You guys are on the right track. From your first video where you mention to put it into a tool box gives you the ability to use a hose not only on the hot air side but also the intake side which means you can reheat the air it picks up within your tent. That also alleviates the risk of the intake air sucking in the exhaust fumes. Another person already mentioned it, make sure your exhaust is sloped down, the condensation that can build up inside the hot exhaust tube will hinder the gasses to escape and then your fuel air mixture will get affected, turning the heater into a smoke machine. Also your burn chamber will carbon up much quicker. If you make a dedicated 100Ah battery box and have an Anderson plug on it than you can power the heater directly. That gets you around the issue of the cigarette lighter fuses tripping on made power bank units and you don't waste energy due to the double conversion from 12 to 120 back to 12 (about a 20% loss). Oh and in your first vid you were worried about the stiff fuel line... there is a purpose for that and for good reason, please do not replace it with bigger bore or soft rubber because again it will affect how the burner runs. Good luck and love the dynamic you two have, great content.
When my wife and I first started dating twenty years ago we would tent camp. over the next few years we got bigger nicer tents and enough camping gear and equipment to make it comfortable. Then we wanted something with a fridge and beds and a stove, so we got a tent trailer and used it a couple times together and I used it a few times alone. Now we both kinda want a small fiberglass trailer with a bathroom or a camper van also with a bathroom. It's funny how as we age our requirement for comfort increases and we like a few amenities. Been keeping my eyes out for a small fiberglass trailer with a bathroom and I got a Vevor Diesel heater for when I find one, so I've been watching videos learning a lot about them. Thanks for the video
I'm a cold camping wimp but love the shoulder seasons for wildlife photography. I use a queen size inflatable mattress along with a 0° bag plus another 0° over the top and sleep cozy even at low 20's with snow on the tent. In the morning I fire up a small Mr. Buddy propane heater until I get brave enough to get of of bed, or until the call of nature wins, whichever comes first.
I have a 5kw vevor heater like yours and I powered it on a small jackory power station on the 12v output and it did it no problem. It pulled around 170watts to start then dropped to about 9watts to run it after that. I took it camping and ran it on a 12v deep cycle battery and it powers it all night no issue. I think I would run out of fuel before the battery died.
Moving pad blanket on floor,then air mattress,another moving pad blanket,then your thermal foam pad. Then make sure you have rated sleeping bags for cold temperatures on top. I still bring and extra blanket or two just in case. I also sometimes put a tarp over the tent to help break the wind and cold air and if it's raining it's a must. Never had a tent that didn't leak when a good night of rain hit plus it'll help insulate the tent some. I also make sure to have a good pair of long John's or thermal underwear on with thick socks to sleep in.
A deep cycle marine battery and a suitable charger would work great and would cost a lot less than that power pack thingy you have. An exhaust pipe extension would help you get the muffler away from the aur intake. 👍
We waiting for the stripper music before bed LOL. Heater seems to work well. Great idea using a carbon monoxide detector. As for helping with ground temps. We use a emergency blanket with the reflector side facing up to reflect our heat. We also use an Exped mattress that has an R value of 8.4. MAkes a big difference when we winter cold camp. Cheers y'all!! J & C
As someone else said to recuirculate the air , low setting maybe like the high if you did. Less fuel consumption. I will have to take a better look at them and see if can come up with something, cause I plan on getting one and I have thought about this before.
Try modifying the heater and adding a switch inline to the glow plug. That way when you do the switch over you can disable the glow plug for the warm up cycle. Might work!
Can you test to see what the draw off is for the initial start up? I was under the impression that a power outlet should be 16a max? The fan - do you think that in an insulated environment it will circulate warm air - but in a tent, it will fan the warm air over a cold surface and actually make it more inefficient? Finally, be good to see some measured heat loss measurements between the outlet and the end of the outlet flexi hose. Be good to wrap that somehow maybe? Thanks you guys are great. From 🇬🇧
Great vids thx, I use a similar system self build in a pelicase, if your worried about the carbon dioxidebut another leanth of exhaust pipe to take it further away. 👍
Go rei to give exped air mattress a try. The R value is pretty high to block cold. If you can find clearance item in local shop, it is a good deal for car camping. They do have double mattress versions if you need. I use nemo air mattress and a foam pad to get 7 on r value. I am doing well at 32 f.
I just took our diesel heater out of its red computer tower and put it in a harbor freight case… and that allowed me to run the intake hose into my tent as well if needed, takes the fumes out of the equation AND… now it’s drawing warm ambient air vs 25° cold air, so you can keep it on a lower setting…
gonna have to do a DIY battery unit! I have a 100ah LiFePo4 battery in a ammo box with 12v outlets which give the flexibility to use more amps at 12Vs. I wouldn't use a cig lighter for that but maybe something like an XT30, XT60 or Anderson powerpole connector. Also, what is the R value of your sleeping pad? You might want to go with a super high R-value pad for the winter. I'm in SoCal and I've camped in 28deg weather in the rain and I'm ok with a sleeping pad with an R-value of 5.1.
