12 volt heater

[roadhunter]

Hard to get much heat at 12 volts. If you have ever used a load tester for a battery even a full pull on a battery only makes a little bit of heat.

 

[PJSprog]

Used a electric heater from Harbor Freight on a old chevy blazer. Check out person warned me that they had this item returned many times- should have listened. Little fan blew and it got red wires but no heat. Was a complete waste of time,$, and effort. Old Volkswagens were cold for a reason.

I had a '73 Super Beetle in the early '90s that had the heat channels rusted out. I bought one of those little heaters from JCWhitney, and it got me through that first winter just fine until I could seal the channels. They don't put out a lot of heat, but it was enough to keep the windshield from fogging/frosting up.

 

[arkydog]

to make it a little warmer in your super beetle, think you could have tapped into the radiater, used a cheep heater core and used a little fan?

I had a '73 Super Beetle in the early '90s that had the heat channels rusted out. I bought one of those little heaters from JCWhitney, and it got me through that first winter just fine until I could seal the channels. They don't put out a lot of heat, but it was enough to keep the windshield from fogging/frosting up.

 

[Travelover]

I had a '73 Super Beetle in the early '90s that had the heat channels rusted out. I bought one of those little heaters from JCWhitney, and it got me through that first winter just fine until I could seal the channels. They don't put out a lot of heat, but it was enough to keep the windshield from fogging/frosting up.

I had a VW, too. The heating system proved that German engineers have a sense of humor. I think the fan in the electric heater does more to clear the windshield that the heating elements.

 

[PJSprog]

to make it a little warmer in your super beetle, think you could have tapped into the radiater, used a cheep heater core and used a little fan?

Those were air-cooled engines. No radiators. They had forced air heat, which ran it past the engine block and into the cabin via channels along the sides behind the running boards. You only got heat if you were moving, and then only if the channels hadn't rusted out.

And yeah, Travelover, I had two of them in my younger days; a '73 and a '74. Between the heater design and the windshield washer "design," it definitely showed a seriously messed up sense of humor.

 

[Travelover]

Those were air-cooled engines. No radiators. They had forced air heat, which ran it past the engine block and into the cabin via channels along the sides behind the running boards. You only got heat if you were moving, and then only if the channels hadn't rusted out.

And yeah, Travelover, I had two of them in my younger days; a '73 and a '74. Between the heater design and the windshield washer "design," it definitely showed a seriously messed up sense of humor.

Actually the heat was off the exhaust pipe, which had a shield around it to make a crude heat exchanger. The fan was the same fan that blew air over the cylinders. I used to drive in 3rd gear so the fan was blowing harder to get a couple more BTUs into the cabin. :laughing: The old ones used spare tire air pressure for the windshield washer. Eventually the washer quit working when the spare tire was flat. :confused2:

 

[coolreinfarm]

My mother had a 62 or 63 Volkswagen and the exhaust pipe rusted and the gases came into the car, so you drove with the windows down in the winter to stay alive, what a joke. My uncle had a Corvair station wagon the had a gasoline heater, talk about instant heat, had a little exhaust pipe that came out of the front right fender. It's a wonder we're still alive.

 

[Travelover]

......My uncle had a Corvair station wagon the had a gasoline heater, talk about instant heat, had a little exhaust pipe that came out of the front right fender. It's a wonder we're still alive.

VWs had these, too, as an option. I had one in a Karmann Ghia. When it was really cold, often it would not light the first try so when it finally lit it went BAMMM!, then shot flames. Of course it was mounted right next to the gas tank. :laughing:

 

[PILOON]

Heck VW then installed Ebestreger (SP) gas heaters. Warm as toast (if they did not explode, LOL)

Some years had the heat exchanges with many small pins to increase heat transfer, those years were almost OK but you had to drive flat out at all times to retain high exhaust temps.

Those that drove VW vans generally installed a 20-30K propane heater thus keeping the bottle inside the van.
Man would the safety folks be upset now days!

VW's were very tight, (adds showed them floating) and one trick was to crack open a window or 2 to allow heat exchange )plus drive hard to keep exhaust manifold hot.

Heck over those years I owned probably 7-8 VW 'beetles'. (make me an expert?)

 

[arkydog]

to make it a little warmer in your super beetle, think you could have tapped into the radiater, used a cheep heater core and used a little fan?

all just poking a little fun. i had 2 vw's, 64 1200cc and 67 1500cc both were single port engines. also had a 68 that i used for a chenowth rail dune buggy. the engine fan actually blew the air from the fan shroud through the exhaust heat exchanger into the heater tubes in the car. the faster the rpm the harder the heated air blew.