get your camper's heating ready for winter.

In February of last year, we drove back from Cornwall when it was 1C outside and 1C inside. In spite of 4 layers of fleece, it was a bitter experience I vowed to remedy for the future. :cold:

When spring came I went through the entire system with a fine toothcomb.

The system is straightforward, a fan blows air through ducting which flows over the heat exchangers and comes out of vents inside the vehicle. Simples! What could possibly go wrong?

The system is great when new, and gives plenty of heat, but over 30 years later various problems will have appeared. The hot air has a long journey under the vehicle, and will prefer escaping through gaps to coming out of the cab vents.

Starting from within the engine compartment, make sure the two uninsulated hoses are intact and blowing a maximum amount of air over the heat exchangers. Cheap hoses will rip, so replace as necessary. The H/Es are the hottest part of the system and also where the biggest heat losses can occur. The outer skins often don't fit very well, allowing air to leak. I first gummed up all the gaps with exhaust paste then wound heat resistant silicone bandage around the ends of the exchangers to further protect the exhaust paste repairs. Then I totally covered the H/Es with heat resistant bandage. It's the sort of stuff race car enthusiats use to cover exhausts to give a better heat gradient. But for our purposes it's ideal to both stop leaks AND insulate the exchangers.

Moving forward from the exchangers, check that the flaps open fully. On mine, the mechs were jammed so I made sure they were jammed in the "open" position. The next part of the system involves heavily insulated flexible hose. This can tear or rip so ensure it's all as it should be. It's available, but pricey, if any sections need replacing.
On any junction of the insulated hosing, ensure there are no leaks and repair as necessary. But on mine all was OK.

On campers starting as the minibus option, there's a "Y" splitter allowing some air into the rear of the vehicle. I disabled this by putting a rag into the hose, we want all the hot air up front!

Where the hosing goes under the cover plate near the front of the vehicle, I installed a "marine engine room fan" to assist. It's design is such that it doesn't restrict the flow when switched off. But with hindsight I wouldn't have bothered, as even at idle speeds the engine fan is plenty powerful to provide a good flow of hot air.

It's always possible that airborn debris has found it's way into the system and partially blocked it. As you're under the vehicle, it's possible to check for this by running the engine and checking for airflow (by feel) at various stages of the system. Safety first of course!

Because my system has broken flap mechs, the heat is on all the time. To cope with this in the summer, I've covered the lower vents into the cab. When no heat is required, simply direct the heat downwards and the system is effectively cut off.

For parts needed, just do an eBay or Google search on "exhaust bandage", "silicone heat bandage", "marine engine room fan".

The system has been up and running for 18 months now, and works superbly, a credit to how VW meant it to be! Lashings of warm air on the coldest of winter drives, wish I'd fixed it years ago.

The first priority is to repair ALL air leaks, secondly to insulate the weak point of the system, the heat exchangers.

As the summer draws to a close, NOW is the best time to address the perenial problem of cold campers

 

Great write-up!

If I were to need the extra booster fan (minimum temps during the winter here have hit -20c a couple of times), presumably under the front seat area prior to the heat heading vertical, I would need to look for a fan with L-shaped round outlets/inlets - on the horizontal for the inlet from the centre tube, and on the vertical side to head up to the totem?

I think that the centre tube is around 60mm ID? Which fan did you get?

 

For all bar the most extreme climates, the normal VW heat exchanger system is VERY effective when working properly.

For very cold countries VW added the Ebersprecher petrol heater. Not sure where they placed it though.

And I think I've seen a converter kit which places a Propex gas heater under the cab within the ducting.

 

i've just refitted all mine, ignoring the little problem of hotter running it's bought up due to missing tin which wasn't on due to j-tubes i can confirm that even without the snail fan fitted yet (type 4) and the pipework not being 100% leakfree it's lovely and warm.

 

Oh I dream of warm.

Happy for Arthur to act as a guinea pig if anyone wants to have a practice at Tekenders this weekend

 

You can wrap the long tube under the load bed floor and the bit under the cab floor, with the insulating foil that you slip behind radiators. (if your origianal laggin is cream crackerd) . It should wrap round 4 or 5 times and fasten
with cable ties

 

my big pipe is ok (thanks stu) the leaks are from the riser one side of exchanger to the pod, i had to make a round european one fit an oval american exchanger, i'm gonna lag the y piece and front diverter though, will probably fill the gaps in riser with gungum

 

Here's the kit which ADDS your Propex heater into the existing ducting
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Camper-Type-2-Duct-Kit-for-Propex-Heater-Hot-Air-to-Windscreen-T2Customs-/370645088839?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item564c2b3a47


But I would emphasize from my first post
"The system has been up and running for 18 months now, and works superbly, a credit to how VW meant it to be! Lashings of warm air on the coldest of winter drives, wish I'd fixed it years ago. "

Don't throw your money away on upgrading (to gas or petrol heaters) the basic VW system which can be repaired simply, cheaply AND effectively

 

This is a helpful little article
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/freemefromthishell/vw/T2%20Heating.htm

 

good reading

 

My only concern with your system is the exchangers are also to help remove heat from the engine and dissipate it into the flowing air around them. If your bandaging the exchangers your effectively reducing their ability to do this task correctly.

 

Original T4 exchangers has insulation inside the skin, so same difference? I think they'll rot away in no time wrapped up...

 

Great info thks zed

 

My rh heat exchanger outer skin was rusting away and I thought about using the heat bandage to seal it up but I kept reading scare stories about it catching fire if oil leaked on it. I also wasn't sure if moisture would be retained in the winter lay up and the rest of the outer skin would rot away as zed said.
About a year ago I repaired it with chemical metal just to see if it would work. I wasn't sure about the heat withstanding capability or if it would just crumble off after a few days. It's fine and has held really well, only cost about £12 too. I did leave it to harden for a week or so before I used the van and there was a slight smell for the first hour or so but I am pleased with the cost and the result so much that I had forgotten about it until reading this thread.
Now I just need new pods and cables and I should be ok

 

Doing the outer skin of the heat exchangers will have zero effect on the running, but don't wrap up the exaust/4:1 header etc - you want the exhaust gases to cool and contract as quickly as possible to help flow + you don't want to increase your head temps.