We do have an extra 100ah battery sitting here, not being used for anything. Maybe we should build our own. I agree, there's a reason why most power units won't push more than 10 amps through a cig. plug outlet. They simply can't handle it. An Anderson would definitely be the answer.
is there a way to pipe the air intake to the tent so you can recirculate the heated air? That way it wouldn't be having to heat the extreme cold air up to temp, & would keep your air intake away from the exhaust.
I use my Honda 2200 generator with an extended run tank with 100' extension cord over to my 10x10 Kodiak and run a small 1500W ceramic heater with a fan. Works great but uses fair bit of gas
If you run another hose to the intake side of the heater from the tent then you recirculat the warm air instead of using out side air. I’m referring to the air that blows across the the heat exchanger part, not the intake for the engine/ glow plug side.
As far as your sleeping pad goes. Try adding a closed cell foam pad under your thermorest. I use a Z-Rest under my thermorest and I stay warm sleeping on snow.
Put a survival blanket underneath your airbed is the best solution Ive worked out. F.N.Z . YOU COULD ALWAYS CAMP IN YOUR JEEP. & TAKE YOUR DRAWERS OUT, PUT YOUR GEAR IN CANVAS ROLL BAGS OR BAGS ON THE FLOOR OF THE JEEP & AROUND YOU OR NET FROM THE ROOF OF JEEP. CHEERS F.N.ZEALAND 12:45
I've run my heater on both a Jackery 500 and a EcoFlow Delta Mini with no problems, but it seems like luck of the draw to be honest. I've seen plenty of others have issues running their heaters on the same exact units.
So, roof top tents. A friend that comes over. Roughly bi-weekly. Won't stay in the house, it's always his roof top tent. I live (as my name would entail) in the Iron Range. Northern MN for those not from the area. It's not nice up here during the winter. My buddy sleeps in that roof top tent with his heater on low, Anything higher he is overheating at night. His battery packs run his Bipap and heater. Mt heater has been tested to 0 out so far in a hammock hottent. Slept fine for the 2 nights I went out. The heaters are a came changer I think.
You guys are on the right track. From your first video where you mention to put it into a tool box gives you the ability to use a hose not only on the hot air side but also the intake side which means you can reheat the air it picks up within your tent. That also alleviates the risk of the intake air sucking in the exhaust fumes.
Another person already mentioned it, make sure your exhaust is sloped down, the condensation that can build up inside the hot exhaust tube will hinder the gasses to escape and then your fuel air mixture will get affected, turning the heater into a smoke machine. Also your burn chamber will carbon up much quicker.
If you make a dedicated 100Ah battery box and have an Anderson plug on it than you can power the heater directly. That gets you around the issue of the cigarette lighter fuses tripping on made power bank units and you don't waste energy due to the double conversion from 12 to 120 back to 12 (about a 20% loss).
Oh and in your first vid you were worried about the stiff fuel line... there is a purpose for that and for good reason, please do not replace it with bigger bore or soft rubber because again it will affect how the burner runs. Good luck and love the dynamic you two have, great content.
When my wife and I first started dating twenty years ago we would tent camp. over the next few years we got bigger nicer tents and enough camping gear and equipment to make it comfortable. Then we wanted something with a fridge and beds and a stove, so we got a tent trailer and used it a couple times together and I used it a few times alone. Now we both kinda want a small fiberglass trailer with a bathroom or a camper van also with a bathroom. It's funny how as we age our requirement for comfort increases and we like a few amenities.
Been keeping my eyes out for a small fiberglass trailer with a bathroom and I got a Vevor Diesel heater for when I find one, so I've been watching videos learning a lot about them.
Thanks for the video
I'm a cold camping wimp but love the shoulder seasons for wildlife photography. I use a queen size inflatable mattress along with a 0° bag plus another 0° over the top and sleep cozy even at low 20's with snow on the tent. In the morning I fire up a small Mr. Buddy propane heater until I get brave enough to get of of bed, or until the call of nature wins, whichever comes first.
I have a 5kw vevor heater like yours and I powered it on a small jackory power station on the 12v output and it did it no problem. It pulled around 170watts to start then dropped to about 9watts to run it after that. I took it camping and ran it on a 12v deep cycle battery and it powers it all night no issue. I think I would run out of fuel before the battery died.
Moving pad blanket on floor,then air mattress,another moving pad blanket,then your thermal foam pad. Then make sure you have rated sleeping bags for cold temperatures on top. I still bring and extra blanket or two just in case. I also sometimes put a tarp over the tent to help break the wind and cold air and if it's raining it's a must. Never had a tent that didn't leak when a good night of rain hit plus it'll help insulate the tent some. I also make sure to have a good pair of long John's or thermal underwear on with thick socks to sleep in.
A deep cycle marine battery and a suitable charger would work great and would cost a lot less than that power pack thingy you have. An exhaust pipe extension would help you get the muffler away from the aur intake. 👍
We waiting for the stripper music before bed LOL. Heater seems to work well. Great idea using a carbon monoxide detector. As for helping with ground temps. We use a emergency blanket with the reflector side facing up to reflect our heat. We also use an Exped mattress that has an R value of 8.4. MAkes a big difference when we winter cold camp. Cheers y'all!! J & C
Great hearing from you! Boom-chick-a-wow-wow.
