T6.1, using engine coolant to heat a small calorifier?

[Pompey Russ]

Good afternoon all,

Newby here, first post. We’ve recently taken the plunge and bought a T6.1 LWB for a basic campervan conversion after about 25 years of camping, more recently towing a trailer for all the clutter. It’ll be unlike any standard layout because apart from the missus and me it has to accommodate three large German Shorthaired Pointers (GSP’s), so the standard double bed conversion plus galley etc just won’t work. It’ll be a single longitudinal berth with storage under and I’ll probably be in a 3 man tent with a dog, but hey, you get used to these things.

Anyway, advice needed please. Has anyone experience of tapping off from the coolant hoses, eg those to the heater, to heat a small calorifier to give hot water? I’ve previously done this with a Beta diesel (Kubota) on a boat, but that conveniently had a spare pair of spigots, flow and return, specifically intended for that purpose.

Looking under the bonnet I see a pair of hoses disappearing into the bulkhead where I assume the heater matrix might be but it would be a brave (foolish) move to assume so and cut them to tee in, especially since this a 24 reg van still under VW warranty. I haven’t yet tried the basic test of running the engine and seeing if they get hot but even if they did it wouldn’t advance me.

As to why, if you’ve ever sailed/camped with a sandy/muddy/worse dog, picture it with three large ones. Washing is essential and you can wash a GSP with a cold hose, but only the once – after that you won’t catch them.

Experience can save a bucket full of grief so feel free to offer any advice. Thanks.

 

[Green Giant]

Autoterm are looking at marketing an all in one option, to heat air and coolant/ water, etc saw it on YouTube, might be an option

 

[FWhite]

Hi Pompey,
welcome to this Forum!

Interesting question...

I think you should check if your van has already a diesel water heater and/or a rear cabin heater/exchanger. For the first one usually you have a silver sticker on the driver's doorway with "Webasto" or "Eberspacher" brand in evidence.
For the second you would have an overhead panel to control it.
Most of the Kombis and Shuttles have these by standard where I live.
If you have any of them, you have already the piping in place and you may decide to bridge it there or replace one of them with your radiator device of choice. In particular using the Webasto diesel heater would let you do what you want without actually running your TDI. That brand has also a quite developed network of dealers that may help in your project.

Last choice, and probably the cheapest , would be one of those electric camping showers (you may use the serch function), that while designed four humans should also work for our furry friends, assuming you have a good Auxiliary Battery installed, or a sizeable portable power station. Electric is the future...

 

[Pompey Russ]

That's very interesting Green Giant, thank you. It has similarities to using a Surejust twin-coil calorifier, (one coil for engine coolant and one for a diesel heater eg Webasto) in which the hot water could double as the hot coolant in the Baltica if hot air etc were needed. Surejust aren't cheap so it'll be interesting to see the price of the Baltica in due course.

 

[Pompey Russ]

Hi Pompey,
welcome to this Forum!

Interesting question...

I think you should check if your van has already a diesel water heater and/or a rear cabin heater/exchanger. For the first one usually you have a silver sticker on the driver's doorway with "Webasto" or "Eberspacher" brand in evidence.
For the second you would have an overhead panel to control it.
Most of the Kombis and Shuttles have these by standard where I live.
If you have any of them, you have already the piping in place and you may decide to bridge it there or replace one of them with your radiator device of choice. In particular using the Webasto diesel heater would let you do what you want without actually running your TDI. That brand has also a quite developed network of dealers that may help in your project.

Last choice, and probably the cheapest , would be one of those electric camping showers (you may use the serch function), that while designed four humans should also work for our furry friends, assuming you have a good Auxiliary Battery installed, or a sizeable portable power station. Electric is the future...

Hi FWhite, many thanks for the response. There's not currently any diesel heater or rear cabin heater. My original plan was to mirror what I installed in the boat with a Webasto wet heater feeding a small Surejust twin-coil calorifier, the spare coil being for a feed from the engine. The Surejust also has a 230v 1kw immersion heater for use with an EHU. That complete set-up would not come cheaply.

Since then I've also seen the Bobit system which permits a diesel air heater to heat water through a heat exchanger and that might be a useful and maybe cheaper alternative. However the engine feed might be all we'd need, as unlike a sailing boat, the engine is running whenever you're going somewhere and when camping we invariably journey out at least once every day. The challenge is how to get the engine feed without messing up the shiny new van but I suppose that the worst it can cost me is a new pair of hoses and a lot of fiddling about. If I can find someone who's done it and says "do it this way" or alternatively "don't even think about it!", that could save some pain.