Espar coolant heater and roof rack/ladder custom build

[kebells]

Hi all,

I've been mining this forum for a couple years now and I've found it an invaluable resource for tips and how to's on Delica maintenance and mods. Now that I'm finally getting my van equipped the way I want it (2 years since I imported it!) I thought I'd share some pics of how I did things to perhaps help others at least with ideas if nothing else. My van is a 96 Chamonix high roof, SWB and it now runs on WVO using the plantdrive system plumbed to a custom aluminum tank located where the spare tire used to be. Because I live in an area that sees -30 often enough and I like to go on boarding trips on the cheap (read-sleep in van instead of hoteling it) I installed an Espar diesel fired coolant heater, which serves as both my block heater and cabin heater. Just yesterday I finished building/mounting the ladder and roof rack for the van. Kept the roof rack as low profile as possible so it doesn't cut down on mileage too much (this may be wishful thinking on my part) and built it to be able to accommodate two big windsurfers in summertime. The ladder is almost entirely recycled electrical conduit I salvaged from oilfield scrap metal bins! There is a removable 100W solar panel on the roof rack to help recharge the batteries after the Espar has run to keep the van warm while winter camping. I've included some pics of where I located the Espar under the van in case anyone is thinking of installing one (I had a hard time finding a spot for it with the convenient spot behind the air filter taken up by the WVO filter) as well as some progress and finished pics of the installed rack and ladder.

Kelcey

[Big-Bird]

I like the rack and ladder. Did you take measurements?

Got any performance numbers for the heater? I want to do the same too help keep the minus "holy s**** its a brass monkey!" at bay.

[macro]

Nicely done!!!

[kebells]

Most of the ladder and roof rack was done using the try/fit/trim/fit etc method so no usable numbers. Getting the curve right on the ladder was a headache...at one point it involved lowering the van on it to hold it down so I could put some more bend in. The rack is 49" wide and about 96" long, but as with the ladder involved lots of fiddling about to get things fittig just right. I don't have any hard numbers on the Espar, but I have done a -30 start after letting it run for 35 mins and the temperature indicated was half of normal operating temp. Started like a gem.

[alti2d]

Could you please tell us which model of Espar heater you chose? (I'm guessing hydronic 4?)

Great job, I'm interested in doing this myself.

[islander20]

Did you think about going with one of the small espar cabin heaters? (The D2) I would love to have a diesel heater setup for camping, not sure which type of heater would be best for me. It seems like the coolant heaters cost a bit more up front. But it seems like the install would be a bit easier, and I like the idea of using the vans existing ventilation system for heat.

Any trouble with the batteries draining from running the fans overnight? Very cool mods!

[kebells]

The model I used is the Hydronic D5 with the 7 day timer. Was around a grand from cool it truck parts on ebay (canadian seller). I mounted the control module to the right of the steering column where the slots for 3 ancillary switches normally reside-had to solder extension wires on to relocate the fog light switch and then do a bit of cutting and grinding on the plastic but it looks like a factory install now and is super easy to reach in and hit the button to activate.

I wrangled a lot about going with a small cabin heater as well but having used the coolant heater I think I wouldn't bother with the expense/loss of cabin space as the D5 works quite well to get the cabin nice and toasty quite quickly. I should mention I don't use it all night; I turn it on for eating dinner and getting ready for bed then again in the morning for breakfast and getting all geared up, so about 2hrs total runtime. As the heater is installed just upstream of the rear heater core, it is quite quick to have heat pouring out of the vents, and the overhead ones are just heavenly! I haven't had the time/inclination to do a load test to see how much power I'm using with the fans and heater going, but the heater is supposed to use about 40W average. Thus far I've had no problems with a couple hours runtime, then another 20 mins to start the old girl after a day of boarding, but that was in pretty mild (-5) temps.