Chinese Diesel Air Heater Part 15 Seals, Gaskets, Safety

In this video I hope to give viewers some understanding of the two seals and the two gaskets installed in these little diesel air heaters.

From new, these heaters give very little trouble if installed correctly, operated correctly, and maintained correctly.

However, because these Chinese copy heaters are now so cheap, they have opened up a whole new market that was previously closed due to the cost of the genuine item.

This has led to a lot of owner install and owner maintenance of these Chinese copies, whereas the genuine manufactures of these heaters insist on professional install and maintenance.

It is uninformed owner install and incorrect owner maintenance that has given these cheap copy diesel air heaters a bad name.

My goal in doing this series of videos was to try and bring knowledge and understanding to those of you who will do owner install and owner maintenance.

As I tried to show in this video, incorrect owner maintenance can lead to low level CO poisoning. It is tempting for owner maintainers to reinstall damaged gaskets, rather than install new gaskets, and to incorrectly reinstall the two seals.

As I have tried to show and demonstrate here, it is generally not just one issue causing serious problems but a combination of issues, just like airplane crashes.

Just a broken gasket will not cause CO levels in your accommodation, but a leaking gasket AND a wrongly inserted seal, (or cracked seal) taken together WILL cause CO poisoning.

SAFETY -
If you install any appliance in an accommodation area that burns any type of fossil fuel, be it a wood fire, diesel heater, gas stove, gas space heater etc. Or you have some form of central heating or furnace that burns fossil fuel and delivers hot air into an accommodation area, you really should install a carbon monoxide alarm, and have some form of external ventilation. This may be as simple as one window left a little open, or as complex as some fancy fan driven fresh air ventilation.

CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM -
If you install one of these domestic CO alarms I suggest you purchase one with a screen that will tell you actual CO levels, even if subject to a delay, rather than one with just an alarm. A CO meter with a level indicator readout can warn you of low level CO poisoning even if the alarm itself is not triggered.

Of course, to be effective the alarm must be in a proper position and somewhere where you can easily see the screen.

Low level CO Poisoning is a serious issue and not well understood. It is very hard for doctors to diagnose and is often wrongly treated.

If you have a burning appliance in an accommodation area, or one that directs air into an accommodation area, be it home, caravan, workshop, shed etc, I would suggest you do some basic research so as to have some understanding of this low level CO poison affliction, and how to recognise the symptoms.

BACK DRAFT -
On shutdown the ECU shuts off the fuel, turns on the glow plug to burn off unburnt fuel, and runs the fan until the heat exchanger cools down. There is no sensor for unburnt fuel, and the heater turns off when the heat exchanger is cool, not when all the unburnt fuel is expelled.

Once the fan stops turning any remaining unburnt fuel goes out the exhaust and also comes back through the burner inlet air vents and into the front chamber, here it then escapes out through the burner air inlet pipe.

However, if either of the two seals are damaged or not installed correctly, this fuel air mix can escape into the accommodation area.

Also if the combustion air inlet pipe is in the accommodation area, rather than outside, or its inlet is close to the burner fresh air inlet, you can also have a fuel smell on shutdown.

If there is a lot of carbon deposits in the burner it holds excessive fuel and can contribute to back draft issues.

Also if the heater is installed in a cold environment, (eg, under the van) the heater will cool very quickly and the ECU will shut the fan off before all the unburnt fuel is expelled out the exhaust.

With a properly operating heater there should be no fuel smell in the accommodation area.

CONCLUSION
This is my last video in this series as tonight I fly out for three months sailing on my sailboat in the Med. I hope that some of you were able to increase your knowledge and understanding of these great little heaters, and I have given you some hints on proper install, proper operation, and proper maintenance of these heaters.

Thank you to those who gave me positive feedback and a thumbs up in this series. I did not ask for any thumbs up, but I am very grateful to receive them.

As always I will do my best to answer any questions and reply to your comments as soon as I can, but please be aware that internet connection is intermittent on a sailing boat, and safe boat operation takes precedent when we do have a connection.

I will strive to catch up on all questions and correspondence when in port.

Once again thank you for watching. JMcK