Carpet pad and piece of carpet will separate you from the ground. It keeps us warm in the winter. Also a queen size air mattress helps too.
Great content as usual!
As someone else said to recuirculate the air , low setting maybe like the high if you did. Less fuel consumption. I will have to take a better look at them and see if can come up with something, cause I plan on getting one and I have thought about this before.
4:10 It's not great. HaHa That is so funny how that just came out. I fully agree with both. Fifty degrees isn't bad but not great.
Try modifying the heater and adding a switch inline to the glow plug. That way when you do the switch over you can disable the glow plug for the warm up cycle. Might work!
Cool idea
Can you test to see what the draw off is for the initial start up? I was under the impression that a power outlet should be 16a max?
The fan - do you think that in an insulated environment it will circulate warm air - but in a tent, it will fan the warm air over a cold surface and actually make it more inefficient?
Finally, be good to see some measured heat loss measurements between the outlet and the end of the outlet flexi hose. Be good to wrap that somehow maybe?
Thanks you guys are great. From 🇬🇧
Looking forward to seeing what mods you do on the heater!
Great vids thx, I use a similar system self build in a pelicase, if your worried about the carbon dioxidebut another leanth of exhaust pipe to take it further away. 👍
Thanks for the tip!
Go rei to give exped air mattress a try. The R value is pretty high to block cold. If you can find clearance item in local shop, it is a good deal for car camping. They do have double mattress versions if you need. I use nemo air mattress and a foam pad to get 7 on r value. I am doing well at 32 f.
Thanks for the tips!
I just took our diesel heater out of its red computer tower and put it in a harbor freight case… and that allowed me to run the intake hose into my tent as well if needed, takes the fumes out of the equation AND… now it’s drawing warm ambient air vs 25° cold air, so you can keep it on a lower setting…
gonna have to do a DIY battery unit! I have a 100ah LiFePo4 battery in a ammo box with 12v outlets which give the flexibility to use more amps at 12Vs. I wouldn't use a cig lighter for that but maybe something like an XT30, XT60 or Anderson powerpole connector.
Also, what is the R value of your sleeping pad? You might want to go with a super high R-value pad for the winter. I'm in SoCal and I've camped in 28deg weather in the rain and I'm ok with a sleeping pad with an R-value of 5.1.
We do have an extra 100ah battery sitting here, not being used for anything. Maybe we should build our own. I agree, there's a reason why most power units won't push more than 10 amps through a cig. plug outlet. They simply can't handle it. An Anderson would definitely be the answer.
If your lady gets cold while in the tent you just remind her that friction creates heat...
Looks nice 😊
is there a way to pipe the air intake to the tent so you can recirculate the heated air? That way it wouldn't be having to heat the extreme cold air up to temp, & would keep your air intake away from the exhaust.
You definitely could do that
Definitely something we'll be looking in to!
I have a sleeping pad that has a very high R value. I think it's 3 inches thick, supports up to 300lbs.and has an R-value of 9.
That's what we're going to have to go with.
Hook a car battery with jumper cables to get it started then remove the jumper cables
The exhaust air is hot and will rise. Keep the air intake lower and you will minimize the chance that it draws in exhaust air.
I use my Honda 2200 generator with an extended run tank with 100' extension cord over to my 10x10 Kodiak and run a small 1500W ceramic heater with a fan. Works great but uses fair bit of gas
That's pretty inefficient. Electric heat isn't the way to go in these situations.
Thanks for sharing
If you run another hose to the intake side of the heater from the tent then you recirculat the warm air instead of using out side air.
I’m referring to the air that blows across the the heat exchanger part, not the intake for the engine/ glow plug side.
As far as your sleeping pad goes. Try adding a closed cell foam pad under your thermorest. I use a Z-Rest under my thermorest and I stay warm sleeping on snow.
use rubber puzzle mat beneath your thermarest.
Put a survival blanket underneath your airbed is the best solution Ive worked out. F.N.Z . YOU COULD ALWAYS CAMP IN YOUR JEEP. & TAKE YOUR DRAWERS OUT, PUT YOUR GEAR IN CANVAS ROLL BAGS OR BAGS ON THE FLOOR OF THE JEEP & AROUND YOU OR NET FROM THE ROOF OF JEEP. CHEERS F.N.ZEALAND 12:45
Any idea what power units can handle the draw on the 12 volt output?
Not off hand, but I know there are a few.
I've run my heater on both a Jackery 500 and a EcoFlow Delta Mini with no problems, but it seems like luck of the draw to be honest. I've seen plenty of others have issues running their heaters on the same exact units.
This is HOT 🔥 😂
So, roof top tents. A friend that comes over. Roughly bi-weekly. Won't stay in the house, it's always his roof top tent. I live (as my name would entail) in the Iron Range. Northern MN for those not from the area. It's not nice up here during the winter. My buddy sleeps in that roof top tent with his heater on low, Anything higher he is overheating at night.
His battery packs run his Bipap and heater.
Mt heater has been tested to 0 out so far in a hammock hottent. Slept fine for the 2 nights I went out.
The heaters are a came changer I think.