as normal.
The standard spare central locking fobs also available on eBay have four buttons. An open, a close, an alarm and summing else.
You should be able to pair these up to both the new switch and the heater.

For those with the simple on off and temp controllers you would have to find how to bypass the on button so the heater fires up from the remote switch.

From memory the remote switch only has a live in and live out. The electronics open and close this circuit between these screw terminals.
 
Mines the fancy new red remote with a digital screen .. so I think I'd then need two fobs, one to give it power then one to start it, might loose it's pairing then too.

I think it'll be best to just put a switch in and forget the remote function,
Nice turning it on from bed but starting the land rover is more important :)
 
Mines the fancy new red remote with a digital screen .. so I think I'd then need two fobs, one to give it power then one to start it, might loose it's pairing then too.

I think it'll be best to just put a switch in and forget the remote function,
Nice turning it on from bed but starting the land rover is more important :)
So is mine. Each button on a fob has its own code. You only need to pair one button to the switch and two to the LED (one for on and one for off) the same as the fob you got with the heater.
If you look on utube it shows you what to press on the LED to pair a new fob.
It will work exactly the same as now but you’ll simply have to press the switch button first to turn on the LED. Then on or off as normal.
The only thing that won’t work is the clock on the LED coz you’ll switch the whole thing off after it’s gone through it’s shutdown sequence.

I may even buy the simple controller and bin my LED. They are available on eBay for a few pounds. I will still be able to switch it remotely with the memory switch without the worry of it using any more juice than a standard central locking unit.
 
So is mine. Each button on a fob has its own code. You only need to pair one button to the switch and two to the LED (one for on and one for off) the same as the fob you got with the heater.
If you look on utube it shows you what to press on the LED to pair a new fob.
It will work exactly the same as now but you’ll simply have to press the switch button first to turn on the LED. Then on or off as normal.
The only thing that won’t work is the clock on the LED coz you’ll switch the whole thing off after it’s gone through it’s shutdown sequence.

I may even buy the simple controller and bin my LED. They are available on eBay for a few pounds. I will still be able to switch it remotely with the memory switch without the worry of it using any more juice than a standard central locking unit.

I didnt get any remotes with mine but you can obviously use one, there is a wireless signal and an option to use different mhz settings. Do you have a link to the remotes on Ebay?

Yes, I installed without consulting the manual. When I did eventually read some I was sorry I did
 
I didnt get any remotes with mine but you can obviously use one, there is a wireless signal and an option to use different mhz settings. Do you have a link to the remotes on Ebay?

Yes, I installed without consulting the manual. When I did eventually read some I was sorry I did
There will be a sequence of buttons to press on your control unit to go into pairing mode. You simply fire your remote at it and the control unit remembers this signal.
There are several videos on utube that show you the sequence of buttons. My instructions show you how to do it on the LED I have but can’t decyph them.
 
There will be a sequence of buttons to press on your control unit to go into pairing mode. You simply fire your remote at it and the control unit remembers this signal.
There are several videos on utube that show you the sequence of buttons. My instructions show you how to do it on the LED I have but can’t decyph them.

I can't work it out either, why do the manuals on Chinese stuff all look like ransom notes.

All different size fonts, different font faces and spacing. At the moment I have fires of he'll and Siberia modes. It's an evening on YouTube I suppose
 
So is mine. Each button on a fob has its own code. You only need to pair one button to the switch and two to the LED (one for on and one for off) the same as the fob you got with the heater.
If you look on utube it shows you what to press on the LED to pair a new fob.
It will work exactly the same as now but you’ll simply have to press the switch button first to turn on the LED. Then on or off as normal.
The only thing that won’t work is the clock on the LED coz you’ll switch the whole thing off after it’s gone through it’s shutdown sequence.

I may even buy the simple controller and bin my LED. They are available on eBay for a few pounds. I will still be able to switch it remotely with the memory switch without the worry of it using any more juice than a standard central locking unit.

Decided to put 100ah battery out the jag in instead,
No issues since, draw must be minimal and the battery was knackered :)

Its going to come in handy over the next few days.
 
I may have jumped the gun on the battery front.

Like I said, I pulled the fuses on the leisure battery for a week and allowed it’s short daily journeys to charge it back up.
The leisure battery runs the central locking, tracker and heater. I only replaced the heater fuse to see how things went and it’s held out with it’s trip to work and back with no issues. Voltage is remaining fine and has done for weeks.
I’ll replace the tracker fuse next and keep my eye on it.
 
Hurry up and get it sorted Bob, my heater arrives soon and I don't want any problems when it's fitted.

Col
It’s working a treat. The yard staff made me switch it on tonight at work so they could show a new chap how it worked. They also warm their hands on the exhaust outlet in mi sill.
I had to turn it off mind when I came back and got in. Too ruddy hot.
 
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