Small RV furnace for cab heat.........

[corl]

What about a Coleman catalytic heater? Can use a little propane canister that you refill. Give you 6-8 hrs of heat and won't be too hot for your cab. I have used one for years camping and now use one in my little greenhouse to keep night time temps above freezing.

 

[CalG]

I wear an electric heated vest when it is chilly and there is a bunch of outdoor time needed. Fit's under overalls, and keeps me toast just fine. (Open station) Plugs into a dash 12V lighter jack.

When it's COLD, I go in often and warm up with another coffee.

 

[PILOON]

LOL. what you ideally want is the old VW beetle gas heater.
Eberstruder (sp?)
They were very effective and provided about 20,000 BTU's of heat.

The design was similar to models that were certified for early aircraft installations.

Design was a double walled system that isolated the combustion chamber from the hot air chamber. Safety shut offs, over temp protection were also incorporated. All stainless fabrication, and glow plug ignition system.
Military also used this design in various vehicles.

 

[jenkinsph]

I think it would work, just make sure you protect the lp tank and lines from damage.

 

[Travelover]

LOL. what you ideally want is the old VW beetle gas heater.
Eberstruder (sp?)
They were very effective and provided about 20,000 BTU's of heat.

The design was similar to models that were certified for early aircraft installations.

Design was a double walled system that isolated the combustion chamber from the hot air chamber. Safety shut offs, over temp protection were also incorporated. All stainless fabrication, and glow plug ignition system.
Military also used this design in various vehicles.

I had one of these in my Karmann Ghia, mounted under the gas tank. When it was really cold it didn't always ignite right away and when it did, it shot flames out of its exhaust pipe. Darn lucky it didn't burn up the whole car. :laughing:

 

[mark02tj]

I had one of these in my Karmann Ghia, mounted under the gas tank. When it was really cold it didn't always ignite right away and when it did, it shot flames out of its exhaust pipe. Darn lucky it didn't burn up the whole car. :laughing:

I had one of those in a '69 WV van that I bought as a kid. Was always afraid to light it!!

 

[sandman2234]

My days riding around in a VW in the winter were never blessed with memories of being warm. I always thought VW could have built a better heater!
Shame your Steiner is air cooled...mine is water cooled, and all it would take with it is run a pair of water lines under the subfloor, up into the tool box into a used heater core from a car, with a small fan to blow the air.
I did a similar installation on a forklift at work, used a heater core from a '79 Corvette and a 12v fan from a Suzuki water cooled motorcycle, built a wooden box for them, and then it would put out a little heat. I placed the box down by my feet which helped and I could reach down and warm my hands with it. Seems my assigned forklift started getting used a lot more when I wasn't on it, to a point where the hour meter showed almost double the usage. Investigation showed that the night shift guy started using my forklift, then the second shift guy figured it out, and my forklift became a 24 hour a day forklift, at least during the winter. They finally installed the same setup in six more forklifts so that everyone could enjoy the warmth of having a little heat.
David from jax
David from jax

 

[linrick1]

Took a ride today and picked up the furnace, an Atwood 7916-II rated at 12K BTU's output, very little use and in excellent condition. I located the parts breakdown for this series of furnaces and have found that a smaller orifice is available that will reduce the output to 9K BTU's at the same manifold pressure and will be ordering that Monday. There is also a ducting kit available that converts the output from the 4 1/4" square outlet on the front of the unit to a 4" round side outlet and am considering that as well. It appears that the unit is dependent on drawing the intake air from the face down the length of the body to the squirrel cage fan to keep the unit cooled so I will build the enclosure accordingly. Overall measurements are 22" long, 10" wide and 12" tall so the it will make for a compact and tidy unit on the back of the cab. Thanks for the input and interest, Rick

 

[Norm W]

The VW had a great heater, unfortunately the cab was air tight and the heat was forced air. If you opened the wing window, the heater would drive you right out of the car. Most people kept the windows shut and the heat couldn't get in the car. We had heat within a block of driving. Of course as the bottom of the car rusted out the first thing to go was the heat ducts. I ran a flex hose, from the heat exchanger, under the back seat, to the front of the car. I could direct it to the windshield or to my feet. At that point I could watch the road under my feet.

 

[chim]

I'm not familiar with that heater but it looks interesting. If there's some way to control the output (fan speed, fire level, etc) I'd test drive it in cold weather before swapping to a smaller orfice.

The heater I have is rated at 20,000 BTU's and there have been a few days that I was glad to have that output. I can vary the heat output via the fan at OFF/LO/HI speeds and by regulating the valves for water flow.