Hi all, I have searched but not found the answers I was looking for. I have a '77 single cab that came from Sweden and I need to get the heating to the cab into better shape than it is today, I get a gentle breeze of warm air which is enough to clear the windows after a few miles but I know it can be much better so hopefully you can help me identify what's missing. The heat exchanges look good, they are connected to the Y piece, connected to the heater tube and the Y piece is insulated. The heater tube is in good shape but not insulated so that is job no. 1. The cables are operating the flaps fine, all the plastic vent pipes are correctly connected in the dash. Last year I had to replace the front beam and it had an insulated cardboard tube that ran from the totem pole through the beam right to the long heater tube where it appears through the front crossmember, my prototype bay has metal tubing that runs over the beam, is this missing on my LB or not required in a single cab as there is no takeoff for the vents a microbus has? I had to replace the cardboard tube and got hold of some cheap corrugated metal pipe, it does the job but needs insulating, job no.2 assuming I keep this. Should I have a snail fan? (it's a 2 ltr type 4) how do I know what components I need if I should have one? It runs a single Webber conversion (yes I know they are rubbish) so I wonder if some idiot binned the snail fan as the carb is in the way now? Can I identify if I should have a snail fan from wiring in the engine bay or on the heater controls? Anything else I am missing or should be looking for? Thanks
The snail fan is not an essential part of the heating system, certainly once on the move, as the cooling fan provides the”push “ of air to take heat to the cab. Beyond that, I can’t help, even after changing everything on my heating, I gave up and fitted a propex. However, the standard system is supposed to work well….just not on my bus.
In terms of the 'should' you have a snail fan depends if you're after originality or heat. I have one on my 2l and the difference in airflow is noticeable when it is on. It's not a gale force but imo it does make a difference.
You are probably correct in assuming the snail fan will hit a Weber progressive if a snail fan is fitted in the correct place. There is almost certainly a way of moving the fan and making a different bracket.
The snail fan I believe is intended to provide a boost for windscreen demisting whilst you're idling, and in slow traffic, as the main engine fan won't be doing much work. There is a switch for the fan which is activated when you push one of the red levers down to the bottom, so look under the dash. Overall though, this system isn't that great on a cold morning.
i pulled my heating to pieces when i first got the bus - found multiple rodent/ wasp nests in the tubes. check all the way through from the h/ex to the totem and then also check the totem for blockages. you might be surprised what you find in there. the cardboard tube afaik isn't insulated from the factory (mine isnt) but i guess adding something won't hurt. i know you said the elbows work, but are they fully closing? they need to fully shut otherwise you'll be losing a significant amount of potential heat there. heat exchangers might look ok but check on the top (that's where water can pool sometimes) any holes need to be fixed/plugged ditto the connectors all need to be tight/ no leaks. with my refurbished og heat exchangers, new elbows and end-to-end checking/replacing connectors i now get good heat on my 78. eberspacher still needed though if its sub-zero.
Thanks for the quick replies. I didn't notice a switch on the heater controls when I had the dash apart but I'll double check. If I can get away without the snail fan that would be good, the difference between the air force on my EB with a Type 1 engine and the LB with the type 4 is very noticeable, the EB pushes out decent heat with force so if the type 4 should be good on the move I need to investigate further. I will pull pipes and check for obstructions and fully opening flaps etc. As the single cab is such a small space I'm expecting to get decent heat! Lol! I did find a thread that mentioned without a snail fan I need to plug where the pipes from the snail fan go to in the engine bay, I wonder if this could be a factor?
If the holes for the snail fan aren't plugged, then air from the main fan will exit back into the engine compartment and it will be hot from going through the heat exchangers. I think you'd already notice that though.
You can get twin wall insulated corrugated plastic tube from ebay. I replaced my long pipe with it. Good stuff.
There are a couple of metal pipes that go from the heat exchangers to the tinware, then flexible pipes that go from there up to the snail fan. If you're blocking that off don't chuck the metal pipes if you still have them - they are available new on the continent but not so easy to get hold of in the UK, and can be a bit spendy (certainly for what they are)
The snail fan mounting is still there and it looks like the metal pipes from the heat exchanger are too. Is this connecter for the snail fan? So should I block these open holes up?
That's the relay socket for the fan. And yes the pipes should be blocked off, if the non-return flaps are missing hot air will recirculate into the engine bay.
If your thinking of reinstating the snail fan, I think @Fruitcake had one for sale recently and as the old dithering idiot forgot to bring it to Techenders, he might still have it!
Ok, I see a couple on eBay but not cheap! Not sure the missus wants to fork out on this at the moment. Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk
The fan wiring is there so there should be a cable connected to the heater lever that triggers the relay. If you don't want to refit the relay and fan just block off the open holes, although there should be small flaps on the heat exchangers to prevent hot air from flowing back up the pipes.
I will block these off initially whilst exploring reinstating the fan Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk
I obviously don't know if the fan is still available (I no longer need it), but this is the ad he put up on here. https://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/odd-parts-for-sale.99865/#post-1990459
